Chasing Chan

MY BAY AREA PEOPLES

2009-11-04T10:41:00.000-08:00

AUSTIN'S AAFF COMING UP SOON!

2009-10-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

More info here.

HARIMAYA BRIDGE INTERVIEW

2009-10-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

Watermelon Sushi World: Aaron Woolfolk And Danny Glover's Big Adventure In Japan

SAN DIEGO'S FILM FESTIVAL KICKS OFF THIS WEEK

2009-10-12T21:52:00.001-07:00

Wow, it's been 10 years already? I remember going to the first one!

INTERVIEW WITH SFIAAFF'S CHI-HUI YANG

2009-10-05T01:15:00.000-07:00

Interviews: DIASPORA BY THE BAY: SFIAAF--Interview With Festival Director Chi-hui Yang

A cool interview by Twitch w/ Chi-Hui Yang, longtime festival director of the SFIAAFF. It's hard to believe (for me), but Chi-Hui's been doing this for...what? 10 years now? He's always been a great friend and very thoughtful programmer, with a much more generous spirit and ability to see the "big picture" than my judgmental, grouchy self (translation: there's a lot of films I hated that he's liked, ha!)

REVIEW: SHOPPING FOR FANGS

2009-10-03T14:02:00.000-07:00

Buy | Rent (Updated version is for purchase only right now)

There's a new, updated version of Shopping for Fangs (SFF) coming out next week, with DVD commentary. That's partially prompts a review that should have appeared about 11 years ago...

I first saw Shopping for Fangs when it was part of the "Class of '97" quartet which debuted at the SFIAAFF in 1997. It was the debut feature for both Quentin Lee (Ethan Mao, The People I've Slept With) and Justin Lin (Fast and Furious, Finishing the Game).

It was also, of the four Class of '97 films, the most deliberately off-beat, with the two main characters dealing with lycanthropy and amnesia (respectively), interspersed with Mexican stand-offs, bible study jokes, touch football, Ranch 99 shopping malls and some good wigs. It also stars a young John Cho in his first major role, playing a lovelorn 20-something who spends a lot of quality time in a Taiwanese cafe. (You'll also spot Lela Lee, aka "Angry Little Girl" playing the sister of Radmar Jao's character, Phil).

If I have one, outstanding impression of SFF, it's how it takes one of the most common of Asian American film themes - identity - and cleverly riffs on it but without ever coming back to hang-wringing about race/ethnicity. Indeed, there's very little "sociological content" in SFF which, especially in 1997, was fairly striking (Sunsets was another example of this). Especially given Justin Lin's later films, in particular Better Luck Tomorrow, you could already see the ways in which he and Quentin really set out to make a very different kind of AA narrative, one that deliberately stepped around the traditions of the past. Parents don't exist. With one key exception, family/immigrant history doesn't exist. Instead, as convoluted as the dual plots were (and I don't mean that in a critical way; the storylines were meant to be deliberately outrageous) SFF was intensely character driven.

By way of summation, there's basically three parallel storylines: Phil, who thinks he might be turning into a werewolf; Katherine, who is having amnesiac blackouts and is married to an emotionally crippled a--hole; Clarance, who is getting over a broken heart and has befriended the enigmatic, Brigette Lin-inspired Trinh. There are bits of interweaving that happens, some small, and the major one is with Trinh, who ends up crossing into Katherine's life when she discovers her purse and phone. (The film is very post-Pulp Fiction though still linear).

All three plots are driven by journeys of discovery but each is fraught with danger. Phil wants to be more assertive (and masculine) but he fears that as a possible lycanthrope, he may be unleashing too much of his inner desire. Katherine is trying to figure out what's happening during her blackouts and why she's being contacted by Trinh.. Clarence wants to quit moping and open his heart again but he's worried about being hurt again.

In trying to think of how to properly this film formally, the two thoughts that keep coming to mind are that, 1) it's laudably ambitious but 2) the sum is less than its parts. The latter is hardly something unique in cinema - one could say that most films that aren't perfect are less than the sum of their parts, but in my mind, SFF just has a lot of parts going on that don't quite gel in the way they aspire to. Having just caught the last half of the film at the ID Film Festival this past weekend, what really resonated was that this was a good, smart script in terms of all it was trying to do but where it ends up more listless is in the execution.

To be sure, some parts are done great (Phil's interest in a co-worker who turns out to be a Bible thumper is deliciously, painfully funny), some of it so-so (much as I'm a fan of John Cho, as Clarence, there just isn't much to invest in), some of it rather flat (Katherine's storyline is woefully underdeveloped, especially her marital relationship). You get where the film wants to take you, especially once you get to the end and its big twist, but the ride's choppy along the way.

I used to screen this film semi-regularly for my students at Cal and they tended to have mixed reactions to it; it was an interesting way to get them to start talking about contemporary AA cinema but I don't think it went over as well as, say, Eat a Bowl of Tea and these days, I'd probably be inclined to show them Better Luck Tomorrow instead. That said, I still think the film is incredibly important for helping mark a particular moment in AA film where you start to see hints of the future already on their way.

BTW, Quentin and Justin both talk about the film for Justin's special "Class of 1997" revisit post on youoffendmeyouoffendmyfamily.com.

12 YEARS LATER...

2009-10-04T16:30:00.001-07:00

(We should all age so well as these six)

RETURN TO THE CLASS OF 97

2009-10-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

Damn, I don't know how I slept on this (since it's already three days in) but the ID Film Festival at L.A.'s JANM has been rescreening all the Class of 1997 films.

If you're not familiar with what I'm talking about, start here and then read this great, great post on Justin Lin's Youoffendmeyouoffendmyfamily site which contains testimonials from all the filmmakers involved in that fateful year.

If you're in LA, there's a free roundtable with ALL the filmmakers tonight at 9:30pm, following the closing night screening of Shopping For Fangs.

