Presenters of the Asian American International Film Festival
Coming of age in Chinatown is hardly an individual experience; it’s a family affair. “Freckled Rice,” a 1983 film directed by Stephen C. Ning, is a story about 13-year-old, American-born Joe Soo (J.P. Wing) who grows up in Boston’s Chinatown in the 1960s. ...
“Class of 2019, you’re graduating this year. And you know what? You should know the truth. We were never really a yearbook committee. Instead, we’re gonna make our own secret movie, which you all get to see very, very soon. It’s the movie you deserve. The ...
It's a last glimpse at some familiar faces “A Father’s Son” is Chinatown’s breathing testament to the pandemic. Patrick Xi Hao Chen began filming in 2019. Sustained by community funds, he hurtled through film shoots like he was on a ticking clock. “It’s ...
A tender glance into the life of a teenager in rural Indonesia Written by: Patricia Kusumaningtyas As the title card rolls, we hear the sound of splashing water. The first frame of the film is a girl, slowly emerging from the bathroom, wearing an all-pur ...
Written By: Nathan Liu When you think of the “Red Scare,” what comes to mind? Is it Joseph McCarthy? Is it the Hollywood Blacklist? I’m guessing it’s not working-class Chinese immigrants and their children getting jailed, deported, and driven to suicide f ...
In her first feature film, Judy Lei offers a cathartic reflection on life in Chinatown and her journey to finding herself Written By: Eve Golecruz It’s a film about firsts: the first time our protagonist Judy gets drunk, her first time having sex, her fir ...
Written By: Kano Umezaki Back in late June of 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with documentary filmmaker and activist, Renee Tajima-Peña, about the PBS “Asian Americans” series, the origins of the Asian/American political film movement, and the s ...
Forty minutes between life and death Written By: Demi Guo Content Warning: This article contains deep analyses and discussion of the nature and morality of suicide, which is the core theme of the film. The film starts with gunshots i ...
Written By: Jeremy Lim If you’ve seen a CW show from the past five or so years, there’s a good chance you’ve heard something composed by Sherri Chung. Chung has worked on a whole host of DC television adaptations, “Riverdale” and most recently, “Kung ...