Celebration of Nikkei Filmdom: A Tribute to Jesse Nishihata (1929-2006)
JESSE HIDEO NISHIHATA is a pioneer in Japanese Canadian documentary filmmaking. From 1966-1978 Jesse worked as a contract producer for the CBC-TV Public Affairs Department. During this time Jesse produced and directed numerous documentaries including such films as Watari Dori: A Bird of Passage (1973). Watari Dori uses Jesse’s own family history as a framework for exploring the Japanese Canadian internment. This was the first film concerning the Japanese Canadian World War II experience to be broadcasted on Canadian television.
From 1979-1995, Jesse taught film and media studies at Ryerson University’s Image Arts department. It was during this period that Jesse established himself as an independent producer and director.
Jesse’s independent productions include some of his most seminal works such as The Inquiry Film (1977). This film provides a visual report of the commission of Inquiry conducted by Mr. Justice Thomas R. Berger into the social, economic and environmental impact of a proposed pipeline in the Western Artic region known as the Mackenzie Valley.
The Inquiry Film earned Jesse the 1977 Canadian Film Award (now know as the Genie Award) for Best Documentary over 60 minutes and the Golden Athena for Best Feature Documentary at the 1978 Athens international Film Festival in Ohio.
Jesse also ventured into the avant-garde through films such as Black Earth (1988), an experimental visual-essay, which illustrates a poetic metaphor of the earth as a woman. Black Earth was filmed on location in India and was awarded a citation for Personal Vision and Cinematography at the 1988 Oakland International Film Festival.
Other notable films include Justice in Our Time: how Redress was won (1989), a video record of the Japanese Canadian fight for Redress and Catch the Spirit! (1991), which documents the Earth Spirit Festival.
Jesse’s prolific career in film opened doors for all Japanese Canadian artists and Canadian filmmakers in general as he continually brought stories otherwise ignored by the mainstream into the public consciousness. In 2006 Jesse Nishihata passed away at the age of 75.
Jesse Hideo Nishihata – Filmography
2002 Showa Shinzan. NFB. Co-Writer
1991 Skeena (unfinished) Nikkei films Inc. Producer/Director
1991 Catch the Spirit! Jesse Nishihata Productions. Producer/Director.
1989 Justice in our Time: How Redress Was Won. Jesse Nishihata Productions Producer/Director
1988 Black Earth. Black Earth Films Inc. Director
1985 A Nice Step to Take. Jesse Nishihata Productions. Producer/Director
1983 Open Circle: A Gathering of Tribal Peoples in Performance Inquiry Films Ltd/Arto Pelli Motion
Pictures Inc. Co-Producer/Director
1982 Sifted Evidence. Producer
1977 The Inquiry Film: A report on the Mackenzie Pipeline Inquiry. Inquiry Films Limited. Director
1976 Writing Canadian, Great Canadian Culture Hunt Series, CBC Current Affairs Department.
Producer/Director
1975 Orillia, Our Town. CBC Current Affairs Special. Producer
1974 Copernicus 500. CBC Current Affairs Special. Co-Writer, Producer/Director
1973 Watari Dori: A Bird of Passage. CBC Tuesday Night Series. Producer/Director
1972 Impressions of Canada. Nippon Television Production, Tokyo. Associate Producer/ Director
1972 Velikovsky: bonds of the past. CBC Tuesday Night Series, Current Affair Dept. Co-Writer,
Producer/ Director
1971 To Be Indian. CBC Tuesday Night Series, Current Affairs Dept. Producer/Director
1971 China ’71 CBC Current Affairs Special. Producer
1970 Life Game. CBC Thursday Night Series, Public Affairs Dept. Producer
1967 What they want to Produce, Not What We Want to Become. CBC “Public Eye Special” Public
Affairs Dept. Producer/Director
1966 Bird of Passage. NFB. Writer
1964 Mods and Rockers. CBC “Other Voices” Series – Public affairs Dept./Researcher
