Profile



Kano U. is a former educator and current filmmaker based in Los Angeles, California (Tongva Land).

Dedicated to community-centered media, she uses the camera as a tool for social revelation. Her films weave poetry, magical surrealism, and cultural mythology into the documentary form, turning memory into a site of cinematic wonder.

Kano is currently an MFA student in Documentary Directing and Production at UCLA.

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Education
University of California Los Angeles
MFA Documentary Directing & Production, 2028

Loyola Marymount University              
M.Ed. Transformative Education, Concentration in Literacy, 2024

Soka University of America                  
B.A. Liberal Arts, Concentration in Literature and Film, 2021
Employment
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)
June 2022 – June 2025
English and History Teacher

Asian CineVision
September 2020 – November 2021
Staff Writer

Soka University of America - Community Cinema 
September 2020 – May 2021
Associate Producer
Skills
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premiere Pro
Avid Media Composer
Avid Pro Tools
Procreate
Procreate Dreams
G Suite 
Microsoft Office Suite
Awards
John H. and Patricia W. Mitchell Endowed Scholarship Recipient
Institution: University of California Los Angeles
Year: 2025-2026

Merit Scholar
Institution: Soka University of America
Year: 2017-2021
   

Kano Umezaki





documentary filmmaker
2025A Storm Ballooned In My Belly

Logline: When a candy transforms into a storm inside of a girl’s belly, she begins to feel and look at the world differently.
Director: Kano Umezaki
Writer: Kano Umezaki
Animator: Kano Umezaki
Sound Design & Score: Christopher Santiago




Growing up Buddhist, I was taught about the four inevitable sufferings: birth, aging, illness, and death. Within this religious framework, I grew up believing that all suffering could be overcome with the power of faith. But my faith didn’t explain the origins of poverty, hunger, or war. It was through this questioning that I began to politicize myself and reflect on my dogmatic ways of thinking. 
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