STRAWBERRY FIELDS (1997) with filmmaker Rea Tajiri in attendance
(Rea Tajiri, 1997, digital, 90 min)

A tumultuous coming-of-age film, a politically-charged road movie, a multigenerational ghost story–Rea Tajiri’s 1997 feature film debut STRAWBERRY FIELDS covers a lot of ground, as if to make up for the exclusion of Asian American voices from so many of American indie cinema’s flagship genres. The film’s powderkeg energy is palpable in the film’s editing and especially in Suzy Nakamura’s raw-nerve performance as Irene Kawai, a Japanese-American teenager living in Northside Chicago in the early 1970s. Irene’s grief at the loss of her sister ignites a simmering anger about the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II—and the conspiracy of silence that followed. Scripted with award-winning novelist Kerri Sakamoto, Tajiri’s film deftly blends the poetic examination of family trauma that had defined her essential 1991 documentary HISTORY AND MEMORY: FOR AKIKO AND TAKASHIGE with rich characterization, period evocation, and a soundtrack by Chicago indie rock luminaries Sooyoung Park and Bundy K. Brown.

After the screening, Tajiri will appear in conversation with Paloma Martinez, Assistant Professor of Radio/TV/Film at Northwestern.

Co-presented with support from the Michael and Jane Hoffman Visiting Artist Series and the MFA in Documentary Media at Northwestern.

A close-up of a woman with long hair, showing an intense expression, seated in a vehicle with a blurred figure behind her.

About the Filmmaker:

REA TAJIRI is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist and educator who creates installation, documentary and experimental films. Her work situates itself in poetic, non-traditional storytelling forms to encourage dialog and reflection around buried histories. Her groundbreaking, award-winning film, digital video, and installation has been supported by numerous grants, fellowships, and artistic residencies, and has been exhibited widely in museums, on television and in international film festivals. As an advocate of emerging artists and directors, Rea co-founded The Workshop, an incubator for Asian American film directors in New York City. Tajiri has worked extensively throughout the U.S. as a visiting professor and artist-in-residence, and is currently an Associate Professor in the Film Media Arts department at Temple University. Tajiri is a winner of the 2023 Chicken & Egg Award, a 2022 JustFilms/Ford Foundation grant, and the 2021 Independence Public Media Foundation Award. Tajiri’s other awards include the Leeway Transformation Award, a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, two Rockefeller Intercultural Media Fellowships, two New York Fellowship in the Arts and two NEA Visual Arts Fellowships.

A person wearing a cap operates a film camera on a set, with crew members in the background.

Image credit: Rea Tajiri on location for Strawberry Fields, courtesy of the artist

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Tags: Block Museum, Cinema, Evanston, free, Northwestern University, Rea Tajiri, STRAWBERRY FIELDS