A Japanese Canadian photographer joins the civil rights movement—darkroom in one hand, identity crisis in the other.
Between Pictures: The Lens of Tamio Wakayama tells the epic journey of the late Japanese Canadian photographer Tamio Wakayama who decides to join the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the deep south during the 1960’s American civil rights movement. Learning the art of dark room photography along the way, this transformative moment in time allows him to confront his own identity and return ‘home’ to the west coast of Canada to begin a body of photographic work that continues to celebrate, re-present and document the spirit of Japanese Canadians who resided in the former Paueru Gai/Powell Street neighborhoods.
Cinematography
Stunning blend of archival photos and lyrical animation.
Direction
Cindy Mochizuki crafts personal history with delicate precision.
Director
Cindy Mochizuki
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Wakayama was among the few Asian Americans to document SNCC from the inside, creating a rare bridge between Japanese Canadian internment trauma and Black American civil rights struggle.
Director Cindy Mochizuki spent years accessing Wakayama's unpublished archives, discovering he never developed hundreds of civil rights negatives—visual ghosts he couldn't face until decades later.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
CA
