San Diego Asian Film Festival 2012 Program Booklet

THE THIRTEENTH ANNUALSAN DIEGO ASIAN FILM FESTIVALn o v e m b e r 1 - 9 , 2 0 1 2

m o v i n g p i c t u r e s , m o v i n g m i n d s

4 the 13th annual san diego asian film festival

ABOUT PACIFIC ARTS MOVEMENT Moving Pictures, Moving Minds

Pacific arts movement, formerly known as the san diego asian film foundation,

is one of the largest media arts organizations in north america that showcases

asian and asian american cinema.

We believe every story matters and that film is the medium of a diverse world.

as a catalyst for social change, Pac-arts’ mission is to create transformative

experiences through the Pan asian media arts.

We value leadership, innovation, creating community, and having fun!

FREE FILMS ON DEMAND

a select number of short films from our festival will be available to local Cox

subscribers. go to Cox Channel 1 Free Zone.

also, between november 10 and January 31, 2013, you can watch 10 feature-

length films streamed free online via DIGIFEST, thanks to our online partner,

dramafever.com. go to page 140 for more information.

5the 13th annual san diego asian film festival

Pacific arts movement is a 501 (c)(3).

tax id # 33-1001523

2508 historic decatur rd. suite 140

san diego, Ca 92106

619.400.5911

www.Pac-arts.org

[email protected]

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OUR PROGRAMS

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

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We believe in the art of caring .

W o r k . L i f e . E l e v a t e d .

# P R O V E N L o v e

p r o v e n i n c . c o mf a c e b o o k . c o m / p r o v e n i n c

Love your boss?of course you do! ; )

i n P e r m a n e n t P l a c e m e n t

S a n D i e g o ’ s B e s t P l a c e s t o W o r k 2 0 0 8 - 2 0 1 1

1 0 0 F a s t e s t G r o w i n g C o m p a n i e s| |

Welcome to our 13th film festival season – full of fun, discoveries, and change.

first the fun, embodied in our opening and closing night films. dust off your acid washed jeans as we launch

our fest november 1 with ramona diaz’s electrifying don’t stoP believin’: everYman’s JourneY, the rags-to-

riches story of Journey’s new front man, arnel Pineda, discovered off the streets of manila. then on closing night

november 9, we premiere the infectious Japanese romantic comedy love striKes!

neXt, our disCoveries of more than 140 films from 20 countries shoe-horned into nine days of cinematic

bliss. showcasing returning filmmakers richard Wong (with the sexy Yes We’re oPen), h.P. mendoza (i am

a ghost), david boyle (daYlight savings), ron morales (graCeland), s. leo Chiang (mr. Cao goes to

Washington), and first-time features from tad nakamura (JaKe shimabuKuro: life on four strings), daniel

hsia (shanghai Calling starring heartthrob daniel henney), and our own former artistic director mye hoang

(with her very personal viette).

finallY, the Change, and it’s a big one. after months of soul searching, we decided it was time to officially

change the name of our organization to PaCifiC arts movement, which better reflects our growth, our spirit,

and commitment to creating transformative experiences through storytelling. as film and the media arts evolve, we

must too.

What has not changed (and never will) is that the san diego asian film festival is about community – a community

of film lovers, film makers, and everyone in between who embraces our mission.

so, here’s to You our festival guests: we thank you for being part of this new era for Pacific arts movement and

its endless possibilities.

LEE ANN KIM

Founder & Executive Director

LETTERFROM

EXECUTIVEdIRECTOR


letter from artistic director ...................................................... 11

ticketing ................................................................................. 12

venues ................................................................................... 13

free films .............................................................................. 14

special events ......................................................................... 15

schedule ................................................................................ 18

board of directors ................................................................... 22

Chairman’s letter .................................................................... 23

sponsors ................................................................................ 27

membership ........................................................................... 35

george C. lin emerging filmmaker ............................................. 40

festival Jury ............................................................................ 41

film Programs

• special Presentations ............................................................ 43

•asian american Panorama ..................................................... 57

•asia Pop! ............................................................................. 87

•masters ............................................................................ 101

•discoveries ........................................................................ 113

• extreme ............................................................................ 133

staff .................................................................................... 171

special thanks ...................................................................... 173

film index/Print source list .................................................... 175

TABLE OF CONTENTS

s P e c i A L P r e s e n tAt i o n s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3

A s i A n A M e r i c A n PA n o r A M A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 7

A s i A P o P ! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7

M A s t e r s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 1

d i s c o v e r i e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 3

e X t r e M e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3 3


YOUR PLAYGROUND AWAITS.If you’re looking for a perfect escape, look no further than Harrah’s Rincon.

Enjoy resort-style amenities, like our full-service spa and eight amazing restaurants, including Fortunes restaurant with authentic Asian dishes such as Honey Glazed Walnut Shrimp, Roasted Duck, Seafood Chow Mein and many more, all built around 662 well-appointed, luxurious rooms ready to accommodate your every whim. Join the non-stop action of your favorite slots and table games including Blackjack, Fortune Pai Gow, Asia Poker and others.Also come and enjoy top-notch performances of artists, bands and comedians at Harrah’s Rincon.

Your getaway is waiting. Don’t wait to begin.

For more information, call 1-800-HARRAHS or visit www.HarrahsRincon.com

PROGRAM AD.indd 1 8/8/11 4:59 PM

Welcome to the great cinema party!

the entertainment has arrived, the talent’s in the green room, and the drinks are on ice. some call it a film festival,

but this year i’m calling it, to borrow the title of raya martin’s new feature, a cinema party. it’s not just a celebration,

though there is plenty to celebrate. it’s an upheaval, somewhere between a circus and a revolution. and is there no

better way of thinking about cinema than that?

We’ve got the west coast premiere of sion sono’s the land of hoPe, which sends traditional family melodrama

a shock to the heart. We’re showing the riveting documentary the World before her, which collides beauty

queens and aspiring terrorists. We’ve got an interactive culinary experience with tv’s beverly Kim. and we’re

opening with a musical juggernaut which proves that no matter where we come from or what we look like, anything

is possible. We want to do more than celebrate that fact; we want to bask in it and invite everyone to join us under

the glow.

and we mean everyone. more than ever, there’s something for everyone at our 13th edition, from blockbusters

with bite to homemade tales with heart. and this year, we’re bringing it out. the ultrastar mission valley is still

home base, but we also want to party in north county at Cinepolis, at the park at moPa, on campus at uCsd, in

the kitchens of usd, and uptown in north Park. so break out the party dress and follow the music, because you’re

invited. Cheers!

