SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2025 REVIEW! Robert A. Nakamura might just be one of the most influential and essential filmmakers very few know of. As a boy, he was sent to an internment camp with his parents during the darkest part of the United States of America’s World War II involvement. This would shape Nakamura’s perception of life and as an artist. His short films captured the mood of Japanese-Americans at the time and examined how their imprisonment impacted their culture and acceptance within the States. Years later, Nakamura’s son, Tadashi Nakamura, a filmmaker of note in his own right, turns the camera toward his father as the man is getting older. The chronicling of Nakamura’s life and relation to Tadashi is Third Act.
The documentary hits the ground running, going over Nakamura’s internment and relation to his son straight away. This is appropriate as this is not only a biography of the “Godfather of Asian-American media,” it is an intimate observation of a loving father and son’s relationship. That is the secret to the film’s emotional resonance. It is one thing to go over that Robert Nakamura co-founded the oldest community-based Asian-Pacific American media arts organization in the United States, Visual Communications. That’s a notable and interesting fact, but it has little emotional influence on most audiences. But hearing an aging father confide in his son about how he hated himself for years and years is heartbreaking. Seeing the joy a family trip to Hawaii brings as several generations bond is heartwarming.
Tadashi Nakamura, Robert A. Nakamura, and Prince Nakamura appear in Third Act by Tadashi Nakamura, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
“Robert A. Nakamura might just be one of the most influential and essential filmmakers very few know of.”
But what resonates the most within Third Act is Tadashi Nakamura coming to realize just what this project actually is. Is he making the documentary as a way to keep his father’s legacy alive? Is it a way to become closer to the man, or is it to understand what it means to be a father now that he (Tadashi) is one? Is it some combination of all these ideas? Well, yes, but it didn’t start that way, and as the director films during birthdays and holidays, he realizes deep things about his relationship with his father that are heart-aching yet also lovingly warm.
Third Act works well as a biography of a little-known but noteworthy voice in Asian-American media and arts. But it works even more as an intimate look into the bond between father and son. Running just over 90 minutes, Nakamura’s love letter to his father is a fitting tribute to a mighty man whom he and all watching care for dearly.
Third Act screened at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
"…a fitting tribute to a mighty man..."
