15th San Diego Asian Film Festival Program Booklet

SEE NO LIMITSNovember 6-15, 2014

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For avid moviegoers, a film festival is a momentous event. For filmmakers, it is a venue for captivating viewers with their creative vision.

We applaud the 15th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival and the films that capture our imagination.

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Filmmakers bring creativity to life

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LETTER FROMEXECUTIVE

DIRECTOR

Welcome to the San Diego Asian Film Festival!

As we mark our 15th season of programming,

I’ve been reflecting on what it means to turn 15.

I remember being curious – eager to discover

new experiences, rebellious – wanting to create

my own rules, fearless – believing, like the show

Fame, that “I’m gonna live forever,” and trendy

– it was the 80s after all, a mix tape of sun-

inned permed hair, massive earrings, spandex,

shoulder pads, and the heavy scent of Drakkar

Noir and Giorgio. Cue OMD and Chaka Khan.

Now in our Festival’s 15th year, our teen spirit is

alive and kickin’ through an ambitious program

of more than 140 films from 21 countries spread

over 10 days and 9 locations throughout San

Diego. We’ve added a day dedicated to dance

(MOVEfest, pg. 13), made UCSD our second

homebase, films in Gaslamp, La Jolla, and

Encinitas, and we’re bringing our Centerpiece

event back to where we first started - the

University of San Diego’s Shiley Theatre (FrESh

OFF ThE BOAT, pg. 42).

It’s no exaggeration to say it’s taken thousands

of people to get to where we are today. Over

the years, staff, board, volunteers, members,

donors, sponsors, artists, educators, activists,

advisors, fellow festival organizers, and

cinephiles have all contributed to what SDAFF

and Pac-Arts have become and where we are

heading in the next 15 years.

With that much love and support, I See No

Limits. We hope you do too.

Enjoy the Festival!

Sincerely,

LEE ANN KIM

Founder & Executive Director

Read highlights of SDAFF’s 15 years

at www.pacarts.org/history

15th San Diego Asian Film Festival6

TABLE Of CONTENTS

15th San Diego Asian Film Festival 7

About Pac-Arts ............................................................................................8

Schedule...................................................................................................... 10

Ticketing ...................................................................................................... 14

Venues .......................................................................................................... 16

Sponsors ...................................................................................................... 18

Letter from Artistic Director ............................................................. 23

Board of Directors .................................................................................. 24

Letter from Chairman .......................................................................... 25

Membership ..............................................................................................30

George C. Lin Emerging Filmmaker ............................................. 36

Festival Jury ............................................................................................. 37

FILM PROGRAMS

Special Presentations .......................................................................... 39

Asian American Panorama ................................................................ 53

Asia Pop! ...................................................................................................... 81

Masters ........................................................................................................101

Discoveries ................................................................................................ 113

remembering Queer Korea............................................................. 127

The Team...................................................................................................158

Special Thanks ...................................................................................... 160

Index & Print Source ............................................................................162

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS ASIAN AMERICAN

PANORAMAASIA POP!

MASTERSDISCOVERIES

REMEMBERING QUEER KOREA

pg. 39 pg. 53 pg. 81 pg. 101 pg. 113 pg. 127


ABOUT PACIFIC ARTS MOVEMENTMoving Pictures, Moving Minds

Pacific Arts Movement is one of the largest non-profit media arts organizations in North America that focuses on Asian American and Asian

international cinema. Pac-Arts seeks to inspire, entertain, and support a more compassionate society through Pan Asian film

The purpose of our MOVEMENT is to transform hearts and minds; inspire innovators; and make visible new stories and traditions. We are

committed to helping our community transcend borders and elevate conversations about the world we live in.


As a 501 (c)(3), we rely on memberships, donations, ticket sales, grants, and sponsorships to produce our mission-based programs.

We welcome you to JOIN THE MOVEMENT in a way that’s meaningful to you!

www.pac-arts.org [email protected]

619-400-5911 C/SDAsianFilm M@PacArtsMovement #15SDAFF

While best known for our San Diego Asian Film Festival, our year-round programs also include:

EDUCATION

From our award-winning high school

documentary program reel Voices, to

Youth Day, bringing artists to schools,

and internships, Pac-Arts is dedicated

to nurturing a new generation of

creative leaders

Through our San Diego Asian Film

Festival, Spring Showcase, Spotlight

Screenings, Outdoor Screenings, and

Film Forums, we share powerful stories

with audiences year-round.

Through our membership program,

community members become

stakeholders of the organization

and contribute to the impact

of our mission.

MEMBERSHIPSCREENINGS


SCHEDULETHURSDAY, NOV. 6 FRIDAY, NOV. 7 SATURDAY, NOV. 8

7:00PM REVENGE OF THE GREEN DRAGONS (94 mins) pg. 40

4:00PM SHORTS: CHILD STHR (99 mins) pg. 72 11:00AM SHORTS FOR SHORTIES (46 mins) pg. 73

6:20PM THE VANCOUVER ASAHI (130 mins) pg. 111 12:40PM HELLO! JUNICHI (90 mins) pg. 89

6:35PM EAT WITH ME (95 mins) pg. 58 12:50PM LIMITED PARTNERSHIP (75 mins) pg. 61

6:45PM THE SONGS OF RICE (75 mins) pg. 125 1:00PM SHORTS: ANIMATION (82 mins) pg. 70

6:45PM KANO (185 mins) pg. 90 1:00PM SHORTS: BUSY YOUNG PSYCHIC + THE POOL MAN (61 mins)

7:00PM THE ROUND TABLE (113 mins) pg. 95 1:10PM BARBER’S TALES (120 mins) pg. 83

8:30PM THE OWNERS (93 mins) pg. 122 1:30PM FRESH OFF THE BOAT (60 mins) pg. 42

9:00PM FANTAIL (83 mins) pg. 115 2:25PM PARTNERS IN CRIME (89 mins) pg. 92

9:10PM A HARD DAY (111 mins) pg. 88 2:45PM BLUE BUSTAMANTE (87 mins) pg. 84

9:25PM LOVE’S WHIRLPOOL (123 mins) pg. 91 3:10PM APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR (86 mins) pg. 55

3:20PM SHORTS: THERE WILL BE A STORM (96 mins) pg. 78

3:45PM BLIND MASSAGE (114 mins) pg. 102

4:20PM CAMPUS CONFIDENTIAL (101 mins) pg. 85

4:55PM THE KINGDOM OF DREAMS & MADNESS (118 mins) pg. 107

5:35PM RU (97 mins) pg. 68

5:55PM UNCLE VICTORY (105 mins) pg. 97

6:25PM QUEEN (146 mins) pg. 93

7:30PM SHORTS: GAY OF THRONES (91 mins) pg. 74

8:10PM FUKU-CHAN OF FUKUFUKU FLATS (110 mins) pg. 86

8:20PM THE IRON MINISTRY (82 mins) pg. 116

9:25PM THE SEARCH FOR WENG WENG (93 mins) pg. 124

UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley

Reading Cinemas Gaslamp

UCSD Calit2 Atkinson Hall

USD Shiley Theatre


SUNDAY, NOV. 9 MONDAY, NOV. 10 TUESDAY, NOV. 11

11:20AM FROM WHAT IS BEFORE (338 mins) pg. 104 4:00PM THE RICE BOMBER (118 mins) pg. 94 12:00PM FROM WHAT IS BEFORE (338 mins) pg. 104

12:00PM REEL VOICES (120 mins) pg. 66 6:00PM OUR FAMILY (117 mins) pg. 109 3:20PM HELLO! JUNICHI (90 mins) pg. 89

1:00PM TELOS: THE FANTASTIC WORLD OF EUGENE TSSUI (58 mins) pg. 80

6:20PM UNCLE VICTORY (105 mins) pg. 97 3:35PM QUEEN (146 mins) pg. 93

1:00PM THE LOST SEA (63 mins) pg. 117 6:30PM CICADA (100 mins) pg. 57 4:00PM SHORTS: STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED (91 mins) pg. 77

1:20PM MY LIFE IN CHINA (52 mins) pg. 64 6:40PM ANITA’S LAST CHA-CHA (110 mins) pg. 82 5:40PM YASMINE (109 mins) pg. 100

2:25PM EXIT (94 mins) pg. 114 8:30PM SUBURBANITE (62 mins) pg. 79 6:10PM NON FICTION DIARY (93 mins) pg. 121

2:30PM KUMU HINA (77 mins) pg. 60 8:40PM JOURNEY TO THE WEST (56 mins) pg. 106 6:30PM THE GOLDEN ERA (178 mins) pg. 105

2:30PM MOVEFEST (90 mins) pg. 46 9:00PM THE TEACHER’S DIARY (108 mins) pg. 96 6:45PM EXIT (94 mins) pg. 114

3:00PM SHORTS: GRAVITY BURNS (96 mins) pg. 75 9:20PM MYSTERY KUNG FU THEATER 8:05PM THE KINGDOM OF DREAMS & MADNESS (118 mins) pg. 107

3:15PM 9-MAN (89 mins) pg. 54 8:15PM REPTILIA IN SUBURBIA (75 mins) pg. 123

4:20PM VIVE L’AMOUR (118 mins) pg. 112 8:45PM MEETING DR. SUN (94 mins) pg. 119

4:45PM MAN FROM RENO (111 mins) pg. 63

5:25PM BELLA VISTA (83 mins) pg. 56

5:45PM MEETING DR. SUN (94 mins) pg. 119

6:00PM THE VANCOUVER ASAHI (130 mins) pg. 111

6:30PM MOVEFEST (90 mins) pg. 46

6:40PM STRAY DOGS (138 mins) pg. 110

7:30PM A HARD DAY (111 mins) pg. 88

7:45PM LETTERS FROM THE SOUTH (105 mins) pg. 108

7:55PM ANITA’S LAST CHA-CHA (110 mins) pg. 82

8:30PM VENUS TALK (109 mins) pg. 99



SD School of Creative & Performing Arts




ArcLight La Jolla Theatre

UCSD Visual Arts Presentation Lab

MCASD Sherwood Auditorium

La Paloma Theatre

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 12 THURSDAY, NOV. 13 FRIDAY, NOV. 14 SATURDAY, NOV. 15

4:00PM LORDVILLE (67 mins) pg. 62 4:00PM GANGSTER PAY DAY (97 mins) pg. 87

4:00PM SHORTS: MOONLIGHT REPRESENTS MY HEART (77 mins) pg. 76

10:00AM BROKEN BRANCHES (96 mins) pg. 128

5:00PM OUR FAMILY (117 mins) pg. 109 5:55PM NON FICTION DIARY (93 mins) pg. 121

6:30PM THE POLLEN OF FLOWERS (85 mins) pg. 130

12:15PM SHORTS: UNCLE BAR + AULD LANG SYNE (48 mins) pg. 132

5:35PM BLUE BUSTAMANTE (89 mins) pg. 84

6:05PM THE ROUND TABLE (113 mins) pg. 95

7:00PM MEET THE PATELS (88 mins) pg. 44 1:00PM HELLO! JUNICHI (90 mins) pg. 89

6:00PM 9-MAN (89 mins) pg. 54 6:15PM TBA 8:30PM SABANGJI (94 mins) pg. 131 3:00PM YASMINE (109 mins) pg. 100

6:30PM MY LIFE IN CHINA (52 mins) pg. 64 6:25PM TBA 5:20PM THE SEARCH FOR WENG WENG (93 mins) pg. 124

6:30PM MOTHERS (68 mins) pg. 120 6:45PM THE GIRL PRINCES (79 mins) pg. 129

7:25PM UzUMASA LIMELIGHT (103 mins) pg. 98

6:40PM KANO (185 mins) pg. 90 8:00PM STRAY DOGS (138 mins) pg. 110

7:25PM SHORTS: ANIMATION (82 mins) pg. 70

8:30PM TBA

7:40PM DON’T GO BREAKING MY HEART 2 (113 mins) pg. 103

8:40PM THE TEACHER’S DIARY (108 mins) pg. 96

8:00PM FUKU-CHAN OF FUKUFUKU FLATS (110 mins) pg. 86

9:00PM LOVE’S WHIRLPOOL (123 mins) pg. 91

8:05PM MARY IS HAPPY, MARY IS HAPPY (125 mins) pg. 118


TICKETINGTickets for shows at UltraStar go on sale at the Mission Valley Box Office starting October 31. Walk-up tickets for programs

at non-UltraStar locations are available at that venue’s box office one hour before showtime. Purchase tickets online at

festival.sdaff.org. For group sales and discounts, call (619) 400-5906.

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS GENERALMEMBER(must show membership card at box office)

FESTIVAL VOUCHER 4-PACK

FESTIVAL ALL ACCESS PASS

GENERAL $250MEMBER $150

D All Access Passes AcceptedF Vouchers & 4-Pack Tickets AcceptedH Free for UCSD Students/Faculty/StaffQ Free for USD Students/Faculty/Staff

4-PACKS & TICKET VOUCHERS redeem individual comp tickets and 4-pack ticket vouchers for the show of your choice at the box office. You can trade in multiple vouchers to the same show. Comp and 4-pack ticket vouchers are not redeemable for Opening or Closing night or at the Arclight venue.

REFUND POLICY No refunds for unused tickets, 4-packs, all festival passes. Exchanges are only available when a program is oversold.

OPENING NIGHT D $15 $12rEVENGE OF ThE GrEEN DrAGONS

CENTERPIECE D F Q $12 $9FrESh OFF ThE BOAT

CLOSING NIGHT D $15 $12MEET ThE PATELS

GENERAL ADMISSION D F $12 $9

STUDENT/SENIOR/MILITARY $10(at the door only)

UCSD CALIT2 ATKINSON HALL $12 $9D F H

MOVEfest D F $12 online, $9 online, $15 at door $9 at door

ARCLIGHT $15 $12

UCSD VISUAL PRESENTATION LAB FrEE FrEE

FREE FILMS AT FOUR FrEE FrEELimit 2 per person, pick up at the UltraStar Box Office Starting Nov. 3

GENERAL $44GENERAL (MEMBER) $32THEME $44THEME (MEMBER) $32


FESTIVAL VOUCHER THEME PACKSWith 140+ films from 21 different countries, you might not know where to start. Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered. Each Festival Theme pack comes with 4 ticket vouchers and a menu of film suggestions that fit the theme.

CHILDHOOD ENCHANTMENT rediscover what it means to

be a kid

ACTION all you can fight action with

laughs and romance in between

MARATHONnot for the faint of heart, our 4

longest films of the year

REVOLUTIONfilms about fighting the power

and challenging the status quo

GO TEAMscrappy underdog sports teams

and the love of the game

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLEDexperimental films for those

who march to the beat of their own drum

THE REAL WORLDslice of life docs and features

based on true stories

LOVE IS IN THE AIR you’ll laugh, you’ll cry,

you’ll fall in love

LGBTstories of life and love from the

LGBT perspective

SOLD-OUT SCREENINGS | RUSH LINES Is the film you want sold out? Try the rush Line! rush lines start outside the theater as early as 30 minutes before the show. We will offer all open seats to rush Line 15 minutes before showtime on a first-come, first-serve basis.

DISCOUNTS For individual ticket discounts, visit http://festival.sdaff.org.

Kano (pg. 90), The Vancouver Asahi (pg. 111), Yasmine (pg. 100), 9-Man (pg. 54)

Fresh Off the Boat (pg. 42), Hello! Junichi! (pg. 89), The Round Table (pg. 95), Anita’s Last Cha-Cha (pg. 82)

Reptilia in Suburbia (pg. 123), The Iron Ministry (pg. 116), Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy (pg. 118), Journey to the West (pg. 106), Stray Dogs (pg. 110)

The Kingdom of Dreams & Madness (pg. 107), My Life in China (pg. 64), Songs of Rice (pg. 125), Limited Partnership (pg. 61), Non Fiction Diary (pg. 121), The Lost Sea (pg. 117)

A Hard Day (pg. 88), Blue Bustamante (pg. 84), Uncle Victory (pg. 97), Gangster Pay Day (pg. 87)

From What is Before (pg. 104), Kano (pg. 90), The Golden Era (pg. 105), Queen (pg. 93)

The Teacher’s Diary (pg. 96), Campus Confidential (pg. 85), Hello! Junichi (pg. 89), Limited Partnership (pg. 61), Fuku-Chan from Fukufuku Flats (pg. 86), Don’t Go Breaking My Heart 2 (pg. 103)

Non Fiction Diary (pg. 121), Shorts: There Will Be a Storm (pg. 78), Telos (pg. 80), Meeting Dr. Sun (pg. 119), Limited Partnership (pg. 61)

Anita’s Last Cha-Cha (pg. 82), Eat With Me (pg. 58), Kumu Hina (pg. 60), Appropriate Behavior (pg. 55), Limited Partnership (pg. 61)


VENUES

OPENING NIGhT

(November 6)

701 5th Ave,

San Diego, CA 92101

MAIN VENUE

(November 7-13)

7510 hazard Center Dr

#100

San Diego, CA 92108

TAIWAN ShOWCASE

(November 7-9)

9500 Gilman Dr

San Diego, CA 92093

CENTErPIECE EVENT

(November 8)

5998 Alcala Park

San Diego, CA 92110

MOVEfest

(November 9)

2425 Dusk Dr

San Diego, CA 92139

READING CINEMAS GASLAMP 15

ULTRASTAR CINEMASMISSION VALLEY-HAzARD CENTER

UCSD CALIT2ATKINSON HALLAUDITORIUM

USD SHILEY THEATRESAN DIEGO SCHOOLOF CREATIVE ANDPERFORMING ARTS


(November 12)

4425 La Jolla Village Dr

San Diego, CA 92122

rEMEMBErING QUEEr

KOrEA (November 13-15)

Voigt Dr and Mathews

Lane, room 149

San Diego, CA 92093

CLOSING NIGhT

(November 14)

700 Prospect St

La Jolla, CA 92037

(November 15)

471 S Coast highway 101

Encinitas, CA 92024

ARCLIGHT CINEMASLA JOLLA

UCSD VISUAL ARTSPRESENTATION LAB

LA PALOMA THEATREMCASD SHERWOOD AUDITORIUM


SPONSORSMAJOR GRANTS

MAJOR SPONSORS SUSTAINING SPONSOR

AUDIENCE AWARD GALA PRESENTER

Pantone 137 Pantone 446

McGregor & Associates, Inc. Logomark2-color: Orange PMS 137 and Grey PMS 446Contact: Chris Josh 619-398-2828


CLOSING NIGHTPREMIER GALA SUPPORTERS OPENING NIGHT

SPOTLIGHT

FREE FILMS AT FOUR PACIFIC SHOWCASE MOVEfest

OFFICIAL AIRLINE MAJOR MEDIA SPONSOR OFFICIAL RADIO SPONSOR OFFICIAL PRINT SPONSOR

StellaArtois.comAlways Enjoy Responsibly.© 2013 Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A., Stella Artois® Beer, Imported by Import Brands Alliance, St. Louis, MO

Stella Artois salutes thespirit of independent film.

Ad Name: SA Sundance Film

Item #: PSA201210387

Job/Order #: 253912

Trim: 9" x 6" Bleed: 9.5" x 6.5" Live: 8.5" x5.5"

Closing Date: 8/15/13 QC: CS

Pub: San Diego Asian Film


STRAY DOGSPG. 110

LETTER FROMARTISTIC DIRECTOR

A milestone like the 15th, I’m told, is a big

deal. It’s certainly a benchmark for the San

Diego Asian Film Festival as it reaches beyond

its adolescent years. 15 is also a convenient

moment to reflect back on past films and

celebrate alumni filmmakers like Greg Pak,

Ken Ochiai, Iris Shim, and Dean Yamada, all

returning with their newest work.

But even if we weren’t turning 15, Asian and

Asian American cinema spent 2014 reflecting

on history, especially as the future becomes

unstable, as this year’s protests in hong

Kong and Taiwan illustrate. When things get

unpredictable though, it’s sobering to witness

the momentous work of artists reminding us of

what we’ve endured and how we can reinvent

ourselves to stay active and relevant.

Documentaries like LOrDVILLE, NON FICTION

DIArY, and LIMITED PArTNErShIP tread the past

laterally in savvy, politically-minded strides.

Features like BELLA VISTA and shorts like

GrAND CANAL reveal our surprising ties to past

struggles, and experiment with film language

to link those struggles with current attitudes

toward living. And of course there’s Lav Diaz’s

FrOM WhAT IS BEFOrE, a formidable work of

historiography based on memory and clutching

a frenzied hope for the future.

These works and others like MY LIFE IN ChINA,

ThE GOLDEN ErA, ThE SEArCh FOr WENG

WENG, ThE VANCOUVEr ASAhI, ThE rICE

BOMBEr, and even FrESh OFF ThE BOAT and

rEVENGE OF ThE GrEEN DrAGONS inspire us

to work through the difficulties of history with

the grace and feeling of their respective artists.

This year, we’re thrilled to join these cinematic

historians by presenting two retrospective

events of our own. Remembering Queer Korea

proposes a counter-history of modern Korea by

tracing queer images in films of every decade,

from the 1970s to the present. Still Walking: the

Post-Retirement Films of Tsai Ming-liang, shines

a spotlight on the work of a director after

he called it quits, reminding us that history

sometimes can’t help but extend daringly into

the future.

15 years thus is only a line we happily cross,

mindful of what was before, but with a vision

and excitement for what lies ahead.

Sincerely,

BRIAN HU

Artistic Director


BOARD OF DIRECTORS


Pacific Arts Movement would like to thank

and recognize our Board of Directors,

a passionate group of business and

community leaders who volunteer their time

and expertise to help grow our dynamic

organization. Board members are in charge

of governance, resources, and strategic

guidance. (not pictured: Michelle Ma,

Mitchell reff)

HARLEN BAYHA, Chairman, Wells Fargo

STEPHEN LEW, Vice Chair,

S. Lew & Associates

PAUL BERGMAN, Secretary,

McGregor & Associates

SHIRLEY PARK, Treasurer, PrOVEN Inc.

STEPHEN CHIN, Chairman Emeritus,

Sharp health Plan

EUNICE BRAGAIS, U.S. Bank

JUDY CHUNG, Windermere homes

and Estates

VARSHA ISRANI, Individual Investor

SHEILA ABRENICA KANOYA, Port of San Diego

JEFF KREBS, M.D, Kaiser Permanente

KENT LEE, Boy Scouts of America

AMETHYST LEWIS, Echelon Marketing Group

GRANT LEWIS, Morgan Stanley

MICHELLE MA, Qualcomm

MITCHELL REFF, (retired) Biogen Idec

JANIS TAKAHASHI, ViaSat

GARY WONG, (retired) Banking Executive

WENDY WONG, Ken Blanchard

LEON WU, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

LETTER FROMTHE CHAIRMAN

Stories bring people together, and the Pacific Arts Movement proudly presents the San Diego Asian

Film Festival to celebrate building those connections. We believe that stories help us develop one

of the finest and noblest aspects of humanity: our ability to put ourselves in the shoes of others, to

see what they saw, to imagine what they imagined, to experience what they experienced, even if

they speak another language or live halfway around the world.