BRIAN HU

Artistic Director

LETTERFROM

ARTISTICdIRECTOR


TICKETING

GENERAL opening night $20 (with after-party) or $11.50 (film only)Closing night film $15 general admission $11.50 student/senior/military $9 (at the door only)Cinepolis $20 Past/Present summit $5Kitchen Confessions $5festival 6-pack $60 (can be exchanged for almost any program)

SDAFF MEMBER PRICES opening $15 (with after-party) or $8 (film only) Closing night $11.50 general admission $8 Cinepolis $16.50Past/Present summit free (must get ticket from ultrastar box office)Kitchen Confessions free (show membership card at door)

GROUP TICKETS (minimum 10) $9 (opening night and general), $12.50 (closing night film)

6-PACKS & COMP TICKETSYou must redeem individual comp tickets and 6-Pack tickets for the show of your choice at the box office. You can trade in multiple tickets to the same show. Comp and 6-Pack tickets are redeemable for opening night, but not redeemable for the nov. 8th screening of danCing Queen at Cinepolis or the nov. 9th 7Pm screening of love striKes! any unused tickets cannot be carried over to the next festival.

REFUND POLICYno refunds for unused tickets, 6-packs, all festival passes. exchanges are only available when a program is oversold.

SOLD-OUT SCREENINGS | RUSH LINESWhen a program is listed as sold-out, there is a very good chance seats will be available through a “rush line” at the theater. rush lines take place outside the theater as early as 30 minutes before the show. We will offer all open seats 15 minutes before showtime on a first come basis to those waiting in the “rush line.”

tickets for shows at ultrastar go on sale at the mission valley box office starting oct 29. Walk-up tickets for programs at non-ultrastar locations are available at

that venue’s box office one hour before showtime. tickets can also be purchased online at www.sdaff.org


DOwnlOAD the OfficiAl 13th SAn DieGO ASiAn filM feStivAl iPhOne APPlicAtiOn• Create your own festival guide• Complete program details• exclusive events• Current news

search “SDAFF MOBILE” on the iPhone aPP store


SCREENING VENUES

NORTH PARK BIRCH THEATER oPening night onlY (nov. 1 )2891 university avenuesan diego, Ca 92104(619) 239-8836

ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY main festival venue (nov. 2-9)7510 hazard Center drive san diego, Ca 92108 (619) 574-8684

MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS (nov. 3)1649 el Prado san diego, Ca 92101(619) 238-7559

UC SAN DIEGO taiWan film shoWCase (nov. 2-4)atkinson hall - Calit29500 gilman drivela Jolla, Ca 92093

UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO KitChen Confessions (nov. 5)hahn Center – forum C5995 alcalá Parksan diego, Ca 92093(619) 260-4600

CINEPOLIS DEL MAR danCing Queen (nov. 8)12905 el Camino realsan diego Ca 92130(858) 794-4045

the majority of the festival will take place at the ultrastar mission valley, where the main box office is also located.

NORTH PARK BIRCH THEATER ULTRASTAR MISSION VALLEY CINEPOLIS DEL MAR

FREE FILMS

With the generous support of the Hom Family Foundation, sdaff is presenting

free(dom) films at four: narrative films and documentaries about democracy, civic

engagement, and freedom of expression. all weekday 4pm films at the ultrastar

are free. You’ll still need a ticket, which you can pick up at the ultrastar box office

any time starting oct. 29.

FRI, NOV. 2

4:00Pm mr. Cao goes to Washington (pg. 69 )

MON, NOV. 5

4:00Pm Children of sriKandi (pg. 116 )

TUES, NOV. 6

4:00Pm Julian (pg. 65 )

WED, NOV. 7

4:00Pm nuClear nation (pg. 123)

THURS, NOV. 8

4:00Pm danCing Queen (pg. 93)

FRI, NOV. 9

4:00Pm the sheiK & i (pg. 80)

all films at uCsd atkinson hall auditorium are free, thanks to the uCsd taiwan

studies lecture series and the taipei economic & Cultural office in la. no ticket

necessary – just walk on in! uCsd parking is free on the weekend too.

FRI, NOV. 2

8:00Pm Cha Cha for tWins (preceded by free reception at 7:30pm) (pg. 92)

SAT, NOV. 3

11:30am golden horse short films: 5f-2 (pg. 61) & thief (pg. 76)

2Pm in our time (pg. 108)

4:30Pm 10+10 (pg. 102)

SUN, NOV. 4

11:30am moneY & honeY (pg. 121)

1:45Pm starrY starrY night (pg. 109)

4Pm the raW & the CooKed (pg. 127)

as always, our popular annual programs ni hao, Kai-lan & friends and

reel voiCes are free with ticket from the ultrastar box office.

SAT, NOV. 3

10:00am ni hao, Kai-lan & friends (pg. 70)

SUN, NOV. 4

12Pm reel voiCes (pg. 74)

there are numerous ways to save on sdaff tickets: buy a 6-pack, get an all-festival badge, become a sdaff member. but as far as discounts go, you can’t beat free!



SPECIAL EVENTS

THU, NOV. 1 | OPENING NIGHT PARTY | 9:30PM–CLOSE

Wang’s, north Park

3029 university ave.

free for passholders or $10

sponsored by

FRI, NOV. 2 | FRIDAY NIGHT SLUMBER PARTY | 10:00PM–CLOSE

tba

SAT, NOV. 3 | GALA AWARDS DINNER | 5:30–9:00PM

town & Country hotel, mission valley

500 hotel Circle north

$225/seat

rsvP at [email protected]

Presented by

SUN, NOV. 4 | SUNDAY NIGHT SOIREE | 8:00PM–MIDNIGHT

red Pearl Kitchen, gaslamp

440 J street

free for Passholders only

MON, NOV. 5 | KITCHEN CONFESSIONS | 5:30–7:00PM

university of san diego, hahn Center

5995 alcala Park

free for usd students/faculty/staff or $5

FRI, NOV. 9 | CLOSING NIGHT AFTER-PARTY | 9:00PM–CLOSE

stingaree, gaslamp

454 6th avenue

free with wristband from festival Will-Call on nov 9

SAT, NOV. 10 | AMP MUSIC FESTIVAL | 11:00AM–8:00PM

marketcreek Plaza amphitheater

310 euclid ave.

free for all passholders or $15


it’s not a festival without parties, is it? the fun lasts long after the film credits end.