BTW: I just realized Eric Nakamura has a cool set of posts related to his and Michael Aki's (formerly Idemoto) film, Sunsets.

WINNERS FROM THE DC FEST

2009-10-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

2009 dc apa film festival winners (link: angry asian man)

DC FILM FESTIVAL: LAUNCH!

2009-09-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

10th Annual DC APA Film Festival

TAD NAKAMURA'S NEW WEBSITE

2009-09-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

Tadash Nakamura, Director/Editor

MANAA MEDIA SCHOLARSHIP

2009-09-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

apply to manaa's 2009 media scholarship -- angry asian man

PROMO FOR THE HAWAIIAN FF

2009-09-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

HIFF 2009 PSA from HIFF on Vimeo.

PHILLY PREVIEW PARTY

2009-09-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

STARTING SIX GUEST LISTS

2009-09-18T14:10:00.001-07:00

Why should I have all the fun? I invited some valued friends and colleagues to submit their own suggestions for the starting six Asian American films you need to see.

Renee Tajima-Peña is one of the finest documentarians out there, having been responsible for everything from Who Killed Vincent Chin? (along with Christine Choi) and My America. She's also training the next generation as a Community Studies professor at UCSC. She wants you to know, "oh, I hate canons but if forced," she suggests these "oldies but goodies."

Renee Tajima-Peña's Starting Six (Plus 2)

1) Dragon Painter (WIlliam Worthington, 1919)
2) Chan is Missing (Wayne Wang, 1982)
3) AKA Don Bonus (Spencer Nakasako, 1995)
4) Better Luck Tomorrow (Justin Lin, 2002)
5) Fall of the I-Hotel (Curtis Choy, 1985)
6) Dupont Guy: The Schiz of Grant Avenue (Curtis Choy, 1976)
+1) History and Memory (Rea Tajiri, 1991)
+2) Whose Going To Pay For These Donuts, Anyway? (Janice Tanaka, 1992)

Brian Hu is the managing editor for the finest Asian/Asian American arts and culture publication I know, Asia Pacific Arts. The web-magazine has extensive coverage on Asian American cinema, including yearly "best of" lists of their favorite flick picks.

Here's what he had to preface with: "A starting six should make no excuses. There should be no qualifications like "good for an Asian American film" or "we should support it because it's by an Asian American." A starting six shouldn't engage the viewer with theory. Rather, it should directly engage the viewer as any film should: via the senses, as spectacle, as sheer bodily pleasure. They should first and foremost move us into wanting to explore more."

Brian Hu's Starting Six

1. History and Memory (Rea Tajiri, 1991)
An Asian American film can look like this. History and Memory is a documentary about the images a Japanese American mother can no longer recall, and the images her daughter has created so a generation will not forget. Rea Tajiri's visuals, culled from Hollywood clips, home video footage, and self-performance, are fragmented and unruly, just as our memories are. History and Memory is one of the highest artistic achievements by an Asian American in any medium. and is available on DVD for the educational market from Women Make Movies. See also: Chan is Missing (1982)

2. The Wedding Banquet (Ang Lee, 1993)
An Asian American film can taste like this. You can practically tell this story of generational conflict through Ang Lee's depiction of food: what people eat for what occasions, where people eat, who eats with whom, who cooks for whom, etc. Of course, there's more to The Wedding Banquet than the cooking, but for Asian Americans, what evokes the affection and anxieties of home better than food? Taste also: Catfish in Black Bean Sauce (1999), Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989)

3. Mississippi Masala (Mira Nair, 1991)
An Asian American film can touch like this. One of my favorite sex scenes in Asian American cinema is between an Indian American woman from Uganda and an African American man from Mississippi. In the film, much is made about the interracial romance ("Is she Mexican?" some ask), but in the scene in question, they are just two shimmering shades of naked brown, locked in passion. Having Denzel Washington helps too. Experience also: Charlotte Sometimes (2002)

4. aka Don Bonus (Spencer Nakasako, 1995) and Refugee (Spencer Nakasako, 2004)
An Asian American film can smell like this. Sure, I'm using smell a little conceptually here, as scent is perhaps the hardest sense for cinema to evoke. But there's certainly an olfactory tactility in Spencer Nakasako's work: a cinema that is genuinely moved by the stenches of everyday life -- the grime of the Tenderloin projects, the sweaty bodies of Cambodian Americans unaccustomed to the heat of their fathers' homeland. Asian American cinema should not -- in fact must not -- simply harvest the gentle potpourri of upper-middle class suburbia. Smell also: the sweat and dank of the tropics and the dumpsters of Santa Ana in Journey from the Fall (2006)

5. Colma: the Musical (Richard Wong, 2006)
An Asian American film can sound like this. In fact, it can sing! For his catchy lyrics and catchier tunes, H.P. Mendoza should be a national treasure. Colma: the Musical isn't the resurrection of a classical American genre, but is its much-needed low-fi awakening. Richard Wong's direction complements Mendoza's explosive charm well, and no scene better breaks down their collaboration than the split-screen, long-take nerd-out, Christmas-light fantasy "Crash the Party." Hear also: Fruit Fly (2009)

6. The Sixth Sense (M. Night Shyamalan, 1999)
I prefer Shyamalan's Unbreakable (2000), but I couldn't resist the appropriateness of the title of his Best Picture-nominated breakout hit. Love him or hate him, Shyamalan is, along with Michael Bay, Hollywood's only pure stylist -- though unlike Bay, Shyamalan consistently applies his mad genius long takes, odd framings, and sound design for the sake of character development and emotional arousal. But the "sixth sense" I'm speaking of here is the ability to appreciate that even films not explicitly about Asian Americans can still be representative "Asian American cinema." It's the ability to see race when nobody else does, but without insisting on it. It's the ability to hear impassioned, though sometimes inadvertent, alternative voices embedded beneath the dominant clatter. In other words, it's the ability to see the living that the mainstream doesn't even know is alive.

