Sandra Osawa ‘64

Sandy has produced and written 16 documentaries that have aired on PBS, The Learning Channel and NBC Television. Her themes are carefully selected to provide an alternative image of American Indian people and issues. She frequently lectures on campuses about her goals that emphasize that Indian people need to become more than a people frozen in the past or a people with problems.

She began her study of film at UCLA’s graduate film department during the 70’s when the first wave of prospective minority filmmakers entered the university. There she met her future husband, Yasu, and they began making films. They started in Los Angeles with a ten part series on KNBC called the Native American series and Sandy won an outstanding producers award from the station for her debut producing and writing efforts. Their work has since been shown at Sundance, Amiens, France, Munich, the Margaret Mead Festival and is studied in most Native American college studies departments throughout the United States.