You are an artist.You see the true beauty in creative expression. You strive to elevate our culture. You believe the arts make our community and theworld a richer place. For your dedication and your passion, we salute you.

Union Bank is proud to sponsor the 13th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival.

©2012 Union Bank, N.A.

Retail Banking Group – 530 B Street, Suite 1200, San Diego, CA 92101Lawrence Henry, SVP Regional Executive, 619-230-3085

unionbank.com

A destination that’s close to

our hearts.

Southwest Airlines® is devoted to serving the communitySouthwest 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 community 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 SDAFF!

©2012 Southw

est Airlines Co.

SChEdULE OF PROGRAMS

THURSDAY, NOV. 1nORth PARK BiRch theAtRe* wAnG’S nORth PARK7:00Pm DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’: 9:00Pm OPENING NIGHT PARTY EVERYMAN’S JOURNEY 113 mins

FRIDAY, NOV. 2ShARP theAteR 1 JAPAn AiRlineS theAteR 2 PROven theAteR 6 BAROnA theAteR 74:00Pm MR. CAO GOES TO 6:30Pm FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH 5:15Pm FOR A GOOD TIME 6:45Pm CHIPS 68 mins WASHINGTON 71 mins 97 mins CALL... 81 mins

6:00Pm MEKONG HOTEL 9:15Pm I AM A GHOST 75 mins 7:30Pm THE IRAN JOB 93 mins 8:35Pm YES, WE’RE OPEN 57 mins 80 mins

7:50Pm GRACELAND 84 mins 10:00Pm TEBANA SANKICHI: SNOT ROCKETS 74 mins

10:10Pm YOUNG GUN IN THE TIME 95 mins UcSD AtKinSOn hAll* tBD8:00Pm CHA CHA FOR TWINS 10:00Pm FRIDAY NIGHT 101 mins SLUMBER PARTY

SATURDAY, NOV. 3ShARP theAteR 1 JAPAn AiRlineS theAteR 2 PROven theAteR 6 BAROnA theAteR 71:30Pm SLEEPLESS NIGHT 10:00am NI HAO, KAI-LAN & FRIENDS 11:00am SUMMIT 120 mins 11:40am APPARITION 87 mins 65 mins 67 mins

3:15Pm JAKE SHIMABUKURO: 1:00Pm SON OF ANIMAL STYLE 2:00Pm MONSTROUS WOMEN 2:15Pm SHANGHAI CALLING A LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS 85 mins 99 mins 100 mins 52 mins (more)

ALL FILM PROGRAMS (except noted below with *) TAKE PLACE AT THE MISSION VALLEY ULTRASTAR CINEMAS AT HAZARD CENTER. times and films are

subject to change, and additional screenings may be added. for the latest schedule, visit www.sdaff.org or text sdaff to 53137 for cell phone updates.


SATURDAY, NOV. 3 (cont.)ShARP theAteR 1 JAPAn AiRlineS theAteR 2 PROven theAteR 6 BAROnA theAteR 75:15Pm MEMORIES LOOK AT ME 3:30Pm KAHAANI 128 mins 4:30Pm THE IRAN JOB 93 mins 5:00Pm 11 FLOWERS 91 mins 110 mins

7:25Pm DOOMSDAY BOOK 6:30Pm THE LAND OF HOPE 7:00Pm QUEER 2.0 92 mins 7:40Pm PAINTED SKIN: 115 mins 133 mins THE RESURRECTION 131 mins

10:00Pm DEAD SUSHI 91 mins 9:15Pm ARCHITECTURE 101 9:35Pm BOUNDARY 110 mins 118 mins

UcSD AtKinSOn hAll* 11:30am GOLDEN HORSE SHORT FILMS: 5F2 & THIEF 54 mins

2:00Pm IN OUR TIME 106 mins

4:30Pm 10+10 115 mins SUNDAY, NOV. 4ShARP theAteR 1 JAPAn AiRlineS theAteR 2 PROven theAteR 6 BAROnA theAteR 71:25Pm SEEKING ASIAN FEMALE 12:00Pm REEL VOICES 1:55Pm OH THE PLACES YOU’LL 1:40Pm ALL ABOUT MY 85 mins 90 mins GO 94 mins WIFE 121 mins

3:50Pm DAYLIGHT SAVINGS 2:30Pm ANIMATION: THE 4:25Pm MOURNING 85 mins 4:15Pm ROMANCING IN 73 mins ILLUSION OF LIFE 88 mins THIN AIR 114 mins

6:05Pm THE KING OF PIGS 5:00Pm LAND BEFORE TIME 6:25Pm NIGHTFALL 108 mins 7:00Pm EDEN 98 mins 97 mins 97 mins

8:20Pm YOUNG GUN IN THE 7:45Pm A MAN WITH STYLE 8:50Pm ACE ATTORNEY 135 mins 10:00Pm HENGE 54 mins TIME 95 mins 110 mins (more)


SUNDAY, NOV. 4 (cont.)UcSD AtKinSOn hAll* MOPA* ReD PeARl Kitchen, GASlAMP 11:30am MONEY & HONEY 96 mins 4:15Pm IN ANOTHER COUNTRY 8:00Pm SUNDAY NIGHT SOIREE 89 mins

1:45Pm STARRY STARRY NIGHT 7:00Pm SHUN LI & THE POET 99 mins 100 mins

4:00Pm THE RAW & THE COOKED 83 mins

MONDAY, NOV. 5ShARP theAteR 1 JAPAn AiRlineS theAteR 2 PROven theAteR 6 BAROnA theAteR 74:00Pm CHILDREN OF SRIKANDI 6:20Pm LATE SUMMER 57 mins 6:05Pm A MAN WITH STYLE 4:35Pm 11 FLOWERS 110 mins 74 mins 110 mins

6:35Pm THE WORLD BEFORE HER 8:25Pm ACE ATTORNEY 8:35Pm 10+10 118 mins 7:00Pm VIETTE 90 mins 90 mins 135 mins

8:50Pm THE SHEIK & I 109 mins 9:30Pm MEKONG HOTEL 57 mins

UniveRSitY Of SAn DieGO* 5:30Pm KITCHEN CONFESSIONS 90 mins

TUESDAY, NOV. 6ShARP theAteR 1 JAPAn AiRlineS theAteR 2 PROven theAteR 6 BAROnA theAteR 75:55Pm DOOMSDAY BOOK 6:10Pm THE RAW & THE COOKED 4:00Pm JULIAN 40 mins 5:45Pm CHIPS 68 mins 115 mins 83 mins 8:25Pm GRACELAND 84 mins 8:00Pm I AM A GHOST 76 mins 6:25Pm UPLOADED: THE ASIAN 7:30Pm FLYING SWORDS OF AMERICAN MOVEMENT 80 mins DRAGON GATE 122 mins

8:45Pm SD BLOCK PARTY 80 mins (more)

SChEdULE OF PROGRAMS (CONT.)


