Synopsis

Free Admission! The screening will be followed by a discussion and Q&A with filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura.

Generations of artists call Robert A. Nakamura “The Godfather of Asian American film,” but his son, Tad, calls him Dad. As the filmmaking son of a filmmaking legend, Tad uses the lessons his dad taught him to decipher the legacy of an aging man who was a child survivor of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans, a successful photographer who gave it up to tell his own story, an activist at the dawn of a social movement—and a father whose struggles have won his son freedoms that eluded Japanese Americans of his generation. As Parkinson’s Disease clouds his memory, Tad sets out to retrieve his story—and in the process discovers his own. The two have made films together, with Robert always by Tad’s side. THIRD ACT is most likely the last.

Image: Photographer – Robert A. Nakamura, Courtesy of THIRD ACT, ©Robert A. Nakamura

This screening is presented as part of UCR ARTS’ AAPI Film Series Supported by the Voy and Fay Wong Family Endowment.

Trailer

Film Details

Director: Tadashi Nakamura
Country: USA
Release Year: 2025
Running Time: 91 minutes

Reviews

“Tadashi Nakamura takes on a lot with “Third Act” since it’s a historical and educational documentary while also being a very personal story. He succeeds.” — Murtada Elfadl, Variety