The lecture with Randall Okita has been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances.
Artist and filmmaker Randall Okita will deliver the lecture “Bridging Generations: Memory, Virtual Reality, and the Art of Reclaiming Lost Narratives in ‘The Book of Distance’” on Monday, October 6, at 5:00 p.m.
About the Speaker
Randall Okita is an artist and filmmaker known for his use of rich visual language and innovative storytelling. His films have screened at Sundance, Venice, Tribeca and TIFF, while his art has appeared in galleries and museums worldwide. With over twenty international awards, including two Canadian Screen Awards, a Webby, and a Japan Prize, Okita continues to push boundaries internationally.
Recent work includes the IFC feature film See for Me (Tribeca, BFI London), the VR experience The Book of Distance (Sundance, Venice), the solo exhibition A Place Between at the Prince Takamado Gallery in Tokyo, and Transport to Another World at The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul.
Of Irish and Japanese descent, Okita was born in Calgary and now splits his time between Toronto and Tokyo. An active mentor and educator, he believes in fostering creative communities.
About the Documentary
In 1935, Yonezo Okita left his home in Hiroshima, Japan, and began a new life in Canada. Then war and state-sanctioned racism changed everything—he became the enemy. Three generations later, his grandson, artist Randall Okita, leads us on an interactive virtual pilgrimage through an emotional geography of immigration and family to recover what was lost.
Register for the VR Experience
Audience members will be able to view this short documentary by signing up for timed one-hour slots at two campus locations at Hesburgh Libraries and Jenkins Nanovic Halls. Staff will be present to assist the user of the virtual reality (VR) equipment throughout the entire session.
Make an Appointment: Fall 2025 Book of Distance Virtual Reality Experience
Available between September 29 and October 6, 2025
About the Series
The film series Voicing Intergenerational Trauma in Postwar Korea and Japan through Contemporary Cinema explores how trauma is experienced intergenerationally in the family within the context of East Asia. Research demonstrates that trauma has lasting effects that reverberate beyond the victims who directly experience it (Cai and Lee 2022; Cho 2006). Families are the primary site where trauma is experienced and transferred across generations. This series sheds light on how these dynamics play out through a gendered lens within the context of East Asia, which has been profoundly shaped by ethnocentric violence during the Japanese imperial period and World War II, as well as social and economic upheaval following the outbreak of civil wars and the spread of Cold War politics in the 20th century.
The series is sponsored by the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, and Hesburgh Libraries with support from the Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Public Good, College of Arts & Letters, University of Notre Dame.