Tad Nakamura, director of the award-winning short documentary Pilgrimage, tells me he's been hard at work at his new film, A Song For Ourselves, an examination of the life and work of Japanese American singer/activist Chris Iijima, an influential early musician to come out of the Asian American Movement of the 1970s.
Through photographs, home movies, archival footage and Chris' own songs, the film shows how his music unleashed the contagious energy of the Movement with "an unrelenting passion for social justice and a life well lived."
A Song For Ourselves will make its world premiere next month, February 28, with a special screening event at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Los Angeles, featuring musical guests Blue Scholars, Bambu, Kiwi and special guest artists Nobuko Miyamoto and Charlie Chin. Mark your calendars, because I think it's going to be pretty cool. For more information about the event, go here.
In the meantime, Tad's first film from a few years back, Yellow Brotherhood, is now available for viewing online. It's a personal documentary about friendship and finding community through a self-help group turned basketball team that began in the 1960s. View it here. You can also download a version for your iPhone/iPod here.