Comedian Vince Royale is the subject of the upcoming documentary “Inside Joke,” a film by Andre Sandoval. The film takes you inside the comedy world as it follows the struggles of the New Jersey native and aspiring comedian living in Southern California. The documentary will profile and follow Vince as he works to make it to the top in the comedy circuit and entertainment industry. He has performed across the U.S. in prominent venues such as Caroline’s, The Gotham Comedy Club, Comic Strip Live and Yankee Stadium in New York. In the West Coast, he has performed at the world famous Comedy Store, The Punchline, the Improv, the Ice House, and the Laugh Factory. Vince has shared the stage and performed with comedy legends such as Louis C.K., Bobby Lee, Paul Mooney, Tommy Davidson, Todd Glass, Jim Gaffigan, Edwin San Juan, just to name a few.
Inside Joke: A Documentary on Vince Royale Trailer
Upwards of 300,000 North Koreans have escaped from their country and are in hiding, hoping to find their way to freedom. The Defector is about their story, as well as the Western humanitarian aid workers who form an international network, a modern underground railroad, to help these fugitives find freedom.
They’ve put well over a year’s research into The Defector, but the film is much more than reportage documentary. With a dramatic approach to story and a signature POV style, The Defector is an unparalleled intimate POV experience that follows 2 sides of the story: Western aid workers and North Korean defectors as their fates collide in the underground railway. There are high stakes for all involved and the emotions and tensions during the journey are dramatic. The production crew of The Defector will film undercover as we delve into why middle-class aid workers would risk their own lives to help North Koreans. The film and interactive website also takes you inside the life of a North Korean who is fleeing the only country, the only reality she has ever known. We gain new insight into what is happening in North Korea, and the new challenges faced by those who leave DPRK today. They also celebrate those who put their lives on the line, the unsung heroes of this modern humanitarian crisis.
The Defector is about this human crisis. It’s a film with a lot of heart, and it’s got guts.
Every year thousands of American men go to China to find a bride. The documentary film “Seeking Asian Female” follows an eccentric modern love story about Steven and Sandy – an 60 year old aging white man with “yellow fever” who is obsessed with marrying any Asian woman, and the young 30 year old Chinese bride he finds online. When Steven meets a willful young woman named Sandy from Anhui, China, over the internet and she agrees to migrate to the US to marry him. Fantasy and reality collide in this modern love story.
Told through the lens of Chinese American filmmaker Debbie Lum, who becomes the couple’s reluctant translator and marriage counselor, the film examines the penetrating effect of stereotype and expectations on love and relationships today. Debbie documents and narrates with skepticism and humor, from the early stages of Steven’s search for an Asian bride, through the moment Sandy steps foot in America for the first time, to a year into their precarious union. Global migration, Sino-American relations and the perennial battle of the sexes, weigh in on the fate of their marriage in this intimate and quirky personal documentary. “Seeking Asian Female” is at the intersection of several timely subjects – finding love online, an increasing interest in New China, and what it means to have a race-based dating preference in a supposedly “post-racial” America.
On March 11, 2011, Japan’s Tohoku coastal region was destroyed by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and devastating tsunami that followed. PRAY FOR JAPAN takes place in the devastated region of Ishinomaki, Miyagi – the largest coastal city in Tohoku with a population of over 160,000 people. Filmmaker Stu Levy – an American living in Japan – filmed the tsunami aftermath during his trips to Tohoku as a volunteer and over a period of 6 weeks, captured over 50 hours of footage.
PRAY FOR JAPAN focuses on four key perspectives of the tragedy – School, Shelter, Family, and Volunteers. With each perspective we meet victims who faced significant obstacles and fought to overcome them. Through these four vantage points, the audience is able to understand the vast ramifications of this large-scale natural disaster – and the battle these real-life heroes fought on behalf of their loved ones and their hometown.