WEDNESDAY, NOV. 7ShARP theAteR 1 JAPAn AiRlineS theAteR 2 PROven theAteR 6 BAROnA theAteR 76:00Pm MR. CAO GOES TO 5:30Pm ANIMATION: THE ILLUSION 4:00Pm NUCLEAR NATION 96 mins 5:45Pm ALL ABOUT MY WASHINGTON 71 mins OF LIFE 88 mins WIFE 121 mins

8:10Pm VIETTE 90 mins 7:55Pm THE ORATOR 110 mins 6:30Pm GF*BF 105 mins 8:20Pm PAINTED SKIN: THE RESURRECTION 131 mins

8:55Pm THE GREAT CINEMA PARTY 70 minscinePOliS* 8:00Pm DANCING QUEEN 124 mins

THURSDAY, NOV. 8ShARP theAteR 1 JAPAn AiRlineS theAteR 2 PROven theAteR 6 BAROnA theAteR 76:00Pm SLEEPLESS NIGHT 4:00Pm DANCING QUEEN 124 mins 6:30Pm OLD DOG 88 mins 6:10Pm JAKE SHIMABUKURO: 54 mins LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS 52 mins

7:25Pm WHEN THE BOUGH 7:00Pm THE LAND OF HOPE 8:35Pm NIGHTFALL 108 mins 7:35Pm CHA CHA FOR BREAKS 147 mins 133 mins TWINS 101 mins

10:00Pm DEAD BITE 94 mins 9:50Pm THE KING OF PIGS 97 mins

FRIDAY, NOV. 9ShARP theAteR 1 JAPAn AiRlineS theAteR 2 PROven theAteR 6 BAROnA theAteR 75:35Pm GOLDEN SLUMBERS 6:45Pm TBA 5:45Pm REVENGE SERVED 4:00Pm THE SHEIK & I 109 mins 96 mins HOT 95 mins 8:05Pm TBA 9:30Pm TBA 8:15Pm REMINGTON & THE 7:00Pm LOVE STRIKES! CURSE OF THE 118 mins ZOMBADINGS 96 mins

10:20Pm MONDOMANILA 75 mins 9:45Pm TBA

StinGARee9:00Pm CLOSING NIGHT PARTY



BOARd OF dIRECTORS

Pacific arts movement is overseen by a passionate group of business and community

leaders who volunteer their time and expertise to help grow a dynamic organization.

board members are in charge of governance, ensure adequate resources and help

guide Pacific arts movement’s strategic direction.

STEPHEN CHIN, SDAFF Chair – sharp health Plan

HARLEN BAYHA, Vice Chair – Wells fargo

AMETHYST GRIFFITH, Secretary – bermel, inc.

STEVEN HONG, Treasurer – automated telemedicine, inc.

DAN HOM, Chairman Emeritus – focuscom, inc

PAUL BERGMAN – mcgregor & associates

ANDY HOANG – salk institute

SHEILA KANOYA – Port of san diego

JEFF KREBS, M.D. – Kaiser Permanente

BENJAMIN LEE - metlife home loans

STEPHEN LEW - s. lew & associates

INGRAM LOSNER – Proven, inc.

MITCHELL REFF – retired, discovery oncology

ART RIVERA - fusion marketing

LOUIS SONG – Proven, inc.

GARY WONG – retired, union bank

board members serve a minimum two-year term. if you are interested in joining the

board, please contact us at [email protected]

it’s that special time of the year again – when our family comes together to celebrate film and culture through the

san diego asian film festival!

our vision for a more compassionate world demands that we evolve to provide the most meaningful experiences for

our community. We’re thrilled to continue as one of the largest media arts organizations focused on asian american

and asian international cinema. however, we’re also excited to explore the many new ways in which we can deliver

on our promise to “connect and transform audiences with the human experience through the Pan asian media arts.”

While the fall film festival will always remain a mainstay, we also sponsor programs throughout the year!

i am honored to continue as the board Chair for the Pacific arts movement. for me, there can be no greater privilege

than to support our community gatherings, which showcase a broader understanding of our world. as my father often

reminds me, “if you’re not helping to make the world a better place, then what are you doing?”

Congratulations to lee ann Kim, her staff, as well as the hundreds of volunteers who contribute to our efforts! it is

lee ann’s vision and drive that have established the Pacific arts movement as a positive force for change – i can’t

think of a more passionate or talented community leader in san diego. in addition, thank you to our dynamic board of

directors, who have rallied to ensure that our organization will develop in new and exciting ways.

but most importantly, our gratitude is to you, the members of the Pacific arts movement. film is a collective

experience, and we honor your support and passion!

Welcome to the 13th annual san diego asian film festival.

STEPHEN R. CHIN

BOARD CHAIRMAN

PACIFIC ARTS MOVEMENT

LETTERFROM

ThEChAIRMAN



MAJOR GRANTS

LARGER THEATER SPONSOR

SMALL THEATER SPONSORS

Consulting | Staffing | Solutions

ブランドマーク

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A x 2.0A x 2.0 マーク左右中央

A x 1.5

マーク直径

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クリアスペース

AUDIENCE AWARD

SPONSORS


GALA PRESENTER

SPOTLIGHT

FREE(DOM) FILMS AT FOUR

OPENING NIGHT PARTY

EDUCATION PARTNERS


SCREENING SPONSORS

Jhigs & friends

Pantone 137 Pantone 446

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

OFFICIAL AIRLINES OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER SPONSOR OFFICIAL TELEVISION SPONSOR

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IN-KIND DONORS

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We believe every story matters, and that film is the medium of a diverse world.

if you love film and believe in our mission, then we want you to make the move.

become a member of Pacific arts movement. as a Pac-arts member, you join a

vibrant community of arts lovers who influence the culture of san diego and beyond.

members help ensure the quality of our programs while receiving discounts and

complimentary admissions throughout the year.

