Jimmy Mirikitani

"Make art not war" is Jimmy Mirikitani's motto. This 85-year-old Japanese American artist was born in Sacramento and raised in Hiroshima, but by 2001 he is living on the streets of New York. 

Jimmy Mirikitani survived the trauma of WWII internment camps, Hiroshima and homelessness by creating art. But when 9/11 threatens his life on the New York City streets and a local filmmaker brings him to her home, the two embark on a journey to confront Jimmy’s painful past.

The Cats of Mirikitani is the cinematographic result of Mirikitani's encounter with documentary maker Linda Hattendorf.