Highlighting some of the most exciting new voices in cinema, New York Japan CineFest presents a program of short films by emerging Japanese and Japanese-American filmmakers. Followed by a discussion with Megumi Nishikura (director, Minidoka, Joseph Lachman (YC ‘15; actor, Minidoka), and Masayoshi Nakamura (animation director, Albatross Soup).
Megumi Nishikura is passionate about addressing our global and social issues through documentary storytelling. She spent five years working for the United Nations, producing and directing documentaries on environmental issues such as climate change and biodiversity. Megumi has captured stories of 9/11 survivors and those impacted by the 2011 tsunami in northeastern Japan. Her award-winning independent film, “Hafu—the mixed-race experience in Japan,” screened theatrically throughout Japan and aired in the United States on PBS. In 2015, she produced “Fall Seven Times Get Up Eight: The Japanese War Brides” which won numerous short documentary awards and aired globally on BBC World News. Megumi currently works as a producer at Blue Chalk Media.
Joseph Shoji Lachman is a 4th/5th generation Japanese American who works full time at Asian Counseling and Referral Service in Seattle, Washington helping empower AAPI communities to participate in the democratic process. He currently serves as the Civic Engagement Program Manager, helping to ensure that AAPI community members of all backgrounds and language abilities in Washington state can meaningfully engage with local democracy throughout the year through voter registration drives, voting parties, candidate forums, rallies, meetings with legislators, town halls and other activities.
Masayoshi Nakamura AKA Good General is an animation director and illustrator. Emerged from Nishinomiya, Hyogo Japan, he moved to New York City to study graphic design where he absorbed the city’s rich culture: fine arts, graphic design, photography, street art, and music. Those influences lead him to focus on motion graphics where you can combine all the elements into one art form. Upon receiving a BFA at the School of Visual Arts, he started his career as a motion graphic designer and has been living and working in New York ever since. Through his career, he has started focusing more on drawings and hand-drawn animations in which you can bend and morph in and out of shape, space and time.