So, for the fifteenth year, on behalf of the volunteers, staff, and board, we invite you to kick back

and relax, watch wild films cavort in their native habitat, and party like a four-year-old in a bounce

house.

have a wonderful time at the festival, and thank you for being part of our movement!

Sincerely,

HARLEN BAYHA

Board Chairman


AdvocateWe believe our members deserve a trusted health care partner and advocate.

FamilyWe believe our members are important, and health care should be personal.

NeighborWe believe it’s important to live, work and play in the same community as our members.

As the only locally-based commercial health plan, we not only serve the people of San Diego County — we are the people of San Diego County.

Sharp Health Plan is a proud sponsor of theSan Diego Asian Film Festival

(619) 228-2300 or 1-800-359-2002 | www.SharpHealthPlan.comSH

P6

8A

©20

11 S

HC

We believe in the art of caring .

On-the-dot messaging | Advocacy for community diversityHigh-level of professionalism | Strategic Communication

Proud Supporters of The San Diego Asian Film Festival

101 W Broadway, Ste 1450 | San Diego, CA 92101(619) 233-7778 | www.focuscominc.com

www.facebook.com/focuscominc

www.twitter.com/focuscominc www.linkedin.com/company/focuscom-inc

www.youtube.com/focuscominc

Looking to increase your reach? We’ll help you hit your target market with pinpoint accuracy.Contact us today at [email protected]

You help us see the world in new ways. You enrich, inspire, and move us. You open our hearts and minds with your fresh ideas and creative passion. For your unique vision, we salute you.

Union Bank® is proud to sponsor the 15th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival.

unionbank.com

YOU ARE CREATIVE.

Community BankingLawrence Henry, Managing Director & Regional Executive530 B Street, Suite 1200, San Diego, CA 92101619-230-3085

East Encinitas BranchAdrienne Scott, Assistant Vice President & Branch Manager247 N. El Camino Rea, Encinitas, CA 92024760-942-4996

Celebrating 150 years

©2014 MUFG Union Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Union Bank is a registered trademark and brand name of MUFG Union Bank, N.A.


MEMBERSHIP ROSTERLIFETIMEPaul & Sandra BergmanAllan CamaisaMichael Cheswick & Erika hiramatsuJohnny ChouDiana Chuh & Virginia Mar JipFritz Friedman & Jeff Krebsrandy GageMarshall GamboaWendy GillespieMatt JumperKen & Connie KalbEd & Shirley LeeSteve & Cheryl PeacePat PepperMitchell & Miyo reffWillie Sakai & Lois Fong-Sakai

CORPORATEharcourts Prestige PropertiesSan Diego Interfaith housing Foundation

PRODUCERharlen & June BayhaStephen ChinMichael Frazier & Theresa BattleTodd & L. Pete FutaGayle homChong & Anna LeeDae Lee & Lina ParkKent Lee & Phuong huynhStephen LewBrett Millar & Crissy PascualAnthony & Grace OlaesJeff Phillips & Jennifer YunLouis Song & Lee Ann KimGary & Kathy WongLeon Wu & Sambath Tiep

PATRONJason & Tomomi ArcandYunhui Chae-BanksLeeva ChungMinjian Cui & Miranda KoThomas Dring & Laura ruffGrace DuVallrichard Forsyth & Kate LeonardFred & Debbie GerlachSheila Abrenica KanoyaScott KimTerry Kovarik & Andrew ManisoukMarichu MaganaBridget McDonaldrichard & Lois MillerMichael & Salina Moonrichard Morrison & Susan KimAl Ong & Jenny BensonJoseph Ongsiapco & Fawn YangJeremy Pizzola & Gayle TaCharles & Linda TuDiane Wong & rena rowe


SUPPORTERMadhu & Amee AlagiriKaren BeesonKen & helena BenaventeJeanne BurchStephanie CortezChristina de Jesusrussell Ginns & Beverly DiGregorioJustin & Lily higmanAmy & Nancy hobbsCarole hustonrobert & Edna ItoJeff Iwami & Kotowa MoriyaQuentin Jammer & Amethyst LewisMonte JonesPaul KalmarPhillip LorenzoJohnny MahJerrilyn MalanaLynne MatthewsMay McLeanEd Nesfield & roxanne GirardJames & Kathy PaguyoSue Ann ParkJohn & Mariette PascasioSpencer PenalozaBrian QuanLuis ramosAsko ruotsaliainenSan Diego Mesa College

Kiyomi SankaryTimothy SankaryMark StraussBrian SunJanis TakahashiCuong TrangErica UelandKenneth WadeSabina WongEfton Woodford & Shirley OmoriChristopher Yoshida

DONORMarkus AchordAnita Aldrichrommel AndayaWesley ArguellesDebbie AuGale BarlowSteven BarlowFerris BautistaFrancis BautistaBrandon BeresiniEloise BienvenuAlbert Bradley & Mercedes ZimmerDamon & Jennifer BradyLeng & Lisa CalohGrant CameronGary CannonChris Cate & Maria Lourdes CabuangLettie CepeTimothy Chan

Erica ChangKristine ChangSam ChenSilvia ChenJonathan ChengAllan ChinJeffrey & Sonia ChinBruce & Devin Chin-LeeForrest ChuPat & Stephanie ClarkDouglas Conrad & Angela Wangrose CruzMargaret CurtinDavid & Charlene DennisElizabeth DevinVietca DoTed Ebel & Jee ShinSonja ErionToshiye EstesSalvador & Shirley FlorJonathan Fohrman & Trudi WihongiEric GalvezJoyce GenitaGilbert GiangNathan Ginoza & Karen LimKen & Kikue GraeberVictor GutierrezKathryn hammelmanTodd henryJune homTraci hongPamela hoo

Karen hsiaSharon huBruce InmanBenjamin & Lindsey InouyeKeith JacksonTom Jacobson & Kaori hashimotoMarilyn JonesWendy JonesAndrew Jung & Linda Wonrandy & Marilyn KaforeyDavid & Carol Kawamotoronald & rebecca KelleySteve Kim & Tracie MurakamiAlan KlessigAngela KongMichael Krucky & Gene LeeMegan LamAnthony LeMelanie Le ForestierBenjamin Lee & Judy ChungChun & Donna LeeGeorgina LeeJimmy Lee & Eunjae KimMurray & Gladys LeeSharon LeeMasterSergio LeonGrant LewisJohn Lewis & Patricia WuJustin Lewis & roland TactayLinda Vista Multi-Cultural Fair, Inc.

Earl LozadaJerry & Sylvie LuChristina ManaoisMichael MeierJon MillerDavid MolinaKatya NewmarkKathryn NguyenLaurel NishidaBismark & Jennifer OhAmy OkamuraVanessa Otterray ParkShirley Parkrodney PefferVincent Pham & Yaejoon KwonTy PhimmasoneDavid Pina & Melissa McCombAlan & Elaine PizzolaGuy PoirierVanessa PothierEdward PruittWesley QuachAntoinette raymondrome reasonda & Jennifer Ames-reasondaAllan regala & helen CruzCraig & Silvia reidMarcus robas & Malou AmparoStuart & Linda robinsonBruce roweWilliam & E-Fann Saung


Grace Seidhillari SelbyWoo-Jin ShimMassoud ShiraziCharlene SocoJack SprengleThomas StannardNicholas StormanBill & Joyce Teagueharold TengAnnamarie TillGregory ToyaMichael TraversPeijean TsaiLeah TsaoYen TuWendy Urushima-ConnNick Venti & Wilda Wongrainer Wagester & Marlene DinklageAndrew WangCassandra WongCathlene WongEarl WongJean WongBrian YamamotoK. Wayne Yang & Christina reeMichael & Criselda YeeGregg YonekuraSusie Yoo

FRIENDElly AguilarGloria Albaran & Kayla PimentelElias AlmazanKiik Araki-Kawaguchi & Janet KimValmik & rashmi BhargavaJohn BiggsMark CarrollJulia ChenXiluo Chen & Gang XuJoe Cheungrenee ChinLaura ChonJennifer ChuAdrianna ChuhJohn & Carla DacapiasFelicia DangTerry Danielrachel DarvinZeinabu DavisDivina Del FierroMariaelena DelgadoTodd DeLongMichael & Patricia DomingoByron DoungTracy EbbaLudivico EstradaSylvie Estrella & Ashley FifieldPaul FattaLisa FranekMark Anthony GadiaStaci Gaines

Carmen GalangJohnny GonzalesJim Gottlieb & Barbara CasillasWendy GriceBryce GriffinDaniel & Karen GuevaraSeth & Cynthia hackerKathi & Kim heiserPenny hempstead & Francesca KempWei Tan holtAnthony homMichael homNancy hom & Alex honoreThomas hom & Loretta LumFrank howley & Josie ZuillAmy hsiaoNanson & Sylvia hwaMargaret Iwanaga-Penrose & UPACJoni JamoraMark Wayne JavierClaud JettonJoseph Joneshannah JoyaJudy KesarisSam Kimhana KwonGary KwongEric LallanaToan LamChris Larson & heidi YuenJiyoung Lee

Katrina Leerafael & Mitzi Lizarragarobin LowJeffrey Luong & Jennifer WangDean MacaoileChris MalaquiPaul Marra & Joel ValenzuelaDaniel MatthewsJoe MazaresJohn McCaughey & Jodi Ann MoriErwin Mendoza & rhona Santosray & Ellen MerewetherChris Merriman & Nguyen VuKeith MomonTiffany MooreDale NelsonElizabeth NgDoan NguyenAnthony Noceda & Leanne KohDonal O’SullivanBill & Tracey OlsonGlen OngAndrew OrdonaLaurine OtaJames Paguyo IIIroger PerezDarlene PortadesKent PunPeter Quon

robert rohrbach & ruth LimDaniel rooseAnnie rossAnne rosserJennifer ruppruth Marie San FilippoJini ShimGregory & Arlette SmithMichael TatSteve TeoJulia TerrwynTanna ThomasonDon Tolentino & Christina VoMitsuo TomitaToan Tran & Cindy LuAnthony TrifilettiThomas TruongFelix TuyayNancy VaccaroDominique ValentinoMark & Amy WardJonathan WatanabeOswaldo Wegrzyn & Lori GuildMeka WellsJon WesickGrayson WilsonJudy WongCynthia YeeBertrand Yeung & Michelle MaMarie Zhivago


2014 GEORGE C. LIN EMERGING FILMMAKER AWARD:VERA BRUNNER-SUNGEach year since his passing, Pacific Arts

Movement has proudly presented an

Emerging Filmmaker Award in honor of the

Festival’s late Program Director George Lin. A

scientist by trade, George co-founded the DC

Asian Pacific American Film Festival in 2000,

then joined the San Diego Asian Film Festival

in 2003. Quirky, loving, and passionate, he

championed all things independent – film,

music, art. George passed away in San

Diego on October 14, 2008, after a long

battle with cancer.

This year, the Festival is proud to announce

that its 2014 Emerging Filmmaker is Vera

Brunner-Sung for her feature film, BELLA

VISTA (pg. 56), an inquisitive look at a

Montana town and those who pass through it.

Ticket sales from the screening of BELLA

VISTA will be donated to the George C. Lin

Memorial Fund.

Please join us in congratulating Vera!

GEORGE C. LIN (1971–2008)


FESTIVAL JURORSzEINABU IRENE DAVIS is an independent filmmaker

and Professor of Communication at the University

of California, San Diego. Some of her award-

winning works include a drama about a young

slave girl, Mother of the River (1996); a personal

essay on breastfeeding, Co-Motion, (2010); and

an experimental narrative, Cycles (1989). her dramatic feature film

Compensation (1999) features two inter-related love stories that offer

a view of Black Deaf culture and was the winner of the Gordon Parks

Award for Directing from the Independent Feature Project. her current

documentary work, Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema at UCLA, is in

post-production.

FENG-MEI HEBERER is a scholar and film festival

programmer. She is currently finishing her dissertation

on Asian transnational video cultures at the University

of Southern California. She is a curator for the Asian

Film Festival Berlin, as well as programmer for the Los

Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Oh, and she is also

working on overcoming her karaoke shyness. Any help appreciated.

INKOO KANG is a film and TV critic for The Wrap, the

Village Voice, and formerly the Los Angeles Times.

She is also the News Editor of Indiewire’s “Women

and hollywood” blog. She has written about film and

television, often focusing on issues of gender and

race, for The Atlantic, the Chicago Tribune, Salon,

Vulture, and Business Insider, among many other publications. A native

of Los Angeles, she currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

MICHAEL KANG is an independent filmmaker based in

Los Angeles. his first feature film The Motel premiered

at the Sundance Film Festival where it was the

recipient of the humanitas Prize. It also earned jury

prizes from numerous festivals including SDAFF. his

second feature West 32nd premiered at the Tribeca

Film Festival and was the first fully-financed US production by the

Korean studio CJ Entertainment. his most recent film 4 Wedding

Planners premiered at the hawaii International Film Festival in 2011. his

most recent accomplishment is deactivating his Facebook account. he

now has more time to focus on writing about himself in the third person.

©2013 Southwest Airlines Co.

Southwest Airlines® is devoted to serving the community.

Southwest Airlines is with you in the air and in your community, sharing our spirit of LUV at every destination along the way. From celebrating cultural events to partnering with local organizations, we are proud to be part of the community. It’s a pleasure to serve you, because your community is our LUVing destination.

Proud to support the San Diego Asian Film Festival!

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

15th San Diego Asian Film Festival 39FrESh OFF ThE BOAT

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REVENGE OF THEGREEN DRAGONS

NOV. 6 (THURSDAY), 7PM, READING CINEMAS GASLAMP

USA | ENGLISh, CANTONESE, MANDArIN94 MIN | DCP | 2014

DIRECTOR Andrew Lau, Andrew Loo

CAST Justin Chon, Kevin Wu, harry Shum Jr.,

Leonard Wu, Eugenia Yuen, Jin Au-Yeung,

ray Liotta

Official Selection,

2014 Toronto International Film Festival

Filmmaker Andrew Loo and cast

scheduled to attend

Opening Night party sponsored by

Every generation or so hollywood announces

a high-profile Asian American project and

even invites Asian Americans to play the

lead roles. Say what you will about the

Flower Drum Songs, the Joy Luck Clubs, and

the Harold and Kumars – they are events,

opportunities, and seminal moments in the

history of Asian American performers on

screen. This generation, that film is rEVENGE

OF ThE GrEEN DrAGONS. It’s directed by

hong Kong-based Andrew Lau (Infernal

Affairs) and the bi-national Andrew Loo. It

stars the who’s-who of East Asian American

male actors on the cusp of the mainstream.

And it’s about a community of scrappy

Chinese Americans in New York Chinatown.

Sonny (Justin Chon of Twilight) watches his

mother die during their trek from China to

the United States. Growing up alone in the

80s means being in the shadow of warring

gangs, and one day he gets recruited into

the nefarious Green Dragons along with

his buddy Steven (Kevin Wu of Kevjumba).

Under the tutelage of commanders played

by harry Shum Jr. (Glee), Eugenia Yuan

(Charlotte Sometimes), and Leonard Wu,

they’re taught to kill and they’re taught the

golden rule of the trade: never take out a

white person. It’s a mantra the considerable

racist element in the NYPD can get behind,

but a young cop (Jin Au-Yeung, aka MC Jin)

sees the situation differently.

rEVENGE OF ThE GrEEN DrAGONS moves

head-spinningly fast, taking cues from hong

Kong’s most barebones gangster films.

Despite Martin Scorsese’s name above the

title, rEVENGE is less a gangland epic than

a swift slap in the face. The film thrives on

the sense that the gang, the police, and the

geopolitics are shifting way too fast for kids

with guns to process.

But above all, the film is a showcase of young

Asian American talent. Between this and 21

and Over, there should be no denying that

Justin Chon is leading man material. The

revelation though is internet sensation and

Amazing Race veteran Kevin Wu as the

firecracker of a friend, mullet raging over a

thick-browed, harried boyishness trying to

keep hold of the steering wheel. – Brian Hu


Opening Night Film

SPECIAL PRESETNATIONS


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FRESH OFF THE BOAT

NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 1:30PM, UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO

SHILEY THEATRE

USA | ENGLISh | 60 MIN | hD | 2014

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Nahnatchka Khan,

Melvin Mar, Jake Kasdan

CAST randall Park, hudson Yang,

Constance Wu, Eddie huang

World Premiere

Child stars Hudson Yang, Ian Chen, and

Forrest Wheeler scheduled to attend

Screening of the show’s pilot episode to be

followed by a conversation with

the executive producers

Sponsored by

The series premiere of FrESh OFF ThE BOAT

on ABC in early 2015 will be a most unlikely

event. Unlikely because it’s been 20 years

since there’s been an Asian American sitcom

on a major TV network. Unlikely because

this one is Asian American from creators

and producers all the way to the lead cast.

Unlikely too that it’s based on the memoirs

of hip-hop quoting, street-food hustling

restaurateur Eddie huang.

The pilot follows the misadventures of Eddie

and his Taiwanese immigrant family from

DC down to their new home in Orlando.

Eddie’s parents (played by randall Park and

Constance Wu) are launching a restaurant,

while Eddie and his brothers try to make

a name for themselves at school, despite

having to bring tupperware of stinky tofu

to the lunch tables. It’s a classic story of

immigrant insanity, seen through the eyes of

a second-generation Asian American kid. It’s

also a fantastic voyage through the mid-90s:

Lunchables, Nas lyrics, Wu-Tang t-shirts.

hoping to pick up where Margaret Cho’s

All-American Girl left off 20 years ago,

FrESh OFF ThE BOAT centers on another

firecracker of a commentator. For years now,

huang has been a fresh, outspoken voice on

all things Asian American, especially as they

relate to style and food (he’s the proprietor

NYC’s Baohaus). With FrESh OFF ThE BOAT,

he has his biggest platform yet, which he

shares with a number of talented young

actors and a team ready for prime time.

– Erwin Mendoza


CENTERPIECE

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MEET THE PATELSNOV. 15 (FRIDAY), 7:00PM,

MCASD SHERWOOD AUDITORIUM

USA | ENGLISh, hINDI, GUJArATI

88 MINS | hD | 2014

DIRECTOR Geeta V. Patel, ravi V. Patel

Audience Award (Documentary),

2014 Los Angeles Film Festival

Audience Award (Documentary) and Founders

Grand Prize, 2014 Traverse City Film Festival

Official Selection, HotDocs Canadian

International Documentary Festival

Filmmakers and subjects

scheduled to attend

Sponsored by

and Office of Councilmember Sherri Lightner

A sharp, real-life romantic comedy with

verite stunts and testimonials on love and

relationships, ravi and Geeta Patel’s new

documentary follows ravi as he resorts to

finding a wife the old-world way: by asking

mom and dad for help.

Los Angeles actor ravi had been secretly

(and seriously) dating a white American

woman, Audrey, for two years before

breaking up with her and embarking on

a family trip to his parents’ motherland,

India. Once there, extended family and

extended strangers incessantly ask when

ravi is getting married. Seeing that his own

parents, who steal the show in every scene,

seem to be happily married after 35 years

of arranged happiness, and the fact that

he himself had a happy upbringing rich

with Indian culture, ravi decides to give

arrangement a shot. hoping to find someone

bicultural like himself, he embarks on a year-

long dating tour throughout North America,

meeting potential matrimonial candidates

through “biodatas” (a marriageability

résumé passed through a vast network

of relatives and their friends), the Indian

wedding circuit, niche dating websites, and

the “Patel Matrimonial Convention.”

If all goes well, he’ll find another Patel, an

American-born woman of Indian descent,

someone he finds physically attractive, and

a woman who loves him and he loves in

return. The odds aren’t great, but parents’

tenacity will always be greater. And is that

greater than the memory of Audrey, the only

love he’s ever known? The hilarity mounts,

all while ravi’s director sister Geeta shoots,

capturing second-generation dating in all of

its comic turbulence. – Wilda Wong

Preceded by: SHAMELESSUSA | 4 MINS | 2013

DIRECTOR Geeta Malik

A woman has a surprise for her accusers.


CLOSING Night Film

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MOVEfestNOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 2:30PM,

SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS

NOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 6:30PM, SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF CREATIVE

AND PERFORMING ARTS

90 MIN

Sponsored by

and Office of Councilmember Mytle Cole

The San Diego Asian Film Festival and

Outreach Through Dance present the

inaugural MOVEfest, a showcase of live hip-

hop and contemporary dance by the most

exciting API performers, choreographers, and

dance cinematographers around. San Diego

has long been a hotbed for dance, especially

within the Filipino American community, and

MOVEfest serves to pay tribute to that local

artistry, as well as to attract regional talent

and inspire up-and-coming performers and

filmmakers through the art of dance onstage

and onscreen.

MOVEfest will feature some of the biggest

names in the region, such as Galen hooks

(who has worked with Janet Jackson, Britney

Spears, Usher, and countless others) and the

Filharmonic (from TV’s The Sing-Off). It will

also highlight choreographers such as Gigi

Torres, Anjanette Maraya-ramey, and Carlo

Darang, and will feature video works by

Syrene Bartolome, Anna Sarao & Eugene “X”

ramos, rachel Woods, and Kevin Jenkins.

Pieces will highlight everything from

community dance to human trafficking,

from sisterhood to rebuilding after Typhoon

haiyan.




NOV. 13-15, UCSD VISUAL ARTS PRESENTATION LAB

The San Diego Asian Film Festival is proud

to partner with the UCSD Program in

Transnational Korean Studies to present a

landmark retrospective on the history of queer

images in Korean cinema – the first of its kind

outside of South Korea. The retrospective is

part of an international symposium, which

includes an art exhibition and academic

conference, all taking place at UCSD’s new

Structural and Materials Engineering Building.

By Todd A. Henry

Assistant Professor,

UCSD Department of History Acting Director,

Program in Transnational Korean Studies

In recent years, sexual minorities have

become increasingly visible in South Korea,

as they have elsewhere around the globe.

Events like the recent backlash against the

wedding of Kim-Cho Kwangsu and Kim

Sŭnghwan, underscore the growing volatility

of queer politics, but also alert us to an

entrenched history of struggle and survival.

