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THE GARDENER

A whimsical immigrant forges a deep-rooted bond with nature when life gives him a bitter one.

HANK AND JOLENE

When Hank, a likable recluse, meets a Madagascar hissing cockroach, an unconventional relationship blossoms – A love story 300 million years in the making.

JUNE BRIDE: REDEMPTION OF A YAKUZA

It took a missing finger to find God. JUNE BRIDE: REDEMPTION OF A YAKUZA is a feature-length documentary about Tatsuya Shindo, a former mobster turned preacher, who seeks forgiveness for a life’s worth of disappointment and crime in his makeshift church – June Bride – at one time a smoke-filled bar. Hanging on Shindo’s every word is his loyal congregation, an eclectic mix of tattooed ex-convicts and wayward souls who want to start over. Through his journey from the criminal underworld to a mission from God, Shindo declares, “Loyalty to my yakuza boss is the same as the one to God.” But will his faith cost him more than just his finger?

FISH GRENADE REEL

CURL

A short documentary detailing a bizarre, fascinating and oftentimes dangerous= rite of passage ritual for a young boy. He will enter the arena as a child, but will he emerge as a man? Will he even survive? Or more importantly, will he look good?

THE KILLING OF A CHINESE COOKIE

THE KILLING OF A CHINESE COOKIE examines the heated debate over the true origin of the fortune cookie, the mixing of Eastern and Western cultures that produced it, and the cookie’s rise from a simple pastry to a pop culture phenomenon.

DEREK SHIMODA

Writer/Producer/Director

Derek produced the feature film IN MY LIFE as well as the acclaimed documentary SECRET ASIAN MAN, an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival. He wrote, produced and directed AUTONOMOUS SOUL, winner of a Visionary award at the Pan African Film Festival. His debut documentary feature THE KILLING OF A CHINESE COOKIE was a Best Documentary winner at the Sapporo Asian Film Festival of Dallas. He followed up with JUNE BRIDE: REDEMPTION OF A YAKUZA, a documentary feature about Tatsuya Shindo, a high-ranking Japanese ex-mobster-turned-preacher who ministers an eclectic mix of tattooed ex-convicts and wayward souls from his makeshift church – June Bride – at one time a smoke-filled bar. His first narrative feature, HANK & JOLENE, was selected into more than two dozen film festivals, winning eight awards including several for best film.