Chris is an award-winning director and actor. He received an Academy Award® for directing the dramatic short film, Visas and Virtue (1997), a re-telling of the heroic actions of Holocaust rescuer Chiune Sugihara. He also co-wrote the screenplay, adapted from a one-act play by Tim Toyama, and starred as the Humanitarian diplomat Sugihara. He directed, co-wrote and starred, as well, in the World War II Japanese American internment short film, Day of Independence (2003), which was nominated for a NATAS Northern California Area Emmy. These two directorial works from Chris came out of his own Cedar Grove Productions, an indie entertainment house aiming to "Boldly defy mainstream Hollywood by giving Asian Americans the close-up onscreen." Cedar Grove Productions currently has two feature films in development, which could have Chris returning to the director's chair.
Chris has starred in numerous independent feature films, most notably as the romantic lead opposite Joan Chen, Allison Sie, Kelly Hu and Autumn Reeser, in Eric Byler's Americanese (2006), which garnered a Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Ensemble Cast at SXSW. He was nominated for Best Actor at Austin Revolution Film Festival for his performance as hard-nosed patriarch Uncle Bob in Paul Daisuke Goodman's No No Girl (2022), and awarded Best Actor in a Supporting Role at Love International Film Festival, for his portrayal of Papa Nakaji in Tim Savage's WWII family drama, Under the Blood Red Sun (2014), from producer Dana Satler Hankins. Other recent roles include real-life educator/activist Shigeo Yoshida in Alexander Bocchieri's Go For Broke (2018), from producer/screenwriter Stacey Hayashi, and an alcoholic father in Lily Mariye's feature directorial debut, Model Minority (2012).
Follow on instagram: @christashima @cedargroveprods