Stream now with KPBS+ / Watch Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 8 p.m. on KPBS 2
Working backward through filmmaker Paul Bonesteel's decades-long fascination, "A Life Reimagined: The George Masa Story" unravels the mysterious life of George Masa, a Japanese immigrant whose extraordinary photographs helped define the identity of the Great Smoky Mountains.
Joined by a devoted circle of historians, naturalists and artists, Bonesteel traces Masa's journey from a small village in Japan to the rugged peaks of North Carolina, where he found both purpose and hardship.
Filmed across Japan, the Pacific Northwest and the Blue Ridge, this is a story of passion, loss and the redemptive power of art and place.
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Credits: Distributed by American Public Television. Presented by PBS North Carolina / Bonesteel Films
