Category Archives: movies

Help fund No Look Pass documentary

Help fund No Look Pass documentary

You’ve heard Harvard grad Jeremy Lin’s story to the NBA. Now there’s a documentary about a female Harvard basketball player Emily Tay called “No Look Pass.” Here’s more about the film:

No Look Pass is the coming-of-age American Dream story of Emily ‘Etay’ Tay, a first generation Burmese immigrant from Chinatown, Los Angeles. Despite the fact that girls don’t play sports in the Burmese tradition, Etay miraculously becomes a nationally-ranked basketball star at Harvard University thanks to her patented move, the no look pass. But Emily is caught between two worlds and feels tormented by her double life. She strives to play professionally in Germany but her dreams are no slam dunk — sexuality, family, race, and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell conspire against her, firing her passions on and off the court.

Three years, 300 hours of footage, thousands of miles (to Los Angeles, Cambridge, & Germany), and countless friends’ couches later…No Look Pass is inches away from completion and has been accepted to its world premiere film festival this summer. The people behind the film are looking for funds to finish the film and submit it to film festivals. Learn more about supporting the film here.

Help fund No Look Pass documentary

Vincent Who? documentary film about Vincent Chin

Vincent Who? documentary film about Vincent Chin

The 29th anniversary of Vincent Chin’s murder is coming up. Through July 2011, Asian Pacific Americans for Progress (APAP) and the producers of “Vincent Who?” have made the entire 40-minute documentary for free for this limited time, so catch it while you can. If you don’t know the importance of this story, here’s a synopsis:

In 1982, at the height of anti-Japanese sentiments, Vincent Chin was murdered in Detroit by two white autoworkers who said, “it’s because of you mother** that we’re out of work.” When the judged fined the killers a mere $3,000 and three years of probation, Asian Americans around the country galvanized to form a real community and movement. This documentary, inspired by a series of townhalls organized by the non-profit Asian Pacific Americans for Progress on the 25th Anniversary of the case, features interviews with key players at the time, as well as a whole new generation of activists. “Vincent Who?” asks how far Asian Americans have come since then and how far we have yet to go.

If you prefer to see a special screening , you can check out the latest touring schedule for 2011-12 here.

Vincent Who? documentary film about Vincent Chin

Left By The Ship documentary

Left By The Ship documentary

A few weeks ago, channelAPA.com wrote about the documentary film Within Every Women about comfort women during WWII. Here’s another documentary “Left By The Ship” about a similar topic, but from the children’s perspective:

In the 1970s and 80s, the world was touched by the stories of the abandoned Amerasians children, the offspring of the US military stationed in the East, and Asian women, often impoverished prostitutes. In 1982, the US Congress voted to grant US Citizenship to Amerasians from Vietnam, Korea, Thailand and other Asian countries, in what is known as the Amerasians Act. Though the Philippines has been a United States ally for more than a century, Filipino Amerasians were not included in the Act: they alone must be claimed by their American fathers.

Robert, Jr, Charlene and Margarita are Amerasians: the sons and daughters of Filipina sex workers and American servicemen stationed at the Subic Bay US Naval Base, once the largest outside mainland USA. When the Base closed about 20 years ago, thousands of Amerasian children were left behind. Unlike Amerasian children from other countries, Filipino Amerasians were never recognized by the US government. Now those children have grown up. Over the course of two years, they followed the lives of four Amerasian (age 13 to 30), as they struggle with discrimination, family problems and identity related issues, trying to overcome a past they are in no way responsible for.

It is estimated that there are at least 50,000 Amerasians are living in the Philippines today. As in other Asian countries, Amerasians here suffer a great amount of discrimination. Abandoned in early life, living with the stigma of being illegitimate children, unable to escape prejudice due to their physical features, they are teased with the names of “Iniwan ng Barko” (left by the ship). The children of African American soldiers are particularly victims of racism and prejudice.

What is it like to be an Amerasian in the Philippines today, 18 years after the pull out of the Bases? When your basic birthrights have been denied, what kind of future can you build for yourself? How do perceive yourself when everyone can see, by just looking at you, that your mother was a prostitute and your father has abandoned you?

Look for the documentary playing at a film festival near you.

Left By The Ship documentary trailer

Win a Green Lantern prize package

Win a Green Lantern prize package

channelAPA.com is working with Warner Bros. to find the next Green Lantern winner for our contest. Who among you will be selected?

Here’s more about the first human Green Lantern Hal Jordan.

In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, an elite, powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. Warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him the ability to create anything his mind can imagine. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds).

