05/28/2026
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Join us at the Closing Reception of Asian American Heritage Month as we celebrate the Spokane-premiere of the award-winning documentary feature, Third Act—an exploration on art, activism, grief, and fatherhood about the godfather of Asian American media, Robert Nakamura, through the lens of his son, Tadashi.
📅 Friday, May 29, 2026
⏰ 6:00pm, doors at 5:30pm, with a special Lion Dance performance from GĐPT La Hầu La (Vietnamese Buddhist Youth Association) at 5:40pm
📍 Magic Lantern Theatre (25 W Main Ave)
🎤 Q&A with filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura after the screening, moderated by EWU archivist Steven Bingo
☕ Free tea and treats from .spokane, until supplies last
🎟️ Free admission with registration at bit.ly/thirdact-spokane (🔗 in bio)
🎥 From Tadashi Nakamura:
My father is called the “godfather of Asian American media” for his pioneering work in the field, but it took me years to see him as such, because to me he was just Dad. At first, I thought people called him that because he was old. He was 44 years old when I was born, twice the age of most of my friends’ fathers.
When I finally grasped how much he has done, I was more intimidated than proud. Perhaps if I hadn’t followed in his footsteps – the fledgling filmmaking son of a bona fide filmmaking legend – I wouldn’t have been so petrified. I remember after making my first film, my mother – who has written and produced many of my father’s films – introduced me as “the new and improved Robert Nakamura.” She meant that as a compliment but I was mortified. How could I ever live up to what he has done?
It has taken me awhile – over the course of making four films of my own – to realize that I don’t have to be him. He taught me better than that. Like the others he mentored over thirty years of teaching, he helped me develop my own voice, my own vision. He has passed on two things: the privilege, as well as the responsibility to tell our own stories – he, his generation’s, and me, I realize, my own.
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