REMEMBERING QUEER KOREA combines

scholarship, film, and art in an attempt to

critically reflect upon the place of non-

normative sexuality and gender variance in

the peninsula’s history and culture. To be sure,

these topics have become an increasingly

important part of South Korean society since

the 1990s, as evidenced by the upsurge of

human rights organizations, representations

in film and on television, and in practices of

queer consumption. however, the antecedents

of these contemporary phenomena tend to

remain hidden under an impenetrable veneer

of imagined, if not real, conservatism. The

screening of independent films spanning the

twentieth century and beyond thus functions

as an important reminder about the existence

and even centrality of queer forms of life in

constituting, contesting, and reinforcing

such forms of power as nationalism,

heteropatriarchy, socialism, and capitalism.

The five film programs comprising this event

evoke “remembering” along different lines:

oral history, genre, cinephilia. Some, like ThE

POLLEN OF FLOWErS and SABANGJI are

themselves archival objects that bend the

master history of Korean popular culture

by wildly bending genres. Others, be they

narrative films like BrOKEN BrANChES or

a documentary like ThE GIrL PrINCES, are

daring works of historiography in themselves,

tracking queer characters and images across

the span of the republic of Korea and arriving

at questions of representation, filmmaking,

and entertainment today. So many of these

films feature characters who are in show

business; in some cases, they are producers

of mass desire that is perceived as a threat,

and in others they are producers of alternate

stories, some mundane, others utopic visions

of Korean society and history.

SABANGJI


TSAI MING-LIANG

When one of the greatest film artists of the

past 20 years announces that he’s through, the

film community stops and notices. When he

then proceeds to reinvent himself and make

some of the most innovative “films” around, it’s

almost a cause for celebration. It’s certainly a

cause for a closer look, and STILL WALKING:

THE POST-RETIREMENT FILMS OF TSAI MING-

LIANG does just that.

Tsai’s flirted with retirement before. After the

release of his final celluloid work Face in 2009,

Tsai said he was finished with theatrical cinema.

But then came last year’s celebrated Stray

Dogs, which took one of the major prizes at the

Venice Film Festival, topped Indiewire’s annual

list of best unreleased films, and introduced

him to a new generation of international

cinephiles. To which Tsai retreated once again,

announcing his retirement.

It could be though that since 2012, Tsai has set

his eye on a new path: the “walker” project.

Once again inspired by the body of his muse

Lee Kang-sheng, Tsai began to explore

perceptions of bodies in space in stunning

shots that make simultaneous different

temporalities. Donning a signature red robe,

Lee plays a monk who walks very, very slowly

through cities and landscapes all with their

distinct rhythms. It’s an abstraction of Tsai’s

project with What Time is it There?, in which

crossing different time zones produces excess

sexual or spectral energies. With the “walker”

series, the experience is much more stripped

down and basic, but no less expansive in the

responses they produce.

In Cinema Scope, Blake Williams describes this

as Tsai’s “late digital period,” during which the

capacity of digital video to capture duration

has unlocked new possibilities of imagining

movement and how it can be arranged on

the cinematic surface. It’s present in Stray

Dogs, which is in many ways the summation of

Tsai’s narrative career and a fitting close – if it

indeed is one. This period also represents the

dovetailing of Tsai’s ongoing video installation

work and his traditional filmmaking, achieving

a synthesis envied by artists from both worlds.

STILL WALKING is a celebration of that

synthesis and an inquiry into where it can go

from here. It includes Stray Dogs as well as

by Brian Hu

three entries into the “walker” project: Walker

(from the Beautiful 2012 collection), Walking

on Water (from Letters to the South), and

Journey to the West. Together, they literally

map the footsteps of Tsai’s travels from hong

Kong to Malaysia to Marseilles. They also form

an intriguing thesis on cosmopolitanism and

Chineseness. For kicks, we’re including the new

digital restoration of Tsai’s 1994 masterpiece

Vive l’amour, the first time Tsai stepped out

internationally, lengthened his shots, and

proclaimed that nothing would be the same

after this.

JOUrNEY TO ThE WEST

A CONVERSATION WITH ANNA AKANA

NOV. 7 (FRIDAY), UC SAN DIEGO

60 MINS

Before Anna Akana’s “how to Put on Your

Face” went viral and crossed 2 million views

on YouTube, she was already a fan favorite

and an online personality in the best sense:

vivacious, consistent, candid, relatable, and

totally funny. Since 2012, she’s entertained

a million subscribers through comedy

and music, and has appeared on the web

miniseries Riley Rewind. What sets her

apart from other stat-amassing YouTube

stars though is that she has something to

say. Not in the preachy, scripted sense, but

in the way that an ordinary life observed

with honesty is going to form a perspective

that is fresh and resonant.

140 videos in, Akana has touched upon

everything from love and sex, to mental

illness and suicide, to the curiosity that is

the life of Anna. her humor has bite, but

is never above a self-deprecating aside or

playful special effect. Akana has developed

a delivery that is smart but inviting,

accessible and never condescending.

In early 2014, Akana embarked on a series

of short films that have impressively

expanded her persona and have

showcased her development as an actor,

writer, and director. Most impressively, they

explore tones and narratives only hinted at

in her vlogs and which are rare on YouTube

more generally. Unusually experimental

in makeup, costume, and set design, the

shorts reveal a unique cinematic voice in

the making. her head-first plunges into

the surreal become a macabre vehicle

for Akana’s unnerving stories of women’s

bodies and the industrialization of beauty.

In a conversation with Asia Pacific Arts’

managing editor Ada Tseng, Akana, the

recipient of SDAFF’s first annual Digital

Pioneer Award, discusses her craft, her

aspirations, and her curious position as

one of the few Asian American woman

storytellers who have succeeded on

YouTube.


JOIN US ON C AMPUS

World Premiere Screening of “Fresh Off The Boat.”

Saturday, November 8 Shiley Theatre, Camino Hall

The University of San Diego celebrates 15 years of partnership with the San Diego Asian Film Festival, artists, film aficionados and community that continue to make this an extraordinary event.

w w w.sandiego.edu

ASIAN AMERICANPANORAMA


The best of Asian American cinema in all of its colors – from short film programs and animation, to documentaries about the famous and infamous, to feature-length tales of woe and humor.

MAN FrOM rENO

9-MANNOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 3:15PM,

ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 12 (WEDNESDAY), 6:00PM,

UCSD CALIT2 ATKINSONHALL AUDITORIUM

USA | ENGLISh, TOISANESE 89 MINS | hD | 2014

DIRECTOR Ursula Liang

Audience Award (Documentary),

2014 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

Filmmaker scheduled to attend

9-Man is a sport like no other. Sprouting

from the Chinatown concrete and spreading

across the continent is all-American jungle

ball: volleyball with more bodies and more

bruises, more slams and more swagger. Also

unavoidable: that this is a sport of Chinese

American men. Unimaginable: that outside

of the Chinatown circuit, the sport has been

under the radar of the mainstream, and until

Ursula Liang’s new documentary 9-MAN,

unknown even among many Asian Americans.

Liang is a former ESPN journalist and her

excitement about the sport is undeniable. She

follows several teams preparing for the big

annual championship and does it with an eye

for not just the David and Goliath dramatics,

but also a sense of what makes the sport such

a dynamic match of athleticism – a critical

contribution in a nation where Asian American

male bodies are generally decorporealized.

Sports in the U.S. have long been racialized,

but Liang writes a new history of American

sport traversing familiar stories of inclusion

and exclusion, but surprising us throughout,

tracing the sport’s dubious history in China

and locating it in the streets of New York,

Boston, and throughout North America.

refreshing and iconic, 9-MAN explores

Chinese American culture as something not

inherited or translated from a motherland,

but something peculiar to enclave living and

cross-generational identity formation. It’s

also a blistering sports film that makes you

root for favorite teams, and more importantly,

an inspiring way of life. – Brian Hu

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54 15th San Diego Asian Film Festival

APPROPRIATEBEHAVIORNOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 3:10PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

USA | ENGLISh, FArSI86 MINS | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Desiree AkhavanCAST Desiree Akhavan, rebecca henderson, halley Feiffer, Arian Moayed

Official Selection, 2014 Sundance Film Festival

Best Screenwriting, 2014 Outfest


Shirin is an underachieving 20-something

with a Master’s degree in journalism but

no job. She’s also bisexual, unbeknownst to

her otherwise supportive Iranian parents.

Worse yet, she’s just broken up with her

girlfriend Maxine and she’s left to navigate

the unbearable New York dating scene.

Gracefully intercutting flashbacks

of Maxine and Shirin’s relationship,

APPrOPrIATE BEhAVIOr is wonderfully and

unapologetically hipster Brooklyn, both

making fun of and honoring a city where

you can meet and interact with former

hair models named Tibet or support Jon

Francis’s Kickstarter campaign at the

#OccupyChelsea rally.

Director-writer-actress Desiree Akhavan

is the star Asian American cinema has

been waiting for. APPrOPrIATE BEhAVIOr’s

quippy dialogue combined with Akhavan’s

perfected deadpan delivery keep the mood

light while also managing to tackle the

harsh realities of today’s dating experience,

where the best ways to meet someone are

OkCupid and experimental art shows. Most

importantly, Akhavan is able to address and

discuss sexual identity in a way that feels

natural and fresh. – James Paguyo

59

ASIAN AMERICAN PANORAM

A

5515th San Diego Asian Film Festival

BELLA VISTANOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 5:25PM,

ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

USA | ENGLISh | 83 MINS | hD | 2014DIRECTOR Vera Brunner-Sung

CAST Kathleen Wise, hiroka Matsushima

Official Selection,

2014 International Film Festival Rotterdam

Filmmaker and cast scheduled to attend

Vera Brunner-Sung’s coolly observational

film BELLA VISTA starts with a drifter named

Doris, a young white itinerant teacher to

international students in Missoula, Montana.

It’s an interesting premise, both because

Missoula is Missoula, and Doris is the farthest

thing from Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous

Minds. Doris lives in a dingy motel. She is

pretty, but her prettiness only helps her blend

into malls where she eats alone.

BELLA VISTA lives in the cagey space where

transience complicates definitions of home.

Inspired by Brunner-Sung’s own relocation

to Missoula, Doris is someone for whom

arriving doesn’t mean staying. Missoula,

the film’s other subject, happens to be full

of such characters – from her international

students to the Japanese and Italians once

imprisoned there.

Brunner-Sung asks what it feels like for Doris

to make sense of a specific place in time. But

place is not really a finite knowable object

and we are always in the midst of making

sense of our bearings. As such, Brunner-

Sung’s posture is that of a wallflower, aloof

but wide-eyed, scanning for connection,

ready to leave.

Shot on a shoestring budget over 12 days,

BELLA VISTA could seem at first glance like

a despairing film, except for its many lilting

turns, both narrative and aerobic. With a

beautifully photographic eye, provocative

shifts in perspective, and a sensory approach

to questions of location and history, BELLA

VISTA is a remarkable debut that puts

Brunner-Sung on the feature-film map, no

doubt ready to drift onto another. – Christina

Ree

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CICADANOV. 10 (MONDAY), 6:30PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

USA, JAPAN | JAPANESE 100 MINS | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Dean YamadaCAST Yugo Saso, hitomi Takimoto, Junpei Yasui, hiroko Wada

Best Narrative Feature,



Free for Pac-Arts members

Every summer, the cicada comes to the

surface to make its mating call and shed its

shell. In Japan, the cicada thus stands for

reincarnation and rebirth. It’s also a running

metaphor in CICADA, in which shy teacher

Jumpei (Yugo Saso) is told by a doctor that

he is infertile. The news sparks feelings of

confusion and embarrassment, which don’t

bode well for his already-shaky relationship

with his family and girlfriend. But then there’s

the bullied nephew ryota that Jumpei

begins to mentor, as if ryota were a student

or son, and Jumpei gains an assertiveness

previously unseen.

With light comedic tones, CICADA surrounds

Jumpei with a lively crew of offbeat

characters: an overbearing sister, a slacker

brother-in-law, and an extroverted rocker

girlfriend. In his first feature film, director Dean

Yamada draws from his own experiences as a

teacher, not just in the thoughtful story of an

educator, but also on the level of filmmaking.

CICADA was produced as a project with

Yamada’s current and former film students

at Biola University. As Yamada is reborn as a

feature film director, his students too come to

the surface as filmmakers of their own. – Eric

Lallana

Preceded by: KEN MIURA: UNHEARD OFUSA | 5 MINS | 2014

DIRECTOR raymond C. Lai

A portrait of the USC film professor who

taught sound design to hollywood legends

like George Lucas.


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EAT WITH MENOV. 7 (FRIDAY), 6:35PM,


USA | ENGLISh | 95 MINS | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR David Au

CAST Sharon Omi, Teddy Chen Culver,Nicole Sullivan

Official Selection,


Official Selection,

2014 Frameline Film Festival

Filmmakers scheduled to attend

There’s nothing quite as disarming as

food, and when it comes to family and its

drama, there’s nothing quite like the ritual

of the meal to relax and comfort us into

confronting our differences and sharing our

passions. David Au’s EAT WITh ME knows

that feeling of gustatory and emotional

pleasure all too well.

From a most original opening scene of a

wife Emma (Sharon Omi) realizing how

trapped she is in marriage, to her tentative

visit to her son Elliot (Teddy Chen Culver),

Au has us similarly disarmed through light

humor. Elliot is a chef struggling to attract

customers to his restaurant, while feeling

distant from a mother who hasn’t quite come

to terms with the fact that he is gay. But

with the help of Elliot’s irreverent neighbor

Maureen (Mad TV’s Nicole Sullivan), Emma

is exposed to a world unencumbered by

expectations – and by husbands.

In his first feature-length film EAT WITh ME,

writer and director David Au gives us a story

filled with rich and complicated characters

that jovially mirror those in our own lives.

It shares insight like a family shares a

meal: with an eye to tradition, a joy for

improvisation, and always with a chair open

to a friendly visitor. – Eric Lallana

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Pacific Islanders in Communications presents PACIFIC SHOWCASE at SDAFF

pic_SDAFF_fullpage_20140910_FINAL.indd 1 9/15/14 8:44 AM

KUMU HINANOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 2:30PM,


USA | ENGLISh, hAWAIIAN77 MINS | hD | 2014

DIRECTOR Dean hamer, Joe Wilson

Audience Award (documentary),

2014 Asian American

International Film Festival,

Best Documentary,


Youth Jury Award, 2014 Rhode Island

International Film Festival

Filmmakers and Kumu Hina

scheduled to attend

Sponsored by

Finding love as a mahu (a “middle,” or

third gender person as they are identified

in hawaii) may just be as challenging

as preserving one’s culture in the face of

centuries of colonial rule. In this rousing

documentary, a kumu (teacher) named

hina comes to peace with her gender

identity as she passes on hawaiian hula

to her high school students and meets her

husband along the way. One of her students,

a remarkably self-aware young mahu,

is inspired by her teacher’s own gender

nonconformity and steals the show as she

leads her school’s all-male hula troupe in the

year-end performance.

Through inspiring moments of education and

love, KUMU hINA touches on the meanings of

indigeneity today in hawaii and how gender

identity and dance traditions are intertwined

with anti-colonial politics. At the center is a

courageous, passionate teacher who finds

room – and the deepest empathy – for all the

middles on the margins. – Wilda Wong

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LIMITED PARTNERSHIPNOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 12:50PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

USA | ENGLISh | 75 MINS | hD | 2014DIRECTOR Thomas G. Miller

Official Selection,


Audience Award,

2014 Cinema Q Film FestivalChances are you have not heard of

Filipino American richard Adams and his

Australian husband, Tony Sullivan. They

were legally married in Colorado in 1975,

but when richard applied for a green

card for his husband, the Immigration and

Naturalization Service officially called them

“faggots” and denied their application. The

couple sued to prevent deportation and

filed the first federal lawsuit seeking equal

treatment for a same-sex marriage in U.S.

history.

LIMITED PArTNErShIP is a documentary

about many resonant issues in America

today: marriage equality, immigration

reform. But above all, it is a love story

that fuels a 43-year path toward justice,

traversing continents and living under the

radar to avoid persecution and separation

from family and friends. It’s an inspiring

journey that shows that the fight for

equality can be life’s work, as well as love’s

work. – Wilda Wong

Preceded by: 6 WEDDINGS AND A DRESSUSA | 8 MINS | 2014

DIRECTOR Steven Nagano

The travels of a wedding dress first worn in a

Japanese incarceration camp.


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LORDVILLENOV. 12 (WEDNESDAY), 4:00PM,


USA | ENGLISh, DELAWArE67 MINS | hD | 2014

DIRECTOR rea Tajiri

Official Selection, 2014 CAAMFest

Official Selection,


This is a Free Film at Four,

sponsored by

rea Tajiri, one of Asian America’s most

important artists, makes films that unframe

images from their dusty space on the mantle

and unsettle them with sensuous reimaginings.

Less concerned with an excavation of “truths,”

Tajiri’s works construct a space filled with

the gravitational pulls of history, longing, and

memory – invisible pulls that alter and refigure

our perception of the present.

In 2003, Tajiri purchased a house in the

upstate New York town of Lordville, joining

50 residents who lived in this once-booming,

now literal ghost town. By coincidence, Tajiri’s

home had an existing paper trail of stolen

land, with a family tree that reached back to

white land speculator John Lord and his wife,

Minisink Delaware Indian Betia Van Dunk who

was legally barred from inheriting her own

property. In her latest film LOrDVILLE, Tajiri

conjures the settler, the geologic, the nation,

and the intimate, as she walks property lines,

visits residents, conducts environmental

readings and genealogical research, and

brings us the deep pleasures and mysteries of

a relationship to place, asking: what does land

ownership mean? It’s a provocative question,

through which Lordville emerges as a place of

hauntings that exhale history, and land that

thickens, breathes, and resists.

As with Tajiri’s canonical History and Memory,

LOrDVILLE may prove to be a kind of paradigm

shift, asking questions about Asian American

complicity and the ongoing colonization of

the Americas, underscoring yet again Tajiri’s

place as one of our most pioneering artists.

– Christina Ree

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MAN FROM RENO NOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 4:45PM,ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

USA, JAPAN | ENGLISh, JAPANESE111 MINS | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Dave BoyleCAST Ayako Fujitani, Pepe Serna, Kazuki Kitamura, Yasuyo Shiba

Best Narrative Feature,


Filmmaker and crew scheduled to attend

We all want to escape at some point. This

moody neo-noir explores what happens

when conflicted characters finally take the

plunge, leaving their haunted memories

behind for a strange and salacious

alternate path. In this story of a Japanese

novelist (Ayako Fujitani) and a small town

sheriff (Pepe Serna) who get caught up in

a spider’s web of deceit, corruption, and

murder, director Dave Boyle (Surrogate

Valentine, SDAFF ’11) constructs a pivotal

San Francisco film built entirely out of

distrusting vantage points. Strangeness

and danger permeate every angular frame

and haloed composition, creating a skewed

physical landscape that matches the

characters’ warped psychology.

Opening with a foggy ode to robert

Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly, the serpentine

plot then constricts and contorts to include

narrative riffs on everything from Vertigo

to The Maltese Falcon. All of the typical

conventions and archetypes of film noir are

subverted in arresting fashion. The result

is a fascinating and fatalistic oddity about

friendship, the failure of imagination, and

withdrawal. As one characters says early

on, “Sounds fun, pretending.” Boyle’s film

proves just how precarious wearing a mask

can be. – Glenn Heath, Jr.


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MY LIFE IN CHINANOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 1:20PM,

ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 12 (WEDNESDAY), 6:30PM, ARCLIGHT CINEMAS LA JOLLA

USA | ENGLISh, TOISANESE, CANTONESE52 MINS | DCP | 2014

DIRECTOR Kenneth Eng

World Premiere


Sponsored by

Co-presented by

In 1966, Kenneth Eng’s father defected from

China by swimming to Macau. he then

ferried illegally to hong Kong and ultimately

arrived in the U.S., where he had two sons.

It’s a story of migration that’s not unusual in

accounts of the Asian American experience

or in celebrations of the American

dream. What makes MY LIFE IN ChINA so

fascinating and timely is that it begins with

the epilogue to this familiar tale. While well-

educated in China, Kenneth’s dad ended up

cooking Chinese fast food in Boston. his wife

was diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic.

America became a nightmare. he had

escaped China once for a better life. 40

years later, could he escape back?

A documentarian, Kenneth follows his father

as he traces his steps back on a visit to

China. The documentary moves briskly and

the years accelerate backward until father

and son arrive at the beginning, where the

answer to his father’s questions no longer

look so simple.

MY LIFE IN ChINA is a powerful and deeply

personal take on the seeming arbitrariness

that is migration, nation, and a life defined

by economic potential. And whereas many

Asian American films have chronicled a

return to roots, MY LIFE IN ChINA is about

roots severed and branches that could have

been. The unspoken but critical presence

through it all is American-bred Kenneth

himself, a product of multiple migrations

and the branch that simply is, regrets or not.

– Brian Hu

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REEL VOICESNOV. 9 (SUNDAY), NOON,


120 MINS

Free screening

Since 2005, reel Voices has

empowered local high school students by

teaching them the art of documentary

filmmaking. This intense, 12-week summer

internship helps students become socially-

conscious storytellers, learn Final Cut Pro

editing, and experience all stages of

production and post-production.

This year, reel Voices presents the

short documentaries of 10 students whose

works touch on issues ranging from work

and college, to race and identity.

CONFESSIONS OF A COSPLAYERDIRECTOR Gabi D’amico

USA | 4 MIN | 2014

Members of the cosplay community talk

about the sexualization of costumes and

stress that cosplay is not consent.

IT’S A PROCESSDIRECTOR rebecca Liu

USA | 6 MIN | 2014

Coming out can be harder than one realizes.

THIS IS NOT A PIPE DREAM: ASIANS IN THE ARTSDIRECTOR Alex Jen

USA | 11 MIN | 2014

Three young Asian artists share their

experiences on their path to making their

“pipe dreams” come true.

JUST LIKE YOUDIRECTOR Ashton Tu

USA | 4 MIN | 2014

Jake Froman doesn’t let cerebral palsy

discourage him from pursuing his dreams.

CLIMATE CHANGEDIRECTOR Jakob rostamo

USA | 7 MIN | 2014

A look at the effects of global warming and

pollution.

SKINDIRECTOR hinsseenee regassa

USA | 7 MIN | 2014

Young black females share their stories as

victims of racism.

WITNESSDIRECTOR Melissa ruegg

USA | 6 MIN | 2014

An inactive Jehovah’s Witness discusses

leaving the religion and experiencing new

things.