Make the move and help us to reach our goal of 200 members by the end of the

Festival. For those who join or renew during the Festival at the $100 level and

above, we have a special gift for you.

Come see us at the membership booth or sign up online at www.Pac-arts.org

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MEMBERShIP ROSTER$5,000 san diego interfaith housing foundationspirit graphics & Printing, inc.

$1,000 uti technology, inc.

LIFETIME Paul bergman & sandra Chong bergmanallan Camaisa Johnny Chou matt Jumper Jeff Krebs & fritz friedman ed & shirley lee steve & Cheryl Peace Pat Pepper mitchell & miyo reff

PRODUCER theresa battle & michael fraziermichael Cheung l. Pete & todd futa tom & loretta hom Chong lee stephen lew virginia mar Jip diana mar Jip-Chuh anthony & grace olaes robert sanchez & Janis takahashilouis song & lee ann Kimdominic tong & Katherine bowdish

PATRON mike avila Jenny benson Perla & Zachary brownlie stephen Chin bruce & devin Chin-lee thomas dring

lois fong-sakai frederick gerlach amethyst & robert griffith dan hom sheila abrenica Kanoya stephen lew marichu magana melissa medve michael moon Carlo & Carlo Jr muzquiz george ng & Janet ChaJoseph ongsiapco & fawn Yangmaria abuan & Kristian thompsonCuong trang Charles tu linda tu

SUPPORTER emil ayoubkhan & michelle tubonharlen bayha Karen beeson Ken & helena benavente Jeanne burch Corey buuhoan Cornelio buu-hoan Keith Calistro michelle Cheung leeva Chung grace duvall Wendy gillespie amy & nancy hobbs edna ito marilyn Jones Yosh & marleen Kawahara terry Kovarik & andrew manisoukdae lee & lina Parkrich lee Calvin lew nancy liu Kuowen lo & Yi-hsuan fang

ildiko lutar lani lutar Johnny mah Jerrilyn malana lynne & Paul matthews bridget mcdonald Katya newmark Katya newmark elizabeth nolan John ohanian dennis & elaine otsuji Chris Paffendorf Joy Pakingan Jeremy Pizzola & gayle taelise Prosser binhma rajsombath luis ramos steve sato Patrick van schoote Kenneth Wade ryan Wong diane Wong gary & Kathy Wong

DONOR malou amparo eric & Kay andalis Jason arcand & tomomi arcandalan assad ferris bautista brian blake mike bryant Jeanne burch grant Cameron Yunhui Chae-banks Christopher Chan Kristine Chang allan Chin han Chiu Kathy & eric Chou Kathleen Clavero helen Cruz & allan regalamaria elena delgado &

John Weaverelizabeth devin tammy & bill dodds melissa & bill eisenhamer toshiye estes James faupel michelle floresca & traci hongJonathan fohrman richard forsyth & Kate leonardmary fujimoto virginia gallanosa Joshua gardner linda & gordon gidlund russell ginns & beverly digregorioKikue & Ken graeber Kaori hashimoto erika hiramatsu & michael Cheswickandy hoang takeo hoshi Carole huston lindsey & benjamin inouye Jeff iwami david & Carol Kawamoto david Kim sunny J Kim ed & grace lallana elaine & eric lallana benson & aileen lam toan lam Yvonne law & Chad seitzlinda le melanie le forestier Jimmy lee Kent lee & Phuong huynhPatrick & daranee lee Karen lim & nathan ginozaCindy lin edna low may mclean Patricia & fred miyahara tracie murakami

laurel nishida erica-anne okamura &Jegan ChenJeanette ollivier Jodie olson shirley omori & efton Woodfordlynn owens anthony noceda raymond Park sue ann Park mariette & John Pascasio vincent Pham ty Phimmasone michael Piano alan & elaine Pizzola guy Poirier ed Pruitt Craig & sylvia reid francisco rey art rivera Chris rule eunice sanchez-mata & Joel matashirley sanz rose sekulovich angela shiao Jill shun serena tam nancy taylor Joyce & bill teague greg toya duane trammell & robyn schatzduke tran Peijean tsai Wendy urushima-Conn & bart ConnJim Wade rainer Wagester mike & music Watson susie Willemsz-geeroms Cassandra Wong & alexandra appelmichael Wong

Wendy Wong leon Wu & sambath tiep

FRIEND tony areneselly aguilaramee & madhu alagirieldridge alcantaraelias almazanKimberly anchetarommel andayaYolanda anglintim & evelyn ascoughmarlon & brandi austriamarlene bakermaria ballesterosnoemi barriosJanice bartPatricia bayhameagan bealeerin bestvalmik & rashmi bhargavadeep bhullar & brian lameloise bienvenualisa boykoanahid brakkeKathryn brintonJeffrey brosbeellen browngreg brownWayne brownJose bucudshu-fun burnsmary byrne-halaszimaria lourdesCabuang & Chris Catemela Capolarthur Carbonelldavid Chantim Chanarounny Chann & ham PhonephalyPearl & Jesse Charfauros


FRIEND (CONT.)Perry Chensam Chensilvia ChenYinuo Chengeorge Chiang & helen sohnChong-ren Chienrenee ChinJd lynn Chiongdr. don & Janine ChuJudy Chung-lee & benjamin leeJoseph Clarybetti CoeKristina ColemanPamela Couvignoudarin Crawmargaret CurtinJohn dacapiasandre daciorachel darvinaudie & thelma de Castroemmanuel de guzmanKaye de lanceyJeanne & douglas decker todd delong david detwiler elizabeth devin tian du John duca & malee tobias veronica eastling Christopher ekren ray ellis scott eriksson sylvie estrella & ashley fifield amy fan bruce farmer shirley & salvador flor Carlton floyd Camille forbes Joel gabriel marie gabriel matthew goldman Jim gottlieb bennet greenwald Wendy grice lori guild & louie tejada victor gutierrez

