BIO

EDUCATION

Master of Arts, Social Documentation

University of California, Santa Cruz


Bachelor of Arts, Asian American Studies, Summa Cum Laude

University of California, Los Angeles

AWARDS

Film Audience Award, Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings – Gotham Independent Film Awards, 2013


Best Documentary Audience Award, Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings – Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2013


Best Editor, Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings – Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2013


Best Documentary Audience Award, Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings - Ashland Independent Film Festival 2013


Honorable Mention, Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings – Columbus International Film & Video Festival 2012


Honorable Mention, Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings - UrbanWorld Film Festival, 2012


Best Medium Length Film, Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings – DocuWest Film Festival 2012


Official Selection - American Film Showcase, Pilgrimage, 2012


Awarded National Endowment for the Arts filmmaker's grant for production of Jake Shimaburo: Life On Four Strings, 2011


JACL Pacific Southwest District 2010 Community Honoree Award


Best Documentary Short, A Song For Ourselves – RiverRun Film Festival, 2010


Gold Remi Award, A Song For Ourselves – WorldFest-Houston International Film & Video Festival, 2010


Best Documentary Film,  A Song For Ourselves - Pomona Valley Film Festival, 2010


Audience Choice Award, A Song For Ourselves - Pomona Valley Film Festival, 2010


Gold Kahuna Award, A Song For Ourselves – Honolulu Film Festival, 2010


Best Documentary Film, , A Song For Ourselves – Bronx Independent Film Festival, 2009


Best Documentary Short Film, A Song For Ourselves - Urbanworld Film Festival, 2009


Best Short Documentary, A Song For Ourselves - DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival, 2009


Cine Golden Eagle Award, A Song For Ourselves – Documentary Short, Independent Division, 2009


Special Jury Award, A Song For Ourselves – San Diego Asian Film Festival, 2009


Best Short Film, A Song For Ourselves - Austin Asian American Film Festival, 2009


Honorable Mention, A Song For Ourselves – Columbus International Film + Video Festival, 2009


30 Most Influential Asian American Under 30, Angry Asian Man.com, 2009


Ebata Memorial Community Artist Award, 2009


CNN’s Young People Who Rock, 2008


Official Selection – Sundance Film Festival, Pilgrimage - Sundance Film Festival, 2008


Best Director, Pilgrimage - Show Off Your Shorts Film Festival, 2008


Best Documentary, Pilgrimage - Show Off Your Shorts Film Festival, 2008


Best Editor, Pilgrimage - Show Off Your Shorts Film Festival, 2008


Best Historical Short Film, Pilgrimage - FirstGlance Film Festival, 2008


New Directors / New Visions Award, Pilgrimage - Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2007


Best Documentary Short Jury Prize, Pilgrimage - Sacramento Film & Music Festival, 2007


Best Documentary Short, Pilgrimage - Asian Film Festival of Dallas, 2007


Best Student Film, Pilgrimage - Honolulu International Film Festival, 2007


Best Documentary Short Award, Yellow Brotherhood - San Diego Asian Film Festival, 2004


Chancellor’s Service Award - University of California, Los Angeles, June 2003


Yuri Kochiyama Award - University of California, Los Angeles, June 2003


Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, 2003


Golden Key Honor Society, 2002


National Society of Collegiate Scholars, 2000

Tadashi Nakamura was named one of CNN’s “Young People Who Rock” for being the youngest filmmaker at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival as well as one of the “30 Most Influential Asian Americans Under 30” by the popular website Angry Asian Man.  The fourth generation Japanese American recently completed his first full-length documentary Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings on internationally acclaimed ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro – which was broadcasted nationally on PBS in May, 2013. The film went on to win the 2013 Gotham Independent Film Audience Award, beating out 12 Years a Slave and Fruitvale Station.


Nakamura’s trilogy of documentary films on the Japanese American experience, Yellow Brotherhood (2003), Pilgrimage (2007) and A Song for Ourselves (2009) have garnered over 20 awards at film festivals around the world.  Nakamura has a M.A. in Social Documentation from UC Santa Cruz, a B.A. in Asian American Studies from UCLA where he graduated Summa Cum Laude.