For more than twenty-five years, independent filmmakers Nancy Kelly and Kenji Yamamoto have been making critically-acclaimed films that have screened in theaters, film festivals, museums, and communities worldwide and aired on PBS, Showtime, Sundance, and Britain’s Channel Four, (among others). Their filmmaking philosophy is to take alternative looks at stories, themes and characters and to tell specific stories from which audiences can generalize universal truths.
Their work includes a documentary trilogy about the transformative power of art: Downside UP, Smitten, and Trust: Second Acts in Young Lives. They explored the roles of women and minorities in the American West in Thousand Pieces of Gold and Cowgirls: Portraits of American Ranch Women. Their documentary Rebels with a Cause illuminates the power of ordinary people to change their world.
Nancy and Kenji attended the Sundance June Lab with their narrative feature Thousand Pieces of Gold Kenji attended the Sundance Documentary Lab as the editor of New Muslim Cool with producer/director Jennifer Maytorena Taylor.
Nancy’s and Kenji’s films have been funded by the Ford Foundation, PBS American Playhouse, MacArthur Foundation, ITVS, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts, Gerbode Foundation, Driehaus Foundation, Columbia Foundation, Fleishhacker Foundation, Woods Fund of Chicago, LEF, Pacific Pioneer Fund, and many others.
Nancy is available to consult on many aspects of filmmaking.
NANCY KELLY
Nancy Kelly is an independent filmmaker, working in documentary and narrative film. With Kenji Yamamoto, she made Rebels with a Cause, Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress, Frances McDormand, Rebels with a Cause is about ordinary citizens who banded together to protect and preserve open spaces near urban areas for parks and farms from rampant development. Rebels aired on public television through American Public Television. Prior to Rebels, she created a documentary trilogy about the transformative power of art. Trust: Second Acts in Young Lives which aired on the PBS America ReFramed series. Smitten which aired as a PBS Primetime Special, where 100% of PBS stations aired it. Downside UP which aired on the PBS Independent Lens series and internationally on the series True Stories: Life in the USA. She directed and produced a trilogy of films that take an alternative view of the American West, including the narrative film Thousand Pieces of Gold, starring Rosalind Chao and Chris Cooper.
Nancy is a self-taught filmmaker. She was a fellow at the Sundance Institute Directors Lab; at the Banff Centre for the Arts; and at the Bay Area Video Coalition MediaMaker program. She is a member of New Day Films.
Nancy is available to consult on many aspects of filmmaking.
KENJI YAMAMOTO
Kenji Yamamoto has been editing and producing documentary and narrative films for over 30 years, winning numerous awards. As part of Kelly+Yamamoto Productions, he edited and produced the 1991 narrative feature Thousand Pieces of Gold, which participated in the Sundance Institute Screenwriting Lab and went on to premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Additionally, Goldscreened at the Deauville Festival of American Film, and the international film festivals in London, Moscow, Vancouver, and Seattle. Gold then aired on the PBS American Playhouse series, on Channel Four in the U.K., and around the world.
Kenji produced and edited the acclaimed documentaries Downside UP, Smitten, Trust: Second Acts in Young Lives, and Rebels with a Cause. When it premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival, Rebels won an audience favorite award. Downside UP aired nationally on the PBS Independent Lens series; Smitten aired nationally as a PBS Primetime Special; Trust aired nationally on the PBS World America ReFramed series; and Rebels aired nationally on PBS through American Public Television.
Independently of Kelly+Yamamoto Productions, Kenji edited the documentary New Muslim Cool, which participated in the Sundance Documentary Edit and Story Lab. Cool follows Hamza Perez, a Puerto Rican immigrant, hip hop artist, single father, and former drug dealer down on his luck. He rebuilds his shattered life by becoming a Muslim and takes his newfound message to youth in his rough neighborhood. But when the FBI raids his mosque, Hamza must confront the realities of the post-9/11 world, and himself. Cool premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival, won the Freedom Award at the Al Jazeera International Film Festival, and aired nationally on the PBS P.O.V. series.
Kenji also edited the documentary States of Grace which received audience favorite awards at the Mill Valley, Napa Valley, and Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festivals. Grace tells the story of a revered physician who struggles with her injuries after surviving a near-fatal head-on collision on the Golden Gate Bridge. In her radically altered life, she embarks on a journey of loss, resilience, and renewal.
Kenji studied painting and experimental filmmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute. He also studied at the Jean Shelton School for Actors and Judith Weston Studio for Actors and Directors.