Cynthia & seth hacker steven & vicky hadley Kathryn hammelman & victor flores Julie haza Kathie heiser Penny hempstead todd henry Patricia heras & Yuri hofmann sylvie hinh & Jerry lu mye hoang & dave boyle nancy hom valerie & gerry hong frank howley amy hsiao lillian hsu brian hu Patricia hughes david hulett John hunter Kim huynh Pamela huynh nanson hwa varsha israni robert Paul ito edna & robert ito margaret iwanaga-Penrose mark Wayne Javier Clare Kanoya Judy Kesaris angela Killoren eunjae Kim Jane Kim mina Kim sam Kim scott & Jean Kim Yong Kim bob Kirby Julie & rakesh Kumar James Kwei hana Kwon barbara Kyrillos eric lallana megan lam Chris lavin trinh le tamara leach

donna lee gene lee helie lee murray & gladys lee Jeffrey lehmann vicky leon-guerrero grant lewis Polly & fah liew alanna light ruth lim aaron ling mitzi & rafael lizarraga ardy lo Jennifer lo alexis lorenzo Phillip lorenzo ingram losner robin low laurance lowenschuss mei Chun lu Pamela luster Joel machitar micaela marJip romie martin Kim martinez daniel matthews Joe mazares michelle mentz anne mihalkanin blake miller seva miriam Keith momon Joff morales farah moriah stephanie & Katie moy lynne murphy dub myers dale nelson george ng & Janet Cha ngocthao nguyen Peter nguyen stefan nguyen thanh nguyen Ken & marilyn nolen daniel norman david oda amy okamura

susan okuno bill & tracey olson Kiyoko omori glen ong donal o’sullivan Jacqueline Pablo arlene Paraiso sun Park ryan Parker Judy Patacsil Paloma Patterson Will Pedranti rodney Peffer roger Perez Charles Phillip mark Pidgeon vinh Quach hoa Quach rick raimondi antoinette raymond Kwofi reed bill reeve Jocelyn remigio nika reyes marcus robas ron roberts stuart & linda robinson daniel roose anne louise ross anne rosser bruce rowe Joseph allenruanto ramirez brian & lori rueger ruth mariesan filippo robert sanchez matthew sauceda Kiyomi & timothy sankary bill & arleen schlafer dan schreiber george seikaly mary sekulovich gavin sermona Jose serrano miriam seva hongfang sha

rhealyn sico anne shillam david shina massoud shirazi Charlie smith Jing song ryun song thomas stannard mark & Phyllis strauss Pavee suvagondha shui-Chi J. szitta rol& tactay Karen tani nancy taylor hao teng annamarie till don tolentino maria torres long tran viet tran thomas truong Wayne & betsy tsukamoto Yen tu felix tuyay erica ueland george uy nancy vaccaro george vasquez Josh vergara Chris voight Joni Washek & Karol Ziolkowski edwina Welch meka Wells michael Wells & sung ae Yoon Jon Wesick sheldon Wilson Judy Wong richard Wong sabina Wong Wilda Wong lisa ann Yadao tracie Yang K. Wayne Yang & Christina ree Cynthia Yee Xiaonan Zhang

STUDENT brian bacsal rachel banci alicia Cherry Kevin fontaine Cola Kayla Colburn hayg-taniel dabag Kristen dennis Chantel dePaepe anthony diggs tufan gokirmak brittany holcombe alex honore Jessica hsieh sylvia hwa andrew Keating francesca Kemp heathra King mindy lee nick leon-guerreroJanny li tania li Kate litvinchuk harpreet malla megumi marsh mark martinez John mcallister Christine mendoza ann noceda anthony Pang mehmet Parlak Kristin Pearey travis Perreira april PhomthavongKent Pun ferchil ramos K.r. ridge e-fann saung ashley Jiwon shin lani smith april tou nguyen vu betty Wong ding Wong Peter Zhang

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Catch more Asian-American entertainment on Channel 405.

9333_2012 September Asian Film Festival Ad.indd 1 9/25/12 1:17 PM


each year since his passing, the san diego asian film festival has proudly presented an

emerging filmmaker award in honor of former Program director george lin. a scientist by

trade, george co-founded the dC asian Pacific american film festival in 2000, then joined

sdaff 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 the 2012 emerging filmmaker award to ernie

Park for his feature film, late summer (pg. 67), a film that expands the horizons for

asian american filmmaking and embodies the independent spirit that george represented.

ticket sales from late summer will be donated to the george C. lin memorial fund.

Please join us in congratulating ernie Park!

2012 GEORGE C. LIN EMERGING FILMMAKER

GEORGE LIN


FESTIVAL jURORS 2012festival jurors judge the best films entered into competition and choose the top film in each category along with a grand Jury award winner.

PRASHANT BHARGAVA is the director of Patang (the Kite),

which premiered at the berlin international film festival and

has gone on to play in over 30 international film festivals.

the film was hailed for its “hypnotically beautiful visuals,”

“naturalistic storytelling,” and “colorfully vivid” poetic style, and

garnered four stars from roger ebert and was selected as a

new York times Critics Pick. his short film, sangam, premiered at the sundance

film festival, and was distributed by film movement and broadcast by arte/Zdf,

the sundance Channel, mubi, and Pbs. sangam was awarded best narrative

short at sdaff in 2004.

EMILY ROxWORTHY is an associate professor in the

department of theatre and dance at the university of California,

san diego (uCsd), where she teaches asian american theatre

and film. dr. roxworthy is the author of the book the spectacle

of Japanese American trauma: racial Performativity and

World War ii. she was also the project director of a national

endowment for the humanities-funded video game prototype called drama in the

delta, which allows players to reenact life in a Japanese american internment camp.

JEN WANG is the cofounder and author of disgrasian.com,

or, in the words of right-wing pundit michelle malkin, a

professional “race hustler.” she’s been featured on nightline,

nPr, the associated Press, bbC news, the daily beast,

huffPost live, Patt morrison, metro nY’s “best of the blogs,”

hyphen magazine, and Koream Journal, among others. in

2008, she created a web series for adult swim. Jen is also a regular contributor to

the huffington Post and xoJane.

