	Sumo East And West Documentary (85 or 60 min.)
	In Japan sumo is not only the national sport but a cultural treasure centuries old. Yet this highly traditional world is facing profound changes due to the postwar influx of foreign images, ideas, and influences—foremost among them the arrival of bigger, heavier wrestlers of Polynesian descent. The only two active “yokozuna” (grand champions) are foreign-born. At the same time, sumo is growing in popularity in the West, where its advocates are lobbying for its inclusion in the Olympics and staging amateur sumo tournaments in venues like Las Vegas casinos—events that bear little resemblance to the sport's Japanese forebear. Sumo East and West takes us into this world through the story of Wayne Vierra of Hawaii, whose promising sumo career in Japan was cut short by injury, but he rebounds to become a champion in the burgeoning world of amateur sumo. The film also features the Hawaii-born superstars of pro sumo who were at the forefront of the controversial transformation of the sport: Konishiki, Jesse "Takamiyama" Kuhaulua, and Akebono (the first non-Japanese sumo wrestler to reach the exalted rank of yokozuna, or grand champion).