THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI

FRIDAY 6 OCTOBER AT 12:45PM

Country USA Running Time 74  Format Pal Digi Director Linda Hattendorf   Producers Linda Hattendorf, Masahiro Yoshikawa Featuring Jimmy Mirikitani, Tsutomu Mirikitani Print Source Lucid Dreaming inc Email  mobius4@ix.netcom.com  website www.thecatsofmirikitani.com

“How is your memory?” a welfare worker asks eighty-year-old Jimmy Mirikitani whose memory is very good indeed. He is unlikely to forget the terrible events that have befallen him during his life. Jimmy is an extremely talented artist and one of New York’s many homeless but he is also a living testament to America’s shameful past

Despite being born a US citizen, Jimmy was among the 120,000 alien enemy put in camps across America during World War II merely for being of Japanese origin. The 9/11 attacks occur during Linda Hattendorf’s documentary with Jimmy calmly sketching the fall of the Twin Towers. The resulting racist backlash against Arab-Americans and calls for their internment in camps are all too familiar to the old man.

With the city’s air clogged with dust and hatred, Hattendorf offers Jimmy refuge in her flat and the film follows their developing friendship. Jimmy behaves like a strict and sometimes irascible father figure while Hattendorf helps him rebuild his life and come to terms with his painful experiences.

This deeply moving film serves as a timely reminder of the appalling lengths a country may go to in the name of security. It is also a remarkable portrait of an amazing and unforgettable man. AD

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