Rea Tajiri is an American video artist, filmmaker, and screenwriter, known for her personal essay film History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige (1991).
In 1993 she made Yuri Kochiyama: Passion for Justice, a documentary about the Nisei Japanese American human rights activist.
[6] Currently, Tajiri is working on a documentary feature entitled Wisdom Gone Wild,[7] a film which details her sixteen-year journey as a caregiver for her mother who had dementia.
Tajiri is credited as being a groundbreaking documentary filmmaker for brilliantly weaving together different narratives, taking from found footage but also her own history and experiences.
Lynn Voedisch Chicago Sun Times[8] "Tajiri often focuses her inquiry on the representation of Asian-Americans in popular media.
Electronic Art Intermix[9] An experimental film which reflects the memory of Tajiri's mother of the war period which she lived in.
This ability to highlight a character, topic, or event that is absent without confusion or misunderstanding is difficult to achieve for a filmmaker, but Tajiri certainly succeeds in doing so (Streamas).
Tajiri goes against societal norms in Strawberry Fields, where protagonist Irene, a third generation Japanese American woman, publicly flaunts her inner rage.
Tajiri brought attention to identity within filmmaking, displaying cultural tensions and curiosities in order to educate her audience through the story she is telling within specific films.