A STEP FORWARD, A LOOK BACKDIRECTOR Iris Pulsingay

USA | 9 MIN | 2014

A group of college-bound friends reveal

their expectations and worries before




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entering the world of so-called “grown-

ups.”

SEEING TRIPLEDIRECTOR Emma Liu

USA | 5 MIN | 2014

An in-depth look into the glamorous life of

the Liu triplets.

AS WE AREDIRECTOR Krisel Magana

USA | 5 MIN | 2014

Sebastian speaks of his journey and

experiences as a transgender male.

RU NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 5:35PM,


USA | ENGLISh | 97 MIN | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Jeff Fong

CAST Jared Egusa, Diana Lu, Geo Lee, David Lautman

Filmmaker, cast and crew

scheduled to attend

Well, it could be worse. Yeah, you were picked

on in school. And sure, you were born into a

family of assassins. And on your 21st birthday,

you have to kill somebody in front of the

elders to prove your loyalty to the clan. It

could be worse, because you might not have

siblings willing to walk you through it, to stick

their necks out by being your advocates, and

to be your friends in a family of killers.

So at least that’s working in favor of ru, a

sweet kid who wouldn’t hurt a fly, let alone

murder for money. Sensing his desperation,

ru’s sister negotiates a deal for him: for his

first kill, he can pick his own target. But ru’s

so virtuous he can’t even swear, so playing

judge, jury, and executioner is going to be an

ethical knot he’s not so keen to untie.

What starts off as an eccentric family

comedy turns into an uncommonly genuine

story about sibling love. In his feature debut,

Jeff Fong directs his actors with aw-shucks

earnestness and displays a lively visual style.

Countless young Asian American directors

have attempted to bring YouTube’s DIY

aesthetic and youth genres to the big screen,

but this is the rare one that feels like the

organic evolution of those Wong Fu-inspired

nice guy shorts. ru’s camera asides are as

KevJumba as they are Ferris Bueller. The

awkward absurdity is less farce than honest

desperation. But what truly sets rU apart is

that the home-spun Sacramento scrappiness

doesn’t detract from the emotional ambition,

but makes it that much more sincere. – Brian

Hu

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ILLUSION OF LIFENOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 1:00PM,

ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 12 (WEDNESDAY), 7:25PM


80 MINS

how do you coax life out of thin air?

Find out in this program dedicated entirely

to the magical art of animation.

Some mature content


JIMMY LOVES JUICEUSA | 5 MINS | 2013 | 2D

DIRECTOR David Yee

A normal day in the park for young Jimmy

takes an unexpected turn when he tries a

new kind of refreshment: juice!

pardesiINDIA | 6 MINS | 2011 | CG

DIRECTOR Mariana ramirez

A rickshaw driver plays wacky tour guide on

a cultural ride through the bustling streets

of India.

STEADFAST STANLEYUSA | 4 MINS | 2014 | 2D

DIRECTOR John Kim

When the apocalypse breaks, all Stanley the

Pembroke Welsh Corgi wants to do is get

back to his owner.

GOOD MORNINGS.KOrEA | 4 MINS | 2014 | 2D

DIRECTOR Lee hyun-ho

A salaryman hits the snooze button one too

many times.

A WARRIOR’S DREAMChINA | 3 MINS | 2013 | CG

DIRECTOR Li Jin

Donnie Yen vs. Bruce Lee. ‘Nuff said.

HIGHER SKYUSA | 6 MINS | 2014 | 2D

DIRECTOR Teng “Eric” Cheng

In a breathtaking jungle, a monkey and a

swallow have a kung fu encounter.

ORIGAMIFrANCE | 8 MINS | 2012 | CG

DIRECTOR Joanne Smithies, Eric De

Melo Bueno, Michael Moreno, hugo Bailly

Desmarchelier, Camille Turon

haiko’s paper dragon and inner demons

come alive and battle it out.

BY THE STREAMUSA | 3 MINS | 2013 | 2D

DIRECTOR Otto Tang

A time-lapse glimpse into the trials,

tribulations, and monotony of a man’s life.

JOHN DOEUSA | 4 MINS | 2014 | STOPMOTION

DIRECTOR Yizhou Li, Dustin reno

When a detective begins putting the

evidence together on a seemingly

unsolvable case, his pursuit for the truth

takes an unexpected turn.




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ETERNITYUSA | 2 MINS | 2012 | CG

DIRECTOR Byunghoon han

A timeless battle between a predator and his

prey in the cyber circle of life.

IMPERMANENCETAIWAN | 7 MINS | 2012 | CG

DIRECTOR Miao Tien-Yu

In a dystopic world, a temporal tsunami

threatens to swallow up Wu Chang and his

city of ruins.

HARDLOCKS.KOrEA | 6 MINS | 2014 | 2D

DIRECTOR Kim Tae-kyun, Shim Je-eun

An overbearing boss torments his

subordinate until a twist of fate turns the

tables around.

REDFrANCE | 6 MINS | 2014 | CG

DIRECTOR Alexandre Charleux, Victoria

Bruneel, Amaury Brunet, Ning Zhang

In the dark districts of the metropolis, a

mysterious serial killer strikes down red-

dressed women.

A FOX TALEFrANCE | 6 MINS | 2011 | CG

DIRECTOR Thomas Bozovic, Alexandre

Cazals, Julien Legay, Chao Ma

In ancient China, two brothers risk all in a

fight over a mysterious and tantalizing fox.

DEAR MOMUSA | 3 MINS | 2014 | 2D

DIRECTOR Qianyu (Cherry) Zhou

A daughter’s heartfelt letter to mom.

THE REWARDUSA | 3 MINS | 2014 | 2D

DIRECTOR Po Chou

A tale of gratitude and paying it forward.

BEHIND MY BEHINDUSA | 4 MINS | 2014 | 2D + STOPMOTION

DIRECTOR David Chai

A disheartened Earnest Knapp learns that

the valuable things are often just a butt

cheek away.

SHORTS: CHILD ST R

NOV. 7 (FRIDAY), 4:00PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

99 MINS

There’s no rest for the former actors,

the closet superstars, and the kids living out

movie-plot fantasies.



sponsored by

MILKYBOYDIRECTOR Arnold Arre

PhILIPPINES | 20 MIN | 2013

As he embarks on dating, rey yearns to be

disassociated with his past as an actor in

commercials.

THE BUSY YOUNG PSYCHICDIRECTOR Chen ho-yu

TAIWAN | 29 MIN | 2013

A teenage girl’s special talent gets in the way

of her romantic aspirations.

WHAT A DAYDIRECTOR Shannon Lee

USA | 3 MIN | 2014

A bejeweled day full of questions and

cupcakes.

GRACE OF GODDIRECTOR Millicent Cho

USA | 8 MIN | 2013

In a Catholic prep school, teenage

hijinks abound over sex, love, and divine

intervention.

THE BADDEST PARTDIRECTOR Adam Azimov

USA | 14 MIN | 2014

A young couple hits the road to live out their

badland fantasies.

DISTANT LIGHTDIRECTOR Alexander Lau

USA, hONG KONG | 25 MIN | 2013

In the eerie shambles of an old family home,

father and son retreat into their own devices.

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SHORTS FOR SHORTIESNOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 11:00AM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

46 MINS

Animated and live-action short films

for kids and their families.


Free for children under 12

HUNGRY MONSTER, EPISODE 3: BOBADIRECTOR Karen Lin

USA | 3 MIN | 2014

Our costumed friend introduces us to the

Taiwan beverage boba.

FOR THE LOVE OF UNICORNSDIRECTOR Genevieve Erin O’Brien

USA | 6 MIN | 2014

Kylan’s love for unicorns brings a

community together.

RAVI & JANEDIRECTOR Stuart O’rourke

AUSTrALIA | 14 MIN | 2013

Sri Lankan newcomer ravi is welcomed by

his classmate Jane.

HUNGRY MONSTER, EPISODE 2: BATSANGDIRECTOR Karen Lin

USA | 5 MIN | 2014

The hungry monsters are back! This time to

talk about tasty rice dumplings tied up in

bamboo leaves.

TWINS IN BAKERYDIRECTOR Mari Miyazawa

JAPAN | 5 MIN | 2013

When the owner’s not looking, two hot dogs

come alive and bring a bakery to life.

AHCO ON THE ROADDIRECTOR Soyeon Kim

SOUTh KOrEA, USA | 9 MIN | 2013

A baby elephant goes on a journey to

reunite with her mother.

WALLPAPERDIRECTOR Elaine Chen

CANADA | 2 MIN | 2013

A new homeowner peels back the

wallpaper and uncovers old stories, one

layer at a time.

HUNGRY MONSTER, EPISODE 1 : STINKY TOFUDIRECTOR Karen Lin

USA | 4 MIN | 2014

What’s that smell? It’s the tastiest, stinkiest

tofu of all!


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SHORTS: GAY OF THRONES

NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 7:30PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

91 MINS

From a divine princess and

fierce drag queens to a king-sized dilemma,

a royal dose of drama and fun awaits.

IN SUNRISEDIRECTOR Xinzheng Wang

SINGAPOrE, USA | 12 MIN | 2014

A widower and his deceased wife’s personal

nurse are drawn together in grief.

CANTONESE STYLE!DIRECTOR Bea Soong

USA | 9 MIN | 2014

At dim sum, Flora and Bessie dish on

fashion, friendship…and their waiter.

SQUAREDDIRECTOR hieu Tran

USA | 15 MIN | 2014

A one-night stand gets competitive when

two guys discover they are both tops.

CROSSING BARRIERS: CULTURE CLASH QUEERSDIRECTOR Caro reyes

USA | 13 MIN | 2013

Young people of color bare all, crossing

barriers to identity and acceptance.

BAI XIE (SNOW WHITE)DIRECTOR Ian Burris

ChINA | 9 MIN | 2014

A drag mother helps her students transform

into glamorous performers.

NO NO, HOMODIRECTOR Jerell rosales

USA | 3 MIN | 2014

Two friends catch a matinee and share a

mouthwatering bucket of popcorn.

TO SIT WITH HERDIRECTOR Nicole Miyahara

USA | 5 MIN | 2014

Leon, a transman, makes a pilgrimage to

visit his 97-year-old grandmother in rural

Taiwan.

PRINSESADIRECTOR Drew Stephens

USA | 12 MIN | 2014

A father squares off with his friends after

his son dreams of becoming a princess.

ABAN + KHORSHIDDIRECTOR Darwin Serink

USA | 13 MIN | 2013

Inspired by true events, two lovers must

face the punishment for being gay.

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SHORTS: GRAVITY BURNSNOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 3:00PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

96 MINS

The pressures of falling back to earth

are no match for the unshakeable tethers

of love and family.

Filmmakers scheduled to attendRATTLEFLYDIRECTOR Min Ding

USA | 20 MIN | 2014

Sara feels trapped until the new pastor’s

daughter arrives in town.

NAMIDIRECTOR Masami Kawai

USA | 13 MIN | 2014

An older woman goes through a ritual of love

that spans the city of Los Angeles.

MY BROTHERDIRECTOR Vu Pham, Joe X. Jiang

USA | 24 MIN | 2014

A wayward Vietnamese American is

shadowed by his specter of a brother.

HYPEBEASTSDIRECTOR Jessica dela Merced

USA | 20 MIN | 2013

Waiting in line for the hottest new shoes

becomes an unexpectedly complicated

matter.

JAYADIRECTOR Puja Maewal

INDIA | 19 MIN | 2013

A thieving orphan hopes to reunite with her

biological father.


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SHORTS: MOONLIGHT

REPRESENTS MY HEART

NOV. 14 (FRIDAY), 4:00PM,MCASD SHERWOOD AUDITORIUM

76 MINS


sponsored by

Through a moonbeam fog of cinematic

memories emerge powerful visions of

contemporary China.

GRAND CANALDIRECTOR Johnny Ma

ChINA | 19 MIN | 2013

With rock-n-roll romanticism and a heavy

heart, a son remembers his father’s

experiences on the docks.

MOUNT SONGDIRECTOR Shambhavi Kaul

INDIA | 8 MIN | 2013

reverberations of a mushroom-cloud movie

set where the wind triggers special effects

nobody will see.

THE PRIVATE LIFE OF FENFENDIRECTOR Leslie Tai

USA, ChINA | 28 MIN | 2014

Three years of video diaries on work and

love play out as soap opera entertainment

in public spaces.

THE QUESTIONINGDIRECTOR Zhu rikun

ChINA | 21 MIN | 2013

One night in 2012, director Zhu rikun knew

the authorities would come knocking so he

turned on his camera.

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SHORTS: STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENEDNOV. 11 (TUESDAY), 4:00PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

91 MINS

The dark unknown, a happy fun place, an

other-worldly waiting room, the digital noise.

Pick your door wisely.


This is a Free Film at Four, sponsored by

HAPPY FUN ROOMDIRECTOR Greg Pak

USA | 14 MIN | 2014

A kids TV show host wonders if her message

has lost its bite.

PEEPERSDIRECTOR Ken Lam

USA | 7 MIN | 2014

A young couple freaks out during dinner

over what lurks just outside their window.

FINGER RUNNINGDIRECTOR Diana Li

USA | 9 MIN | 2014

Two women get tangled in a dazzling play

of fingers and hair.

SO YOU’VE GROWN ATTACHEDDIRECTOR Kate Tsang

USA | 15 MIN | 2014

An imaginary friend knows his time is

about up.

GRANDMADIRECTOR Yu Chen

USA | 5 MIN | 2014

A day in the life of an elderly woman

shaking beneath her masks.

IT’S NOT A PRISON IF YOU NEVER TRY THE DOORDIRECTOR Joshua Gen Solondz

USA | 7 MIN | 2014

Godzilla gets zapped.

H7N3DIRECTOR Iris K. Shim

USA | 11 MIN | 2013

A doctor’s routine diagnosis of a young girl

grows frightening.

BOYCOTTDIRECTOR Boyoung Lim

SOUTh KOrEA | 23 MIN | 2014

Young vigilantes torment a convenience

store manager over unpaid wages.


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SHORTS: THERE WILL BE

A STORM NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 3:20PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

96 MINS

Armed with song and dance, and backed

by a digital toolkit and dreams for a better

world, these voices won’t be silenced.


DELANO MANONGS: FORGOTTEN HEROES OF THE UNITED FARM WORKERS MOVEMENTDIRECTOR Marissa Aroy

USA | 28 MIN | 2014

Filipino farm workers of the sixties become

essential players in the fight for organized

labor.

MASS CONFUCIAN: CHINESE LANGUAGE OR COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA?DIRECTOR Philip W. Chung

USA | 25 MIN | 2014

Emotions run high when middle school Chinese

language classes become controversial.

WHY WE RISEDIRECTOR Brian redondo, Corinne Manabat

USA | 13 MIN | 2013

Three undocumented Asian Americans

emerge from the shadows and find their

political voice.

COMFORT GIRLSDIRECTOR Eugene Lee Yang

USA | 5 MIN | 2014

Four K-pop sisters lash out at the male gaze.

TRANSFORMERS: THE PREMAKEDIRECTOR Kevin B. Lee

USA | 25 MIN | 2014

The latest Michael Bay film finds a cutting pre-

life on YouTube.

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SUBURBANITENOV. 10 (MONDAY), 8:30PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

USA | ENGLISh, TAGALOG62 MINS | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR ryan JamesonCAST Carlo Chavez, Jeff Jackson, Mishka Balilty

World Premiere

Filmmaker, cast and crew

scheduled to attend

A new kind of film hero emerged in the 90s:

the overgrown child, a figure whose ability

to feel more and dream bigger than adults

made them simultaneously off-putting and

endearing. The suburbs, which seem to

only be the right size for small children and

doting parents, are a perfect foil for these

characters. Against such backgrounds,

these Napoleon Dynamites seem all the

more ridiculous…and heroic.

Now, twenty years into this seemingly

exhausted genre emerges SUBUrBANITE, a

film that’s so fresh and disarmingly hilarious

you would think it’s the first of its kind. Grice

(Carlo Chavez) is a college-aged Filipino

American desperately avoiding adulthood

by scheming to open a hot dog cart, and

by finally finishing an action movie “Drug

Island” that he and his best friend Diggs

(Jeff Jackson) had begun as children. That

such a schemer could have a girlfriend

is made all the more convincing by the

fantastic deadpan performance of Mishka

Balilty as the target of his pursuits.

The first feature film by young director ryan

Jameson, SUBUrBANITE is everything you’d

want a filmmaker’s debut to be: charming,

honest, and confident in its unique voice.

The film feels so hand-made and full of love

you’d hope Jameson and his team were

also running the projector and ripping your

tickets. – Lev Kalman


A


TELOS: THE FANTASTIC

WORLD OF EUGENE TSUI

NOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 1:00PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

USA | ENGLISh | 52 MIN | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Kyung Lee

Official Selection, 2014 Newport Beach


Filmmaker and Eugene Tssui

scheduled to attend

You. Bow down in awe to Dr. Eugene Tssui.

Let the gaping begin to Tssui’s sequined

bodysuit. his solar-paneled shoulder pads.

his excellence in gymnastics. his Adonis-like

body. Tssui, who flies somewhere between

lunatic fringe and visionary genius, is the

world’s most disagreeable architect. he may

also be an ambassador sent from the future.

TELOS: ThE FANTASTIC WOrLD OF EUGENE

TSSUI is a fascinating portrait of Tssui, the

indubitable love child of Buckminster Fuller

and Captain Kirk. Tssui’s highly thoughtful

but utterly radical Evolutionary Architecture

comes alive in elegiac proposals for structures

informed by nature, as when he translates the

structural benefits of a tardigrade into a home

in Berkeley. Which might explain why hellbent

neighbors try to block a house resembling

a segmented microscopic water dweller

with eight legs. (They lose. Fish house wins.)

Public outcry and cube-loving conventions

block Tssui time and again, despite four

professional degrees, illustrious architectural

supporters, and concepts that foreshadow

the wearable technology and sustainable

strategies emerging today.

You may not want him to design your house

or clothes, but as Tssui pursues a new project

with sympathetic public officials in Mount

Shasta, TELOS will have you cheering for him

the whole way. Filmmaker Kyung Lee takes

you into Tssui’s world without romance or

irony. When Tssui talks about architecture, he

is riveting, illuminating, masterful. The result

is a film that delivers the delicious feeling

of realizing how boring we have become. –

Christina Ree

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ASIA POP!


Films to make you laugh, cry, and cheer, featuring accidental heroes, rock star kids, dugout underdogs, kind-hearted gangsters, and a true Queen of hearts.

ThE rOUND TABLE

ANITA’S LAST CHA CHA

NOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 7:55M, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

NOV. 10 (MONDAY), 6:40PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

PhILIPPINES | TAGALOG110 MIN | DCP | 2013

DIRECTOR Sigrid Andrea P. BernardoCAST Teri Malvar, Angel Aquino,

Jay Bordon, Marcus Badrigal

Best Picture, Best Actress,

2013 CineFilipino Film Festival

Special Mention,

2014 Osaka Asian Film Festival

Official Selection,


Sponsored by

Jhigs & Friends

Effortlessly charming, funny, and poignant,

ANITA’S LAST ChA-ChA has sass-talking

aunties, telenovela-worthy plotting kids, and

in the midst of it all, Teri Malvar, who plays

spunky 12-year-old Anita falling in love for

the first time. It’s a bold film both because

of the graceful way it weaves hot-button

topics such as sexuality, gender, abortion, and

aging into a crowdpleaser, but also because

Malvar’s performance made waves when

she beat “Superstar” Nora Aunor in the 2013

CineFilipino Festival Award for Best Actress.

Sigrid Andrea Bernardo’s feature film debut is

the rare treat of a film with the embrace of a

close-knit town and the hijinks that can only

come from kids given plenty of space to roam.

Set in a small village in Bulacan, cranky, dress-

hating Anita is in the middle of two love

triangles, one with her hilariously dramatic

peers, the other with a beautiful older woman

Pilar (Angel Aquino) whose mysterious return

to town has set tongues wagging. The

triangles complicate and unfold with a fertility

procession and other village dramas in the

background, and ANITA’S LAST ChA-ChA

brings us the sweet clench of first crushes,

sexual awakening, and broken hearts whose

pangs are as indelible as adult love. As the

audience and the rest of the village understand

Anita’s emerging butchness even before she

can, ANITA’S LAST ChA-ChA’s ultimate grace

note is the way it captures Anita’s beauty as

she claims a path true to herself, surrounded

by love close to home. – Christina Ree

ASIA

POP

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BARBER’S TALES NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 1:10PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

PhILIPPINES | TAGALOG | 120 MINhD | 2013DIRECTOR Jun robles LanaCAST Eugene Domingo, Eddie Garcia, Iza Calzado, Gladys reyes

Best Actress, 2013 Tokyo


Official Selection, 2014 Hong Kong


West Coast Premiere

Co-presented by

During Ferdinand Marcos’ reign in the

1970s, Marilou, a recent widow, inherits her

late husband’s barbershop and aims to run

it herself. her village is divided between a

corrupt pro-Marcos local government and

communist insurgents, with villagers like

Marilou stuck in the middle. The unassuming

Marilou has to make bold choices with her

newly-acquired job in a male-dominated

industry, and with the rebellion happening

right in her own home.

Veteran director Jun robles Lana moves

from the intimacy of his international hit

Bwakaw to a sprawling film that ranges from

large-scale political movement to domestic

disputes to introspective growth. But the

power of BArBEr’S TALES derives from

the strength of the female relationships,

headlined by the incomparable Eugene

Domingo in an award-winning performance.

her Marilou is joined by other female

villagers who band together to find ways

to support each other in an increasingly

oppressive environment. Together, they

form one of the most kick-ass female casts

of the year and take the audience to an

ending that is rich, bittersweet, and well-

worth the journey. – Janet Kim

Preceded by: BINGO!USA | 3 MIN | 2014

DIRECTOR Chicky Otani

Chicky and Jeannie open their gifts in the

park.

ASIA POP!


BLUE BUSTAMANTE NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 2:45PM,

ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 12 (WEDNESDAY), 5:35PM,


PhILIPPINES | TAGALOG, JAPANESE89 MINS | hD | 2013

DIRECTOR Miko LiveloCAST Joem Bascon, Jun Sabayton

Official Selection,

2014 Puchon International

Fantastic Film Festival

Official Selection,


Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) George is

an engineer by trade who left his wife and

child in the Philippines to search for work

in Japan. he’s rejected left and right but is

lucky to have a fellow OFW, rene, with whom

to share beers and laughs while George

searches for stable work. rene’s awkward

fascination with George’s physique lands

George a job as a stunt double for a

Japanese sentai show “Force Five.” (Think

Power rangers, and George is the blue

ranger.) Ashamed of the work he’s forced

into taking, George refuses to come to terms

with his fate. That is, until he discovers that

his son idolizes the blue ranger, not knowing

the true identity of the man behind the mask.

