Preparing to interview Nikiko Masumoto on the family farm. Del Ray, California, Changing Season (photo Alan Sanchez)
Documentary Feature
Chief Attorney of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Matt Gonzalez’s post-verdict press conference, Ricochet (image Jenny Chu)
RICOCHET
Director/Producer (with Jeff Adachi), Editor
TRT: 76 mins
Festivals: over 50 screenings nationally and internationally and 14 awards
When a young woman is shot by an undocumented immigrant on Pier 14 in San Francisco, the incident ignites a political and media furor that culminates in Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States. In the eye of this storm, two public defenders fight for justice for an innocent man.
Ricochet is my third and final collaboration on a series of films about the criminal (in)justice system with the legendary San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who tragically died during postproduction. On his passing, I assumed Jeff’s role as director/producer in addition to my work as editor on the film. The film and the series gets inside the vantage point of public defenders fighting for the freedom and rights of the defenseless.
DEFENDER
Editor
TRT: 80 mins
Awards: Best Documentary (Independent Television Festival)
Premiere: The Castro Theater @ the San Francisco International Film Festival
Defender is the feature length version of the short documentary The Ride (see Documentary Shorts). It expands and deepens the investigation into racial injustice in the justice system through the eyes of San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi and his client Michael Smith. The film also explores the Office of the Public Defender’s move to represent immigrants, detained early in the first Trump presidency, in their fight against deportation.
Defender trailer (edited by co-director Jim Choi)
CHANGING SEASON: On The Masumoto Family Farm
Editor, Interviewer
TRT: 56 mins
Awards: Best Documentary Director (LA Asian Pacific Film Festival), Best Documentary Feature (Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival)
Festivals: Hawaii International Film Festival, Smithsonian Food History Festival (DC), CAAMFest, San Diego Asian American Film Fest, LA Asian Pacific Film Fest, Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Fest, Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival, SF Indiefest, Houston APFF, Chicago Asian American Film Festival, Colorado Dragon Film Festival
Broadcast: PBS, May 2016
Changing Season chronicles four seasons on the Masumoto family farm, home to among of the most sought after peaches in the world. The film follows patriarch Mas Masumoto, openly musing how many harvests he has left while training his recently returned daughter Nikiko in the family trade. Each of the family generations has had to overcome prejudice barriers: from immigrant to internment to mixed race marriage to sexuality. With the ongoing drought, how many harvests will they have left?
DOGTOWN REDEMPTION
Director (with Amir Soltani), Co-Producer, Camera, Additional Editing
TRT: 95 mins
Awards: Emmy Nominee 2017 for Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary, Audience Award for Active Cinema (Mill Valley Film Festival)
Festival Screenings: Mill Valley Film Festival (CA), Salem International Film Festival (MA), Harlem International Film Festival (NY), Festival Internacional de Cine Ambiental (Argentina)
Broadcast: Independent Lens on PBS (May 2016)
Support: Sundance Documentary Fund, California Council of Humanities, SF Film Foundation, Berkeley Film Foundation, Pacific Pioneer Fund
Dogtown Redemption follows a group of unhoused shopping cart recyclers in West Oakland, as forces of gentrification gather round them and threaten to shut down the neighborhood recycling center that is their lifeline.
I spent over 5 years with the subjects of the film: on the streets, in abandoned lots, behind and inside dumpsters, in hospitals, shelters, in all the many places they called home. It was a richly rewarding experience to bear witness to the lives of these hard working people in tough times who, no matter what the circumstances, found a way to get up every morning, or every evening, rain or shine, cold or heat, and go dig through society’s refuse for their survival.