Linda Ohama Explained

Linda Ohama is a Canadian artist and filmmaker. She is most noted for her 2001 film Obāchan's Garden.

Career

Ohama's first feature-length documentary was Obāchan's Garden, released in 2001. The film centred on Ohama's grandmother, Asayo Murakami,[1] and was partly filmed in Onomichi.[2] It was a Genie Award nominee for Best Feature Length Documentary at the 22nd Genie Awards in 2001.[3] Obāchan's Garden also won five Leo Awards including Best Director for Ohama.[4]

Following the tsunami that hit Japan's Tohoku region in March 2011, Ohama began working on the documentary A New Moon over Tohoku (2016), that chronicled the tsunami and its effects. She spent over two years filming the project.[5]

She has also directed the films The Last Harvest (1994),[6] Neighbors, and Wild Horses & Cowboys, as well as two episodes of the documentary television series A Scattering of Seeds.

Ohama is principally a visual artist, whose work centres on her Japanese Canadian heritage.[7]

Personal life

Ohama was born and raised in Rainier, Alberta on a potato farm. Her family lost the farm in the 1990s.

Notes and References

  1. Davis . Rocío G. . 2008 . Locating Family: Asian-Canadian Historical Revisioning in Linda Ohama’s Obaachan’s Garden and Ann Marie Fleming’s The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam . Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d'études canadiennes . 42 . 1 . 1–22 . 1911-0251.
  2. Web site: Endo Greenaway . John . 2016-09-06 . A New Moon Over Tohoku . 2022-11-18 . The Bulletin . en-US.
  3. [Michael Posner (journalist)|Michael Posner]
  4. Web site: Lanthier . Nancy . 2016-10-03 . Linda Ohama documents psychic and social costs still borne by survivors of the Japanese tsunami . 2022-11-18 . POV Magazine . en-US.
  5. Web site: Eisner . Ken . 29 September 2016 . VIFF 2016: Linda Ohama ponders Japan after the flood with A New Moon Over Tohoku . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220602023725/https://www.straight.com/movies/797151/viff-2016-linda-ohama-ponders-japan-after-flood-new-moon-over-tohoku . 2 June 2022 . 29 November 2022 . The Georgia Straight . en.
  6. Bonnie Malleck, "Love and loss on the farm; Daughter chronicles her Alberta family's struggles". Edmonton Journal, March 24, 1994.
  7. https://www.burnabynow.com/local-arts/burnaby-art-gallery-marks-asian-heritage-month-2977774 "Burnaby Art Gallery marks Asian Heritage Month"