BLUE BUSTAMANTE evokes the 1990s in all

of its glory: hand-written letters, landlines,

men and women cavorting in spandex.

Writer-director Miko Livelo doesn’t hide

the sentiment or the nostalgia factor. For

him, the loving, emotional subject of men

desperate for work is sullen but also hilarious

for its implications for masculinity and its

imagination of the reluctant superhero. But

the true nostalgia comes in the story of

the young son who sees in the blue ranger

an international superstar and someone

greater than the provincial world he knows.

It’s a surprisingly tender and fantastic look

at the gravitational pull of family even when

its members are countries and costumes

apart. – Erwin Mendoza

ASIA

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CAMPUS CONFIDENTIAL NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 4:20PM, UCSD CALIT2 ATKINSONHALL AUDITORIUM

TAIWAN | MANDArIN | 101 MIN | hD | 2013DIRECTOR Lai Chun-yuCAST Chen Yi-han, Chen Bo-lin, Chiang Kang-che, Pan huei-ru

Official Selection, 2014 Udine

Far East Film Festival

North American Premiere

Sponsored by

UCSD Taiwan Studies Lecture Series

and UCSD Chuan Lyu Endowed Chair

in Taiwan Studies

If fate is telling you to love someone you

despise, should you take a chance on them?

What if they tuck their shirts into their jeans

and analyze the plots of sci-fi movies? Yeah,

I thought not.

Kiki is beloved by everyone at her university

and she knows it. But there is one group she

wants nothing to do with. Geeks. When Kiki

witnesses a local lake suddenly dry up, she

meet-cutes with the biggest geek of all,

Lucky Wu. According to legend, the day the

lake dries up, the man and woman who are

witness to the occurrence are destined to

be together forever. Although Kiki tries to

ignore the superstition, she slowly begins

to see Lucky for more than just the pimply,

unkempt exterior that she has sworn to

never date.

Filled with charm and even more wackiness,

CAMPUS CONFIDENTIAL is a hilarious take

on the opposites attract rom-com. Chen Yi-

han is loveable as the stubborn and sassy

Kiki, and the against-type Chen Bo-lin will

win your heart as Lucky Wu in spite of the

dopey gait and bed hair. Add in a jaw-

dropping ending that rivals any TV drama’s

and CAMPUS CONFIDENTIAL earns its A+ in

rom-Com 101. – James Paguyo

ASIA POP!


FUKU-CHAN OF FUKUFUKU FLATS

NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 8:10PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

NOV. 12 (WEDNESDAY), 8:00PM, ARCLIGHT CINEMAS LA JOLLA

JAPAN, UK, ITALY, GErMANY, TAIWAN JAPANESE | 110 MINS | DCP | 2014

DIRECTOR Yosuke FujitaCAST Miyuki Oshima, Yosiyosi Arakawa,

Asami Mizukawa



Best Actress, 2014 Fantasia Film Festival

West Coast Premiere

he’d draw a picture for you blindfolded,

but good luck trying to get him to go on a

date. Fukuda, also known as Fuku-chan, lives

in the rundown Fukufuku Flats. he spends

his mornings at work painting buildings,

then divides his evenings between hanging

out with his snake-loving, panty-stealing

neighbors and dodging dates that his co-

worker, Shimacchi (Yosiyosi Arakawa), keeps

trying to set up for him. Fuku-chan is easy-

going and friendly, but romance is not his

cup of tea.

It’s not that women aren’t interested.

It’s just that haunted to this day by an

embarrassing middle school experience,

he will literally do anything to avoid being

set up, including flying kites with the other

odd-balls at Fukufuku Flats. But romance

becomes unavoidable when attractive

wannabe photographer Chiho (Asami

Mizukawa) comes into his life. Together they

work together on a photographic book that

rekindles old feelings.

FUKU-ChAN OF FUKUFUKU FLATS features

woman comedian Miyuki Oshima as Fuku-

chan, showing off her talents and well-known

ability to impersonate men. her presence

is just one of the many disarming, clever

twists that make FUKU-ChAN such a delight.

Director Yosuke Fujita blends scatological

humor (actual line: “I never had a friend that

worried about my poo before”) and genuine

tenderness together into a picture-perfect

comedy. – Rizzhel Javier

ASIA

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GANGSTER’S PAYDAY NOV. 13 (THURSDAY), 4:00PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

hONG KONG | CANTONESE 97 MINS | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Lee Po-cheungCAST Anthony Wong, Charlene Choi, Wong You Nam

Closing Night Film,

2014 Busan International Film Festival



sponsored by

For lovers of 90s hong Kong films, consider

GANGSTEr PAYDAY to be Lee Po-cheung’s

gift to you. It does what many of those hong

Kong gangster films did: mash up genres,

seamlessly kneading the pleasures of a

triad film, food movie, and rom-com into a

sweet, blood-splattered pineapple bun.

Iconic actor Anthony Wong plays Kwai, an

older, bemused, but still ferocious ex-triad

boss trying to protect and enjoy his few

investments in dated karaoke lounges and

massage parlors. Unfortunately for Kwai,

a newer brand of thug will use any means

necessary to force him to sell his properties,

including leveraging a struggling teashop

whose wily shop owner (Charlene Choi)

has captured the heart of both Kwai and the

youngest baby-faced member of his crew,

Leung (Cantopop star Wong You Nam).

GANGSTEr PAYDAY’s throwback opening

sequences, so common in films a decade

ago, now feel charming. Yet the film never

gives way to nostalgia. Wong (Hard Boiled,

Infernal Affairs, The Mission) is at his most

playful and relaxed, pursuing a last hope

for love as far as it will take him. GANGSTEr

PAYDAY evokes romantic sweetness and

so much warmth in the world it creates

without ever forgetting what every triad

film promises: a complicated showdown

with tragedy lining the edges. Just

don’t expect an operatic power ballad.

GANGSTEr PAYDAY is the filmic equivalent

of the neighborhood haunts it holds dear

– intimately scaled, layered with memory,

and utterly satisfying. – Christina Ree

ASIA POP!


A HARD DAY NOV. 7 (FRIDAY), 9:10PM,

ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 7:30PM,


SOUTh KOrEA | KOrEAN111 MINS | DCP | 2014

DIRECTOR Kim Sung-hoonCAST Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Jin-woong,

Jeong Man-sik

Official Selection,

Director’s Fortnight,

2014 Cannes Film Festival

Official Selection,


West Coast Premiere

Sponsored by

Things you never want to hear: your

windshield smashing when you crash into

a pedestrian, a cell phone ringing inside

a closed coffin, the questions your peers

start asking when they suspect you have

something to hide. Gu-soo hears them all

and more. Plus it’s the day of his mom’s

funeral and his department at work is under

investigation. A hard day indeed.

Oh and he’s a cop, and in the storied

tradition of Korean action films, that makes

him as morally dubious as any character in

the film – but one of the more entertaining

characters in all of Korean cinema. In this

case, he’s a cop who’s trying to clean up

the tracks after a hit-and-run accident,

which leads him to devise a devilish plan

that involves MacGyvering some toys and

sneaking into some cramped corners. The

kicker of course is that whenever cops are

involved, there’s a lot more than blood to

clean up.

Director Kim Sung-hoon unspools the

knotty threads with hitchcockian glee. The

complications accumulate rhythmically, even

elegantly, but never without the raucous

aggressiveness that’s characterized some

of Korea’s best thrillers. Moving the cyclone

forward is Lee Sun-kyun (All About My Wife,

SDAFF ’12) in the lead role, his face locked

into a state of disbelief as his attempts to

control his fate spin out like a car swerving

on a rainy night. – Brian Hu

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HELLO! JUNICHI NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 12:40PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY NOV. 11 (TUESDAY), 3:20PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 15 (SATURDAY), 1:00PM,LA PALOMA THEATRE

JAPAN | JAPANESE | 90 MINS | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Katsuhito Ishii, Kanoko Kawaguchi, Atsushi YoshiokaCAST Amon Kabe, hikari Mitsushima, Yoshiyuki Morishita

Official Selection,

2014 Udine Far East Film Festival

West Coast Premiere

Junichi has a pink bunny eraser. But it’s

not his! Somehow he’ll have to return

it to its rightful owner who happens to

be his classmate – and his secret crush.

Meanwhile, his buddy is in a pickle too. his

parents are constantly arguing and he can’t

even properly shoplift some bandages to

give to his ailing mom. There’s also the case

of a missing cell phone and the arrival of

a peculiar student teacher. With so much

going on, Junichi’s never going to find the

time or the courage to return that eraser!

It goes without saying that it’s far easier

to observe cute little third graders than to

actually be one, especially when school is

getting more ludicrous by the day and when

one’s models for romance are the class’s

dopey teacher or the small town’s bone-

headed twenty-somethings. But there is a

solution and it’s going to be adorable. Start

a rock band!

Director Katsuhito Ishii (The Taste of Tea,

Funky Forest) has made a career out of

whimsical randomness and enchanting

song-and-dance numbers, and here

manages to conjoin the far-out fantastic

with the squishy-cheeked heroics of puppy

love. Ishii distinctively understands that the

best kids’ films are at heart dopily sad and

wondrously pervy because kids haven’t

yet learned to filter out the tangential or

the erratic. hELLO! JUNIChI allows them

to thrive within that unfiltered world of

possibility and sing their hearts out, if only

for one day. – Brian Hu

ASIA POP!


KANO NOV. 7 (FRIDAY), 6:45PM,

UCSD CALIT2 ATKINSON HALL AUDITORIUM

NOV. 12 (WEDNESDAY), 6:40PM,ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

TAIWAN | JAPANESE, MANDArIN, hAKKA 185 MINS | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Umin Boya

CAST Masatoshi Nagase, Tsao Yu-ning, Takao Osawa, Maki Sakai

Best Picture Nominee,

2014 Golden Horse Awards

Audience Award,

2014 Taipei Film Festival

Audience Award,


Official Selection,

2014 New York Asian Film Festival


Nov. 7 screening

West Coast Premiere

Sponsored by



in Taiwan Studies

Koshien. Some refer to it as the Japanese

high School Baseball Championship. But

for every young baseball player in Japan,

reaching Koshien is the ultimate dream.

In the 1930s, when Taiwan was a colony of

Japan, Koshien was also the dream of the

hapless, multi-ethnic high school baseball

team from Chiayi known as Kano. When a

new coach reluctantly takes over, he turns

the team and their entire town into believers

that this winless team can reach a place

they never thought possible. Koshien.

KANO is a true underdog sports tale that

hits all the right beats without ever being

predictable. And while the story would

be nothing without the team, the true ace

of this film is baseball itself. Even with its

baseball-appropriate three-hour runtime,

the suspense and drama are palpable

throughout, with each subsequent game

becoming more heart-pounding than the

last. The climactic game alone puts KANO

into the conversation as one of the greatest

baseball films ever. highlighted by an MVP

performance from newcomer Tsao Yu-ning,

KANO reminds us what we can achieve with

hard work, a common goal, and a dream.

Kano for the world! – James Paguyo

ASIA

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In a roppongi backroom, so hidden you have

to call in for directions, strangers converge

every night for some good old fashioned

anonymous sex. On this particular night,

four men and four women pay, disrobe,

and await the ground rules on how they

are to spend the next five hours. Showering

is mandatory, emotion is not. What these

eight perhaps didn’t bargain for is that

between midnight and 5am, they’ll also do a

lot of awkward chatting, testing the waters

and getting to know the boundaries not just

of sex, but of each other’s’ bodies, tastes,

and sensitivities.

In other words, it’s a comedy! how could it

not be, when one is a schoolteacher, one

is a virgin, and everyone is to some extent

a pervert? Director Daisuke Miura adapts

his own award-winning play and manages

to turn a talky waiting room farce into a

fanciful hotpot of sex acts and acting sexual,

full of the kind of put-ons and protractions

that’s led the film to be compared with

Buñuel’s. LOVE’S WhIrLPOOL is a hilariously

uncomfortable game of social decorum,

and an especially devilish one when seen

in a dark room with a bunch of strangers.

– Brian Hu

ASIA POP!


LOVE’S WHIRLPOOL NOV. 7 (FRIDAY), 9:25PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 13 (THURSDAY), 9:00PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

JAPAN | JAPANESE | 123 MINS | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Daisuke MiuraCAST Sosuke Ikematsu, Mugi Kadowaki, Kenichi Takito, Eriko Nakamura

Official Selection, 2014 Puchon International

Fantastic Film Festival

West Coast Premiere

PARTNERS IN CRIME NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 2:25PM,


TAIWAN | MANDArIN89 MINS | hD | 2014

DIRECTOR Chang Jung-chiCAST Wu Chien-ho, Deng Yu-kai,

Cheng Kai-yuan, Lee Lieh

Official Selection,


Opening Night Film, 2014 Taipei Film Festival

Closing Night Film, 2014 Hong Kong

Cine Fan Summer International Film Festival

West Coast Premiere

Sponsored by



in Taiwan Studies

huang is used to getting beat up. Lin is not

the social type. And Yeh puts up a tough-

guy front but doesn’t exactly endear to any

friends. The three teens are on their way to

school when they stumble across the dying

body of Wei-chiao, a classmate they barely

know. It’s ruled a suicide, but the nagging

uncertainty – perhaps imagined by the boys

themselves – put the trio on a mission to

figure out what happened to her.

how Wei-chiao died sets the mystery of

PArTNErS IN CrIME off, but why these three

boys care is the real question, and one that

perhaps has much darker implications.

They start telling lies and a diary becomes

evidence of more than intent. Wei-chiao’s

death is the reason for three loners to form a

bond, but it also reveals the volatility of the

high school social structure to begin with, in

which all four students are a part.

Exploring much grimmer and more complex

terrain than his beloved Touch of the Light,

director Chang Jung-chi expands his

fascination with the anguished restlessness

of young people, and turns in one of the

most mature and atmospheric Taiwanese

youth film in recent years. – Brian Hu

ASIA

POP

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Vikas Bahl’s QUEEN begins like many a

Bollywood film. There’s a love affair to be

saved, a wedding to be had, and even a dance

number derived from another Bollywood film.

how QUEEN goes from that point to liberation

mirrors the international journey of the titular

heroine as she sheds the expectation of a

Bollywood ending and discovers something

far more regal: a new beginning.

Just before her wedding is to take place, rani

(a luminous Kangana ranaut) is jilted by her

fiancé Vijay (a smarmy rajkummar rao of Kai

Po Che!). Distraught, she decides to go on her

European honeymoon alone. The mehndi is

barely dry and she’s off to Paris, a city of love,

and then to Amsterdam, a city of sin. Between

the two, she befriends four Europeans and

enchants plenty more. What could easily be

a story about finding yourself in the exotic

becomes an impressive critique of women’s

roles in India. Interspersed flashbacks to rani

and Vijay’s courtship fill the audience in on

key details, but also remind rani of how much

more she can still be as a person.

refusing the sort of cloying love story found in

films like the similar English Vinglish, QUEEN

maintains an unexpected and completely-

earned edginess because of how steadfast

it is in being that rare Bollywood film about

women’s friendships – with men, other

women, foreigners, and locals. The film has

an entertaining cast of allies in the diaspora

who propose alternate versions of Indian

womanhood to rani. But it dazzles because

of ranaut in the lead role, the innocent who

refuses to surrender to convention. – Brian Hu

ASIA POP!


QUEEN NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 6:25PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 11 (TUESDAY), 3:35PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

INDIA | hINDI, ENGLISh, FrENCh 146 MINS | hD | 2013DIRECTOR Vikas BahlCAST Kangana ranaut, rajkummar rao, Lisa haydon, Mish Boyko

Official Selection,


THE RICE BOMBER NOV. 10 (MONDAY), 4:00PM,


TAIWAN | TAIWANESE, MANDArIN118 MINS | DCP | 2014

DIRECTOR Cho LiCAST huang Chien-wei, Nikki hsieh,

Michael Chang

Official Selection,

2014 Berlin International Film Festival

Official Selection,

2014 Hong Kong International Film Festival

West Coast Premiere


sponsored by

Like many sons of central Taiwan, Yang

rumen was raised by his grandparents.

And like many, he grew up on a rice farm,

getting scolded by his grandfather for

eating bread instead of supporting the

local rice industry, and hearing on TV about

agriculture-related protests happening in

faraway Taipei. Somehow that kid from the

rice fields became the nationally-renowned

rice bomber, planting explosives around

the island to draw attention to the plight of

farmers after Taiwan joined the WTO in 2002

and started importing agriculture en masse.

ThE rICE BOMBEr, based on Yang rumen’s

true story, is such a compelling watch in part

because that line from kid-in-the-fields to

terrorizer-in-the-streets is never explained

psychoanalytically. Director Cho Li (Zoom

Hunting) surrounds rumen with other

symbols of social justice – a self professed

“revolutionary” from the upper classes, a

homeless kid working as a vendor in the

streets, an academic proficient at answering

socio-economics questions on TV – but

rumen brushes them off and settles into his

own activist skin.

Actor huang Chien-wei plays rumen as

a drifting, blank-faced loner – not in the

pathological sense, but in the mold of

an introverted small-town philosopher,

educated on compulsory military training,

TV news, and family ethics. he hasn’t been

socialized as a social activist, but represents

something far more urgent, homegrown, and

unexplored: the time bombs ticking away in

ordinary folks. – Brian Hu

ASIA

POP

!


Kokko collects words. Big words like

“imagination” and “solitude.” Adult words

too, like “pervert” and “refugee” which would

seem a lot more unseemly if Kokko weren’t

the world’s cutest eight-year-old. Kokko

plucks the words from the sky, twirling them

to earth with her pencil, and collecting them in

her notebook, a cryptic diary of passing fancy.

Meanwhile, her parents seem to collect kids:

four in fact, including a set of older triplets, with

a fifth on the way. And on this happy-go-lucky

summer, Kokko collects new friends (furry

and human), an eye-patch, some scratches,

and a picture of a strange world that looks

best from a kid’s distance. Unimpressed by

adults, especially the squares sitting at her

family’s round table, Kokko finds her way as

a stubborn adventurer much more enamored

with the precious possibilities of not-so-quiet

alone time.

Director Isao Yukisada (Go, A Good Husband)

collects different emotional tones, from the

serious to the surreal, and slides between them

with a veteran’s eye and a child’s wonder. But

there’s no mistaking that the show belongs to

child actress Mana Ashida (Bunny Drop, Pacific

Rim) who lately has been collecting roles

like she’s an adult superstar. In her first lead

performance, she earns the spotlight with

plucky aplomb, throwing shade at the world

and winning over child and adult audiences

alike. – Brian Hu

ASIA POP!


THE ROUND TABLE NOV. 7 (FRIDAY), 7:00PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 13 (THURSDAY), 6:05PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

JAPAN | JAPANESE | 113 MIN | hD | 2014DIRECTOR Isao YukisadaCAST Mana Ashida, ryuhei Maruyama, Misato Aoyama, Jingi Irie

Official Selection, 2014 Okinawa

International Movie Festival


THE TEACHER’S DIARY

NOV. 10 (MONDAY), 9:00PM,ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

NOV. 13 (THURSDAY), 8:40PM,ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

ThAILAND | ThAI | 108 MINS | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Nithiwat Tharatorn

CAST Sukrit Wisetkaew,Chermarn Boonyasak

Official Selection,



Mr. Song is a goofy, naïve ex-wrestler eager

to teach a physical education class at the

local elementary school. When his dream

job falls out of reach, he reluctantly takes a

post as the only instructor at a houseboat

school on an isolated river in the countryside.

Managing a class of unruly kids and catching

his long-time lover cheat on him – all in

the same week – make him realize his life

probably needs a reset.

Everything changes when he stumbles upon

a dusty diary at the school written by a

lovable but tenacious teacher known as Ms.

Ann. As he reads her diary, he not only learns

her secrets on how to win over the students,

but also on how to deal with heartbreak. Mr.

Song slowly finds himself falling for Ms. Ann

without ever seeing her face or hearing her

voice.

heartwarming, refreshing, and full of

charm, ThE TEAChEr’S DIArY is an atypical

romantic comedy. It’s a boy-meets-girl tale,

but has more typhoons than sunshine, more

missed opportunities than serendipitous

encounters. And it teaches the teacher an

important lesson: to be moved by a person’s

intimate thoughts and experiences rather

than superficial traits is a rare type of love

that’s most worth pursuing. – Maryanne

Bilbao

ASIA

POP

!


From Zhang Meng (Piano in a Factory, SDAFF

’11) comes another charmer featuring the

director’s trademark deadpan humor and

grandiose tableaus of everyday life. Once

again, Zhang hones in on a story of adults

trying to set things straight by desperately

reaching out to children.

With the resignation of a fading noir anti-

hero, ex-gangster Chen Shengli is released

after spending 10 years in prison for cutting

off the hamstring of his rival gang’s boss.

Now, he’s back in town, wandering aimlessly

around his old turf and frequenting a seedy

nightclub where he meets a tough nurse

he mostly falls for. Undeterred by former

colleagues coming after him to settle old

scores, and with barely a morsel of charity,

Shengli decides to turn things around by

taking over a kindergarten whose previous

owner has gone into hiding from creditors.

Even though Shengli runs the kindergarten

like a prison guard, Zhang Meng never

relies on the ironic juxtaposition of kids

and gangsters for obvious sentiment

and cheap laughs. With gang tattoos he

insistently gets removed, Shengli is the

embodiment of Zhang’s view of masculinity

in a post-socialist China, where ambition

has been left to run in circles in the Soviet

bloc-inspired rubble. With a winning mix

of humor and mirth and a healthy dose of

pan-Chinese pop, UNCLE VICTOrY stages

a parable on the absurdity of redemption.

– Wilda Wong

ASIA POP!


UNCLE VICTORY NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 5:55PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 10 (MONDAY), 6:20PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

ChINA | MANDArIN | 105 MIN | hD | 2014DIRECTOR Zhang MengCAST huang haibo, Zhang Xinyi, Guo Xue

Grand Jury Prize, 2014 Shanghai


UZUMASA LIMELIGHT

NOV. 15 (SATURDAY), 7:25PM, LA PALOMA THEATRE

JAPAN | JAPANESE | 103 MIN | DCP | 20143DIRECTOR Ken OchiaiCAST Seizo Fukumoto,

Chichiro Yamamoto, Masashi Goda

Best Film, 2014 Fantasia


Audience Award, 2014 New York

Asian Film Festival

West Coast Premiere

Sponsored by

Drs. Craig & Silvia Reid at

Vivalachi Alternative Health

Uzumasa Studios: a “hollywood East”

home to beloved films and TV serials, and

site of countless on-screen sword-fighting

sequences. These were the stomping

grounds of specialized extras known as

kirareyaku, whose main purpose was to die

on screen. During the golden age of samurai

films, there was plenty of death-work to go

around. But as the demand for historical

Japanese films began to wane, the extras

had to find work elsewhere.