2012 Rebels with a Cause
2010 TRUST: Second Acts in Young Lives
2005 Smitten
2002 Downside UP
1991 Thousand Pieces of Gold
1986 Cowgirls
1983 Sweeping Ocean Views
1982 A Cowhand’s Song
2015 | On Screen In Person tour |
2014 | EarthJustice |
2013 | Cal Humanities in Partnership with the NEH Marin Community Foundation |
2012 | Susi Tompkins Buell Fund Drexler Estate Fund Nu Lambda Trust |
2011 | Kira and Bradley Haas Fund Mulago Foundation Seligmann Foundation MediaMaker Fellowship, Bay Area Video Coalition |
2010 | LEF Foundation Marin Community Foundation Fred Gellert Family Foundation National Endowment for the Arts |
2009 | The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation |
2007 | Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Artists Residency, Villa Montalvo |
2006 | Cal Humanities in Partnership with the NEH |
2005 | Residency, Working Films |
2004 | Independent Television Service |
2003 | Artists Residency, Mesa Refuge |
2002 | Ford Foundation |
2001 | Independent Television Service National Endowment for the Arts |
2000 | Artists Residency, Banff Centre for the Arts Artists Residency, McDowell Colony |
1999 | Artists Residency, Banff Centre for the Arts |
1998 | Artists Residency, Yaddo |
1989 | Film Four International |
1988 | American Playhouse Theatrical Films Corporation for Public Broadcasting Maverick Films International |
1987 | Fellowship: Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab |
1984 | Oregon Humanities |
1983 | Cal Humanities Nevada Humanities |
1981 | Delegate: INPUT |
1979 | National Endowment for the Arts Nevada Humanities |
1978 | Cal Humanities |
AWARDS
MAJOR PUBLIC SHOWINGS
2012 | World Premiere, Mill Valley Film Festival |
2013-2014 | Cleveland International Film Festival California Historical Society, San Francisco Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe Ecofalante Environmental Film Festival, Sao Paolo, Brazil Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital, Smithsonian Institution Anacostia Museum Theatrical release: 28 cinemas in 14 states, including an 11 week run at the Smith Rafael Film Center |
2014-2017 | Broadcast PBS stations nationwide (83% carriage) |
2015 | On Screen/In Person Film Series, National Endowment for the Arts-funded tour of the mid-Atlantic states |
AWARDS
MAJOR PUBLIC SHOWINGS
2010 | World Premiere, Mill Valley Film Festival |
2011 | Denver International Film Festival Cleveland International Film Festival Cine Las Americas International Film Festival Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival On Screen/In Person Film Series, National Endowment for the Arts-funded tour of the mid-Atlantic states Costa Rica International Film Festival, Montezuma Boston Latino International Film Festival |
2012 | MediaMaker Fellowship, Bay Area Video Coalition |
2013 | Mumbai International Women’s Film Festival Southern Tour of Independent Cinema |
2013–2014 | Broadcast PBS WORLD America ReFramed series |
AWARDS
MAJOR PUBLIC SHOWINGS
2005 | World Premiere, Mill Valley Film Festival |
2006 | DC Independent Film Festival Aspen Shortsfest Nashville Film Festival International Festival of Films on Art, Montreal Silverdocs Film Festival Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films Los Angeles International Festival of Short Films Starz International Film Festival, Denver Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival Cleveland International Film Festival Ashland Independent Film Festival Independent Feature Project Market Oakland Museum of California |
2006–2011 | Broadcast PBS Primetime Special |
MAJOR PUBLIC SHOWINGS
2002 | World Premiere, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art South by Southwest Film Festival Cleveland International Film Festival Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco Institute of Contemporary Art, Chicago The Point Arts Center, Bronx Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle Asociación de Músicos Latino Americanos, Philadelphia Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio Phoenix Art Museum |
2003–2007 | Broadcast PBS Independent Lens series |
2007–2017 | Broadcast ITVS True Stories: Life in the USA series, 125 countries |
AWARDS
MAJOR PUBLIC SHOWINGS
1990–1991 | World Premiere, San Francisco International Film Festival Vancouver International Film Festival, British Columbia London International Film Festival, London Moscow International Film Festival, Russia Cork International Film Festival, Ireland Galway International Film Festival, Ireland Festival International du Film, Amiens, France Deauville Festival of American Cinema, France Festival de Cinéma Jeune, Paris National Film Theater, London Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago Denver International Film Festival, Denver Hawaii International Film Festival, Honolulu Mill Valley Film Festival, Mill Valley Gene Autry Museum, Los Angeles Cannes Market, Festival des Cannes Independent Feature Project Market, New York City |
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1992–1993 | Theatrical Release: top twenty US markets; Switzerland, France | |
1993–1997 | Broadcast PBS American Playhouse series Broadcast Channel Four (UK) Broadcast worldwide |
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1998–present | Broadcast Showtime; Sundance; Starz; TBS; Encore; and Romance channels Other distribution: Netflix, Amazon Prime.com, HULU |
AWARDS
MAJOR PUBLIC SHOWINGS
1985 | World Premiere, Mill Valley Film Festival |
1986 | Sundance Film Festival San Francisco International Film Festival Cinema du Reel Centre Pompidou Tyneside Film Festival, Newcastle upon Tyne Denver International Film Festival Hawaii International Film Festival Women in the Director’s Chair Cleveland International Film Festival Women in Film Festival, Los Angeles |
1987–1992 | Broadcast National Geographic Explorer series, Turner Broadcasting System Broadcast various public television stations Channel Four (UK) |
AWARDS
MAJOR PUBLIC SHOWINGS
1983 | Broadcast KQED public television, San Francisco |
AWARDS
MAJOR PUBLIC SHOWINGS
1982 | American Film Festival |
1983 | INPUT, Toronto Broadcast KQED, San Francisco; KCET, Los Angeles |
Number of independent films made
Most years to make a film
Longest standing ovation (minutes)