B.A., Liberal Arts concentration in Radical Pedagogy, Post-Colonial Studies, and Visual Arts, Hampshire College, 2003
M.F.A., Film Production with an emphasis in Directing, Univesity of California, Los Angeles, 2013

Masami Kawai is a Los Angeles-born filmmaker who lives in Eugene, Oregon. She’s of Ryukyuan descent from the island of Amami. Her work integrates issues of race, indigeneity, class, gender, and what it means to be an immigrant/settler in the United States. Kawai’s work has screened at various venues, including the Rotterdam Film Festival, LACMA, and Indie Memphis. Her film TIDES won Best Narrative Short at the Northwest Film Forum’s Film Festival and the Eastern Oregon Film Festival. Her film ZONA won Best Narrative Short at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.

She’s an Assistant Professor of Filmmaking at the University of Oregon. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College, where she focused on Visual Arts, Radical Pedagogy, and Post-Colonial Studies. She received her MFA in Directing from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television.

Currently, her first feature has garnered support from institutions such as Flies Collective, Gotham Film & Media Institute (previously IFP), Cine Qua Non screenwriting lab, Northwest Film Center, and the University of Oregon. 

She was also a 2023 Sundance Directing and Screenwriting Lab fellow.

Valley of the Tall Grass Screenplay

• Sundance Directors Lab // 2023
• Sundance Screenwriters Lab // 2023
• Film Independent Fast Track Market // 2022 
• Gotham Week: The Project Market // The Gotham Film & Media Institute (formerly IFP) // 2021
• Cine Qua Non Lab // Script Revision Lab // 2021

Zona 

15min // Arri Alexa // Language: Japanese & English

Writer, Director, Editor & Producer

• Center for Asian American Media Film Festival // 2022
• Ginzaza Films Sony Screening in Japan // 2022 
• Hawaii International Film Festival // 2021 
• San Diego Asian Film  Festival // 2021
• Los Angeles Asian American Pacific Film Festival (Winner of Best Narrative Short) // 2021
• Tacoma Film Festival: Jurors Short Films // 2021
• Film Fort Film Festival // 2021
• Nashville Film Festival // 2021
• Local Sightings // 2021
• POW Film Festival // 2021
• Japan Cuts // 2021
• Palm Springs ShortFest // 2021
• Maryland Film Festival // 2021

SYZYGY 

Installation // Closed-circuit live feed video // 2019

• Ditch Projects Exhibition // 2019

Tides

12min // RED & Arri Alexa // Language: English // 2018

Writer, Director, Editor & Producer 

• Film Fort Film Festival // 2020 Online through Filmmaker Magazine
• Stavros Niarchos Foundation Theater End of Summer Screening // 2020
• Northwest Film Center Cinema Unbound Drive-In at Zidell Yards // Three screenings // 2020 
• Maryland Film Festival // 2020
• Northwest Film Forum Best-Of Online Screening // 2020 
• Indie Memphis Film Festival // 2019 
• Eastern Oregon Film Festival (Audience Choice Award) // 2019
• Local Sightings Northwest Film Forum (Winner of Best Narrative Short) // 2019
• Klamath Falls Independent Film Festival // 2019
• Los Angeles Asian American Pacific Film Festival // 2019
• Portland International Film Festival // 2019
• San Diego Asian Film Festival // 2018
• Tacoma Film Festival // 2018

Eclipse

5min // Digital // Experimental // No dialogue // 2018

Director, Director of Photography, Editor, Producer & Co-Choreographer 

• PAMCUT Tomorrow Theater Screening // 2024
• Tacoma Film Festival // 2019
• Ditch Projects Exhibition // 2019
• Dumbo Film Festival // 2019 
• Athens International Film and Video Festival // 2019
• Filmmaker Magazine and Eastern Oregon Film Festival online program // 2018