A LIFE REIMAGINED: THE GEORGE MASA STORY

Description

October 29, 2025

4pm

Lewis Hall

160 Frank Allen Road

Cashiers, NC

Free and Open to the Public

In 1915, a young, charismatic Japanese man with a mysterious past entered the Appalachian culture of Asheville, North Carolina, and was suspected of being a spy, targeted by the Klan, but persevered with a passion for photography and the mountains he adopted, bringing to life the Great Smoky Mountains National Park & the Appalachian Trail.

A LIFE REIMAGINED: THE GEORGE MASA STORY dives deep into a man known as George Masa with groundbreaking genealogical and historical research revealing how and why he left Japan, his stormy period in the Pacific Northwest, and then his journey to the Southern Appalachian mountains where he remakes himself a talented and influential photographer, filmmaker, businessman, map maker, hiker and friend to many. The film uses a cinema verite style with passionate researchers and archivists, historians, and activists in the US and Japan. Anime imagery depicts re-creations of Masa’s past, and hundreds of the subject’s own photographs help to illustrate the narrative and express the timeless beauty of the region.

Ultimately A LIFE REIMAGINED: THE GEORGE MASA STORY is about how one inspired man from Japan pushed away the fear, intimidation and loneliness of immigration to capture through his unique eyes, images of another culture and landscape that were meaningful and redemptive to him personally and influential in serving others.

Support the release and distribution of A Life Reimagined: The George Masa Story! The film is finished and needs financial support to distribute it to a broad audience. Eight donors who give $250 will receive a 7''x9'' photograph mounted on 11''x14'' archival board, which was developed the same way that Masa made his images.

To make a donation, please visit the film's donation page:https://www.documentaries.org/films/george-masa/