Robert A. Nakamura
Encyclopedia
Robert Akira Nakamura is a pioneering filmmaker and teacher, sometimes referred to as "the Godfather of Asian American
media." In 1970 he co-founded Visual Communications (VC)
the oldest community-based Asian Pacific American
media arts organization in the United States.
father and Nisei
mother. He is a graduate of Art Center College of Design
(B.A., 1966) and the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (M.F.A., 1975). He left a successful career in photojournalism
and advertising photography to become one of the first to explore, interpret and present the experiences of Japanese American
s in film. He is married to his longtime producing partner, Karen Ishizuka and has two children, Thai Binh and Tadashi, who is also a filmmaker.
Manzanar (1972) revisited childhood memories of incarceration in an American concentration camp during World War II
and has been selected for major retrospectives on the documentary form at the San Francisco Museum of Art and Film Forum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
. In 1980 he co-directed Hito Hata: Raise the Banner, considered to be one of the first Asian American feature films, produced by and about Asian Americans. He is the recipient of more than 30 national awards. He was the first to receive Visual Communications' Steve Tatsukawa Memorial Award in 1985 for leadership in Asian American media. In 1994 the Asian Pacific American Coalition in Cinema, Theatre & Television of UCLA instituted the "Robert A. Nakamura Award" to recognize outstanding contributions of other Asian Pacific American visual artists. In 1996 he founded the UCLA Center for EthnoCommunications where he serves as director and professor. In 1997, the Smithsonian Institution
presented a retrospective of his work. Also that year he created (with Ishizuka) the Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center at the Japanese American National Museum
. In 1999 he was named to the endowed chair in Japanese American studies at UCLA.
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
media." In 1970 he co-founded Visual Communications (VC)
Visual Communications (VC)
Visual Communications – also known as VC – is a community-based non-profit media arts organization in Los Angeles, dedicated to creating, preserving and presenting Asian Pacific American history and culture through the media arts...
the oldest community-based Asian Pacific American
Asian Pacific American
Asian-Pacific American or Asian-Pacific Islander is a term sometimes used in the United States to include both Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans....
media arts organization in the United States.
Personal
Nakamura was born in Venice, California to an IsseiIssei
Issei is a Japanese language term used in countries in North America, South America and Australia to specify the Japanese people first to immigrate. Their children born in the new country are referred to as Nisei , and their grandchildren are Sansei...
father and Nisei
Nisei
During the early years of World War II, Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated from their homes in the Pacific coast states because military leaders and public opinion combined to fan unproven fears of sabotage...
mother. He is a graduate of Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design is a private college located in Pasadena, California, and was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the 60 best design schools in the world. The college’s industrial design program is consistently ranked number one by both DesignIntelligence and U.S...
(B.A., 1966) and the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (M.F.A., 1975). He left a successful career in photojournalism
Photojournalism
Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism...
and advertising photography to become one of the first to explore, interpret and present the experiences of Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
s in film. He is married to his longtime producing partner, Karen Ishizuka and has two children, Thai Binh and Tadashi, who is also a filmmaker.
Filmmaker
Nakamura's personal documentaryDocumentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Manzanar (1972) revisited childhood memories of incarceration in an American concentration camp during World War II
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
and has been selected for major retrospectives on the documentary form at the San Francisco Museum of Art and Film Forum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is a contemporary art museum with three locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near Walt Disney Concert Hall...
. In 1980 he co-directed Hito Hata: Raise the Banner, considered to be one of the first Asian American feature films, produced by and about Asian Americans. He is the recipient of more than 30 national awards. He was the first to receive Visual Communications' Steve Tatsukawa Memorial Award in 1985 for leadership in Asian American media. In 1994 the Asian Pacific American Coalition in Cinema, Theatre & Television of UCLA instituted the "Robert A. Nakamura Award" to recognize outstanding contributions of other Asian Pacific American visual artists. In 1996 he founded the UCLA Center for EthnoCommunications where he serves as director and professor. In 1997, the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
presented a retrospective of his work. Also that year he created (with Ishizuka) the Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center at the Japanese American National Museum
Japanese American National Museum
The opened its doors in 1992. The idea for the museum was originally thought up by Bruce Kaji with help from other notable Japanese American people at the time. The museum is located in the Little Tokyo an area near downtown Los Angeles, California. It is devoted to preserving the history and...
. In 1999 he was named to the endowed chair in Japanese American studies at UCLA.
Filmography
- Manzanar (1972)
- Wataridori: Birds of Passage (1975)
- Hito Hata: Raise the Banner (1980)
- Fool's Dance (1980)
- Moving Memories (1993)
- Looking Like the Enemy (1995)
- Toyo MiyatakeToyo MiyatakeTōyō Miyatake was a Japanese American photographer, best known for his photographs documenting the Japanese American people and the Japanese American internment at Manzanar during WWII.- Life :...
: Infinite Shades of Gray (2002)