STANDING OUR GROUND Slated Oct. 6 as Part of TAKACHIZU Gathering Space

TAKACHIZU (“treasure map”), a community “show & tell” gathering space designed to identify and reflect on that which is most valuable, celebrated, and in need of protection in Little Tokyo, is a project of Sustainable Little Tokyo initiated by +LAB, LTSC’s creative community development strategy utilizing collaboration and experimentation to advance Little Tokyo's power over its future. As a means to support the preservation and sustainability of Little Tokyo’s cultural assets amidst rapid displacement, TAKACHIZU is a community participatory asset-gathering model designed by Rosten Woo and team to help inform on-going community development efforts. TAKACHIZU is funded by ArtPlace America.

Visual Communications’ contributions to TAKACHIZU include a two-part series to share just some of its award-winning filmography, including examples of its ongoing preservation efforts in concert with the California Audio/Visual Preservation Project (CAVPP). Presentation of these works, with guests directors and other special guests, serve to articulate what VCers have determined to be valuable, pertinent stories reflecting the communities that we live, work, and play in.

“Standing Our Ground”
Thursday, October 6, 2016   7:00 PM  ｜  249 So. Los Angeles Street, LA 90012
In this first of a two-part offering, classic and little- known works from Visual Communications’ own award-winning filmography foreground the struggles and consequences of community redevelopment in the 1970s and 1980s, and the short - and long-term effects on the community. Details on the second program, slated for Dec. 2, 2016 will be published shortly.

IN PERSON (at presstime):
• Kristin Fukushima, Sustinable Little Tokyo
• Naomi Hirahara, Director, NO VACANCY
• Eddie Wong, Project Co-Director, SOMETHING’S ROTTEN IN LITTLE TOKYO

SOMETHING’S ROTTEN IN LITTLE TOKYO (LESS “ROTTEN” VERSION)
(United States, 1977) Dir.: Visual Communications; Project Directors: Duane Kubo, Eddie Wong
One of the first Visual Communications productions to be photographed using broadcast-format video, SOMETHING’S ROTTEN IN LITTLE TOKYO takes a rigorous look at the economic, political, and social forces that threatened Los Angeles Little Tokyo with extinction in the mid-1970s. An exhaustive parade of interview subjects, from local bureaucrats to elderly residents of the Sun Hotel (a prime target for demolition and resurrection as a luxury shopping mall), offers a searing indictment of the civic push for market-driven “redevelopment” efforts at the expense of the people that populates these largely minority and low-income urban communities.
Digital (originated on ¾” uMatic video), 40 minutes, color, in English, Japanese and Spanish w/E.S.

NO VACANCY
(United States, 1986) Dir.: Naomi Hirahara
Two Asian American middle-aged men, faced with the depletion of lowcost housing, find ways to survive in downtown Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo and Chinatown. This documentary is a poignant view of a segment of Asian American underclass rarely talked about.
Digital (originated on Super 8mm), 10 minutes, color