credit: Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart (1983).
Directed by Wayne Wang. Photo by Nancy Wong.
The San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival is a presentation of the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), the largest festival and organization of its kind in North America. CAAM is dedicated to presenting stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences to the broadest audience possible. CAAM achieves this by funding, producing, distributing and exhibiting works in film, television and digital media, exposing audiences to new voices and new communities, thereby advancing our collective understanding of American experiences.
Characterized by its youthful energy, forward‐looking programming, and legacy in social activism and education, SFIAAFF has earned its title as San Francisco’s fastest‐growing film festival. Along with its strong local resonance, the festival has important national and international ties and reaches a diverse audience from across the Asian diaspora. Over the past 30 years, SFIAAFF has played a vital role in introducing emerging filmmakers and actors who have gone on to commercial success, such as Wayne Wang, Sandra Oh, John Cho, Mira Nair, Ang Lee, Deepa Mehta, Justin Lin, and Gurinder Chadha, to name a few.
With an emphasis on live events, multimedia performances, and ventures into the culinary and gaming worlds, the Festival unabashedly welcomes new media platforms with the spirit of curiosity—over the past 3 years, SFIAAFF has produced HAPAS.US, a social‐networking site for mixed‐race Asians; Filipino or Not?, an iPhone game that challenges notions of racial ambiguity; and Climbing Sacred Mountain, a game that teaches young women the tenants of teamwork. It’s no wonder that SFIAAFF has gained a reputation for fostering bold new talent and lifting marginalized voices.
Opening and Closing Nights—WHITE FROG & PRISON DANCER in San Francisco, and KNOTS in San Jose
White Frog: SFIAAFF is proud to open the Festival with the World Premiere of WHITE FROG, director Quentin Lee’s much buzzed‐about new feature. The film stars Booboo Stewart (The Twilight Saga) as high school freshman Nick, a young boy with Asperger’s syndrome who is often neglected and misunderstood by his seemingly perfect family. This powerful drama by director of The People I’ve Slept With and Flow, boasts some of the most influential and recognizable Asian American talent today, including B.D. Wong (Law and Order), Harry Shum Jr. (Glee), and Joan Chen (this year’s Festival Spotlight Honoree).
Prison Dancer: The Festival in San Francisco is capped seven days later with the World Premiere of Closing Night Presentation PRISON DANCER, dir. Romeo Candido. Based on the YouTube sensation that featured Philippine prisoners dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” this cuttingedge, web‐based musical series paints a fictional portrait of the people behind the event, from a flamboyant, destined‐to‐be‐choreographer and his gay minions to a pair of star‐crossed lovers kept apart by the prison’s walls. This evening of “performative cinema” will include video, live performances by cast members, and maestro‐led audience participation.
Knots: Paradise isn’t quite for lovers in Michael Kang’s refreshing new Hawai’i‐based, islandpowered
romantic comedy KNOTS, SFIAAFF’s San Jose Opening Night Gala Presentation. Director Michael Kang’s (The Motel and West 32nd) third feature further demonstrates his directorial range in this fresh take on family ties and romantic entanglements. After a break‐up, marriage‐phobic Lily (Kimberly‐Rose Wolter, who also wrote and produced the film) skulks back to Hawai’i where she finds herself back at the wedding planning business run by her two unlucky‐in‐love sisters and her oft‐divorced mother. Filmed across Oahu and with a score by Hawai’ian phenom Jake Shimabukuro (the subject of SFIAAFF’s Special Presentation).
Special Presentation —Jake Shimabukuro Documentary
CAAM is proud to present the World Premiere of its new documentary on ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro. The film follows Jake around the world on tour and visits home to his native Hawai’i, where he has risen from local hero to international star. Widely recognized as “the Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele,” Jake Shimabukuro captivates audiences, and peels away stereotypes. Emerging filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura (whose acclaimed films include Yellow Brotherhood, Pilgrimage, and A Song For Ourselves) provides an insightful portrait of this first‐class musician, backstage, at home, on the road, and into his early days. The event includes a special performance by Jake, as well as an on‐stage Q&A and VIP reception with Jake and special guests.
Spotlight on Joan Chen
Each year, SFIAAFF recognizes an individual who has made an indelible contribution to the Asian American experience through film; we are delighted to announce our 2012 honoree is the oneand‐ only actor/director Joan Chen. Born and raised in Shanghai, Chen was a teenager when she won China’s Best Actress award for Little Flower (1980). In the early eighties, she moved to the U.S. and became a star in Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987), winner of nine Academy Awards. Over the past decades, she has become a constant in mainstream and independent film and television, including Alice Wu’s Saving Face (2005), Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution (2007), Jia Zhang‐ke’s 24 City (2008) and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. She has also been a Bay Area resident since the mid‐‘90s.
SFIAAFF will host a reunion screening of SAVING FACE, with many cast and crew in attendance, and Chen’s acclaimed directorial debut XIU XIU: THE SENT‐DOWN GIRL (1998), preceded by an intimate on‐stage conversation with Joan.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS: A Look Back & New Initiatives
SFIAAFF is proud to present a slate of Special Presentations that honor the legacy of Asian American founders, while highlighting the next generation of media forerunners.
