Wat Misaka today.

“Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story” is a documentary film about the first Asian American pro basketball player.

A Nisei born, raised and still living in Utah, Wataru “Wat” Misaka was the first-round draft pick of the New York Knicks in 1947. Just two years after Japanese Americans were released from the World War II internment camps, he overcame the national political climate of the time.

Misaka was a star player for the University of Utah, leading the team to two national championships, a NCAA title in 1944 and a NIT championship in 1947. He took two years off in between to serve in the U.S. Army.

His perseverance and loyalty to his teammates, other Nisei friends (including those interned at Topaz, Utah) and his family are a testament to the unflappable Japanese American spirit. This film includes in-depth interviews with Misaka and his family, teammates from his championship teams, sports authorities, Bay Area natives Daisy Satoda and Marice Shiozaki, Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) Executive Director Paul Osaki, and many who continue to look up to him as both a role model and personal hero.

The film also has video clips from his 1944 and 1947 college games, rare footage from a visit to the Topaz camp, and countless photos of his triumphant career.

This project was awarded two consecutive grants from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.

Award-winning filmmakers Christine Toy Johnson and Bruce Johnson, who are based in New York, will present a special screening of their film Sunday, Sept. 14, at 1 p.m. at the Sundance Kabuki Cinema, 1881 Post St. (at Fillmore) in San Francisco’s Japantown. Doors open at 12:30 p.m.

Admission is free, but space is very limited. Interested parties must RSVP to the JCCCNC, (415) 567-5505, by Sept. 10.