A LIFE REIMAGINED delves into the untold story of groundbreaking Japanese photographer George Masa and his passion to celebrate and preserve American wilderness. But even before his tragic death in 1933, George Masa’s story was shrouded in mystery. With more than twenty years of research, Emmy award-winning director Paul Bonesteel’s obsession for his subject reveals surprising new breakthroughs and details of Masa’s immigrant and artistic odyssey. From a difficult early life in Japan to mountaineering and baseball in the Pacific Northwest and then his brave reimagining in Asheville, North Carolina, Masa’s love for mountains, his photographic skill and a driving vision of conservation power his role in creating the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Appalachian Trail. The film travels across all these landscapes alongside researchers, archivists, and historians, pairing sweeping scenery with Masa’s archival photographs with both a historical and modern approach.
A LIFE REIMAGINED reveals how one immigrant’s passion helped others recognize landscapes worth protecting - and why that vision still resonates today.

A LIFE REIMAGINED: THE GEORGE MASA STORY (1×90) is distributed through APT. Produced by Bonesteel Films. Presented by PBS NC.