Also: anything by Gregg Araki (The Living End), Jon Moritsugu (Terminal USA), Jessica Yu (In the Realms of the Unreal), Ang Lee (The Ice Storm), Wayne Wang (Last Holiday), James Wong (Final Destination), Jay Chandrasekhar (Beerfest), Tarsem Singh (The Fall), Karyn Kusama (Girlfight), and Justin Lin (Fast & Furious)

I got to know Valerie Soe back in the '90s, probably through NAATA and definitely strengthened by having her come, several times, as a guest lecturer to my AA film class at UC Berkeley to talk about experimental AA works. That's not just her field of expertise as a professor at SF State; that's also her mark as a filmmaker too. (Small world coincidences: I found out, years later, that my wife was a research assistant for Valerie's Picturing Oriental Girls short from 1992).

Valerie Soe's Starting Six

First Person Plural, Deann Borshay, 2000
An emotional look at a Korean adoptee’s search for her family and her identity, with some surprising conclusions. One of many excellent Asian American personal documentaries (see also New Year Baby; AKA Don Bonus; Refugee)

The Debut, Gene Cajayon, 2000
A charming little family drama set in the heart of Pilipino-America, this flick celebrates the Pin@y cultural movement of the 1990s, with break-dance battles, kulintang, turntablism, girl groups, tinikling, cha-chas, lumpia, car culture, and basketball--all in one night at a debutante party.

Imelda, Ramona Diaz, 2004
An amazing documentary portrait of Imelda Marcos, featuring a lengthy interview with the main subject herself as she laments the ugliness of the weapon of her would-be assassin, describes her elaborately embroidered wardrobe which blinded several overworked seamstresses, and otherwise fails to understand why the world and the Pilipino people have turned against her.

The Motel, Michael Kang, 2005
An unsentimental, completely unconventional coming-of-age story about a misanthropic Chinese American kid and his dysfunctional family running a fleabag motel on an interstate on the East Coast. Bunny hand puppets will never be the same—

Never Forever, Gina Kim, 2006
Vera Farmiga, David Lee McInnes, and Ha Jung-Woo make up a love triangle in this intriguing look at the conflict between passion and duty. Notable for featuring not one but two extremely hot and desirable Korean American men.

Colma: The Musical, Richard Wong & HP Mendoza, 2006
Exhilirating cinematography, engaging performances, great tunes, and poignant coming-of-age stories invigorate this neat little flick set in the drab Bay Area suburb of Colma, where fog and cemeteries define the landscape.

Phil Yu is THE Angry Asian Man; act like you knew. There's no voice on the internet more trusted than bringing you the latest news of note to the API community and he's been a major force in helping get the word on an all things AA cinema related.

Phil Yu's Starting Six

Flower Drum Song, Henry Koster, 1961
I agonized over what to include in this last spot. Yet again, I had to go with a movie that is arguably not even an Asian American film, but a relatively conventional, cookie-cutter Hollywood studio production, chock full of cheesy Chinese moments to roll your eyes at. It will also blow your mind. If we're talking about films as a jumping off point, this Rodgers and Hammerstein musical is a particularly intriguing artifact to examine (and, I'll admit, enjoy) nearly fifty years after its release.

Chan Is Missing, Wayne Wang, 1982
By a lot of measures, this is the film that started it all. Wayne Wang's landmark Chinatown narrative was an announcement: modern Asian American independent cinema was here, and would not be ignored. Nearly three decades later, it's rather amazing how this film still holds up.

Who Killed Vincent Chin, Renee Tajima and Christine Choy, 1989
This film changed my life. Like a lot of young, college-aged Asian Americans, watching this documentary was a profound moment in the politicization of my identity. It's not readily available, but to me, it's required viewing. Seek it out and watch it if and when the opportunity arises.

Better Luck Tomorrow, Justin Lin, 2002
This has to be on this list, right? Justin Lin's solo debut feature roared out of Sundance like a deafening wake-up call, giving us something unlike anything we'd ever seen, and ushering in a new era for Asian American independent cinema. Few films have replicated the impact of this film, but it provided us with a unique model as the Little Asian American Indie That Could.

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, Danny Leiner, 2004
I know, I'm cheating. This film is neither written nor directed by Asian Americans. It also probably doesn't need to be on this list, since it's fairly recent and was widely distributed. But it does feature two of our guys in the title roles. And as unremarkably crass and low-brow as this stoner comedy is, I'm going to put it out there that this unlikely movie is actually one of the most significant, revolutionary films for Asian American representation in the last decade. Come on, Asian American film scholars. I know you won't admit to it, but in your heart, you're with me.

Saving Face, Alice Wu, 2005
Marvelously written with some wonderful performances -- particularly from Joan Chen as Michelle Krusiec's illegitimately knocked up mom -- Alice Wu's charming, highly entertaining romantic comedy is simply a near-perfect example of a post-BLT independent Asian American film done right.

Honorable mentions: aka Don Bonus, Refugee, The Motel, Enter the Dragon

WASHINGTON D.C. FILM FEST NEEDS VOLUNTEERS

2009-09-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

call for volunteers: 10th annual dc apa film festival -- angry asian man

SFIAFF ENTRY SEASON BEGINS

2009-09-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

CAAM's annual film festival (aka the best in America) taking entries now!

A RESPONSE TO "HOLLYWOOD AND ASIANS: WHY PROTESTS ALONE WON'T CHANGE ANYTHING"

2009-09-02T13:26:00.001-07:00

Angry Asian Man reported on a post by Philip Chung as to why protesting against anti-Asian scenes or characters in Hollywood films won't make a difference without market clout. To quote, "until Asian Americans as a whole are willing to put down our money to support the work of our Asian American filmmakers—nothing will change. We can protest all we want, but real change will not happen until Hollywood knows we are an economic force that can make a difference in their bottom line."

