KIYOSHI, A Feature-Length Documentary on the Life of Kiyoshi Kuromiya (working title)
- Rob Buscher
- Asian American Studies Program (ASAM), School of Arts & Sciences
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Independent Creative Production Grant
Replica of Kiyoshi's apartment with projection of 1984 Heart Mountain pilgrimage photo. Courtesy of the artist.
Rob Buscher is co-producing a feature-length documentary on Kiyoshi Kuromiya, a 3rd-generation Japanese American born in a WWII prison camp in 1943. Kuromiya went on to organize in civil rights, anti-Vietnam War, gay liberation, HIV/AIDS, and other progressive movements until he succumbed to medical complications of AIDS in 2000. This grant will specifically support a 2-day shoot in the archives at the William Way LGBT Community Center, where Kuromiya’s papers are housed. Kuromiya’s papers represent a contemporary manifestation of his life’s work. Handwritten records and other artifacts will act as a surrogate to alleviate his physical absence from the film. The film’s goal is to bring people together across communities and movements. In a time of great political uncertainty, Kuromiya’s story gives hope for what might be accomplished in difficult times. His story has the power to mobilize a diverse chorus of voices to join the current movement for collective liberation.