Christopher Makoto Yogi is from Honolulu, Hawai‘i. His debut feature film, "August at Akiko's", had its World Premiere at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam in 2018 to critical acclaim. Richard Brody in The New Yorker put it on his list of “Best Films of 2019”. His next feature film, "I Was a Simple Man", premiered in the U.S. dramatic competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Previously, it participated in the Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs, IFP Film Week, Film Independent's Fast Track, received a Jerome Foundation grant and a Cinereach grant. Chris' short films include the documentaries "Occasionally, I Saw Glimpses of Hawai‘i" and "Makoto: or, Honesty," and the fiction film "Obake (Ghosts)." His 2009 film "Layover, on the Shore" was awarded Best Hawaiian Short at the Big Island Film Festival. “I Was a Simple Man” and his short films are currently available to stream on the Criterion Channel.
Chris also has extensive experience editing documentaries for film and television. His editing work has been broadcast on PBS, MTV, Bravo, and has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy, a GLAAD award, and been awarded a Student Academy Award.
Chris is a graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts MFA program. In 2019, Chris participated in New York Film Festival’s Artists Academy and Berlinale Talent Campus. In 2013, he participated in Visual Communications' Armed with a Camera Fellowship. In 2009, he was a fellow in the Kyoto Filmmakers Lab, sponsored by Toei and Shochiku Studios and the Museum of Kyoto.