nobuko miyamoto singing in crowd

Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement

Experience this new sweeping documentary from JANM’s Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center and PBS SoCal that follows the life of visionary artist-activist Nobuko Miyamoto and her work that changed Asian America forever.

Featuring rare archival footage, Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement tells the story of a changing community through one of its most beloved storytellers as she reflects on decades of groundbreaking cultural work and a life that has bridged coasts, industries, families, and history. 

A co-production with PBS SoCal, the documentary will debut as part of PBS SoCal’s ARTBOUND series later this fall.

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Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement is made possible by a National Park Service Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) grant, the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, the Center for Asian American Media, and the Peng Zhao and Cherry Chen AAPI Voices Fund. 

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Past Screenings 

Bios

nobuko miyamoto singing

Nobuko Miyamoto

Born in Los Angeles, Miyamoto was only two years old when she was imprisoned in the Santa Anita temporary detention center. Upon returning to LA, she pursued dance in film and wrote A Grain of Sand, the first Asian American album. In 1978 she founded Great Leap and in 2021 she published her memoir, Not Yo’ Butterfly.

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Tadashi Nakamura

Tadashi Nakamura is an Emmy-award winning filmmaker and the director of JANM’s Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center. His films include Mele Murals (2016), Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings (2013), A Song for Ourselves (2009), and Pilgrimage (2006). He is currently a mentor for the 2024 CAAM Fellowship and recipient of the 2024 Rockwood Documentary Leaders Fellowship.

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Quyên Nguyen-Le

Quyên Nguyen-Le is a Daytime Emmy–nominated queer Vietnamese filmmaker born to refugee parents where Chumash and Tongva lands meet (San Fernando Valley, Los Ángeles). Their work focuses on the ways histories are deeply felt in the quotidian everyday. Their films have screened in film festivals, art galleries, libraries, and community spaces worldwide. 

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