GARDENA — Sansei Legacy will present Film Afternoon on Saturday, Nov. 3, from 1:30 to 4 p.m. at Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute, 1964 W. 162nd St., Gardena.

Four shorts by by Sansei filmmakers will be shown:

• “The Arts District Without Artists,” directed by Steve Nagano. Reminiscent of the past, artists are being forced to move, “relocate,” after years of living and working in one of the first designated artist-in-residence buildings in Los Angeles. The new owners, a subsidiary of an international bank, began the evictions immediately.

• “Holiday Bowl,” directed by Mitchell Matsumura. The Holiday Bowl, a gathering place for a community and a generation, was where all peoples came together in urban Los Angeles. It was a refuge for the stresses of life. The community celebrated its opening in 1958 and it closed, to everyone’s disbelief, in 2000.

“Jeff Imada”

• “Jeff Imada: Breaking Barriers by Design,” directed by Cory Shiozaki. Jeff Imada was a pre-med student at UCLA before an opportunity to work on a movie as an extra created a totally different career choice. A road not often taken by Japanese Americans, the lure of working in the entertainment industry on screen set the stage for an entirely different occupation — stuntman.

• “Say Yes to Your Heart,” directed by George Takaki. A 79-year-old man wants to join a rock-climbing gym but his granddaughter tries to dissuade him. They agree to a one-month trial. Disaster strikes when Grandpa is stricken with shingles. After a six-month layoff and still feeling weak, Grandpa returns to the gym to either quit or persevere.

Free admission; donations appreciated. For more information, contact Nicole Sato at (310) 324-6611 or info@jci-gardena.org.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *