A movie about filmmaking dreams in its lowest tide This article may contain spoilers. New York City – a sight that gives optimism, especially when your point of view is from the outside looking in. “No New Wave,” the debut feature film by Ziwei Yao, open ...
‘We Don’t Dance For Nothing’: How do you escape the inescapable?
An ode to the dignity of overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong They dance to celebrate. To remember. To forget. To take up space in a world that demands they give up their individuality in exchange for a meek, submissive existence. In Stefanos Tai’s film ...
‘Freckled Rice’: Postscript by Yuet-fung Ho
Written by: Yuet-fung Ho Editor's Note: “Freckled Rice” originally screened at AAIFF83. It is an ACV Classic that re-screened at AAIFF45. Yuet-fung Ho produced the film alongside her husband, Steven C. Ning. This postscript originally appeared in the AAI ...
‘Freckled Rice’: Coming of age in Chinatown
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. ...
‘Therapy Dogs’ and the blind ambition of youth
“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 ...
‘Srikandi’: Where Culture, Tradition, and Self-Actualization Clash
Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto talks about her hypnotic short Written by: Patricia Kusumaningtyas In the short film “Srikandi,” directed by Indonesian director Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto, reality is not what it seems. The viewers are immersed into a world of J ...
‘A Father’s Son’ is Chinatown History in Real Time
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 ...
Yuni: A Looking Glass
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 ...
‘The Chinatown Files’: An untold story we’ve all heard before.
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 ...