In UZUMASA LIMELIGhT, we follow the

journey of veteran extra Kamiyama, played

by real-life kirareyaku Seizo Fukumoto who

has reportedly died 50,000 times in a career

that has spanned half a century. From the

opening scenes, we’re introduced to an actor

of honor and integrity, a rare professional

in an industry increasingly inundated with

pretty boys and pop stars. his work catches

the eye of Satsuki (newcomer Chichiro

Yamamoto), who requests that he mentor

her into becoming as good a screen fighter

as he.

From a story loosely adapted from Charles

Chaplin’s Limelight, director Ken Ochiai

captures the Japanese film industry in

transition and makes it compelling by mixing

fact and fiction in the spectacular body of

Seizo Fukumoto in his first lead role. To see

him die onscreen is a wonder. To see him

breathe new life in younger co-stars is to

become awestruck and rejuvenated by the

magic of screen acting. – Eric Lallana

ASIA

POP

!


If you’ve ever wanted to be in an Uhm Jung-

hwa and Moon So-ri love sandwich, VENUS

TALK is your chance to be the mayonnaise.

Titillating and warm like a summer night

spent gossiping with your homies, VENUS

TALK gives audiences a chance to hang out

with three of Korea’s brightest actresses

letting their easygoing collective chemistry

shine. Add in lots of sexual romping and

stomping, and VENUS TALK goes down like

a glass of rosé on hump day.

At her cougary best, Uhm Jung-hwa

(Dancing Queen, SDAFF ‘12) plays Shin-uye,

an ambitious TV producer screwed over by

her ex-lover. Giving middle-aged women

new reasons to do yoga, she rebounds

with a hot young thang in the editing bay.

Meanwhile, eyes bugging from wiry sexual

energy, Moon So-ri (A Good Lawyer’s Wife)

plays some comedic hungry hungry hippo

with her sexually exhausted husband. On

the other hand, Jo Min-soo (Pieta), a mother

desperate to empty her nest of its unwed

daughter, is virtually chaste by comparison

– except for her highway-side trysts with a

carpenter boyfriend (Lee Kyoung-Young)

who’d rather build awnings than build for

the long-term.

Korean films have continued its renaissance

with films focused on women of all ages,

much to the delight of male and female

audiences around the world. Mature, warm,

and reflective, VENUS TALK observes

friends haggling with life and love with

delightful results. – Christina Ree

ASIA POP!


VENUS TALK NOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 8:30PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

SOUTh KOrEA | KOrEAN108 MIN | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Kwon Chil-inCAST Moon So-ri, Uhm Jung-hwa, Jo Min-soo, Lee Kyoung-Young

Official Selection, 2014 Busan




Sponsored by

YASMINE NOV. 11 (TUESDAY), 5:40PM,

ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 15 (SATURDAY), 3:00PM,

LA PALOMA THEATRE

BrUNEI | MALAY | 109 MIN | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Siti Kamaluddin

CAST Liyana Yus, reza rahadian, Agus Kuncoro, Dwi Sasono

Best Asian Film, 2014 Neuchatel

International Fantastic Film Festival

Official Selection, 2014 Fantasia


West Coast Premiere

Dauntless 18-year-old Yasmine Fatia is

determined to prove herself – and win

the notice of her crush – by taking up the

Southeast Asian martial art of silat, best

known internationally through the hit film

The Raid. Yasmine faces a number of hurdles

along the way though, and not just the

physical ones: her father’s strict rules, a love

triangle, a hilarious silat instructor living with

his own unattained dreams. In other words,

these are the tribulations of an ordinary

teenager, just with dazzling martial arts.

YASMINE is the first narrative feature film

produced in the small Islamic nation of Brunei.

For many audiences, it’s the first glimpse into

the nation, as well as a remarkable instance

of an industry’s vault into cinematic self-

representation. Director Siti Kamaluddin and

Producer Din Kamaluddin have assembled a

team of local and regional talent, including

actors from Indonesia and Malaysia, as well

as hong Kong action director Chan Man-

ching (Drunken Master 2, Rush Hour).

As a number of firsts, YASMINE is unmissable.

But on top of that, it’s also thrilling to see that

a nation proclaiming its existence onscreen

does it through the story of a young woman’s

declaration of her own independence while

dealing with family and friends, identity and

culture. – Bianca Cruz Leonardo

ASIA

POP

!


MASTERS


Fresh from Toronto, Locarno, and other prestigious international film festivals, these are premieres and rediscoveries of works by the world’s best directors.

JOUrNEY TO ThE WEST

BLIND MASSAGE NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 3:45PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

ChINA, FrANCE | MANDArIN114 MIN | DCP | 2014

DIRECTOR Lou YeCAST Qin hao, Guo Xiaoting,

Mei Ting, huang Xuan

Official Selection,

2014 Berlin International Film Festival

Official Selection,

2014 Vancouver International Film Festival



West Coast Premiere

“Beauty is a disaster.” It’s a strange statement

to hear in a movie about the blind. But

BLIND MASSAGE is also about the torrid

intersections of love, sex, and aspiration. In

a massage parlor run by the sight-impaired,

old friends meet, new encounters are made,

and lust becomes opportunity. It would be

the thing of soap opera if it weren’t directed

by Lou Ye, a master of realism overrun by the

pangs of romanticism.

Lou directs his ensemble of blind and sighted

actors with a sensitivity to the paradox of

blindness in a medium dominated by the

image. Characters are kept in close-up. he

probes the ethics of looking by reconsidering

our field of vision. Lou also arouses the other

senses: the taste of an orange, the clacking of

a wind-up toy, the smell of coital sweat. But

above all, there is touch, from a knife slash to

the skin, to the warm embrace of a lover.

Unlike so many films about disability, BLIND

MASSAGE invites only the empathy than can

be afforded through picture and sound. In

doing so, he reveals a utopia of itchy friskiness

and liberating public displays of affection in

a community where those three words have

very different implications. Beauty may be a

disaster, but it’s an invigorating one that the

characters court with us in the darkness. After

all, Lou Ye’s film is ultimately about what none

of us can see: love, fate, the future. – Brian Hu

MAS

TERS


Nowadays the stellar universe of Chinese

popular film is filled with romantic comedies

full of sap, déjà vu, and worn-out clichés. But

the proliferation of these poorly executed star

vehicles doesn’t mean that the genre is tired

out. In the hands of a master like Johnnie To,

the rom-com has plenty of life yet. In DON’T

GO BrEAKING MY hEArT 2, To’s sequel to his

2011 hit (SDAFF ‘11), he combines cinematic

wit, brilliant dialogue, and inventive ideas,

taking the genre into fresh new territory.

Perhaps best described as a twisted double

love triangle, DON’T GO BrEAKING MY hEArT

2 follows the passionate misadventures of

the lovely Zixin (Gao Yuanyuan) and the

impossibly handsome incurable womanizer

Shen ran (Louis Koo). They were once

lovers, but they parted ways over Shen ran’s

many affairs, and Zixin has fallen for Kevin

(Daniel Wu), a serious architect ready to

do everything in his power to win over the

woman of his dreams.

But now, as if bonded by a destiny that

cannot be denied, the two meet again in

hong Kong’s financial district. Zixin is about

to marry Kevin, while Shen ran is engaged

to stock-market maverick Yang Yang (Miriam

Yeung), and this time he’s serious about his

relationship – or at least so it seems. Then

Yang Yang starts to fall in love with Zixin’s

brother Paul (Vic Chou), setting the stage

for a classic comedy of errors, in which a

case of mistaken identity triggers a hilarious

rollercoaster of events that lead to an

unexpected finale. – Toronto International Film

Festival

MASTERS


DON’T GO BREAKINGMY HEART 2 NOV. 12 (WEDNESDAY), 7:40PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

hONG KONG | CANTONESE, MANDArIN113 MINS | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Johnnie ToCAST Gao Yuanyuan, Louis Koo, Miriam Yeung, Daniel Wu, Vic Chou

Official Selection,


US Premiere

FROM WHAT IS BEFORE

NOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 11:20AM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 11 (TUESDAY), 12:00PM,


PhILIPPINES | TAGALOG338 MIN | DCP | 2014

DIRECTOR Lav DiazCAST Perry Dizon, roeder Camanag,

hazel Orencio, Angelina Kanapi

Golden Leopard,

2014 Locarno International Film Festival

Grand Prize,

2014 World Premieres Film Festival

Official Selection,


Darkness looms over a coastal Filipino town.

Some call it a curse. Some smell strong-armed

political corruption. For the inhabitants – a

disabled healer, her opportunistic sister, a

watching priest, a winemaker, a farmer, a

door-to-door salesman – it’s the end of an

era that feels like the end of days. houses

combust into flames, cattle are found

slaughtered. Meanwhile, soldiers march

into town uninvited. Amidst the foreboding,

secrets about ancestry are revealed, deep-

seated suspicions are investigated, and the

seeds for martial law are strewn over an

increasingly barren village.

Tightly winding together long blocks of heavy

but riveting narrative, director Lav Diaz

casts a mean spell that uses every moment

of its majestic 338 minutes. regional history

rarely feels this voluminous onscreen, let

alone with the intricacy of entrenched

superstition, local power-struggle, and

national tyranny wedded to every surface.

The grandest presence though is the land,

especially where hills meet shore, waves

crashing against jagged, prehistoric

boulders carving out the grey sky. Diaz’s

grandeur has sharp edges which demand

caution and close observation. But it’s also

generous in its compassion and especially in

its offering of time, one of the great subjects

of Diaz’s cinema. As an epoch crumbles, we

find ourselves gifted hours of feeling which

become centuries of uncurtailable history.

Up to its final gasp, FrOM WhAT IS BEFOrE

seeks nothing less than to mark the birth of

the modern Filipino nation. – Brian Hu

MAS

TERS


1930s China has been remembered as

something of a “golden era” for a cosmopolitan

Shanghai, the revolutionary fervor, and a

flowering of modern literature and culture.

But the latest film by Ann hui (A Simple Life)

tells a woman’s experience of the golden era

trapped in a cage. It’s a contradiction that,

as one character puts it, has been buried by

history, and cannot go unacknowledged.

Biographies have already detailed the prolific

output of author Xiao hong and her many

paths, ferried from city to city by the whims of

feeble lovers, the movements of literary and

political trends, the interruptions of war, and

the needs of her fading health. What she was

thinking through it all can only be gathered

incompletely through friends’ memories and

her own writing. ThE GOLDEN ErA dramatizes

that incompleteness through parallel tracks:

faux-documentary interviews, imagined re-

enactments, and Xiao hong’s own creative

voice. As such, we can never get too close to

the enigmatic writer, just glimpsing a severe

lonely restlessness, played to perfection by

Tang Wei (Lust Caution).

ThE GOLDEN ErA is a delight for fans of

republican literature, but it’s ultimately not

about a literary figure but an ordinary modern

woman who just happens to have left a trail

of brilliant writing. As in hui’s Book and Sword

adaptations, this is a revisionist take on a

gilded tale, and an epic stage for a woman

resisting expectations of family, work, and,

through hui’s dizzying mode of storytelling,

history itself. – Brian Hu

MASTERS


THE GOLDEN ERA NOV. 11 (TUESDAY), 6:30PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

ChINA, hONG KONG | MANDArIN178 MIN | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Ann huiCAST Tang Wei, Feng Shaofeng, hao Lei, Yuan Quan

Closing Night Film, 2014 Venice Film Festival

Official Selection, 2014 Toronto






JOURNEY TOTHE WEST

NOV. 10 (MONDAY), 8:40PM,ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

FrANCE, TAIWAN | FrENCh56 MINS | DCP | 2014

DIRECTOR Tsai Ming-liangCAST Lee Kang-sheng, Denis Lavant

Official Selection,

2014 Berlin Film Festival

Official Selection,


West Coast Premiere

In 14 insanely measured compositions, Tsai

Ming-liang presents a ravishing work of pure

cinema, a playful game for the eyes and ears,

and an eccentric, rapturous vision of humans

and their paths. JOUrNEY TO ThE WEST is the

latest in Tsai’s innovative performance project

featuring a crimson-robed Lee Kang-sheng

walking very, very slowly in public spaces. The

project originated onstage and now arrives

on the streets of Marseilles.

With a large immigrant population, Marseilles

is one of the most culturally-diverse cities in

France, but nobody seems as foreign as Tsai’s

walker. his deliberate movements, his muscular

pacing, and his anachronistic garb make him

an alien presence and the object of passing

glances and casual dodging. how we look –

and not look – across cultures is as important

here as how we make sense of duration.

But Tsai is not content simply with an

allegory of east meets west. This mini feature

aims bigger: to overwhelm our senses

with a boldly ecstatic take on the solitary

existence of the literal and spiritual sojourner.

Ecstatic because of the sheer physicality

of embodying difference. Ecstatic because

of the sublime beauty of Tsai’s framings,

stagings, movements, and architectural mise-

en-scene. And most of all, ecstatic because

it erupts something in our own bodies, as it

seems to in the body of co-star Denis Lavant:

a dream of red, haunting the chambers of our

minds and our everyday spaces. – Brian Hu

Preceded by: WALKERhONG KONG | 27 MINS | 2012

DIRECTOR Tsai Ming-liang

A monk inches slowly through one of the

world’s fastest cities.

MAS

TERS


Studio Ghibli has become the world’s

most storied animation studio, and house

director hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, My

Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle) has

made modern classics that are amongst

the most internationally beloved films ever.

Ghibli is holy ground as far as fans are

concerned, so Mami Sunada’s documentary

ThE KINGDOM OF DrEAMS AND MADNESS is

a rare look through the pearly gates.

Miyazaki is a magician, but Sunada’s

presence allows Miyazaki to publicly

shed his wizard robes and simply be the

elder artist, smoking a cigarette with the

neighborhood cat. he and Ghibli co-founder

Isao Takahata are preparing their final films,

The Wind Rises and The Tale of Princess

Kaguya respectively, and the rest of the

Ghibli dream factory, from the producers to

the animators, scramble to get the films out

in time.

Now in their 70s, Miyazaki and Takahata

have nothing to prove to anybody but

themselves, so the care through which they

obsess over every detail of their craft and

manage a team of Japan’s best animators

is moving in itself. however, the way the

closing arc of Miyazaki’s career mirrors

the developing narrative of his final film

becomes the most powerful subplot of

all. Things aren’t always smooth in the

Ghibli dreamland, but Sunada’s candid

documentary captures the seamlessness

between art and artist that is nothing short

of grace. – Erwin Mendoza

MASTERS


THE KINGDOM OFDREAMS ANDMADNESS NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 4:55M, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 11 (TUESDAY), 8:05PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

JAPAN | JAPANESE | 118 MIN | DCP | 2013DIRECTOR Mami Sunada

Official Selection,


West Coast Premiere

Co-presented by

LETTERS FROM THE SOUTH

NOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 7:45PM,ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

MALAYSIA, ThAILAND, SINGAPOrE, BUrMA | MANDArIN,

CANTONESE, ThAI,hOKKIEN, ENGLISh

105 MINS | DCP | 2013DIRECTOR Tsai Ming-liang, Aditya Assarat, royston Tan, Midi Z, Tan Chui Mui, Sun Koh

CAST Lee Kang-sheng, Lulu huang,Wu Kexi

Official Selection,


Official Selection,


Official Selection,

2014 Edinburgh International Film Festival

West Coast Premiere

Six directors of Chinese descent turn their

cameras on the Chinese diaspora, charting

their own points of entry and exit and

interpreting diaspora broadly, especially

as it pertains to the concept of self. Just as

important is that these are six filmmakers

based in Southeast Asia, a region where

being “Chinese” has social implications often

unacknowledged in other parts of the world.

Thai director Aditya Assarat looks at a visit by

a Chinese woman to her cousin in Thailand.

Singapore’s royston Tan and Burma’s Midi Z

reflect on the lingering significance of family

rituals like food preparation and burial rites.

Malaysia’s Tan Chui Mui and Singapore’s

Sun Koh explore the nexus of China,

colonialism, and home, the former through

an impressionistic excavation of Malaccan

history, the latter through a hilarious satire

on the rise of the China market. And then

there’s Malaysian-Taiwanese Tsai Ming-liang’s

“Walking on Water,” in which Tsai’s red-robed

monk lingers through the Kuching apartment

complex that Tsai grew up in.

Much has been written about the Chinese

diaspora, Nanyang culture, and Sinophone

literature in Southeast Asia. LETTErS FrOM

ThE SOUTh is refreshing because it refuses

comfortable reference points like nostalgia

and loyalty. Instead, the collection finds, in

a variety of modes, questions that emerge

out of local youth culture, entertainment, and

lived spaces. Identities slip in and out of focus

as Sinitic languages dance around each

other as they only can in Southeast Asia, and

perhaps most enchantingly, when nothing is

said at all. – Brian Hu

MAS

TERS


Between last year’s commercial hit The Great

Passage and the forthcoming historical epic

The Vancouver Asahi (pg. 111), director Yuya

Ishii quietly made his most moving film to

date, the scaled-back, unassuming OUr

FAMILY. It’s the first straight-up drama of his

career, and the first where the intimacy never

needs to be laced with irony. The story is even

altogether conventional: a woman falls ill and

doctors give her a week to live. It’s time for

the family to pull themselves together in the

face of potential tragedy.

Still, Ishii forgoes the chronic illness hysterics

and nimbly stages a series of revelations that

are as attuned to social conditions as they are

to human ones. With the economic downturn,

an old financial loophole has manifested as a

sinkhole, tying the fates of family members

together in unexpected ways.

As directed by Ishii, the developments

unfold in measured steps that feel less like

characters’ individual decisions than the

inevitable machinations of family ethics. But

what Ishii accomplishes so beautifully is to

show that the little things we’re conditioned

to do to help each other are in fact torrents

of generosity. And in those breathtaking

moments when we and the characters realize

this, the clock seems to stop ticking and even

the most hapless feel heroic. With a sweet

guitar sigh, OUr FAMILY points its characters

ahead and earns a most satisfying, tender

ending. – Brian Hu

MASTERS


OUR FAMILY NOV. 10 (MONDAY), 6:00PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 12 (WEDNESDAY), 5:00PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

JAPAN | JAPANESE | 117 MIN | hD | 2014DIRECTOR Yuya IshiiCAST Satoshi Tsumabuki, Mieko harada, Sosuke Ikematsu, Kyozo Nagatsuka



US Premiere

STRAY DOGS NOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 6:40PM,


NOV. 13 (THURSDAY), 8:00PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

TAIWAN, FrANCE | MANDArIN138 MIN | DCP | 2013

DIRECTOR Tsai Ming-liangCAST Lee Kang-sheng, Lu Yi-ching,

Chen Shiang-chyi, Lee Yi-chieh, Lee Yi-cheng

Grand Jury Prize,

2013 Venice Film Festival

Best Director, Best Actor,


Official Selection,


An itinerant family of three seems to have

a system worked out. The father makes

money hoisting signs advertising real estate

developments. The son manages the money

while the daughter finds food. Or so it seems.

With 40 minutes to go in STrAY DOGS, director

Tsai Ming-liang takes the most tonally violent

turn of his career and the story of a homeless

family becomes something far more eerie,

tragic, unknowable, and transcendent. Along

with the film’s enigmatic opening shot, it

bookends Tsai’s magnum opus, a shocking

portrait of an insistent humanity making way

in the rubble of urban development.

The film’s face is once again Lee Kang-sheng

in the most astonishing and physical role

of his career. Battered by rain, chapped by

wind, and locked in place by Tsai’s signature

long takes, Lee hypnotically exudes life in a

collapsing world where the walls are literally

crumbling. The presence of children makes

STrAY DOGS Tsai’s most humanist film, but

it’s a testament to his sheer command of tone

that it still manages to be his most chilling.

It’s also Tsai’s most explicitly political, but as

always in Tsai’s films, the answer is never so

neat because we are not given questions so

much as tableaus to stare at, ponder, and see

our reflections in. Most scenes are devoid of

dialogue and contain only the ghostly sound

of steady breathing, which may as well be

our own as we brace ourselves in the cold

darkness. – Brian Hu

MAS

TERS


On the Vancouver docks in the 1930s, the

stuff of legends was born. It was born out

of the sweaty mean-mugging of racial

discrimination and the spiritual void felt by

a Japanese Canadian immigrant community

in search of something to believe in. And it

took life on the baseball diamond, where an

unlikely bunch of Isseis and Niseis outplayed

their bigger, stronger white opponents to

become the biggest attraction in baseball

in the Pacific Northwest. That is, until the

tragedy of nationalism proved bigger than

baseball.

It’s an incredible underdog sports story and

an even more incredible Asian Canadian one

that has inspired a documentary (Sleeping

Tigers, SDAFF ’03) and now a star-studded

feature-film event, ThE VANCOUVEr ASAhI,

directed by the versatile Yuya Ishii (A Man

with Style, SDAFF ’12; Our Family, pg. 113). reji

(Satoshi Tsumabuki) and Kei (ryo Katsuji)

are sawmill workers by trade, but shortstop

and second base at heart. They quietly

bear witness to the local Japantown debate

over loyalty vs. assimilation, but they see in

baseball an alternative way to assert their

identity, gain recognition, and bring all

people together. They just need some wins

first, and they have an idea on how to make

that happen.

ThE VANCOUVEr ASAhI is a great baseball

film that understands the magnetism of

the sport, the mechanics of strategy, the

enchantment of fandom, and the issues of

race and class that undergird a game that is

presumably for all. – Brian Hu

MASTERS


THE VANCOUVER ASAHINOV. 7 (FRIDAY), 6:20PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 6:00PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

JAPAN | JAPANESE, ENGLISh130 MIN | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Yuya IshiiCAST Satoshi Tsumabuki, Kazuya Kamenashi, ryo Katsuji, Yusuke Kamiji

Opening Night Film,

2014 Hawaii International Film Festival

Official Selection,


West Coast Premiere

VIVE L’AMOUR NOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 4:20PM, UCSD CALIT2 ATKINSON

HALL AUDITORIUM

TAIWAN | MANDArIN118 MINS | hD | 1994

DIRECTOR Tsai Ming-liangCAST Lee Kang-sheng, Yang Kuei-mei,

Chen Chao-jung

Golden Lion, 1994 Venice Film Festival

Best Film, 1994 Golden Horse Awards

New digital restoration

Sponsored by



in Taiwan Studies

20 years ago, Tsai Ming-liang’s international

breakthrough VIVE L’AMOUr introduced

the world to hsiao-kang, played by the

breathlessly laconic Lee Kang-sheng. With

hsiao-kang’s body his muse, Tsai fleshed out

a cinematic Taipei that seemed the inverse of

cinema: emptied out of drama, dialogue, and

music, leaving only the unheard footsteps in

otherwise vacant apartments, the mechanics

of everyday erotics, and most memorably, the

sheer duration of everything from urinating to

having a good cry. In other words, as no other

film before had done, VIVE L’AMOUr rescued

a neglected humanity from the cinema and

in doing so, reinvented the capacity of film to

bring people together in the darkness.

Indeed coming together is the game of VIVE

L’AMOUr. Street crawler hsiao-kang sneaks

into people’s homes, skirt chaser Ah-jung

hustles his way into them, and real estate

agent May Lin sells them. The film comically

maps pathways for them to intersect, breathe

each other’s air, and perhaps relieve each

other of their solitude.

The film’s title could not be more apt. Since its

premiere at the 1994 Venice Film Festival, the

film has been amour fou for many, especially

against the critics who lost patience with Tsai’s

courageous pacing and use of silence. Those

who loved it, loved it. They learned to breathe

differently while watching the film. Some

went on to make bold, exquisite films of their

own. They cheered as it became canonized as

a modern classic. And VIVE L’AMOUr lived on

with the love it inspired. – Brian Hu

MAS

TERS


DISCOVERIES


From Asia’s most innovative and thought-provoking filmmakers

come new stories and new ways of telling them.

ThE LOST SEA

EXIT NOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 2:25PM, UCSD

CALIT2 ATKINSON HALL AUDITORIUMNOV. 11 (TUESDAY), 6:45PM,


TAIWAN | MANDArIN, TAIWANESE94 MINS | hD | 2014

DIRECTOR Chienn hsiangCAST Chen Shiang-chyi, Easton Dong,

Pai Ming-hua

Best Narrative Feature and Best Actress,


Official Selection, 2014 Locarno Film Festival

Official Selection,


Official Selection,


US Premiere

Sponsored by



in Taiwan Studies

At some point in Chienn hsiang’s debut EXIT,

the luminous Chen Shiang-chyi is poised

between two hospital beds: one with her

failing mother in-law, the other with a blinded

stranger flinging guttural squawks and

frustrated pounding. It’s a startling moment,

one in which care moves into desire, and it’s

electric.

Chen plays Ling, a Kaohsiung garment worker

in her 40s, who observes the textures of daily

life utterly alone – a sticky door, peeling

wallpaper, sleeping patients – with hot flashes

and aging on the horizon. Ling has been

passively marooned by a sassy daughter who

avoids her, a radio-silent husband working

in Shanghai, a world of coworkers who

disappear when the factory moves to China.

It’s a sociological rather than pathological

isolation, a slow burn built by an accumulation

of familiar, modern conditions.

EXIT is filled with gorgeous long shots of

Taiwan’s fading infrastructure and moments

of strange life. Its small unfoldings capture

the sensation of pursuing irrational threads

against all reason with only instinct providing

a motor. Inklings, which when pursued, take

us to a deep hole, inside which might lie an

alternate universe of feeling.

Tender, delicate, and disoriented, Chen makes

EXIT completely hers by giving us layers of

illegible urges nudging against numbness, a

woman observing her own life running dry and

mutely making the smallest of adjustments

toward some sort of release. Chen proves

again she is a gem, long overdue for a full

international embrace. – Christina Ree

DISC

OVER

IES




The distinctive fantail bird of New Zealand is

known in Maori mythology as a messenger

of death, and more commonly for its

aimless and unpredictable paths of flight.

Like the titular bird, FANTAIL’s Tania (Sophie

henderson) sits perched every night at a

24/7 service station, hoping to save money

for the next take-off: a trip to look for an

estranged father with her younger brother

Pi, who is slowly growing independent from

his sister.

Both Tania and Pi are half-Maori, but Tania

doesn’t look it as much as her brother does.

her specific shade of mixed race has set

her on a different path, or at least it feels

that way to her, a pakeha in a world of color.

her manager rog (Stephen Lovatt) is the

opposite: a Maori who doesn’t particular

feel like one. Together, they joke, work, and

play into the night.

In FANTAIL, the quietly eerie backdrop

of the late shift sets the scene for bright

personalities to shine. First-time director

Curtis Vowell, working from a theatrical

show by henderson, weaves identity and

myth into a smart, at times very funny, and

ultimately explosive look at siblings finding

their own paths. – Eric Lallana

DISCOVERIES


FANTAILNOV. 7 (FRIDAY), 9:00PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

NEW ZEALAND | ENGLISh | 83 MINhD | 2013DIRECTOR Curtis VowellCAST Sophie henderson, Stephen Lovatt, Jarod rawiri, Jahalis Ngamotu

Closing Night Film, 2013 New Zealand


Official Selection,


Official Selection,

2014 Melbourne International Film Festival


Sponsored by



THE IRON MINISTRY NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 8:20PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

ChINA, USA | MANDArIN82 MINS | hD | 2014

DIRECTOR J.P. Sniadecki

Official Selection,

2014 Locarno International Film Festival

Official Selection,

2014 New York Film Festival

Sponsored byJ.P. Sniadecki spent three years filming on

China’s railways, and what he found was

a rampaging microcosm of the country’s

rapidly changing economy and identity.

The camera often lingers low to the ground,

scouring and searching for artifacts while

the train barrels forward. Trash litters the

floorboards and human bodies are crammed

in to every corner. But this is not a grotesque

scene; it’s one of transition. Travelers speak

about politics, economics, and future plans in

cordial fashion, hoping to pass time between

stops.

A student of harvard University’s Sensory

Ethnography Lab, Sniadecki (Yumen,

SDAFF ’12) has been making avant-garde

documentaries in China for years now,

exploring the complexities of everyday life

through a strikingly Spartan lens. his latest

effort is an exercise in proximity, how people

share space, and why it matters. The doldrums

of a long train ride offer much in the way of

discourse and debate, but also simply the

opportunity to rest free of the usual frantic

thoughts that fill the mind. – Glenn Heath, Jr.

DISC

OVER

IES




Late one night, documentarian hung Chun-

hsiu received a frantic phone call from a man

on the island of Kinmen. he asked hung to

bring his camera to Kinmen before it would

be too late. What hung filmed over the next

ten years is a fateful intersection of thousands

of years of life, hundreds of years of cultural

history, and a decade when everything

changed.

Though governed by Taiwan, Kinmen sits less

than two miles from China, making it one

of the most contested territories in a half-

century of struggle. It also makes Kinmen

and its inhabitants – both man and animal

– vulnerable to the diplomatic whims of

both nations. Among those inhabitants are

the horseshoe crab, a trilobite-like marine

creature dating back millennia, and two men

surnamed hong who have economic and

cultural interest in the survival of the animals.

When we’re first introduced to them, the

hongs can still appreciate a certain style of

life, from their days as farmers, fishermen, and

self-taught marine biologists, to their nights as

beer drinkers, cooks, and karaoke aficionados.

That was back in 2001. With every return to the

island, director hung captures men frustrated

by the environmental changes brought upon

by broken promises: an increasingly barren

land and an increasingly industrialized

coastline, all of which hung’s camera records

with composed indignation. Politicians make

appearances and inconsistent statements,

developers make off with centuries of

tradition. And yet the hongs remain, feet in the

sand, shaken but unmoved. – Brian Hu

DISCOVERIES


THE LOST SEANOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 1:00PM, UCSD CALIT2 ATKINSON HALL AUDITORIUM

TAIWAN | TAIWANESE, MANDArIN 63 MIN | DVD | 2013DIRECTOR hung Chun-hsiu

Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Editing),


Official Selection, 2013 International

Environmental Film Festival

Sponsored by



in Taiwan StudiesPantone 137 Pantone 446


MARY IS HAPPY,MARY IS HAPPY

NOV. 12 (WEDNESDAY), 8:05PM,ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

ThAILAND | ThAI, ENGLISh125 MIN | DCP | 2013

DIRECTOR Nawapol ThamrongrattanaritCAST Patcha Poonpiriya, Chonnikan Netjui

Official selection,

2013 Venice International Film Festival

Official selection,


Official selection,


Sponsored by

MArY IS hAPPY, MArY IS hAPPY follows the

adventures of high school student Mary

and her best friend Suri. They propose a

yearbook project to chronicle the school’s

most memorable memories, but a series of

escapades leaves them questioning which

memories are worth remembering.

“Fuck it. Let’s just remember us.” Or so Mary

tweets. Inspired by the whimsy of teenagers

online, director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit

(36, SDAFF ’13) adapts MArY IS hAPPY from

410 consecutive tweets of a real-life teen

named Mary Molony (@marylony). The

tweets appear onscreen before action that

illustrates, confounds, or expands the original

140-character message.

The form breathlessly captures Mary’s

cryptic approach to life, in which we never

quite know how to process the balance

between how she acts and how she thinks.

In its own witty way, Mary’s online voice

channels her pre-adulthood hopes, fears,

and confusions: thinking about life after

high school, moving away to college, saying

goodbye to friends, falling in love for the

first time. The juxtaposition of the Twitter

stream and her actions is an utterly unique

stream-of-dual-consciousnesses flurry of

teenage awkwardness and intimate humor

that keeps us on our toes, waiting for the

next tweet to reveal itself. – Rizzhel Javier

DISC

OVER

IES




It’s not clear if Lefty is left-handed or if his

name has handed him a life of liberal politics.

What’s certain is that his family is poor and he

can’t pay his tuition. One day he spies a giant

bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen, the father of the

republic of China, collecting dust at school.

he ropes in fellow underdogs and concocts a

plan to steal Dr. Sun, sell the statue, pay their

tuition, and maybe have money left over to

share. But then, in a cool stroke of the absurd,

Lefty and his gang find that there may be

another team of poor kids at school with the

same idea. The stakes are on and the clock

ticks.

But MEETING Dr. SUN doesn’t let the velocity

of genre take over. The film plays like a

dream, as if the heist were just a figment of a

young man’s hare-brained plans that include

bargaining for masks and cozying up to

unsuspecting grannies. They go through the

motions gently, not wanting to disturb anyone

or make a show. Like the characters, the film’s

serene piano score tip-toes through the caper

rather than blasts through it like dynamite.

As he did in his breakthrough Blue Gate

Crossing, director Yee Chih-yen depicts

young people taking control of their own lives,

however idealistic or misguided it may be. The

surreal anime masks and fanciful repetitions

form an air of the bizarre that somehow

makes the persistence of the students even

more charming and true. They are upset by

society but have few revolutionary models,

despite Sun Yat-sen looming large, reduced

to an antique but absurdly inspiring a lost

generation nevertheless. – Brian Hu

DISCOVERIES


MEETING DR. SUNNOV. 9 (SUNDAY), 5:45PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 11 (TUESDAY), 8:45PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

TAIWAN | MANDArIN | 94 MINSDCP | 2014DIRECTOR Yee Chih-yenCAST Zhan huai-yun, Matthew Wei han-ting, Joseph Chang

Best Screenplay, 2014 Taipei Film Festival


Sponsored by



MOTHERS NOV. 12 (WEDNESDAY), 6:30PM,


ChINA | MANDArIN | 68 MIN | hD | 2013DIRECTOR Xu huijing

Special Jury Award Special Mention,

2013 Sheffield Doc/Fest

Official Selection, 2013 Yunnan Multi Culture

Vusual Festival

Official Selection,

2014 MoMA Documentary Fortnight

West Coast Premiere

Sponsored by

Imagine the mayor chasing you down at

home, at work, and on the streets, throwing

on the hard sell to get you sterilized for the

good of the team. This is the bizarre and very

real situation at the heart of MOThErS, Xu

huijing’s engrossing and oddly entertaining

documentary, and easily one of the best one-

child policy films to date.

With pressure from above and resistance

from below, officials in a small village in Shanxi

Province try to keep up their quota to sterilize

14 women during their annual workshop. It’s

an almost impossible task in an increasingly

indignant village without enough childbearing

women. The film tags along as village honchos

plead, pressure, and re-strategize in what

feels as much like door-to-door campaigning

as it does surgical extortion. Defying them all

is rong rong, a teacher and mother of two

who tries to dodge sterilization for another

year, even under a rainstorm of threats which

include fines and withholding school from her

children.

Xu, himself an illegal second child, smartly

turns the focus away from horror and instead

fleshes out the absurd contradictions of

implementing population control. And what

contradictions they are – from the jungle gym

logic of “voluntary” sterilization and a fertility

shrine presided over by one of the sterilization

officers. The women are snapping, elusive,

clever. Elders berate officials for enforcing a

bankrupt policy. It’s a riveting waiting game

to watch, as regular townfolk use ingenuity in

a procedural warfare with chillingly personal

consequences. – Christina Ree

DISC

OVER

IES




Clenching the same bloodied hammer and

chilling logic of Oldboy, NON FICTION DIArY

may be the most gripping documentary to

come out of Korea, ever. Like a psycho-political

thriller, NON FICTION DIArY goes down a

rabbit hole of violence that connects the

rural poor to the highest echelons of power,

and along the way paints a searing portrait of

the endemic injustice bred by South Korea’s

neoliberal expansion during the 1990s.

The film’s unnerving rabbit is the Jijon Clan,

a band of poor rural young men and South

Korea’s first serial murderers, who carried

out a savagely warped form of class warfare

tinged with ancestral fervor. Their goal: to

kill the rich, until they themselves became

millionaires. NON FICTION DIArY sets the story

of their public capture and sentencing within

a nation gut-punched by the collapses of the

Seongsu Bridge and Sampoong department

store, one of the deadliest building failures

in history. The film is rich with thoughtful

interviews from eyewitness police detectives

and wardens with profound changes of heart,

media clips and crime scene photos which

reveal a nation jockeying to diagnose the

unfathomable, and a scope that touches on

presidential decrees, religious lobbying, and

Confucianism’s role in tax breaks.

Filmmaker Jung Yoon-suk is both systematic

and poetic, and especially chilling seen after

the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster. NON FICTION

DIArY has the power of a parable and a

deliriously ambitious mission to probe what

binds inhuman crimes to crimes against

humanity. – Christina Ree

DISCOVERIES


NON FICTION DIARYNOV. 11 (TUESDAY), 6:10PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 13 (THURSDAY), 5:55PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

SOUTh KOrEA | KOrEAN93 MIN | hD | 2013DIRECTOR Jung Yoon-suk

Mecenat Award,


NETPAC Prize, 2014 Berlin Film Festival

Official Selection, 2014 New York Film Festival

West Coast Premiere

Sponsored by



THE OWNERS NOV. 7 (FRIDAY), 8:30PM,


KAZAKhSTAN | KAZAKh, rUSSIAN93 MINS | DCP | 2014

DIRECTOR Adilkhan YerzhanovCAST Aidyn Sakhaman, Yerbolat Yerzhan,

Aliya Zainalova, Bauyrzhan Kaptagai

Official Selection, 2014 Cannes Film Festival

Official Selection,


West Coast Premiere

Sponsored by

Three siblings experience a hellish

homecoming after the death of their

mother. Fresh from the city, they don’t quite

understand the small town way of life, i.e.

never getting what you’re owed. The house

they’ve inherited from their mother may not

actually be theirs. Meanwhile the courts are

useless and the police seem to be in cahoots

with a local cowboy thug who claims to have

been living in the house for ten years.

But that small town eccentricity may have

more to offer than corruption and thievery.

There’s a rockabilly drum beat hidden

somewhere and cheerful lackeys to smile

and shimmy for the siblings as the system

kicks them to the curb. With a cold, deadpan

humor reminiscent of Aki Kaurismaki, ThE

OWNErS forgoes the bleakness of Central

Asian misery tales and searches instead for

the musical pulse that colors both cruelty

and the waning rays of hope.

Young director Adilkhan Yerzhanov (The

Constructors) once again explores the

absurdity of residence in contemporary

Kazakhsatan, a nation with a history of

nomadism. With ThE OWNErS, he lets his

visual style – especially the droll musical

numbers and some sunny yellows –

hypnotize us with homey life even with death

grimly looming overhead, and manages an

infectious balance of both that marks him a

real talent to watch. – Brian Hu

DISC

OVER

IES




Sometime in the 90s in the Philippines, the

ugly branch of the family tree moves back

into its grandmother’s suburban gated

community. The loser dad starts growing

pot, the tubby mom has a hot affair, and

the teenage son with a skin condition

falls in with the wrong crowd. Meanwhile

a mad scientist in the neighborhood has

grown a weird creature out of his television

that seems to be behind a series of dog-

nappings.

rEPTILIA IN SUBUrBIA is as weird and

idiosyncratic as a high schooler’s classroom

doodles, yet director Timmy harn’s

execution is flawless and the showcase of a

fiercely independent young filmmaker. With

a background as a television art director,

harn surrounds his film with veteran talents

including a cast of seasoned actors and a co-

writer, Pamela Miras, with several television

series to her credit. Maybe this is why

rEPITIILIA sometimes feels like a demented

episode of Degrassi; the filmmakers have a

feel for the lunatic underbelly of TV. Like last

year’s Big Boy, rEPTILIA combines exuberant

DIY creativity with a keen eye for comedic

detail, all without pretention. Instead it’s as

if Devo directed The Ice Storm: hilarious,

dramatic, tender, and totally unique. – Lev

Kalman

DISCOVERIES


REPTILIA INSUBURBIANOV. 11 (TUESDAY), 8:15PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

PhILIPPINES | TAGALOG 75 MIN | DCP | 2013DIRECTOR Timmy harnCAST Mervyn Brondial, Kay Brondial, Sebastian Karl Sanchez, Charles Aaron Salazar

Official selection,

2014 Curitiba International Film Festival


Sponsored by



THE SEARCH FORWENG WENG

NOV. 8 (SATURDAY), 9:25PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEYNOV. 15 (SATURDAY), 5:20PM,

LA PALOMA THEATRE

AUSTrALIA, PhILIPPINES | ENGLISh, TAGALOG | 93 MIN | DCP | 2014

DIRECTOR Andrew Leavold



Official Selection, 2014 Fantasia


Sponsored by

Move over, James Bond. Agent 00 is

reporting for duty! Standing at two feet, nine

inches tall, this undercover operative is more

than meets the eye. he’s got the gadgets,

the girls, and the deadly martial arts skills.

But who is the man behind the bowl cut?

A pint-sized playboy, the embodiment of

the Santo Niño, or a real-life secret agent?

ThE SEArCh FOr WENG WENG skillfully

untangles fact from fiction in its hunt for the

enigmatic hero. As it turns out, the real story

is more incredible and elusive than anyone’s

wildest imagination.

Director Andrew Leavold’s peculiar

obsession with the world’s smallest film

star leads him on an unpredictable quest

that unearths long-forgotten treasures from

Philippine cinema’s pop culture graveyard.

From a reinterpretation of the spaghetti

western with comedic icon Dolphy, to stunt-

filled action spoofs, Weng Weng blazed a

trail so hot he left an impression on even

the most notorious personalities. The

undeniable duende he exuded thrilled and

baffled international audiences at a time

when Filipino cinema was barely on the

map. Watching Weng Weng back in action

on the big screen will spark nostalgia among

old fans and mesmerize new documentary

and cult film aficionados, giving Weng Weng

another day in the spotlight. – Malou Amparo

DISC

OVER

IES




A fisherman dips his bait into a rice paddy. It’s

a surreal scene: a fishing pole arching over a

sea of grass. As the first scene of ThE SONGS

OF rICE, it also sets the tone. This won’t be a

documentary of explanations or procedures.

It’ll be one of sheer visual splendor and the thrill

of connecting to people without qualification.

For a most captivating 75 minutes, the rituals

and recreation of rice farmers will come alive

and rockets will literally burst into the air.

This is the latest work of Uruphong raksasad

(Agrarian Utopia) who, for ten years now, has

committed to making films about rice farmers

in Thailand. he has the eye of a painter and

the lyricism of a poet, finding a way to pair

the moonlight with insects on the ground,

and more memorably, to create a collage of

visual rhymes, especially dazzling images of

spinning circles.

ThE SONGS OF rICE is aptly titled because

it speaks to the ways these rice farmers

live their lives like works of art. harvesting,

operating machinery, praying, dancing,

playing – all tap into a life force that starts with

a seed planted into the marsh. What makes

the film so effective and moving is the way

director Uruphong raksasad feels a kinship

with fellow artists and allows the majestic

ways they paint the world to overwhelm and

enchant the screen. – Brian Hu

DISCOVERIES


THE SONGS OF RICENOV. 7 (FRIDAY), 6:45PM, ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY

ThAILAND | ThAI | 75 MINS | DCP | 2014DIRECTOR Uruphong raksasad

Tiger Award,


Official Selection, 2014 Buenos Aires

International Festival of Independent Cinema

Official Selection, 2014 Hot Docs Canadian

International Documentary Festival

US Premiere

Sponsored by



Fostering Innovation In Adminstration



ThE GIrL PrINCES

A retrospective of queer images in Korean cinema, co-presented with the UCSD Program in Transnational Korean Studies

BROKEN BRANCHESNOV. 15 (SATURDAY), 10:00AM,

UCSD VISUAL ARTS PRESENTATION LAB

SOUTh KOrEA | KOrEAN96 MINS | DVD | 1995

DIRECTOR Park Jae-hoCAST Kim Ye-ryeong, Lee Dae-yeon,

Lee In-cheol, Lee hong-seong

Official Selection,


Free screening

The landmark BrOKEN BrANChES is also

known by its literal translation, “The river

Flows to Tomorrow,” which captures the

rushing forth of history and a hope for

survival. In this case, where that history flows

and in what shape that hope takes make for

quite an extraordinary vision of progress

– especially for Korea in the 1990s and

especially on the subject of homosexuality

and the family.

Told in three parts, the film follows the

narrator Jung-min from birth in the 1950s to

adulthood in the 1990s. Through the decline

of Jung-min’s patriarchal stepfather and

the end of the Park Chung-hee regime, we

witness Confucian Korea reconfigure and

adapt to liberalization.