Cherylene Lee: SCENES FROM A MEMOIR WITH CHERYLENE LEE presents an on‐stage reading by the showbiz pioneer from her soon‐to‐be‐released memoir, Just Like Really, and a conversation with her sister Virginia and film historian Stephen Gong, Executive Director of CAAM. Nakamura Family: Perhaps no family has made a greater impact on Asian American media than the Nakamura family: Robert A. Nakamura, his wife Karen Ishizuka, and their son Tadashi. Over a period of four decades, they’ve illuminated the experience of the Japanese in America and campaigned for the importance of diversity and community representation in media. The program will feature clips from some of the Nakamura’s key works, as well as the family in conversation with film historian Stephen Gong, Executive Director of CAAM.
Nice Girls Crew: Sheetal Sheth, Michelle Krusiec and Lynn Chen star in this raunchy Bridesmaidsmeets‐
Arrested Development comedy series. Sophie (Chen), Leena (Sheth), and Geraldine (Krusiec) have been true “frenemies” since elementary school. As grown‐ups, the ladies reunite in a book club where subjects of interest include sex, cannibalism, drugs and more. A CAAM production, NICE GIRLS CREW was created/written by Festival staffer Christine Kwon and directed/written by filmmaker Tanuj Chopra (Punching at the Sun).
Competitions Feature First‐Time Breakouts, Compelling Portraits
The heart of the festival, SFIAAFF presents the best in new Asian American cinema in its Narrative and Documentary Competition sections. This year’s Narrative Competition includes eight new works, including the critically acclaimed indie feature IN THE FAMILY (dir. Patrick Wang), a delicately woven story about child custody, “two‐Dad” families and parental loss and SURROGATE VALENTINE 2 (dir. Dave Boyle), the sequel to last year’s Closing Night hit and starring local musician Goh Nakamura. Other competition films include BANG BANG (dir. Byron Q), a portrait of a resilient Vietnamese teenager looking for a way out of the gang life; psychological thriller I AM A GHOST, directed by local stalwart H.P. Mendoza (Fruit Fly) and an impressive debut by Mye Hoang in VIETTE, the coming‐of‐age story of a young Vietnamese woman.
The Documentary Competition features eight compelling and insightful portraits, including GIVE UP TOMORROW, (dir. Michael Collins), a harrowing and incredible journey through the Philippines criminal justice system; LOVE CRIMES OF KABUL (dir. Tanaz Eshaghian), a heartbreaking portrait of Afghanistan’s “moral prisoners”; NO LOOK PASS (dir. Melissa Johnson), the story of a professional basketball player as she negotiates personal fulfillment and her traditional Burmese family; MR. CAO GOES TO WASHINGTON (dir. S. Leo Chiang), a portrait of the first Vietnamese American to become a member of Congress; and MRS. JUDO: BE STRONG, BE GENTLE, BE BEAUTIFUL (dir. Yuriko Gamo Romer), the inspiring story of 98‐year‐old Keiko Fukuda who is one of only four people in the world to hold the highest black belt in Judo.
SFIAAFF @ 30
Entering into its 30th year, SFIAAFF is excited to delve into a decade of maturity, promise and adventurous new beginnings. To capture the breadth and vitality of our stories, this year’s vibrant programming includes Present/Future: A Summit on Asian American Media, a town hall featuring a diverse set of thinkers to speak on the changing landscape and opportunities facing Asian American media makers; the Cook, Groove, and Play Salons, symposium‐style gatherings where artists working in different mediums will demonstrate their creative process and work with the audience to create a cultural object; and a variety of educational offerings, including a screening of the Himalayan Youth Voices Project, an intensive media literacy workshop for youth from Bhutan, Nepal, and Tibet, and a free screening of TIBET IN SONG (dir. Ngawang
Choephel).
Official SFIAAFF30 Jury
Comcast Narrative Competition: Benson Lee (Director, Planet B‐Boy), Priya Giri Desai (Producer, Match+) & Robynn Takayama (Producer, Apex Express)
Documentary Competition: Vincent Pan (Executive Director, Chinese for Affirmative Action), Brian Hu (Artistic Director, San Diego Asian Film Festival) & Momo Chang (freelance journalist)
Emerging Filmmaker Award (New!) Wajahat Ali (Playwright and Journalist, The Domestic Crusaders), Anderson Le (Director of Programming, Hawaii International Film Festival) and Skye Christensen (Executive Director, Ninth Street Media Consortium)
The last two awards at SFIAAFF30 include the Verizon Audience Awards and the Loni Ding Award for Social Issue Documentary.
World Premieres
WHITE FROG (dir. Quentin Lee)
PRISON DANCER (dir. Romeo Candido)
JAKE SHIMABUKURO DOCUMENTARY (dir. Tadashi Nakamura)
YES, WE’RE OPEN (dir. Rich Wong)
I AM A GHOST (dir. H.P. Mendoza)
VIETTE (dir. Mye Hoang)
THE CRUMBLES (dir. Akira Boch)
MR. CAO GOES TO WASHINGTON (dir. S. Leo Chiang)
MRS. JUDO: BE STRONG, BE GENTLE, BE BEAUTIFUL (dir. Yuriko Gamo Romer)
NICE GIRLS CREW (dir. Tanuj Chopra and a CAAM production)
Yes We’re Open Trailer
 |
 |