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-bereted 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:

"Les chats de Mirikitani" - France
"Oi gates tou Mirikitani" - Greece (festival title)

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Lucid Dreaming

Personal documentary of the life and work of New York City artist

When film maker Linda Hattendorf stumbles upon Japanese-American artist Jimmy Mirikitani on the streets of Soho, he is huddled for warmth under the awning of a Deli, drawing charming, stylized, joyful pictures of cats. They get acquainted, and she starts filming. The morning of 9-11 she rescues him from the horror and chaos of the streets, and he comes to live with her. They make the "Odd Couple" look tame, and she continues to unravel the stories of his life from his birth in Sacramento 80 years before, to his growing up in Hiroshima, to his return to the U.S. just before WWII---and just in time to be carted off to one of the "internment camps" for Japanese Americans.

The film follows Jimmy as he reveals more and more of his past, and follows Hattendorf as she helps him put together a life off the streets, and eventually to a reunion of internees at the Tule Lake Camp in California. This is a loving portrait, exquisitely filmed and told in a way that unfolds without pretense. Even when Jimmy draws parallels between his family's tragedy at Hiroshima and the tragedy of American stereotyping and anti-Arab sentiment after 9-11, the film is not heavy-handed or "preachy." It is simply lovely and poignant.

Hattendorf set out to film this interesting character (and wonderful artist---he calls himself a "grand master," and not without reason) and ended up giving him a new existence and helping him tie up many of the "loose ends" of his life---and letting us get to know both of them intimately and without judgment.

This is the simple art of film making and story telling at its best.