He goes into some detail in his analysis, including comparisons between the African American, Latino American and Asian American filmgoing audiences. He also acknowledges that part of the problem with Asian Americans supporting Asian American film is because:

"a lot of Asian American films suck. And I agree with that. It’s hard to muster enthusiasm and support when you keep getting bombarded with these emails about how you have to support such and such film to show Hollywood that we have box office clout and you go to the theater and wind up watching one crappy movie after another."

The one point I was waiting to hear Philip make - what, in my opinion, is the fundamental point - never came, much to my surprise. That is: the main reason why "Asian Americans as a whole" don't support Asian American film is because "Asian Americans as a whole" do not exist.

What I'm saying here should not come as some big revelation; the basics of the idea have been around for decades and the logic is rather intuitive.[2]

Asian Americans are a diverse conglomeration of very different ethnic groups - each with their own linguistic, cultural, religious, and political histories/traditions. Especially since Asian America is still a majority foreign-born population and overwhelmingly a 1st and 2nd generation immigrant community, our differences are far more numerous than our similarities.

The term "Asian American" is useful as a political identity and as a symbol of solidarity (or desire for such). It's a convenient fiction but one that also comes with some inconvenient truths, not the least of which is that it is unreasonable to expect that such a diverse community is going to unite around common causes, least of all cultural products.

In this regard, you really can't compare Asian Americans to African Americans who have an entirely different history, culturally and politically, that has contributed to their consumer clout. You can't compare Asian Americans to Latino Americans - the latter may also be pan-ethnic but there's no equivalent of Spanish language and Catholicism in the greater Asian American community to act as points of commonality. We also lack the demographic clout of both other groups given their larger population numbers.

Most importantly: there are still rampant examples of anti-Black and anti-Latino imagery in Hollywood. However viable "Black Hollywood" may be that has not suddenly made mainstream Hollywood politically enlightened when it comes to how Black men and women are portrayed. What is different - at best - are the shades of racism. You probably would not have seen a comedic scene where a White man is beating up a Black man, yelling "Kunta Kinte." But that doesn't mean there aren't more subtle forms of anti-Black racism being played for laughs elsewhere; it's just less unbelievably blatant than what we saw with The Goods. (The Angry Black Woman blog makes this same basic point too).

That's certainly a reflection of the different kind of political power African Americans can wield in this respect relative to Asian Americans. It also reflects the consumer demographic clout being spoken about too. But my point is that even with that, it doesn't prevent/insulate. These images have currency that exceed the level of political or economic will that could be brought to bear to prevent/attack them. Let that sober you up for a moment.

***

On another point: the lack of Asian American support for Asian American cinema is problematic for reasons that don't need to be rehashed but I think it's misdirected to argue that "we're not doing enough to support" without first trying to tackle this question: what is "our" motivation to support?

Why would Korean Americans care if a new film, directed by a Vietnamese American filmmaker, comes out? Will anyone besides Taiwanese Americans (and Dawson's Creek fans) flock to go see Formosa Betrayed?[3] And what about South Asian American cinema - a far far bigger genre than most (who are not South Asian) are even aware about? I never see people urging me to go see the latest Indian American comedy but I do get those emails when it's an East Asian American director. What does that say about "us"?

This is not even about political allegiances, it's about asking a more basic question that's been kicked around for years (and no one can answer for good reason): what kind of Asian American stories are going to have mass appeal across the AA spectrum? I can't imagine what the equivalent to an Asian American Tyler Perry would be since his films, whether you like them or not, could be said to be tapping into a critical mass of desire for certain images and characters that is big enough to be commercial viable. I don't know what the Asian American equivalent would be since it'd have to be pan-ethnic and pan-generational.

That's why I respectfully disagree with Philip's assertion that, "Nothing will change, if our community won’t step up and show Hollywood the green." There is no "community" that is meaningful here, at least not in the way Philip is trying to speak to. Suggesting that we aren't doing enough to support "our own" films makes large assumptions regarding the nature of a collective AA identity and community.

In essence, I'm questioning the underlying logic as to "why AAs don't go see AA films." It's not because of the quality of those films (though poorly made AA films don't help the cause). It's not because producers aren't doing enough to market. It's not because audiences are cheap/lazy/ignorant bastards. It's because there's no such thing as an "Asian American film" that could possibly speak to more than a fraction of AAs.

The best you could ask for, at least for the time being, is a film that happens to include Asian American filmmakers and/or actors but whose themes are more - and I seriously hate this word, but it gets batted around enough - "universal." The problem here, for me, is that "universal" is shorthand for "White" or, at best, "a Will Smith film." So to make a "successful" Asian American film in terms of box office would likely mean making a film that isn't actually distinguishable as "Asian American" except by its casting or staffing. Once you get to that point, you're walking a fine line where Asian American involvement can go from "incidental" to "irrelevant" and thus, "disposable" which puts us back at square one.

This is all getting off-tpic though; I think if things are going to change in terms of our images in mass media and Hollywood in particular, it will have to happen through other means than pushing for AA to unite as a consumer bloc.

***

First of all, there is one group that is far smaller than Asian Americans yet wields tremendous influence in Hollywood - Jewish Americans. Is there still anti-Semitism in Hollywood? Absolutely. But in terms of shades of difference, the kind of anti-Semitism that does exist is far more coded, on average, than the blatant forms of anti-Asian racism you see. That's for at least two reasons: 1) Jewish American political organizing has given them a great deal of clout to make their protests heard faster and taken more seriously than those of other groups. 2) As some of you may have heard, there's, uh, a lot of Jews in Hollywood, at every level in the industry. There's many reasons for this, not the least of which is that the entertainment industry was an avenue open to Jewish immigrants and their children at a time where anti-Semitism kept them out of other, traditional routes to upward mobility. That aside, what you have is a vertical integration of Jewish Americans in Hollywood from writers up to directors up to studio heads. A really terrible, anti-Jewish joke is going to have to make it past, in most cases, a lot of Jewish American eyes - and signatures - to get green-lit into production.

