Ruby U: “Our Mr. Matsura” is coming to the Ruby on Thursday September 18 at 7 pm.  This feature documentary film is the story of photographer Frank Matsura who journeyed from his native Japan to live in rural Washington State in the early 1900s. The son of a samurai, orphaned at a young age, Matsura was raised in Tokyo in the early Meiji Era, emigrated to Seattle as a young man and eventually made his way to Okanogan County, Washington. There he embedded himself in a community of Native people and homesteaders, including cowboys, ranchers, miners, fruit growers, shopkeepers, small business owners and other local movers and shakers. In the short time he had in the Okanogan, he became one of the area’s leading photo-chroniclers and, arguably, its most beloved citizen.   As an artist his work is unique and underscores the shared humanity of his subjects.

This is a special opportunity to view the 90 minute film and meet the filmmaker, Beth Harrington.

Beth Harrington, film producer is an Emmy-winning, Grammy-nominated independent producer, director and writer, born in Boston and transplanted to the Pacific Northwest. She most often focuses on work that explores American history, music and culture. Harrington’s independent production Welcome to the Club – The Women of Rockabilly, a music documentary about the pioneering women of rock and roll, was honored with a 2003 Grammy nomination. This and other work reflect a long-standing love of music. She’s been a singer and sometimes guitarist, most noted for her years as a member of Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers on Sire Records. In 2015 her film The Winding Stream – The Carters, the Cashes and the Course of Country Music premiered at South By Southwest, later appearing in over 30 film festivals in the U.S. and abroad. Harrington has worked with public television stations WGBH in Boston and OPB in Portland producing, researching, and developing shows for both national and local air on series such as Nova, Frontline, History Detectives, Oregon Art Beat and Oregon Experience. Her film Fort Vancouver and her piece Once Upon a Time in the Northwest – The Music of Federale have both received NW Emmy Awards.