SANTA BARBARA — “Third Act,” a film by Tadashi Nakamura, will be screened at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 11:30 a.m. and Friday, Feb. 14, at 2:40 p.m. at the SBIFF Auditorium, 916 State St., Santa Barbara.
The Feb. 13 screening will be followed by Q&A with Nakamura and producer Eurie Chung; the Feb. 14 screening will be followed by Q&A with Nakamura.
Generations of artists call Robert A. Nakamura the godfather of Asian American film, but Tadashi Nakamura calls him Dad. Born in the U.S. to Japanese immigrant parents and growing up in Los Angeles, the elder Nakamura thought of himself as an all-American boy until after Pearl Harbor, when Japanese Americans were rounded up and imprisoned; he spent three years in an American concentration camp and a lifetime coming to grips with how his family was treated.
Recalling the impact of negative media images, he reinvented himself as a filmmaker and teacher, gave voice and vision to the burgeoning Asian American consciousness in the 1960s, and spent the rest of his career reversing — and teaching others to reverse — ethnic stereotypes. Shortly after he retired, the Trump era and his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease tore open the psychological wounds he thought were healed.
“Third Act” is structured chronologically around three phases of Tadashi’s father’s life: becoming an artist in Los Angeles after World War II, finding his path, and dealing with Parkinson’s and PTSD. Together, father and son function as the film’s central characters; they use their shared medium of film to embody emotions that they had been hesitant to express directly.
In some ways, Robert’s story is Tadashi’s story. Through making this film, Tadashi discovers that he also inherited his community’s historical trauma, in addition to the anxieties of old age, illness, and the final act of losing his father. Tadashi made all of his films with Robert at his side. “Third Act” is likely the last.
“Third Act” had its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it was an official selection.
Tadashi Nakamura was the youngest filmmaker at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. His work includes: Emmy Award-nominated “Mele Murals” (PBS and Al Jazeera), “Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings” (PBS) and trilogy “Yellow Brotherhood,” “Pilgrimage,” and “A Song for Ourselves.” Nakamura has a M.A. from U.C. Santa Cruz and a B.A. from UCLA.
Chung is a Peabody Award-winning documentary producer. Leading Flash Cuts, a post-production facility, with Walt Louie, she has supported filmmakers for over 15 years. Her work includes the five-part PBS docuseries “Asian Americans” and “Mele Murals.” She is a 2024 Sundance Producers Lab Fellow.
Consulting producer Ursula Liang is a journalist and has worked for outlets like The New York Times Op-Docs, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and ESPN The Magazine. Her debut “9-Man” aired on “America ReFramed.” Liang also works for The 2050 Group, is a founding member of the Filipino American Museum, and sits on the advisory board of The Dynasty Project.
For more information, visit: https://sbiff.org/