Film Screening: Thursday April 9th, 2026 7:00pm

The Cinematheque 1131 Howe Street Vancouver 

At 92, Award–winning artist Nobuo Kubota was not slowing down, he was reinventing himself. Filmmaker Anette Mangaard helped share his latest creative focus; performance art. The film offers a bold and intimate portrait of a Japanese Canadian trailblazer whose creativity continued to evolve throughout his life.

Spanning early sculpture, sound poetry, avant-garde jazz, and live performance, Kubota’s work reflects a lifelong commitment to experimentation, bridging silence and sound, memory and innovation. The film also tells a deeply personal love story. As Kubota pushed his body and voice into new artistic territory, he was simultaneously caring for his wife Lee, then 96, who was living with advanced Alzheimer’s.

Through rare archival footage of Kubota’s work with the Canadian Creative Music Collective and the Artists’ Jazz Band, alongside haunting images from WWII internment camps, the film traces how resilience, imagination, and history shaped his life and art.

*Kubota passed away on September 30, 2025, after viewing and approving the completed film.

A post-screening conversation with director Annette Mangaard, moderated by Japanese Canadian artist Cindy Mochizuki, will follow the screening at the Cinematheque.

We are proud to co-present this program with Western Front.