An interview with Tad Nakamura
***
There is a longing for community that we all strive for, and for those of us whose identities dictate that the personal cannot be separated from the political, documentary filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura’s work strikes a resonant chord. His work speaks to the power and passion of young people who have fought to re-claim the narrative of the American experience, an experience that cannot exist apart from ideas of diaspora, activism, and empowerment. →

World premiere of A Song For Ourselves
Aratani/Japan America Theatre – Downtown Los Angeles, CA
2/28/09
***
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 →

Image by Nat Finkelstein

Andy Warhol, the persona, the enigma, begs constant exploration. Warhol Live, on view now through May 17, 2009 at the de Young Museum in San Francisco gives due treatment to one of the greatest influences that pervades Warhol’s entire body of work—his long-standing relationship with music. →

Miyazaki and the Totoro Forest Project
655 Mission Street-San Francisco, CA
Exhibiting now through February 8, 2009
***
There is a gem of an art show on view right now at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, the Totoro Forest Project. Within two small gallery spaces, 183 of the most imaginative minds in fine art and animation offer a painting, illustration, or sculptural work that explores each artist’s interpretation of what their own, personal Totoro—the quirky forest spirit, seen only by children—would look →