Randall Okita


Randall Okita is a Canadian film director, screenwriter and known for creating work that involves rich visual language and innovative approaches to storytelling.

Career

His 2014 National Film Board of Canada short film The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer has been described as “a visually stunning tour de force” that “produces a striking meditation on the nature of memory and its legacy.” It won the award for Best Canadian Short Film at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, and was named to the festival's year-end Canada's Top Ten list of the year's ten best Canadian shorts. It also won awards for Best Short Film at the Festival du nouveau cinéma in Montreal, Best Experimental Short Film at both the and LA Shorts Fest, as well as Best Cinematography at the .
', Okita’s 2015 performance “that explores presence, the passing of time and the nature of grieving and expectation” was presented as part of .
Okita's 2016 feature directorial debut The Lockpicker, which “explores the complexity of adolescence” in “a tender observational style comparable to Gus Van Sant’s adolescent portraits” and “sustains an evocative, ominous mood that complements its moments of operatic intensity,” received the Discovery Award at the Canadian Screen Awards. The film won the Grand Jury Award at the San Diego Asian Film Festival 2016, Best First Feature at 2016 , Best Narrative Feature at 2016 .
In 2016 Be Here Now, an interactive multimedia installation made from feathers, wood, wire, and interactive sound and light, described as “a mirage that feels highly spiritual”,  was part of “a breathtaking exhibition” of artworks at the Robert Kananaj Gallery, and a part of a group exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario Massive Party.
', “a lyrical, personal and moving story told with stylized figures in a 360° landscape,” is a room-scale virtual reality experience, written and directed by Okita. It was an official selection at the  2020 Sundance Film Festival, 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, and 2020 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.