About 

Desolate Dreams is a dramatic short film set in 1942 downtown Los Angeles. It follows an African American journalist and his friendship with a Japanese American family forced into Heart Mountain prison camp after President FDR issued Executive Order 9066 following the events of Pearl Harbor.

I wanted to incorporate my own African American and Japanese identity into the film. Through research, I discovered that a number of African American journalists used their platforms to speak out against the incarceration of Japanese Americans, and others looked after the assets of their Japanese friends—a powerful example of solidarity and cross-cultural allyship. That discovery sparked something in me and ultimately led to the development of Desolate Dreams. - Kiyoka "Kex" Rhodes (Writer, Producer, Director)This is a SAG-signatory production.

Meet the Filmmaker

Capital Emmy nominee and award-winning filmmaker Kiyoka “Kex” Rhodes is a writer, director and producer of films and branded content for multiscreen platforms. She has directed and produced various commercials, films and other content for television with companies like NBC4 Washington, Comcast, The CW Network (DCW50), BBC Studios, 60 Second Docs, and the American Bar Association (ABA). Kiyoka is the Founder/Creative Director of Kex Studios and aims to continue using the art of film to tell stories with purpose and impact.

Memberships: 

Producers Guild of America

ARRAY Crew/Impact

Emmys - National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Chesapeake Bay Chapter)

(Website / IMDb)

Meet the Cast

Deon Tillman (as Robert Parker)

As a photographer and storyteller, Deon immediately connected with the character. He has found that sometimes the most powerful piece to a story is documentation, and some of the best and most important stories show up unexpectedly. He is looking forward to working with the rest of the cast and crew to tell this story and make people reflect on what this country has been through.

Deon has experience as a background Film and TV actor appearing on projects such as “Harriet”, “Dopesick”, “Swagger”, and “Burning Sands”. While these projects all have important stories, Deon is very excited to be able to portray Robert Parker in “Desolate Dreams”.

Brent Yoshida (as Kazu Sakamoto)

Brent has many personal ties to the “Desolate Dreams” story and character (Kazu Sakamoto).

Most importantly, multiple members of his family—including his grandparents—were incarcerated in numerous Japanese prison camps. Brent also shares common specifics with the character, being that he graduated from USC’s 5 year Architecture program, and his grandparents owned a business: Yas’ Market in Gardena, CA. He is looking forward to further collaborating with Kiyoka and the cast and crew to share a powerful story of a pivotal time in history that impacted generations of American citizens.

Noriko Sato (as Momoko Sakamoto)

Born and raised in Japan, Noriko went to an all-girls middle school where she found a love for sketch comedy and basketball. As a high school student in Canada, she began delving more into the world of acting by taking theatre classes. Noriko decided to attend college in the U.S., where she played NCAA basketball while taking more acting classes.

She is co-owner of a live comedy show called “BATSU!” where she performs weekly. She has appeared on “Everything's Trash” on Freeform, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” on Amazon, “Betty en New York” on Telemundo, “My Adventures with Santa”, and more.

Noriko is super excited to have this opportunity to work with Kiyoka and be a part of “Desolate Dreams” that tells a story that has a historical significance. She hopes this film will touch as many souls as possible.