Asian Americans have made great strides to become better represented in Hollywood but we're just not at the same level and I think the fact that we're also not as well politically organized (for all the same reasons I laid out above), also limits the influence of individual AAs placed in the Hollywood structure.

This speaks to my second point: I think many people in Hollywood understand, on some basic level, you don't try to play up anti-Semitism for laughs (unless you happen to also be Jewish...see Sasha Baron Cohen in Borat for example) unless you really feel like having your bosses, JDL and Jewish American politicians come after your ass. (Despite this, you can still find plenty of examples of anti-Semitism in Hollywood...which goes back to my earlier point that these images have currency no matter what kind of influence you can hope to wield elsewhere).

I don't think there is a similar culture of avoiding anti-Asian humor in Hollywood. I think Asians are still easy, fair game by writers who have not gotten it into their head that, "this will get me into trouble." THAT is the real change that would need to happen - a shift in the culture of those working in the industry to stop and contemplate possible repercussions. Would an Asian American consumer bloc help with that? Absolutely. But so would greater involvement by Asian Americans in the industry itself. And so would greater Asian American political clout as we have seen through grass roots movements to protest those images we find offensive.

Philip's post was trying to say, "protests aren't enough," and while I agree with him to a certain extent, I feel like his post is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If NOT for protests, then you have very little public awareness. And the less public awareness you have, the less likely it will be that you will affect change within the minds of writers, directors, studio heads, etc. who generate or green light bad characters and scenes to begin with.

Yes, we can speak with our green but that shouldn't minimize how effective, in many ways, public protests have been in changing the culture of Hollywood. It may be that folks are slow to listen but that alone isn't reason to stop hollerin'.

***

Notes:

[1] The irony is that in the comments section, someone was urging people to go out and support a new AA film which personally, I thought was terrible when I screened it for the SFIAAFF. Given that the film hasn't actually come out for release, I thought it was unfair to put it on blast but I just feel depressed that there's such a push to get people to see it. Then again, if it comes out and makes gobs of money, even if I think it's a bad film, it still could be said to be doing some good.

[2] It would be apropos to mention the two main texts dealing with these issues: Yen Le Espiritu's work on Asian American panethnicity or Lisa Lowe's seminal essay, "Heterogeneity, Hybridity and Multiplicity."

[3] Based on the previews of that film, I'm really tempted to call it Taipei-ssippi Burning but again, it's probably best to suspend judgement until it comes out.

PHILLY'S 2ND ANNUAL ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP

2009-08-28T00:35:00.000-07:00

philadelphia asian american film festival: official lineup (credit: Angry Asian Man)

CHASING CHAN'S STARTING SIX

2009-08-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

Coming out of our recent conversation on how best to support Asian American cinema, there are a few things ordinary people can do, especially those living outside cities like SF, LA or NY.

The first is to push your local public library or university library to purchase Asian American movies for their collection. This was extremely hard to do 10 years ago, namely because there was little distribution available for those movies. Nowadays though, many films - both older and contemporary - are available on DVD or VHS. People should push their local institutions to take advantage of that and stock up on Asian American films.

The other, even easier thing you can do is throw a local screening party for you and your friends. Despite the growth in Asian American films gaining distribution, it's still a challenge to be able to see many movies in your local cineplex or even art house theaters. However, many films can be rented through mainstream sources (alas, not all) and that opens up opportunities - never available in a previous era - to experience the diversity of the Asian American filmmaking tradition.

As a resource, here's a list of six films that I'd recommend to any newcomer to Asian American cinema. Some caveats: 1) This is not meant to be a definitive list, especially given that there's been many films I haven't seen, especially in the years since I left the Bay Area and *sniff* my time with CAAM/NAATA behind. Just to give you an idea of how deep the catalog runs, check this out - and that is missing dozens of films. However, these six are films that I think belong to whatever you might call an "Asian American film canon" and thus, are useful places to begin (just not end). 2) It's weighted more to feature films than documentaries namely because, frankly, I feel like more work is needed to bring up feature filmmaking to where documentaries have been over the last 20 years. 3) The list has a heavy bent towards East Asian American, male filmmakers. That is partially a product of long-standing structural privileges that have created more opportunities for Chinese and Japanese American - and male - filmmakers compared to others (and let's just be frank here - it's not as if those CA and JA filmmakers are what you'd call "privileged" in general). From what I've been seeing in the last 10 years though, things are going to change very, very dramatically, especially with far more women directors out there and a slew of Korean, Filipino, South Asian and Southeast Asian filmmakers on the rise as well. All these qualifiers aside, here's my six picks:

1. (List is in chronological order)

Chan Is Missing, dir. Wayne Wang, 1982.

Technically, not the first Asian American feature film but the first one to gain any national recognition, plus distribution, and in my opinion, flat-out the best Asian American feature film ever made. Which is great, in terms of how brilliant this film is, but also kind of sad that no AA film has ever managed to better it in the 27 years since its release. Hence the raison d'etre of this site. In any case, the film is a profound allegory about the search for Asian American identity but manages not to be didactic about it. Fantastic characters throughout and excellent acting by Wood Moy and Marc Hayashi.

2.

Eat a Bowl of Tea, dir. Wayne Wang, 1989.

I didn't want to have more than one-film-per-director, but it's hard to not include this film for one important reason: for people who complain there are no films about intra-Asian American romance, well, here you go. Of course, this adaptation of Louis Chu's novel is also very much a family melodrama/generation gap film, with a risque - and hilarious - twist on how the pressures of family and community can weigh down one's sex life. As such, it actually fills in a "one of the best" in a few key categories: family melodrama (believe me, you'd much rather watch this than, say, Joy Luck Club), comedy, generation gap, etc. There are, of course, other films that have touched on this - I'm thinking especially of Alice Wu's Saving Face and before that, Mina Shum's Double Happiness - but in terms of quality of execution, Tea still takes this one. The film can seem a little cartoonish at times and the generation gap angle gets overplayed but it is entertaining and has surprisingly more historical depth to it than you might assume.

