Three By Okazaki

TRT: 86mins

From the zany streets of Tokyo to the parched landscape of Wyoming, these short works by Steven Okazaki demonstrate a tremendous range in style, subject and setting. But each film bears a distinctly Asian American perspective, always striving to break down stereotypes and to reveal the not-so-simple truth beneath the surface.

In person: Director Steven Okazaki

		HUNTING TIGERS USA 1988 | 30mins | Video Color DIRECTOR: Steven Okazaki
What was supposed to be a documentary about Kenzaburo Oe—one of Japan's great contemporary writers—becomes a whimsical portrait of Tokyo's underground performance artists after Oe laments that Japanese youths are "spoiled, unoriginal, too affluent and too influenced by Western culture." Okazaki examines the veracity of this observation by profiling artists like bonsai-toting Genqui Numata (a.k.a. The Bonsai Kid) and electrifying dancer Saburo Teshigawara, discovering in the process a spirited creative heartbeat throbbing beneath the surface of perceived apathy.
		AMERICAN SONS USA 1994 | 28mins | Video Color DIRECTOR:Steven Okazaki
Four actors tell stories of bigotry, hate and violence, all based on interviews with Asian Americans throughout the United States. Part documentary and part Brechtian performance, this film was one of the first to lay bare the profound indignation over the psychological harm inflicted on Asian American men in particular.
		DAYS OF WAITING USA 1990 | 28mins | Video Color/B&W DIRECTOR: Steven Okazaki
Winner of the 1991 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short, DAYS OF WAITING tells the remarkable story of artist Estelle Ishigo, a Caucasian woman who refused to be separated from her Japanese American husband during the forced internment in 1942. Her own sketches and watercolors complement archival photos and footage to paint a stark, vibrant portrait of the internment experience, and of love and devotion.

—Taro Goto