Robert Akira Nakamura (July 5, 1936 – June 11, 2025) was an American filmmaker and teacher, sometimes referred to as "the Godfather of

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

media." In 1970, he cofounded

Visual Communications (VC) Visual communication is the use of visual elements to convey ideas and information which include (but are not limited to) signs, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, industrial design, advertising, animation, and electronic resourc ...

the oldest community-based

Asian Pacific American Asian/Pacific American (APA) or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) or Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) or Asian American and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) is a term sometimes used in the United States when including both Asian ...

media arts organization in the United States.

Early life

Nakamura was born in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, whe ...

, to an

Issei are Japanese immigrants to countries in North America and South America. The term is used mostly by ethnic Japanese. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are (, "two", plus , "generation"); and their grandchildren are ...

father and

Nisei is a Japanese language, Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the nikkeijin, ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants, or . The , or Second generation imm ...

mother. He was a graduate of

Art Center College of Design The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California. It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...

(B.A., 1966) and the

UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...

(M.F.A., 1975). He left a successful career in

photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

and advertising photography to become one of the first to explore, interpret and present the experiences of

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

s in film.

Filmmaker

Nakamura's personal

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

''Manzanar'' (1972) revisited childhood memories of incarceration in an American concentration camp during World War II and has been selected for major retrospectives on the documentary form at the

San Francisco Museum of Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art, and has b ...

and Film Forum,

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's ori ...

. In 1980, he co-directed ''Hito Hata: Raise the Banner'', considered to be one of the first Asian American feature films, produced by and about Asian Americans. He is the recipient of more than 30 national awards. He was the first to receive Visual Communications' Steve Tatsukawa Memorial Award in 1985 for leadership in Asian American media. In 1994, the Asian Pacific American Coalition in Cinema, Theatre & Television of UCLA instituted the "Robert A. Nakamura Award" to recognize outstanding contributions of other Asian Pacific American visual artists. In 1996, he founded the UCLA Center for EthnoCommunications. In 1997, the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

presented a retrospective of his work. Also that year, he created (with Ishizuka) the Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center at the

Japanese American National Museum The is located in Los Angeles, California, and dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Japanese Americans. Founded in 1992, it is located in the Little Tokyo area near downtown. The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affi ...

. In 1999, he was named the Japanese American Alumni Professor of Japanese American Studies at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, where he was also an emeritus professor. Nakamura's film ''Manzanar'' was preserved by the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of mot ...

in 2011.

Personal life and death

Nakamura was married to writer and media producer Karen L. Ishizuka. The couple had two children, one of whom is filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura. Nakamura died in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

on June 11, 2025, at age 88.

Filmography

*''Manzanar'' (1972) *''Wataridori: Birds of Passage'' (1975) *''Hito Hata: Raise the Banner'' (1980) *''Fool's Dance'' (1980) *''Moving Memories'' (1993) *''Looking Like the Enemy'' (1995) *''

Toyo Miyatake Toyo may refer to: Places *Tōyō, Kōchi, a town in Japan *Tōyo, Ehime, a former city in Japan *Toyo Province, a Japanese province divided in 683 *Tōyō, Kumamoto, a village located in Yatsuhiro District, Kumamoto, Japan * Tōyō, Tokyo, a ...

: Infinite Shades of Gray'' (2002)

References

External links

* Biography of Nakamura at the UCLA Asian American Studies Center based on an encyclopedia article. * * . Several films directed by Robert Nakamura can be viewed on a Vimeo channel. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamura, Robert A. 1936 births 2025 deaths American documentary filmmakers Japanese-American internees American film directors of Japanese descent UCLA Film School alumni