What appears at first a conservative

historical epic shifts gears in the final section:

a party of laughs, cuddly romance, and

karaoke charisma. Tonally it’s a shocker but

thematically it organically narrates a utopic

vision of the family that may not necessarily

accept gay sons, but cannot deny their

presence. As patriarchy reconfigures vis-à-

vis homosexuality, the film itself reconfigures

as a comedy. It’s a sensational and radical

move, cinematically announcing the

presence of homosexuality through the

raucous insertion of film genre. It’s perhaps

not surprising then that in adulthood Jung-

min reveals himself to be not only gay, but

also a filmmaker. Just as unsurprising then

that BrOKEN BrANChES has thus rushed its

own way into history for carving space for a

gay voice in Korean cinema. – Brian Hu

REM

EMBE

RING

QUE

ER K

OREA


1950s Korea saw the rise, and sadly the brisk

disappearance, of female gukgeuk, a form of

musical theater in which women played all the

roles, including those of men. In its heyday,

the stars of female gukgeuk were idolized by

screaming fans, some fanatic to the point of

stalking, suicide, and even incorporating the

stars into their own wedding photos. For the

performers, female gukgeuk represented

an opportunity to explore a much broader

range of emotions and experiences than

that permitted by 1950s femininity, and the

actresses formed uncommon sisterhoods in

their acting troupes. Some even found love.

ThE GIrL PrINCES is a historical overview

of a forgotten phenomenon, but more than

that, it follows many of the performers today,

now in their seventies and eighties. Some are

still performing, some still dress and sound

masculine despite rarely being on stage.

Throughout the documentary, they lovingly

reminisce and reflect on their careers and

legacies.

Through archival footage, rare photographs,

and most importantly, the bodies and

demeanors of the living legends themselves,

the film becomes a counter-history of Korean

womanhood and show business in the post-

war period, proposing gender performance

as not just repressed history, but something

downright noble. – Brian Hu

REMEM

BERING QUEER KOREA


THE GIRL PRINCESNOV. 13 (THURSDAY), 6:45PM, UCSD VISUAL ARTS PRESENTATION LAB

SOUTh KOrEA | KOrEAN | 79 MINShD | 2012DIRECTOR Kim hye-jung

Official Selection,

2012 Seoul LGBT Film Festival

Free screening

THE POLLEN OF FLOWERS

NOV. 14 (FRIDAY), 6:30PM,UCSD VISUAL ARTS PRESENTATION LAB

SOUTh KOrEA | KOrEAN | 89 MINShD | 1972

DIRECTOR ha Gil-jongCAST Yun So-ra, Choi Ji-hee,

hah Myung-joong, Nam Koong Won

New digital restoration

Free screening

In 1971, director ha Gil-jong returned to Korea

from UCLA’s film school and unleashed one

of the most gripping, stylish, and scandalous

films Korea had ever seen. Its characters

stumble through a suburban home drunk off

greed and hopped up on hormones. Their

stares wound and their actions – usually of

the vicious, duplicitous, or desperate sort –

domino into a cruel, unbelievable finish.

The players form a prism of thorny

melodrama: Mi-ran gives up her virginity on

the day of her first period, Dan-ju seeks to

escape his gay lover hyeon-ma by running

away with a woman, Se-ran tries to hold her

house together by marrying up her younger

sister, all while a housekeeper watches on

with motives of her own. The sexual tension

is electrified by the power play; that the

family compound is called the “Blue house”

only makes the political dimension all the

more lurid.

Today, ThE POLLEN OF FLOWErS is best

known as the first Korean film to feature a

homosexual relationship, as well as one of

the finest Korean films of the 1970s, if not

ever. The new digital restoration by the

Korean Film Archive should only boost the

film’s notoriety. The macabre use of color,

the ferocious cross-cutting, and Shin Jung-

hyeon’s chilling psychedelic score have

never been eerier, to say nothing of the film’s

continued resonance as a depiction of class

power spiraling out of control. – Brian Hu

REM

EMBE

RING

QUE

ER K

OREA


“Break Through the Limits of Eroticism!”

So read the title of one newspaper

advertisement for SABANGJI, set during the

Chosŏn dynasty (1392-1910) and undeniably

catering to heterosexual male desire to gaze

into the realm of female homoeroticism. In

classic exploitation form, the title character

of the film possesses both male and female

genitalia, leading Sabangji to suffer an

identity crisis and experience feelings of

self-contempt.

And yet the film erases the protagonist’s

masculine characteristics altogether.

Sabangji’s penis never reveals itself even as a

contour, existing merely as a crashing sound

effect in the first sex scene. The erasure

might be a sop to placate heterosexual

men, but it also creates a space for female

homoeroticism and an alternative, if tragic,

form of love. In this sense, an otherwise

sensationalistic phrase in the newspaper

advertisement for the film is quite honest:

“hot female-to-female relations that rise

above ethics and morals!” – Han Sang Kim

REMEM

BERING QUEER KOREA


SABANGJINOV. 14 (FRIDAY), 8:30PM, UCSD VISUAL ARTS PRESENTATION LAB

SOUTh KOrEA | KOrEAN94 MINS | DVD | 1988DIRECTOR Song Kyung-shikCAST Lee hye-young, Bang hee, Kwak Jung-hee, Park Am

Free screening

SHORTS: UNCLE ‘‘BAR’’ AT

BARBERSHOP+ AULD LANG SYNE

NOV. 15 (SATURDAY), 12:15PM, UCSD VISUAL ARTS PRESENTATION LAB

These two independently-produced

short films explore aging, sexuality, the faces

we present, and the chance encounters

that lead to powerful reconsiderations

of what came before.

Free screening

UNCLE ‘BAR’ AT BARBERSHOPSOUTh KOrEA | 22 MIN | 2000

DIRECTOR Kwon Jong-kwan

In a Korean barbershop in the 1980s, joking

around turns explosive and a community

is forced to confront what’s beneath its

surface.

AULD LANG SYNESOUTh KOrEA | 26 MIN | 2007

DIRECTOR Kwon Jong-kwan

Chang-sik runs into Sung-tae at a park and

they are given a second chance to kindle an

old romance.

REM

EMBE

RING

QUE

ER K

OREA


Time Warner Cable is proud to be a part

of the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

We do more than simply recognize heritage and culture. We enjoy celebrating them.

NOMINATE AHERO NOW!

Black History Month

Women's History Month

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Jewish American Heritage Month

LGBT Pride Month

Hispanic Heritage Month

Disability Awareness Month

American Indian Heritage Month

To find out more and to nominate a local hero, please visit kpbs.org/heroes.

Every year, KPBS recognizes heroes in San Diego’s

diverse communities. It’s part of our ongoing

commitment to diversity, and made possible through

our long-standing partnership with Union Bank.

Union Bank is a registered trademark and brand name of MUFG Union Bank, N.A. Member FDIC.

Proud supporter of the 15th San Diego Asian Film Festival

OliverMcMillanis proud to support the Pacific Arts Movement

www.olivermcmillan.com

M A K I N G S P E C I A L P L A C E S H A P P E N !

733 8th Avenue, San Diego, California 92101 | 619.321.1111

San Diego Chapter

The Asian American

Journalists Association is

proud to collaborate

with Pacific Arts

Movement to help bring

stories to life.

www.facebook.com/AAJASanDiego

creativity starts here

Destin Cretton started something. Barely 30 years old, this newly-minted film graduate took top prize for short film at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and then won a $30,000 Nicholl Fellowship from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Alumni like Cretton graduate from SDSU with the skills and confidence to make their mark on the creative and performing arts. To learn more, visit sdsu.edu/leadershipstartshere.

A P R O U D P A R T N E R T O T H ES A N D I E G O A S I A N F I L M F E S T I V A L

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PRODUCTION NOTES

Please examine these publication materials carefully. Any questions regarding the materials, please contact Erik Welch at (415) 217-2809

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Wawanesa received the highest numerical score among auto insurance providers in California in the proprietary J.D. Power 2012-2014 U.S. Auto Insurance Studies.SM 2014 study based on 44,661 total responses measuring 16 providers in California and measures opinions of consumers with their auto insurance provider. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed March-April 2014. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com.

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Ranked “Highest Customer Satisfaction Among Auto Insurers in California, Three Years in a Row”

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Holland America Line is proud to support the

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TOMORROW ’S DESIGNS TODAYPACIFIC EVENT PRODUCTIONS

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THE TEAMEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Lee Ann Kim

SR. ADVANCEMENT DIRECTOR

Pam Couvignou

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Glenn heath Jr.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Brian hu

PR & COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR

Lauren Manalo

MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR

James Paguyo, III

CHIEF LIAISON

Cynthia Kashiwagi

SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR

Erwin Mendoza

PROGRAMMERS

Malou Amparo

Maryanne Bilbao

Michael Chen

Sam Chen

Bianca Cruz

Thomas Gentil

Gene huh

rizzhel Javier

Lev Kalman

Janet Kim

Eric Lallana

Joseph Mangat

Erwin Mendoza

James Paguyo

Christina ree

Wilda Wong

GRAPHIC DESIGN TEAM

Pam Couvignou

Chris Ebue

Dominic Gerace

Lauren Manalo

Cathy Nguyen

Darlene Portades

Yen Tan

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Cynthia Kashiwagi

Sharon Jeong

VOLUNTEER COORDINATORS

Kao Vang

Vietca Do

STREET TEAM COORDINATOR

Michelle Liu

MARKETING ASSOCIATES

Jasmine Chan

Sonya rhee

Anne Li Situ

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Nikki Jiminez, Focuscom

SPECIAL EVENTS

Erica Chang

Megan Lam


THEATER OPERATIONS TEAM

Anthony Noceda, Manager

Brian Bacsal

Mark Gadia

Mario Guerrero

Chris Paffendorf

Dani Druther

GUEST SERVICES

Lisa Yadao

Elgin Aguilar

Chris Malaqui

WILL CALL/TICKETING

Don Tolentino

Gigi Vo

PROJECTIONISTS

Brook Falkenstein

Staci Gaines

Jon Miller

Chris Paffendorf

Joey reyes

YOUTH DAY

robert Fung

REEL VOICES

Jini Shim, Coordinator

Pat Clark, Instructor

Manuel Camacho, Assistant

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

harlen Bayha, Chairman

Stephen Lew, Vice Chair

Paul Bergman, Secretary

Shirley Park, Treasurer

Stephen Chin, Chairman Ameritus

Eunice Bragais

Varsha Israni

Sheila Kanoya

Dr. Jeff Krebs

Kent Lee

Grant Lewis

Amethyst Lewis

Michelle Ma

Shirley Park

Mitch reff

Janis Takahashi

Gary Wong

Wendy Wong

Leon Wu

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Jose Bucud

Michael Domingo

Sima MehrAzar

John Pascasio

reggie regala

Allan regala

VIDEO PRODUCTION TEAM

JazzyCrosby Condalor

Eric Chu

Amy Fan

Tanya Nohemi

Kirk Saechao

Jeremie Sunico

Dominic Gerace

Brandon Jeong

Dave Wilwayco

Ty Salcedo

FESTIVAL TRAILER

Amy Fan, editor

Dave helpling, composer


THANK YOUMarkus Achord, CareFusion

Melissa Adao, Outreach Through Dance

Armin Afsahi, UCSD Alumni

Joel Neville Anderson

risa Baron, SDG&E

Theresa Battle, Price Charities

Norice Bauer, Wells Fargo

Kiku Boyance, CBS radio

Dennis-Michael Broussard

Dee Dee Castro, Viejas

Chris Cate

Emma Chen, Golden horse Film Festival

Dr. Lilly Cheng, SDSU Confucius Institute

Marc Chery, New Central Library

Sheau-Ching Chiang-Nicholas, YUYU

Laura Chon

Dr. Leeva Chung, USD

renee Chin, SDCWA

Justin Chon

John Cihomsky, Sharp health Care

Mytle Cole, SD Councilmember

Dr. Christina Della Coletta, UCSD

Ben Dimagmaliw

Kelly Donahue, UBEr

Carolyn Dumas, Macy’s

Stephen Dypiangco, National Film Society

Patrick Epino, National Film Society

rosa Esquivel, AT&T

Kristine Estorninos, Toronto reel Asian Film

Festival

Abraham Ferrer, Visual Communications

Leanne Ferrer, PIC

randy Gage

Wendy Gillespie

Todd Gloria, Council President

richard Go, repromagic

Ellen Gonzalez, ABC

Tim Graham, Think Blue SD

reynaldo Guerrero, UCSD

Ed harris, SD Councilmember

Dr. Todd henry, UCSD

Gayle hom, hom Family Foundation

Tom & Loretta hom

Traci hong, UT San Diego

Marilyn huerta, CSUSM

Vinny huynh, Valley View Casino

Deepak & Varsha Israni, Meridian

Kevin Iwashina, Preferred Content

Nikki Jimenez, AAJA San Diego

Justin Kanoya, Kanoya Productions

Beverly Kim

Eddie Kim

Gene Kim

han Sang Kim

Yong & Myung Kim

Elvin Lai, Ocean Park Inn

Julia Legaspi, Jhigs

Anderson Le

Angie Lee, KFMB

helie Lee

George Lin, rIP

Frank Lin

Dr. Ping-hui Liao, UCSD

Sherri Lightner, SD Councilmember

Cathy Lloyd-Bauerle, CBS radio

MyMy Lu, Cox Communications

Erwin Magbanua, Central Library

Kathryn Martin, ACG

Jerri Malana, Littler Mendelson

Gary Margolis, SD Commission for Arts &

Culture

Scott Marks


Dan Matthews

Katherine McDonald, Time Warner

Carla Miller, harrah’s resort

George McGregor, McGregor & Associates

Timothy Moon, Zion Market

Leo Nam

Elycia Nelson, Focuscom

Anthony Nguyen

Cathy Nguyen

Tony Olaes, ODM

Dene Oliver, Oliver McMillan

Brian Pegram, AArP

Scott Peters, Congressman

Vincent Pham, CSUSM

Todd Quartararo, Quartararo & Associates

(Q&A)

Mitchell & Miyo reff

Drs. Craig & Silvia reid

Frank robinson, Union Bank

Jeff roberto, Sushi on a roll

James ryu, KoreAm and Audrey Magazine

Shirley Sanz, AT&T

Dana Sass, Barona

robert Scheid, Viejas

Scott Sherman, SD Councilmember

Leslie Shimazaki, Mesa College

Patricia Sinay, holland American Line

Amanda Solomon, UCSD

Louis Song, PrOVEN

Samuel Song

Weston Song

Suzi Sterner, UCSD Alumni Affairs

Benjamin Ting

richard Trujillo, SCPA

Ada Tseng

Dr. Charles Tu, UCSD

Michael Tu, Phuong Trang

Anthony Turk, Turk Communications

Wendy Urushima-Conn, ABA

Jennie Van Meter, UCSD Alumni

Sara Vogel, UCSD

James Wicks, Point Loma Nazarene

University

Eddie Wang rodriguez, Mintz Levin

Ping Wang, Pangea

Laura Welty, SDG&E

Lee Wills, Qualcomm

Ellen Wong

Simon Wong

Nancy Worlie, KPBS

Leonard Wu

Chi-hui Yang

Wayne Yang, UCSD

Phil Yu, Angry Asian Man

Lorie Zapf, SD Councilmember


INDEX & PRINT SOURCE6 WEDDINGS AND A DRESS (pg. 61)[email protected]

9-MAN (pg. 54)[email protected]

ABAN + KHORSHID (pg. 74)[email protected]

AHCO ON THE ROAD (pg. 73)[email protected]

ANITA’S LAST CHA-CHA (pg. 82)[email protected]

APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR (pg. 55)[email protected]

AULD LANG SYNE (pg. 132)[email protected]

THE BADDEST PART (pg. 72)[email protected]

BAI XIE (SNOW WHITE) (pg. 74)[email protected]

BARBER’S TALES (pg. 61)[email protected]

BEHIND MY BEHIND (pg. 71)[email protected]

BELLA VISTA (pg. 56)[email protected]

BINGO (pg. 83)[email protected]

BLIND MASSAGE (pg. 102)[email protected]

BLUE BUSTAMANTE (pg. 84)[email protected]

BOYCOTT (pg. 77)[email protected]

BROKEN BRANCHES (pg. 128)[email protected]

THE BUSY YOUNG PSYCHIC (pg. 72)[email protected]

BY THE STREAM (pg. 70)[email protected]

CAMPUS CONFIDENTIAL (pg. 85)[email protected]

CANTONESE STYLE! (pg. 74)[email protected]

CICADA (pg. 57)[email protected]

COMFORT GIRLS (pg. 78)[email protected]

CROSSING BARRIERS: CULTURE CLASH QUEERS (pg. 74)[email protected]

DEAR MOM (pg. 71)[email protected]

DELANO MANONGS: FORGOTTEN HEROES ON THE UNITED FARM WORKERS MOVEMENT (pg. 78)[email protected]

DISTANT LIGHT (pg. 72)[email protected]

DON’T GO BREAKING MY HEART 2 (pg. 103)[email protected]

EAT WITH ME (pg. 58)[email protected]

ETERNITY (pg. 71)[email protected]

EXIT (pg. 114)[email protected]

FANTAIL (pg. 115)[email protected]

FINGER RUNNING (pg. 77)[email protected]

FOR THE LOVE OF UNICORNS (pg. 73)[email protected]

A FOX TALE (pg. 71)[email protected]

FRESH OFF THE BOAT (pg. 42)[email protected]

FROM WHAT IS BEFORE (pg. 104)[email protected]

FUKU-CHAN OF FUKUFUKU FLATS (pg. 86)[email protected]

GANGSTER PAY DAY (pg. 87) [email protected]

THE GIRL PRINCES (pg. 129)[email protected]

THE GOLDEN ERA (pg. 105)[email protected]

GOOD MORNING (pg. 70)[email protected]

GRACE OF GOD (pg. 72)[email protected]

GRAND CANAL (pg. 76)[email protected]

GRANDMA (pg. 77)[email protected]

H7N3 (pg. 77)[email protected]

HAPPY FUN ROOM (pg. 77)[email protected]


A HARD DAY (pg. 88)[email protected]

HARDLOCK (pg. 71)[email protected]

HELLO! JUNICHI (pg. 89)[email protected]

HIGHER SKY (pg. 70)[email protected]

HUNGRY MONSTER (pg. 73)[email protected]

HYPEBEASTS (pg. 75)[email protected]

IMPERMANENCE (pg. 71)[email protected]

IN SUNRISE (pg. 74)[email protected]

THE IRON MINISTRY (pg. 116)[email protected]

IT’S NOT A PRISON IF YOU NEVER TRY THE DOOR (pg. 77)[email protected]

JAYA (pg. 75)[email protected]

JIMMY LOVES JUICE (pg. 70)[email protected]

JOHN DOE (pg. 70)[email protected]

JOURNEY TO THE WEST (pg. 106)[email protected]

KANO (pg. 90)[email protected]

KEN MIURA: UNHEARD OF (pg. 57)[email protected]

THE KINGDOM OF DREAMS AND MADNESS (pg. 107)[email protected]

KUMU HINA (pg. 60)[email protected]

LETTERS FROM THE SOUTH (pg. 108)[email protected]

LIMITED PARTNERSHIP (pg. 61)[email protected]

LORDVILLE (pg. 62)[email protected]

THE LOST SEA (pg. 117)[email protected]

LOVE’S WHIRLPOOL (pg. 91)[email protected]

MAN FROM RENO (pg. 63)[email protected]

MARY IS HAPPY, MARY IS HAPPY (pg. 118)[email protected]

MASS CONFUCIAN: CHINESE LANGUAGE OR COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA? (pg. 78)[email protected]

MEET THE PATELS (pg. 44)[email protected]

MEETING DR. SUN (pg. 119)[email protected]

MILKYBOY (pg. 72)[email protected]

MOTHERS (pg. 120)[email protected]

MOUNT SONG (pg. 76)[email protected]

MY BROTHER (pg. 75)[email protected]

MY LIFE IN CHINA (pg. 64)[email protected]

NAMI (pg. 75)[email protected]

NO NO, HOMO (pg. 74)[email protected]

NON FICTION DIARY (pg. 121)[email protected]

ORIGAMI (pg. 70)[email protected]

OUR FAMILY (pg. 109)[email protected]

THE OWNERS (pg. 122)[email protected]

PARDESI (pg. 70)[email protected]

PARTNERS IN CRIME (pg. 92)[email protected]

PEEPERS (pg. 77)[email protected]

THE POLLEN OF FLOWERS (pg. 130)[email protected]

THE POOL MAN (pg. 10)[email protected]

PRINSESA (pg. 74)[email protected]

THE PRIVATE LIFE OF FENFEN (pg. 76)[email protected]

QUEEN (pg. 93)[email protected]

THE QUESTIONING (pg. 76)[email protected]

RATTLEFLY (pg. 75)[email protected]

RAVI & JANE (pg. 73)[email protected]


RED (pg. 71)[email protected]

REEL VOICES (pg. 66)[email protected]

REPTILIA IN [email protected]

REVENGE OF THE GREEN [email protected]

THE REWARD (pg. 71)[email protected]

THE RICE BOMBER (pg. 94)[email protected]

THE ROUND TABLE (pg. 95)[email protected]

RU (pg. 68)[email protected]

SABANGJI (pg. 131)[email protected]

THE SEARCH FOR WENG WENG (pg. 124) [email protected]

SHAMELESS (pg. 44)[email protected]

SO YOU’VE GROWN ATTACHED (pg. 77)[email protected]

THE SONGS OF RICE (pg. 125)[email protected]

SQUARED (pg. 74)[email protected]

STEADFAST STANLEY (pg. 70)[email protected]

STRAY DOGS (pg. 110)[email protected]

SUBURBANITE (pg. 79)[email protected]

THE TEACHER’S DIARY (pg. 96)[email protected]

TELOS: THE FANTASTIC WORLD OF EUGENE TSSUI (pg. 80)[email protected]

TO SIT WITH HER (pg. 74)[email protected]

TRANSFORMERS: THE PREMAKE (pg. 78)[email protected]

TWINS IN BAKERY (pg. 73)[email protected]

UNCLE ‘BAR’ AT BARBERSHOP (pg. 132)[email protected]

UNCLE VICTORY (pg. 97)[email protected]

UzUMASA LIMELIGHT (pg. 98)[email protected]

THE VANCOUVER ASAHI (pg. 111)[email protected]

VENUS TALK (pg. 99)[email protected]

VIVE L’AMOUR (pg. 112)[email protected]

WALKER (pg. 106)[email protected]

WALLPAPER (pg. 73)[email protected]

A WARRIOR’S DREAM (pg. 70)[email protected]

WHAT A DAY (pg. 72)[email protected]

WHY WE RISE (pg. 78)[email protected]

YASMINE (pg. 100)[email protected]

INDEX & PRINT SOURCE

HELLO JUNICHI!PG. 29


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15th San Diego Asian Film Festival Program Booklet

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