Don't miss this rare screening of El México más Cercano a Japón / The Closest Mexico to Japan. The screening will be followed by a conversation with the film's Director/Producer/Editor, Shinpei Takeda.

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DESCRIPTION

Sponsored by the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture (CJRC)

This 48 minute documentary reveals rather unknown history of Japanese community in Tijuana that has existed since the 1920s. The documentary weaves the images taken by the first documentary photographer of Tijuana, Kingo Nonaka with testimonials from the first, second and the third generations of Japanese immigrants. The documentary also highlights the history of post-globalized city Tijuana by shedding light on stories like plight of Japanese community during the World War II all the way to a story of contemporary economical and cultural point of connection between Japan and Mexico. The screnning will be followed by conversation with the film's Director/Producer/Editor, Shinpei Takeda.

Bio
Shinpei Takeda is a visual artist and filmmaker based in Tijuana, Mexico and in Düsseldorf, Germany. His works involve a wide range of themes regarding memories and history. He uses multi-media installations, sound interventions, documentary films, installations, and collaborative community projects in various private and public contexts.

Shinpei is a Founder and Creative Director of The AJA Project, a nonprofit dedicated to working with resettled refugee children in San Diego and displaced youth in Colombia and Thailand using a participatory photography. As a documentary filmmaker he has worked on films with diverse topics including pre-WWII Japanese immigration to Tijuana, Mexico and the atomic bomb survivors living in the Americas (www.atopus.net). As an artist, he creates site-specific installations / interventions such as an outdoor urban photo montage in collaboration with the community, or visual installations on floor of a gallery. As a musician/performance artist, he directs Ghost Magnet Roach Motel.

His works have been shown in National Geographic Explorers’ Halls 2003, the United Nations Headquarters in New York 2004, the Foreign Correspondence Club in Bangkok 2004, the Chaing Mai University Art Center 2005, the San Diego Museum of Art 2006, the Immigrant Memorial in Sao Paulo 2008, enTijuanarte 2009, Naval Training Center 2010, the Cultural Institute of Baja California 2009, 2010 and CECUT 2010. His films have been shown in festivals like the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2009, the Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival 2010, andNippon Connection in Frankfurt 2011.

Lunch will be served.