Induction into the Green Lantern Corps can only come when the ring of a fallen Lantern chooses its replacement. Abin Sur, an esteemed leader, is attacked by Parallax and, as he is dying, sends his light out to find the next Green Lantern, who turns out to be Hal. The brief but key role of Abin Sur was played by New Zealander Temuera Morrison.

One of the only people Hal entrusts with the knowledge of his newfound powers is his flight navigator and closest confidant, Tom Kalmaku, played by another New Zealand native, Taika Waititi. Hal calls Tom after Abin Sur bequeaths the lantern and ring to him, and the two are barely out of sight before a government helicopter arrives to investigate the alien wreckage. The body of Abin Sur becomes the responsibility of Dr. Amanda Waller, played by the venerable Angela Bassett.

Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal’s humanity is one weapon no member of the Corps has ever had, and if—with willpower, determination and the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively)—Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax…he will save the Earth and all of mankind from certain destruction.

Two Asian actors from New Zealand (Temuera Morrison and Taika Waititi) know what it’s like to know the secrets of the Green Lantern. Temuera Morrison plays “Abin Sur,” who is the leader of the Green Lanterns and gives Ryan Reynolds his powers. Taika Waititi plays “Thomas Kalmaku,” who is an Inuit (Eskimo) Engineer that is also Hal Jordan’s employer. He is one of the few people who know Hal’s secret. You could be the next to receive the Green Lantern prize package.

Win a Green Lantern prize package

To enter the contest, tweet the following message:

In brightest day, in blackest night… Let those who worship evil’s might, Beware my power – Green Lantern’s light! #ChannelAPAGLO

To make it simple, click here.

Send the tweet and you may be chosen as a Green Lantern winner of the Grand prize package or runner up prizes. Tweets must be sent by June 12, 2011 11:59 PST. Winners will be selected randomly from all entries. Some restrictions apply.

Grand Prize package Runner up prizes
2 tickets to the LA Premiere on June 15, 2011
(transportation not provided)
T-shirt
Messenger Bag
iPhone skin
Official Poster
T-shirt
Official Poster

Green Lantern Trailer

Iridescent music video by Linkin Park

Iridescent music video by Linkin Park

Linkin Park release their latest music video Iridescent off their album A Thousand Suns and featured on Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Soundtrack. Directed by band member Joe Hahn, the video explores how human existence might be affected by the elements of Transformers robots and the threat of the Decepticons. What would it be like to be citizens in a decaying universe? Watch this post-apocalyptic video that offers hope if earth were taken over by giant robots. It leverages some of the techniques used in Waiting For The End. You can get the song on Iridescent (from Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon) - Iridescent (from Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon) - Single or Amazon.

Previously, Linkin Park was on the Transformers 2 soundtrack for New Divide.

Iridescent music video by Linkin Park

Behind the scenes of Iridescent music video by Linkin Park

Iridescent with footage from Transformer 3 : Dark of the Moon

Lyrics to Iridescent by Linkin Park

When you were standing in the wake of devastation
when you were waiting on the edge of the unknown
with the cataclysm raining down, insides crying save me now
you were there and possibly alone.

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
you build up hope, but failure’s all you’ve known
remember all the sadness and frustration
and let it go, let it go.

And in the burst of light that blinded every angel
as if the sky had blown the heavens into stars
you felt the gravity of temper grace falling into empty space
no one there to catch you in their arms

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
you build up hope, but failure’s all you’ve known
remember all the sadness and frustration
and let it go, let it go.

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
you build up hope, but failure’s all you’ve known
remember all the sadness and frustration
and let it go,

let it go
let it go
let it go
let it go

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
you build up hope, but failure’s all you’ve known
remember all the sadness and frustration
and let it go, let it go.

Resilience : Korean adoption documentary

Resilience : Korean adoption documentary

Each year, thousands of children are sent to the West for adoption. South Korea has sent more children than any other country, an estimated 200,000 over the past 55 years. Despite being one of the world’s strongest economies, it continues to do so. With every new family created by adoption, another family gets torn apart.

A story of loss and separation, Resilience is a character-driven documentary that takes a unique look at international adoption from the perspective of a Korean birth mother and her American son. A single story among the thousands of stories untold, the film follows the remarkable journey of Myungja as she reconnects with her son Brent (Sung-wook) after 30 years apart. Through their initial reunion on national television to subsequent meetings and departures, they attempt to build a relationship amidst family betrayal and the legacy of adoption. But with so many obstacles–language, culture, distance, and unspoken loss–can two strangers find a way to become mother and son?

Here’s a few other adoption films to check out: Wo Ai Ni Mommy and In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee.

Resilience Trailer