It was a silent film. So silent, it remained forgotten for over 100 years.
May 28, 2023: JANM reintroduced The Oath of the Sword, a 1914 silent film now considered the oldest known surviving film produced and performed by Asian Americans.
Before Hollywood was Hollywood, Japanese Americans were already making movies in Los Angeles.
Produced by Frank Shaw and the Japanese American Film Company, The Oath of the Sword told the story of Masao and Hisa, two young lovers separated when Masao leaves Japan to attend UC Berkeley. When he returns years later, their relationship has changed, and the story turns into a tragedy of love, duty, betrayal, and cultural conflict.
It was more than a film.
It was a statement.
At a time when Asians were being excluded, discriminated against, and reduced to stereotypes in American popular culture, Japanese Americans were building their own film company, casting their own actors, and telling their own stories.
Then the film disappeared.
For decades, The Oath of the Sword was believed lost, like so many silent films from that era. But in 2016, scholar Denise Khor found a surviving print at the George Eastman Museum. The film was later restored, presented to the public in 2023, and selected for the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 2025.
Its rediscovery is more than a film-history footnote.
It is proof that Asian American cinema began long before Hollywood finally noticed it.
We often think of Asian American representation as a recent fight.
But The Oath of the Sword reminds us: It started long ago.
Let’s not forget again.
Is there a video available?
YES! You can watch The Oath of the Sword here:
https://www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-films/screening-room/the-oath-of-the-sword-1914