My editing in Shannon Walsh’s Governor General’s Awards Video Portrait was nominated for a Canadian Cinema Editors Award! Thank you to director Rami Katz for bringing me into this project, and to my colleagues who nominated me. For full list of nominations please click here. Watch the short film here.
Between Pictures Premiere at DOXA!
I am thrilled to share that Between Pictures: The Lens of Tamio Wakayama will have its World Premiere at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver on May 5, 2024 (with a second screening on May 9, 2024). The film is nominated for the Nigel Moore Award as part of DOXA’s Rated Y for Youth Program. The festival program notes reads:
Whether capturing the white-hot intensity of the civil rights movement in the mid-1960s or chronicling decades of Japanese-Canadian cultural identity at Vancouver’s Powell Street Festival, Tamio Wakayama’s camera immortalized simple acts of courage and indomitable spirits. His photographs humanized headlines, imbuing them with a “purposeful sense of joy” (as a former colleague eloquently describes them in this uplifting film). Director Cindy Mochizuki weaves together lively interviews, Wakayama's evocative imagery, and her own whimsical animation to unveil not just the artistry of a Vancouver photographer, but also a shared quest for cultural self-awareness and validation. Against the backdrop of Canada's complex history, Between Pictures celebrates the resilience and victories of marginalized Asian communities. -TA
Working on this film as a cinematographer and editor, with my long-time collaborator Cindy Mochizuki, was a true joy. I’m proud of being a part of the telling of this beautiful story.
Violet Gave Willingly, now a Vimeo Staff Pick!
Violet Gave Willingly, a short film I co-edited with director Claire Sanford, is now available as a Vimeo Staff Pick! I absolutely loved working on this project with Claire so I’m delighted that the film is accessible to a wide audience through here.
EditCon 2023: Shaping Memories Panel
Documentary has the power and versatility in exploring urgent social subject matters, yet it can also embrace an intimate first-person narrative, or even become an experimentation of cinematic craftsmanship. This year we are inviting the editors from three critically acclaimed Canadian documentaries. Whether it’s the sensory and cinematic collaboration between a filmmaker and a naturalist on Sable Island (GEOGRAPHIES OF SOLITUDE), the eye-opening testimony from the Coloured Hockey League about the untold history of racism in ice hockey (BLACK ICE) or the heart-wrenching revisit of her older brother’s death in BACK HOME, each of these films was made with powerful bravery and is sublime in its own way.
Book your ticket now! → https://buff.ly/3G6F0ms
Autumn Strawberry at the Surrey Art Gallery
Autumn Strawberry, the dance film, is set inside Cindy Mochizuki’s Autumn Strawberry installation, which was exhibited at the Surrey Art Gallery in 2021. I had the pleasure of collaborating with Cindy once again to do the cinematography and editing for this piece. The film is currently on view at the gallery and will be screened until April 30, 2023. For more information about the film and SAG screenings, please click here.
TIFF Canada's Top Ten
Violet Gave Willingly has been selected as part of TIFF Canada’s Top Ten Shorts 2022! The film will screen at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in January 2023. I’m very proud of the work I did alongside director (and co-editor) Claire Sanford to shape the contours and rhythms of this visually stunning piece. Immensely grateful to Claire for the opportunity to work with her on this very special project!
Violet Gave Willingly at IDFA!
So thrilled to share that Violet Gave Willingly, a film I co-edited with director Claire Sanford, will have its International Premiere at IDFA! It’s truly an honour to be in the IDFA Competition for Best Short Documentary among some of the best short non-fiction work in the world.
“An intimate portrait of Canadian textile artist Deborah Dumka, whose daughter, filmmaker Claire Sanford, captures Dumka’s skillful work and artistic process, occasionally posing painful questions about traumas borne in silence.”
Back Home at Cannes Docs-in-Progress Showcase
I’ve been working on this special film for a couple of years now, co-editing with the very talented Jenn Strom. Earlier this year director Nisha Platzer and producer Joella Cabalu were invited to pitch the film at the Marché du Film for Cannes’ Docs-in-Progress Showcase (see project profile here and Variety coverage here). We have just recently finished post-production and I can’t wait for this beautiful film to be out in the world.
Koto: The Last Service
I’m so thrilled by the warm reception Koto: The Last Service has gotten! I had the pleasure of spending a weekend in Campbell River back in 2019 with director Joella Cabalu and producer Kenji Maeda, filming the Maeda family restaurant’s last days in operation. Joella and editor Shun Ando did a wonderful job crafting a short piece that truly honours what we all experienced during those days, and how much this family restaurant meant to the community.
The film is available to watch on CBC Gem or YouTube. It will also be presented at the Museum of Vancouver on July 20, 2022 as part of the Food, Film, & Activism Shorts Program.
Sue Sada Was Here at VAG
I was very happy to hear that Sue Sada Was Here, a film installation directed by Cindy Mochizuki in which I collaborated as cinematographer and editor, was acquired by the Vancouver Art Gallery. The piece is part of the exhibition Where Do We Go From Here? that is open to the public until June 13, 2021.
