BIO
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.