Also: nice casting (at least on the eyes) with Russell Wong and Cora Miao as the ill-fated couple while Victor Wong does the grumpy old dude bit quite well as Wong's father.

3.
Terminal U.S.A., dir. Jon Moritsugu, 1993.

By the good graces of the Almighty, this film is finally available on DVD. I have to admit - I'm including this on this list purely for the most selfish reason; it's just one of my favorite Asian American films of all time, namely because it's a brilliant, viciously executed anti-Asian American film. Note, it's not that the film is anti-Asian American. It's anti-Asian American film, which is to say that Moritsugu serves up a biting satire of Asian American family melodramas with enough improper sex, drugs and violence to scar more timid minds. I'd actually recommend you watch this film last, partially because it'd make an awfully good midnight movie, partially because you can get a sense of what Moritsugu is responding to in terms of the cliche themes of so many AA films, past, present and no doubt, future.

4.

AKA Don Bonus, dir. Spencer Nakasako, 1995.

Asian American documentaries have been the heart of Asian American filmmaking but because of the economics of docs, they are also the hardest films to find outside of institutional settings (libraries, film festivals, etc.) Luckily, Spencer Nakasako's trio of documentaries focused on Bay Area South-East Asian youth IS more widely avail. AKA Don Bonus was the first of these, a stark diary film about a year in the life of Sokly Ny, aka Don Bonus, a Cambodian teenager from the Tenderloin who is struggling with living in the S.F. housing projects, trying to finish high school, and dealing with his unstable family life. A powerful and remarkable film.

4.

Better Luck Tomorrow, dir. Justin Lin, 2002.

This is rather obvious choice, I suppose, given that it's the most high-profile AA film of its generation. Besides great admiration for the director and actors, the main reason I'm including BLT is that it's a useful starting point for a Gen X/Y perspective on AA feature filmmaking. I mean, all respect due to Chan Is Missing but it's not an easy a film to connect with anyone under the age of 30. While I don't think BLT is a perfect film, it does have a way of getting conversations started and that's as important as anything, especially for the purposes of this list.

It's also one of the first Asian American features that really doesn't deal with any of the obvious themes that the previous generations have hammered home - no generation gap/family melodramatics, no "where do I fit in?" assimilationist existentialism, and while race and racism enter the picture, it's the AZN characters who do the pistol-whipping. In other words, it's like a film you'd normally see with non-Asian actors except that it's an all-Asian cast. That alone is rather refreshing and groundbreaking in its own way.

5 & 6.

Cavite, dir. Neill Dela Llana & Ian Gamazon, 2005

In Between Days, dir. So Yong Kim, 2006

I'm pairing these two together because they both represent some of the most interesting - and arguably transformative - films of the last decade. By this I mean, they, as much as anything else I can think of, signify the shifting narratives - and geographies - of Asian American filmmaking.

Cavite takes place almost exclusively in the Philippines and there's nothing particularly "Asian American," let alone "Filipino American" about the story; it just happens to be an intensely arresting thriller about a prodigal Filipino American son who returns to the P.I. for his father's funeral and is promptly roped into what may or may not be a diabolical plot by terrorists. No doubt, the fact that the film takes place outside the U.S. raises the basic question of, "well, is it Asian American still?" and I don't think it's an inappropriate question. I do think, however, this is where things are headed and AA cinema is going to adapt to it one way or another.

Likewise, with In Between Days, here's one of the few films dealing with an Asian immigrant yet the film's quiet, subtle touches don't beat you over the head with the "assimilation" stick, even if Aimie's "fitting in" is hinted at during parts of the film. More importantly than that though, just as Cavite situates its character within a more global setting, In Between Days, like Wayne Wang's similar (but less successful) Princess of Nebraska, takes a realistic approach to a generation of immigrants who exist more fluidly with a transnational identity. I think we're going to see more portrayals like this and it will be a welcome - and meaningful - break from tradition.

Wish list + Honorable Mentions:

Who Killed Vincent Chin?, dir. Christine Choy and Renee Tajima, 1989.

This would have made the list, easily, except it's not readily available. This Academy Award nominated documentary explores the complex web of race, class and masculinity that lay behind the infamous 1982 murder of Detroit's Vincent Chin at the hands of two White autoworkers. The conventional wisdom has been that Chin was the victim of racial confusion - the autoworkers thought he was Japanese at a time where anti-Japan sentiment was at its height in Detroit. However, as the documentary tries to disentangle, the reasons for Chin's death are more complicated. The footage of Ron Ebens, one of Chin's two murderers, is both sad and chilling. The film is available for rental but only at institutional prices ($95). Check your local college library first.

Yuri Kochiyama: Portrait of Courage, dir. Rea Tajiri, 1994.

Yuri Kochiyama might very well be one of the most important Asian Americans many Americans have never heard of - a Civil Rights pioneer for four decades and also a powerful force in uniting the oft-contentious chasm between Asian Americans and African Americans. This documentary by Rea Tajiri gives Yuri's exceptional life and contributions some much needed focus and exposure. Again, it's only available for institutional rental/purchase...hopefully it will be able to reach a broader audience soon. Meanwhile, check your local libraries.

Mississippi Masala, dir. Mira Nair, 1992.

I generally am not a big fan of films about interracial relationships only because they tend to be incredibly ham-fisted and cliche-ridden but Mississippi Masala, despite some predictable, "you're going out with...HIM?!?!?!" scenes, still holds up as being more compelling than most, not to mention a rather ahead-of-its-time film focusing on the South Asian diaspora - in the U.S. South, no less. Plus, you get a hot, young Denzel. What more you want?

Double Happiness, dir. Mina Shum, 1995.