MARTIN WONG co-founded giant robot in 1994 and edited all

68 issues of the seminal, influential, and funny print magazine

about asian and asian american culture. today, the uCla

graduate continues to contribute to the giant robot website

while working for intertrend, a long beach-based, asian-

focused advertising and communications company.

s P e c i A L P r e s e n tAt i o n s


dON’T STOP BELIEVIN’: EVERyMAN’S jOURNEy

nOv. 1 (thURSDAY), 7:00PM,nORth PARK BiRch theAtRe

usa | english & tagalogWITH english subtitles | 113 mins |

video | 2012DIRECTOR ramona s. diaz

Audience Award, 2012 traverse Film Festivalclosing night Film, 2012 san Francisco

international Film Festivalofficial selection, 2012 tribeca Film Festival

co-presented by Blt t-Shirts, USD communication Studies, San Diego

Alliance for Asian Pacific islander Americans, SanDiegofilipino.com, filipino American national historical Society – San Diego

chapter, filAmfest, filipino American lawyers of San Diego

director scheduled to attend

in 2007, legendary american rock band Journey

needed a new singer. While in the midst of a

fruitless online search, Journey guitarist neal

schon stumbled upon video clips of filipino singer

arnel Pineda on Youtube. schon was blown away by

Pineda’s powerful voice and charisma, not to mention

his astonishing ability to emulate the vocal style of

former Journey lead singer steve Perry. Convinced

that Pineda was the perfect choice to front the band,

schon brought the filipino unknown to California to

win over the rest of his bandmates. the result was

the unlikeliest of all rags-to-riches underdog success

stories, one that still sounds completely impossible,

even during our current era of globalization and

instant internet celebrity: a modest former street

urchin from manila had become the lead singer of

the multi-platinum american rock band responsible

for the most downloaded song in history.

award-winning documentary filmmaker ramona diaz

(imelda, the learning) beautifully captures this

modern-day fairy tale in the wonderfully entertaining

and wryly humorous don’t stoP believin’. the film

chronicles Pineda’s whirlwind rise from the streets

of manila to performing in front of sold-out arenas

throughout the world, and provides an inside look

at life on the road as a member of an iconic rock

band. filled with both quiet moments providing

intimate details on how Pineda learned to handle his

newfound fame, and exhilarating footage of Pineda’s

dynamic performances in concert, this film will have

you singing out loud and leave you filled with hope.

– gene Huh

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EdENnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 7:00PM,

UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

usa | english | 98 mins | video | 2012

DIRECTOR megan griffithsCAST Jamie Chung, beau bridges,

matt o’leary

Audience Award, 2012 sXsW Film FestivalBest Actress, 2012 seattle international

Film Festival

co-presented by women’s international center, cSUSM Gender equity center,

Af3iRM, national Association of human trafficking victim Advocates

director, cast & crew scheduled to attend

Korean american teenager hyun Jae (Jamie Chung)

is not much different from your typical teen, desiring

her freedom and satisfying her rebellious spirit by

smoking cigarettes behind her parents’ shop. one

night, she sneaks into a bar with a fake id and

catches a ride home with a handsome stranger. but

she never makes it home that night. hyun Jae is

abducted and taken to an underground brothel in the

middle of the new mexico desert, where she is given

a new name: eden. Without time even to gasp for

air, she’s thrown into the complex industry of human

trafficking, in which young women are treated like

inventory that is ordered, replaced, maintained, and

accounted for at all times.

though no one person has a clear picture of the

entire operation, there are multiple players involved

in trafficking the underage girls. a respected law

enforcement officer, bob gault (beau bridges),

oversees the business from a distance, while

temperamental point-man vaughan (matt o’leary)

is in charge of the day-to-day operations. over

time, eden learns to navigate the system and wins

vaughan’s trust in order to improve her situation.

based on the stunning real-life experiences of Chong

Kim, eden is a powerful narrative that reveals one

woman’s unyielding strength and the resilience of

the human spirit. director megan griffiths (First Aid

for choking, the off Hours) presents a harrowing

glimpse of the human trafficking that happens within

our own borders. in a breakthrough performance,

Jamie Chung is able to maneuver strenuous

situations while preserving the character’s dignity.

eden pushes the limits of how much a person

will endure in order to survive, and compels the

audience to evaluate moral dilemmas that aren’t so

cut and dry. – Malou Amparo

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c e n t e R P i e c e

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LOVE STRIKESnOv. 9 (fRiDAY), 7:00PM,

UltRAStAR MiSSOn vAlleY

JaPan | JaPanese Withenglish subtitles |

118 mins | video | 2011

DIRECTOR hitoshi oneCAST mirai moriyama, masami nagasawa,

Kumiko aso, lily franky

west coast Premiere

sponsored by USD center for inclusion & Diversity

co-presented by Japan Society of San Diego,

tijuana

is this a fantasy, or a fling?

it happens sometimes. or so the movies tell us.

that even the most inept, socially dysfunctional of

us will hit our moteki: that inexplicable period when

no matter how badly we trip up or babble, we’re still

irresistible to even the most inhumanly beautiful, all-

too-perfect creatures on earth. so begins the moteki

of Yukiyo (mirai moriyama), a 31-year-old virgin (or

rather, “second virgin” as he neurotically reminds

us) who used to tweet uncontrollably while holed-up

alone in an apartment that looks like it barfed up the

bargain bin at tower records, but now faces two

(and maybe three and maybe four) gorgeous women

who, for whatever reason, dig his quirks and crave

his skinny, shivering body.

My brain isn’t equipped to process something like this!

there’s miyuki (masami nagasawa), who shares

Yukiyo’s love for indie bands and social media,

and just happens to have a girl-next-door face and

supermodel body. and hostess ai, a plucky pro who

seems down for anything. and soulful motoko, who

may not know Yukiyo’s favorite indie-rock bands, but

knows that the road to any man’s heart is karaoke.

songs are like drugs when you’re down. they’re

designed to brainwash you into confessing your love.

and so Yukiyo goes down the rabbit hole of sex and

love, at least as filtered through his music critic,

twitter-addict, self-deprecating mind. not since High

Fidelity and Almost Famous has a film so joyously

captured the way infatuation is a spontaneous

musical number in the streets, a lyric interpreted

way out of context, a pop cultural conceit taken much

too far. With its nervy edgar Wright dazzle, love

striKes! is a romantic comedy for the neurotics,

the romantics, and the new media junkies. it’s

for the men who want to see the most insecure

versions of themselves score, and for the women

who think it’s cute when nerdy guys squirm. it’s a

romantic comedy about the bad, anxious habits we

think we’ve outgrown – but not really. love striKes!

is an auto-tune fantasy that reunites the lovers from

crying out Loud in the center of the World (sdaff

‘05), and makes us want to believe this version of

the universe is not only possible, but waiting for us.

take a bow, Yukiyo: you and your nervous voice-over

and slinky dancing body make us who karaoke alone

never feel solo.

thank you Perfume, thank you dancers! i’m ready to

face my moteki!!! – Brian Hu

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KITChEN CONFESSIONSnOv. 5 (MOnDAY), 5:30PM,UniveRSitY Of SAn DieGO,hAhn UniveRSitY centeR

90 mins

sponsored by University of San Diego

behind every good meal, there is a story, and

celebrity chef beverly Kim (top chef finalist) has

plenty of them from her 16+ years in the kitchen.

