ATOMIC CAFE: THE NOISIEST CORNER IN J-TOWN

ATOMIC CAFE is a fascinating story that uncovers how Little Tokyo was an underground hun for LA’s punk scene in the 80’s. It’s no surprise that this love letter to Asian American musicians and underground cultural movements is brought to you by filmmaking duo Tadashi Nakamura (JAKE SHIMABUKURO: LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS) and Akira Boch (THE CRUMBLES). Be one of the first to see this dynamic and powerful documentary.

Director Biographies:

Akira Boch is an Emmy-winning filmmaker and Director of the Watase Media Arts Center at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. He has an MFA in Film Directing from UCLA Film School, and has made dozens of documentaries, short films and music videos. His award-winning feature film, The Crumbles, went on a nationwide tour of theaters, festivals and universities.

Emmy-winning filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura was named one of CNN’s “Young People Who Rock” for being the youngest filmmaker at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and listed as one of the “Top Rising Asian American Directors” on IMDb. The fourth-generation Japanese American recently completed Mele Murals, a documentary on the transformative power of modern graffiti art and ancient Hawaiian culture for a new generation of Native Hawaiians. Mele Murals was broadcasted on PBS and Al Jazeera, and was nominated for an Emmy in 2018. His previous film Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings was broadcasted nationally on PBS and went on to win the 2013 Gotham Independent Film Audience Award.

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.  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.

Co-presented by: Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, A Radical Guide

THIS FILM IS AVAILABLE ON CAAMFEST ON-DEMAND.

Plays in

CULTURE CLASH

Culture has the power to change people and in these shorts, you can see that in action.