Yes, this is a pretty cookie cut family melodrama/generation gap film in many ways, and yes, it has two eye-rolling characters - the mega-conservative dad and the goofy white boyfriend - but straight up, Sandra Oh makes this film watchable every scene she's in.

Charlotte Sometimes, dir. Eric Byler, 2003.

A well-executed, well-acted indie DV film about four intersecting lovers in Silverlake. Some might find it a bit too slow - and possibly contrived - but I liked the pacing and especially liked watching Jacqueline Kim and Michael Idemoto awkwardly dance around each other.

Fall of the I-Hotel, dir. Curtis Choy, 2005.

Along with Who Killed Vincent Chin?, Choy's labor of love is considered one of the definitive Asian American documentaries and even though it focuses on events from the 1970s, its power and resonance has yet to fade. I still am deeply moved every time I watch this film which says something about the power of the story behind it - the eviction of elderly Filipino manongs from a residence hotel in the old S.F. Little Manila - but much credit also goes to Choy who does a masterful job of pulling together footage from his own filming and found material. Plus, a beautiful passage featuring the late Al Robles. It's not available for rent but you can buy it and in my opinion, it's worth every dollar.

Coming Up:

I plan to solicit other Starting Sixes from a few colleagues and friends BUT I also want YOUR input. What is your Starting Six? You don't need to annotate (unless you want to). Send your suggestions to: oliverwang AT gmail.com

Thanks!

(Also check out AsianAmericanFilm.com's three different Top 5 lists from folks like Peter Feng and Greg Pak. They mix in shorts (whereas I'm asking for all feature-length films) but their tastes also run more unconventional than the list I put together so it's good for contrast. But like the razor wars, they got five and we got six! ;)

REVIEW: TERMINAL USA

2009-08-23T20:03:00.001-07:00

Buy | Rent

This had been one of the Holy Grail of Asian American movies in terms of how difficult it was to come by a copy; now, finally, it's on DVD.

I first saw this when I was a TA for an Asian American film class taught by Alvin Lu and he screened this as one of the first films 1) because it's a great film and 2) it scares off students. Seriously, I think our enrollment fell by 20% after screening this because it's bizarre and gory but also, in my opinion, completely brilliant.

Moritsugu, along with Gregg Araki, made a reputation for themselves in the early 1990s as "bad boy" filmmakers working in a post-punk tradition. Both were also subject to some criticism within the Asian American community because, though they were AA, their early films had no AA cast or themes. Moritsugu, whether influenced by that criticism or not, fired off Terminal U.S.A, the most bitingly funny and over-the-top satires of Asian American family melodramas created - and keep in mind, this film came out before the wave of family melodramas began to crest with Joy Luck Club and it has (unfortunately) gone relatively unabated through present.

The film is big on theatrics, gore, and generally bizarreness as we watch a nuclear Japanese American family (starring Moritsugu himself) implode in the most outrageous ways. including, in no particular order, IV drug use, bathroom blow jobs, gay sex phone lines, drugs, guns, and the most improper use of a hobby horse, ever. I can't even sum it up properly.

One of these days, I'll get around to writing a more proper review but seriously, you need to see this. (Unbelievably, the film was originally produced by and screened on PBS.)

INTERVIEW: JOHN CHO

2009-07-04T06:26:00.000-07:00

Preface: I was really happy to be able to do this; I knew John as a classmate from UC Berkeley - *15 years ago* - and I've taken a lot of pleasure in seeing his career accelerate over that time. I finally had the opportunity to interview him and at the risk of sounding immodest, I thought it was a great conversation, especially with his candor about issues of acting, media and race.

THE INTERVIEW (there are two parts) (originally appeared in UCLA's Asia Pacific Arts Magazine)

INTERVIEW: ALEX TSE

2009-07-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

Preface: I met Alex Tse at the VC Film Festival this year; I had followed his career off and on since the days when he wrote the script for Sucker Free City and as it turns out, Alex knew my music writing thanks to his connection with Bay Area hip-hop groups. I've always been fascinated by the process and business of screenwriting and Alex was gracious enough to meet me in Long Beach to talk about his work and career thus far.

THE INTERVIEW (originally appeared in UCLA's Asia Pacific Arts Magazine)

PREVIEW: THE PEOPLE I'VE SLEPT WITH

2009-08-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

The People I've Slept With Trailer from People Pictures on Vimeo.

The People I've Slept With

This is Quentin Lee's new film - a rather interesting departure from this melodramatic last flick, "Ethan Mao" and returning more to the quirky, comedic ground he and Justin Lin established 12 years ago with "Shopping For Fangs." The premise is "Mama Mia" minus the ABBA songs - a woman with multiple sex partners gets pregnant but doesn't know who the dad is. On the surface, that probably doesn't sound groundbreaking but let's just be blunt: when's the last time you saw a good Asian Am rom-com? Actually, when's the last time you saw ANY Asian Am rom-com? Exactly.

Let's also put this out there - there's not exactly a massive catalog of AA films focused on a sexually self-possessed (but not self-destructive) woman as the protagonist, let alone one where the majority of her lovers (at least based on the trailer) seem to be Asian American too (listen! A thousand indignant AA male voices go silent...mine included). Interestingly - but not surprisingly - I think AA queer filmmakers have been way ahead of the curve on this one but on the hetero-tip, the examples are far sparser. Eat a Bowl of Tea comes to mind but that's very much male-centric. (One of my favorite AA films of the '00s, In Between Days sort of fits in here but it's not really a film about sexuality, though it includes aspects of it).

Suffice to say, TPISW seems poised to break some new, interesting and frankly, long overdue ground. I'm down for it but I do have to ask - a Black Gay best friend? Is that like a Token Two-Fer?

FEATURE: THE CLASS OF 1997

2007-03-01T21:47:00.000-08:00

Preface: I wrote this essay for the 2007 SFIAFF Program. I was very thankful and honored that CAAM allowed me to write it...I was a little late in sending them the idea but as it turned out, they had planned to write something about the 10 year anniversary of the famed Class of '97.

