Third Act

Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings is a compelling portrait of an inspiring and inventive musician whose virtuoso skills on the ukulele have transformed all previous notions of the instrument’s potential. Through intimate conversations with Shimabukuro (she-ma-BOO-koo-row), Life on Four Strings reveals the cultural and personal influences that have shaped the man and the musician. On the road from Los Angeles to New York to Japan, the film captures the solitary life on tour: the exhilaration of performance, the wonder of newfound fame, the loneliness of separation from home and family.

PILGRIMAGE tells the inspiring story of how an abandoned WWII concentration camp for Japanese Americans has been transformed into a symbol of retrospection and solidarity for people of all ages, races and nationalities in our post 9/11 world.

Three young Asian American men recall meeting in the Yellow Brotherhood community basketball team at age six and later discovering the incredible 30-year history of the Yellow Brotherhood, which formed as an Asian American self-help group. With remarkable stills and footage from the ’60s and ’70s, this personal documentary is an inspiring portrait of the closely-knit Asian American community of Los Angeles

As L.A.'s punk rock scene exploded in the late 1970s, an unlikely family-owned restaurant in Little Tokyo became one of its most popular hang-outs.

As small ethnic-owned businesses in East Anaheim Plaza are threatened by plans of redevelopment, the collective Long Beach community has mobilized to resist against this ongoing injustice.

Mele Murals is a documentary on the transformative power of modern graffiti art and ancient Hawaiian culture for a new generation of Native Hawaiians. At the center of the story are two renowned street artists - Estria Miyashiro (aka Estria) and John Hina (aka Prime) - a group of Native Hawaiian youth, and the rural community of Waimea. Set against the resurgence of Hawaiian language and culture of the past twenty years, Estria and Prime tell how their street art has taken them on personal journeys to discover their history, identity and responsibilities as Hawaiian people.

Chronicles the extraordinary journey of the legendary Nobuko Miyamoto – a dancer, singer, and activist driven by a lifelong passion for social justice and community engagement.

Ricky and Bobby Okamura wrestle with closing their beloved family-owned manju shop after serving the San Francisco Japantown community for 115 years.

A SONG FOR OURSELVES is an intimate journey into the life and music of Asian American Movement troubadour Chris Iijima. Struggling to make sense of their father’s early death, his teenage sons learn that during the 1970s when Asians in America were still considered “Orientals,” Chris’ music and passion for social justice helped provide the voice and identity an entire generation had been in search of. Through animated photographs, intimate home movies, archival footage of Chris’ introduction to nationwide television by John Lennon and Chris’ own songs, their father’s life takes on bigger meaning than they had ever dreamed of.

In these adaptations of lsamu Tsuchida's picture books for children, Tiffle and Tuffle are two little twins in pointed hats who live on Coracle Island and have a few light-hearted adventures.