Chihiro Wimbush is an award-winning, Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker. He is a former Bay Area Video Coalition MediaMaker Fellow, Sundance Creative Producing Institute Fellow, Big Tell storyteller, and a participant in the Oakland Hatchlab, as well as the inaugural On Being Gathering hosted by Krista Tippett. He is currently a member of the Unlocking Creativity community of practice which is focused on providing media training for justice-impacted youth and current and formerly incarcerated individuals.
Chihiro co-directed/co-produced and filmed the documentary feature Dogtown Redemption, following the lives of homeless recyclers in West Oakland, which won an Audience Award at the Mill Valley Film Festival, aired on Independent Lens on PBS and was nominated for a national Emmy Award.
Chihiro edited the award-winning documentary feature Changing Season about four generations of a Japanese-American peach farming family fighting prejudice in the Central Valley of California, airing nationally on PBS.
Chihiro served as editor for former San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi on his trilogy of award-winning films following the work of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office: The Ride, Defender, and most recently Ricochet, which he also co-directed/produced after Jeff’s passing during production, won over a dozen awards on the festival circuit to date.
Chihiro’s current project in development, Release, was selected for the IF/Then Shorts x Redford Center Nature Connection Pitch at the 2023 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.