Victor Shibata Rest in Power

Last week we said goodbye to a true friend, teacher and healer, Victor Shibata. As a founding member of the Yellow Brotherhood and one of the original organizers of the Manzanar pilgrimage, Victor helped build the strong Japanese American community that raised me. When I was in high school he would tell me stories of what the Crenshaw community was like back in the day, these conversations lead to my first two films, Yellow Brotherhood and Pilgrimage, he is featured in both. I owe so much to Victor and still can't believe he's gone.

Here's the tribute reel I cut for my dad's (Robert Nakamura) retirement reception. Besides founding three major institutions (Visual Communications / JANM's Media Arts Center / UCLA's Center for EthnoCommunications) and training an army of filmmakers, he also made a lot of good films.