Orinne JT Takagi
Revson Fellow 2000-2001
Independent Filmmaker
Takagi Productions
Orinne JT Takagi is an independent filmmaker, whose work targets social issues. A graduate of Hunter High School, Antioch College, and NYU’s graduate film program, Ms. Takagi grew up on Manhattan’s upper west side and was led to her vocation as a social-issues filmmaker by her growing awareness of her family and community’s history of discrimination and suffering from the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
A high school activist in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, she returned to New York City after graduating from college. For over 15 years, she has been connected with Third World Newsreel, a progressive media center that produces and distributes films and videos that focus on people of color and social justice issues, while providing training for low-income and minority artists in New York City.
In addition to her long term volunteer work with Third World Newsreel, Ms. Takagi earns a living a sound recordist for documentaries and social issue films ranging from the acclaimed series Eyes on the Prize II, to Four Little Girls, Spike Lee’s film on the 1963 Birmingham church bombing.
Ms. Takagi is a long-term activist, working with New York City Asian community groups involved in local and international social justice issues, and her own films often stem from such community involvement.
As an independent filmmaker, she has made five films, all of which focus on issues particularly affecting Asians, Asian immigrants, and Asian Americans, from the resettlement problems of southeast Asian refugees after the Vietnamese war to the struggles of Korean women working in prostitution around U.S. military bases.
While at Columbia, Ms. Takagi intends to sharpen her research and analytical skills by taking courses in international affairs, foreign policy making, and labor and popular struggles in the global political economy.
(The Revson Fellow’s biography that appears above was last updated in 2000. Revson Fellows may update their biographies on this site by sending email to: revson@columbia.edu)
The Revson Program is an unparalleled opportunity for committed New Yorkers to refuel-through conversations, classes, projects and reflection. For me, the Revson year provided a much-needed pause to assess the past and plan for the future, with guidance and support from the academic and activist communities. At the end of the year, I emerged stronger and clearer about my work goals, and personally more enriched and replenished by new relationships with colleagues and professors. With the Revson network and annual meetings to look forward to, the program keeps sustaining those of us working to make New York City a better place to live for all New Yorkers.