The essay itself lays out what made that year so significant but to add a personal note that doesn't appear there: 1997 wasn't my first SFIAAFF but it came during the same semester I took the Asian American Film/Video course at UC Berkeley (taught by Spencer Nakasako) and it was one of the first years that I practically lived at the Kabuki during that week (or so it felt).

It was, to be sure, an amazing time to be witness to what was happening within Asian American cinema and as cliche as it sounds, that sense of change was in the air everywhere you went during that week. In hindsight, it doesn't seem any less momentous - '97 was a crucial watershed. The fact that it came 15 years after Chan Is Missing is a coincidence but a significant one at that especially since the next important year would be five years later, in 2002, when Better Luck Tomorrow and Charlotte Sometimes screened (amongst others).

THE FEATURE (originally appeared in the 2007 SFIAFF Catalog).

Class of 1997: 10 Years Later

Six filmmakers, four narrative features, one year. The Class of 1997 comprised Quentin Lee and Justin Lin’s SHOPPING FOR FANGS, Rea Tajiri’s STRAWBERRY FIELDS, Michael Idemoto and Eric Nakamura’s SUNSETS and Chris Chan Lee’s YELLOW. The arrival of this quartet in time for the ’97 SFIAAFF may have just been coincidence, but looking at the long-term evolution of Asian American independent filmmaking, it’s as if a critical mass had been waiting to coalesce.

The mid-’90s were a transitional time for Asian American narrative cinema. The most influential director of the ‘80s, Wayne Wang, had moved away from Asian American themes following 1993’s JOY LUCK CLUB. There were several new filmmakers filling in the gap, notably Canada’s Mina Shum (DOUBLE HAPPINESS, 1994) and the late Kayo Hatta (PICTURE BRIDE, 1995) but much of the Class of 1997 was comprised of an even younger, emergent generation. Lee, Lin and Lee all came almost directly out of major film schools. Cousins Idemoto and Nakamura were amateur, first-time filmmakers. Even the cohort’s “senior” member, acclaimed experimental/documentary director Tajiri, was still in her thirties.

More importantly, their films suggested that Asian American cinema was at a key thematic crossroads. Though STRAWBERRY FIELDS and YELLOW ostensibly dealt with familiar topics around the traumas of the past and family tensions of the present, they were a leap forward in artistic style and storytelling. Likewise, though SHOPPING FOR FANGS was a film about identity starring an all-Asian American cast, race and ethnicity were barely present in favor of more humorous and existential explorations of self. Following a trio of youth whiling away their summer, SUNSETS had virtually no Asian American themes whatsoever, but its depictions of suburban/rural ennui had a more universal appeal. Collectively, the four films marked a moment where the older traditions of Asian American filmmaking were being shed to make room for new, exciting and imaginative ideas, styles and stories.

Symbolic import aside, the 1997 SFIAAFF also helped plant the seeds for future groundbreaking projects. It was at this Festival where Justin Lin first met YELLOW star Jason Tobin, whom he later cast in a scene-stealing role for BETTER LUCK TOMORROW (2002). Likewise, aspiring filmmaker Eric Byler and writer Jeff Liu met actress Jacqueline Kim at the Festival and the three drove back to Los Angeles, brainstorming what would eventually become Byler’s debut, CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES (2002), a film that also starred SUNSETS’ Michael Idemoto. The Festival also saw John Cho star in both YELLOW and SHOPPING FOR FANGS; he’s since become one of the most prolific Asian American actors in Hollywood.

Perhaps the most telling evidence of how the Class of ’97 signaled a momentous change is how unextraordinary it’s become for the SFIAAFF to host any number of Asian American narrative features (this year boasts 12 in competition). Over the last decade, there’s been a blossoming of dozens of up-and-coming directors including Alice Wu (SAVING FACE), Tanuj Chopra (PUNCHING AT THE SUN), Ian Gamazon and Neill Dela Llana (CAVITE), and So Yong Kim (IN BETWEEN DAYS). Never before has the Asian American cinescape been so broad or diverse.

Yet despite that expanding scope, the most powerful moments are often the smallest. My favorite memory from the 1997 SFIAAFF came at the back of the theater during the sold-out world premiere of SUNSETS. As the credits began to roll, Idemoto and Nakamura, standing behind the seat rows, hugged one another, yelling “we did it, we did it!” It was a personal moment that went unnoticed by most of the audience still staring forward but in a sense, the two were celebrating for all of us. The labor and challenges of making the if lm were, of course, theirs, but in contributing to such an important, watershed moment, the pride and exhilaration for their accomplishment
was ours as well.

—Oliver Wang

Oliver Wang served on the SFIAAFF Screening Committee from 2000 through 2005. He is
currently a professor of sociology at CSU-Long Beach and cultural critic living in Los Angeles.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

• Michel Idemoto both directed and starred in the ensemble feature O.B.I.T.S. (1998) and was the lead in Eric Byler’s CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES (2002).

• Chris Chan Lee has directed television in Asia, and produced several films in the U.S. His second feature, UNDOING (2006), screens in this year’s Festival.

• Quentin Lee runs the production company Margin Films, and directed both DRIFT (2000) and ETHAN MAO (2004).

• Justin Lin has directed BETTER LUCK TOMORROW (2002), ANNAPOLIS (2006), and THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT (2006). His latest fi lm, FINISHING THE GAME
(2007), screens on Opening Night at this year’s Festival.

• Eric Nakamura continues to run Giant Robot Magazine as well as its related publishing and retail ventures.

• Rea Tajiri continues to practice and teach filmmaking at schools such as UCLA, NYU, Columbia and CalArts.

PHOTO BY PAMELA GENTILE: FRONT (L–R) JUSTIN LIN, REA TAJIRI, QUENTIN LEE
BACK (L–R) CHRIS CHAN LEE, ERIC NAKAMURA, MICHAEL IDEMOTO