PRAY FOR JAPAN features an original theme song written and performed by Okuda Tamio, one of the most popular rock musicians in Japan, as well as poetry written by Fukushima poet Ryoichi Wago and read by famed actress Kyoka Suzuki. The opening animation sequence is directed by Hiroshi Nagahama and produced by prolific Japanese animation powerhouse, Studio DEEN. Post-production services were provided by Q-Tec in Tokyo, Japan.
On March 14, 2012, the film will open in the following markets through AMC Theatres: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Orange County (LA), Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle, Chicago, Houston, San Diego, Washington D.C., Kansas City, Toronto, and Montreal. Hollywood Theatres will also show the film in Maui, Hawaii. All profits from these screenings will be donated to Japan-based charity Japan Emergency NGO (JEN), who provides assistance to victims of natural disasters, wars, and internal conflicts.
Those familiar with Jake Shimabukuro may know him as a ukulele virtuoso who has performed with artists as diverse as Bela Fleck, Cyndi Lauper and Yo Yo Ma, been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone and Time Magazine, and has earned comparisons to Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix. For those unfamiliar with his music, all it takes is to hear a few chords—or glimpse him in performance—and the appeal comes through instantly. Produced by CAAM & Pacific Islanders In Communications, this intimate documentary will give viewers a singular glimpse into not only Jake Shimabukuro, the performer and musician, but also Jake, the young boy who grew up in a modest apartment to a single mother and unsuspectingly rose to international stardom.
Rising young filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura (whose acclaimed trilogy on the early Asian American cultural movement includes 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. A quiet boy, Jake quickly took to the ukulele, largely to deal with the troubling divorce of his parents. From there, Jake’s path would progress with perfect synchronization, from skinny teen (when his skills are recognized by a master ukulele craftsman) to young adult (when he starts getting local radio airplay, and is “discovered” on YouTube) and suddenly to international stardom, especially in Japan. His evolution as a musician is marked by increasing technical prowess (an aggressive strum that “could get a lot more speed”) and, perhaps more significantly, an introspective approach to creating new sounds—not with distortion panels and amplifiers, but with his bare hands.
Through it all, Jake continues to challenge himself, as both a musician and a person. On one trip, Jake travels with his manager to her hometown of Sendai, Japan, one of the casualties of the devastating tsunami. Performing at shelters for children and elders, Jake observes, “Nothing’s ever perfect… But things can feel perfect.” Experiencing the music of Jake Shimabukuro, one knows exactly what that means.
Don’t miss the World Premiere of this captivating documentary – PLAYING ONE NIGHT ONLY! (here’s a few glimpses from the film : Blue Roses Falling and Bohemian Rhapsody.) And the icing on the cake? JAKE SHIMABUKURO WILL BE IN THE HOUSE to give a mind‐blowing ukulele performance that’s sure to knock your socks off! The San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival’s (SFIAAFF) 2012 Screening, Live Performance and VIP Pre‐Reception for THE JAKE SHIIMABUKURO DOCUMENTARY will take place on March 14, 2012 (6:00pm VIP Reception and 7:30pm screening at the Castro Theater).
Entrepreneur Jack Sim (aka Mr. Toilet), Founder of World Toilet Organization (WTO), has been a successful businessman since age 24. Having achieved financial success in his 40s, Jack felt the need to change his direction in life and give back to humanity – he wanted to live his life according to the motto “Live a useful life”. Jack soon left his business and embarked on a journey that saw him being the voice for those who cannot speak out and fighting for the dignity, rights and health for the vulnerable and poor worldwide.
Jack discovered that toilets were often neglected and grew concerned that the topic was often shrouded in embarrassment and apathy. For those without access to a simple toilet, poop can be poison. Businessman-turned-sanitation-superhero Jack Sim fights this oft-neglected crisis affecting 2.6 billion people…
The short was directed by Jessica Yu, an the Oscar-winning director of Breathing Lessons, In the Realms of the Unreal, Protagonist, and Last Call at the Oasis. Mr. Toilet made its debut 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
Meet Mr. Toilet directed by Jessica Yu (contains profanity)
