The Cats of Mirikitani (2006)

Director:

Linda Hattendorf

Release Date:

7 September 2007 (Sweden)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Make art not war.

Plot:

Documentary about red-beret-ed Jimmy Mirikitani, a feisty painter working and living on the street, near the World Trade Center...

Plot Keywords:

Artist | Cat | Internment Camp | Manhattan New York City | New York City

Awards:

16 wins

Cast

Linda Hattendorf	...	Herself
Jimmy Mirikitani	...	Himself

Directed by
Linda Hattendorf

Produced by
Linda Hattendorf	....	producer
Masahiro Yoshikawa	....	producer (as Masa Yoshikawa)

Original Music by
Joel Goodman

Cinematography by
Linda Hattendorf
Masahiro Yoshikawa

Film Editing by
Keiko Deguchi
Linda Hattendorf

Production Management
Richard O'Connell	....	associate director of production: itvs

Sound Department
Philippe Desloovere	....	sound editor
James David Redding III	....	sound re-recording mixer

Editorial Department
Lucjan Gorczynski	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Chris Cliadakis	....	archival researcher
Sachio Nomura	....	archival researcher

Thanks
Zeny Abbariao	....	special thanks
Konrad Aderer	....	special thanks
Hatsumi Asaka	....	special thanks
Yuka Azuma	....	special thanks
Victor Baker	....	special thanks
Katherine Barnier	....	special thanks
David Becker	....	special thanks
David Becker	....	special thanks
Barbara Blackie	....	special thanks
Dougie Bowne	....	special thanks
Bruce Brennan	....	special thanks
Pam Brennan	....	special thanks
Peggy Brennan	....	special thanks
James Brown	....	special thanks
Ruth Brown	....	special thanks
Donna Cheng	....	special thanks
Nicholas Chin	....	special thanks
Wayne Collins Jr.	....	special thanks
Maureen Dougherty	....	special thanks
James Ehrlich	....	special thanks
Bob Eisenhardt	....	special thanks
Bronwyn Emmett	....	special thanks
Mary Engel	....	special thanks
Beth Epstein	....	special thanks
Lisa Eschenback	....	special thanks
Jo Face	....	special thanks
John Patrick Fleming	....	special thanks
Donna Weng Friedman	....	special thanks
Isao Fujimoto	....	special thanks
Asako Fujioka	....	special thanks
Toti Funara	....	special thanks
Aaron Gerow	....	special thanks
Jacob Akira Okada	....	special thanks
Seiko Ono	....	special thanks
Helen Yum	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Lucid Dreaming

Distributors

• Arsenal Filmverleih (2008) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Pandora Films (2007) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Arthouse Films (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Lucid Dreaming (2006) (USA) (all media)

Other Companies

• ABC News  archive
• Al Jazeera Satellite Channel  archive
• Astaire  advertising (Japan)
• Cable News Network (CNN)  archive
• Cine Qua Non Films  fiscal sponsor
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)  major funding
• Duart  online editing
• Getty Images  archive
• Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, The  additional funding
• Historic Films  archive
• Independent Feature Project  fiscal sponsor
• J. Willard Marriott Library  archive
• Japan Foundation, The  major funding
• Japanese American Historical Society, The  archive
• Japanese American National Museum  archive
• Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive, The  archive
• MacNeil-Lehrer Productions  archive
• Manabi and Sumi Hirasaki National Resource Center  archive (as Hirasaki National Resource Center)
• National Archives and Records Administration  archive
• New York State Council on the Arts  major funding
• Oakland Public Library, The  archive
• Online Archive of California, The  archive
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)  archive
• Santa Fe Institute  additional funding
• Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center, The  archive
• Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center, The  special thanks
• Third Millenium Films Inc.  archive
• University of California, Bancroft Library  archive
• University of Utah, Special Collections Department, The  archive
• University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, The  archive
• Village Care of New York  very special thanks

Also Known As:

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Lucid Dreaming

Amazing Discovery And Rebirth Of An Artist

That man you just passed on the street, the one wearing four layers of clothing and a month's worth of human smell stench? Yeah him. Do you know who he is? Or what his history might be? These are the questions that suddenly plague New York director and documentarian Linda Hattendorf. Seeing one of these nameless faces wandering near where she lived, Linda decided to place her lens on him. His name, she quickly learns, is Jimmy Mirikitani, and his story is almost too much to believe.

A sidewalk artist who's specialty involved drawing Japanese cats and portraits of his wartime experiences, Jimmy is a complex and talented man. And when the 9/11 attacks occur only a few blocks away from Jimmy's normal homeless home-spot, Linda takes him in so that he doesn't have to choke on the dust littering the skies immediately after the collapse of the twin towers. The attacks on the twin towers also begin echoing prejudices against Muslim Americans, a prejudice that Jimmy is far too familiar with.

As Linda's cameras continue to record Jimmy's life, we learn that not only was Jimmy a peace loving man before WW II, but he also was an up-and-coming artist ...until he and his family were forced into Japanese internment camps in California. Everything was stripped away from Jimmy, including (or so he thought) his U.S. citizenship. As Linda tries to help Jimmy both mentally and financially, she runs up against Jimmy's anger and distrust of the government. Jimmy constantly refuses her requests to find out if he's eligible for social security, often sparking outbursts against the U.S. bureaucracy. His anger, it soon become apparent, is due to his internment time, his forced signing of documents relinquishing his U.S. citizen status (even though he was born in Sacramento, California), and the WW II bombing of his beloved Hiroshima (his hometown).

In his 80s, Jimmy also doesn't know what's happened to his family. He soon learns that he has plenty living in California. But opening up to them is not an easy road as his obvious mental illness intrudes upon his better judgement.

It is a poignant and memorable documentary for the simple reason that a person took the time to get to know this homeless man and uncovered a goldmine of information about an incredible person and an artist. His images are strikingly beautiful and haunting, hearkening back to his time in the internment camps and his early career as a hopeful artist.

The story is what really sticks with you, too. As we watch Linda (the documentary maker) uncover layer after layer of this unique man, we don't pity him but, instead, begin to UNDERSTAND him. That's a huge revelation. We understand why Jimmy is so angry. Why he's so reluctant to get close to people. And why, eventually, he comes out of his lonesome cocoon. It is a rebirth worth watching ...and enjoying