Mrs. Judo- Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful documents the life-long journey of Keiko Fukuda's decision to defy thousands of years of tradition, choose her own path, and become the highest-ranking woman in judo history.
Director/Producer, Yuriko Gamo Romer’s new feature documentary DIAMOND DIPLOMACY about the shared love and historical connections between the U.S. and Japan through baseball, will be released in 2025. Her short film, BASEBALL BEHIND BARBED WIRE is also keeping her busy in festivals and distribution. Her previous feature MRS JUDO about Keiko Fukuda (1913-2013) the only woman to hold a tenth-degree black belt in judo, screened at 25+ film festivals internationally and was awarded the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary in March 2013 at the International Sports Film Festival in Moscow. Her short documentary MY IMMIGRANT STORY gives a taste of her own immigration to the United States and has also screened internationally, and her thesis film OCCIDENTAL ENCOUNTERS (1997) won numerous awards at film festivals internationally, among them a Student Academy Award, The Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Award and a Silver Apple. She also directed a short historical animation, FRIEND SHIPS (2010), about John Manjiro, the inadvertent Japanese immigrant rescued by an American whaling captain. Romer’s earlier short films include REFLECTION, KIDS WILL BE KIDS, SUNNY SIDE OF THE SLOPE, and FUSION. She is Japanese American, born in Japan, raised in the United States, and is bilingual. She holds a master’s degree in documentary filmmaking from Stanford University, a BFA from UCLA, and lives in San Francisco with her husband and son.
Website: https://www.diamonddiplomacy.com/
Email: [email protected]