Join Chef beverly for an intimate discussion of

her culinary journey, cultural influences, and how

asian food has become the new american cuisine.

attendees will get a taste of Chef beverly’s twist on

movie popcorn, plus for the hardcore foodies, we

are offering four seats at the “Chef’s table” to enjoy

a few dishes created live as part of the event.

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PRESENT/FUTURESUMMITnOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 11:00AM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

120 mins

Conversations on the Present/future.

gary Chou (union square ventures, surrogate

valentine, daylight savings) and Karin Chien

(dgenerate films, circumstance, Jack & diane) will

host a series of innovative multimedia conversations

with asian american artists and filmmakers about

surviving and innovating in today’s media industries.

Changing economic models and digital technology

continue to render traditional paths of “success”

less relevant and less accessible. so what happens

when the gatekeepers no longer hold the key? We’ll

talk with asian american creators at the forefront of

a true independent movement, where filmmaking is

practiced freely, and often, and the act of storytelling

doesn’t wait for a “greenlight.”

this event builds on the provocative dialogue launched

at the Present/future summit in march 2012 at

the san francisco international asian american film

festival. here, we’ll take the conversation from a

macro overview to a micro focus. We’ll ask individual

artists and filmmakers how they use emergent

forms to tell stories and find audience. and we’ll look

at how the act of reaching audiences in turn drives

innovation and creates sustainability. You won’t want

to miss this special conversation on the present/

future of film and media.

Confirmed speakers: lynn Chen (daylight

savings, Yes, We’re open), Patrick epino & stephen

dypiangco (national film society).

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TAIWAN FILM ShOWCASE

the taiwan Film showcase runsFri. nov. 2 to sun. nov. 4 at

Atkinson Hall Auditorium at the university of california, san diego. All

films are free. A free receptionat 7:30pm precedes the screening

of cHA cHA For tWins onFriday night.

fRiDAY, nOv. 28:00Pm ChA ChA FOR TWINS

101 mins

SAtURDAY, nOv. 311:30am GOLdEN hORSE ShORT

FILMS: 5F2 & ThIEF 54 mins2:00Pm IN OUR TIME 106 mins

4:30Pm 10+10 115 mins

SUnDAY, nOv. 411:30am MONEy & hONEy 96 mins

1:45Pm STARRy STARRy NIGhT99 mins

4:00Pm ThE RAW & ThE COOKEd 83 mins

every few decades, the taiwan film

industry takes stock of its current

moment with a high-profile omnibus

film. When li han-hsiang’s renegade

grand Pictures took a stand against

the dominant shaw bros. studio in

the 1960s, li joined forces with

fellow auteurs King hu, lee hsing,

and Pai Ching-jui for Four Moods

(1969) to show what could be done

by independent directors in taiwan.

When the Central motion Picture

Corporation wanted to breed new

talent to fight off hong Kong and

hollywood, they produced in our

time (1982) (page 108) with a

number of young directors, including

edward Yang.

in 2011, on the 100th anniversary of

the republic of China, 11 years after

crouching tiger Hidden dragon and

three years after cape no. 7, with

taiwanese cinema again turning in

new directions as competition from

overseas mounted new challenges,

the golden horse film festival

commissioned short films from 10

veterans and 10 newcomers on the

subject of “the uniqueness of taiwan.”

the result was 10+10 (page 102).

Perhaps not coincidentally, spotlights

on taiwanese cinema have been

sprouting up all over the united

states around the same time. this

year alone, special showcases and

essays were featured at both the los

angeles asian Pacific film festival

and the new York asian film festival.

is something happening in taiwanese

cinema that warrants this special

attention? as anderson le puts it

in his program notes for 10+10 at

laPff, “the cinema of taiwan is going

through a renaissance,” or as the

nYaff guide describes it, “taiwanese

films are back.”

however, these proclamations are

somewhat misleading because it’s

not that taiwanese cinema was ever

gone. after all, total domestic market

share is not the only measure for the

presence of taiwanese film. how could

a 1990s and 2000s that produced

masterpieces like edward Yang’s A

Brighter summer day and Yi Yi, hou

hsiao-hsien’s the Puppetmaster and

Flowers of shanghai, tsai ming-liang’s

the river and What time is it there?,

Cheng Wen-tang’s somewhere over

the dreamland, ang lee’s eat drink

Man Woman, and Ko i-chen’s Blue

Moon ever be confused with not being

present?

rather, it’s that taiwanese cinema

has always been very creative about

adapting to changing production and

demographic contexts (sometimes

too creative, according to some), and

it’s just that recently, that creativity

has translated into domestic success

for certain kinds of films. but it’s

important to note that what’s special

about taiwanese cinema now isn’t

simply that it’s making money again;

it’s that it continues to further

represent taiwan in all of its diversity

of styles and subjects regardless of

their box office prospects. and there’s

nothing too new about that.

in fact, many of the new films in our

inaugural taiwan film showcase,

a partnership between sdaff, the

uCsd taiwan studies lecture series,

and the taipei economic and Cultural

office, resonate with the short films

that make up in our time, which

we are proud to present in a new

30th anniversary digital print. the

moody childhood woes and dinosaur

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fantasies of tao te-chen’s 1982 short

find echoes in tom lin’s starrY

starrY night (page 100). the

hormonal angst of edward Yang’s

entry can be read into the high

school blues of Cha Cha for tWins

(page 92), the opening night film of

the showcase. and the newlywed

comedy that is Chang Yi’s chapter

is surprisingly similar to arvin Chen’s

short about a couple moving together

in 10+10.

What’s different are some of the

production contexts. today, we’re

seeing an explosion of digital diY

productions around asia, and taiwan

is no exception. Jasmine lee’s

personal documentary moneY &

honeY (page 121) is a charming

and moving examination of filipina

domestic laborers in taiwan, a subject

that is well known, but little explored

in taiwan. there are also many more

opportunities for co-production today,

producing films as diverse as the

raW & the CooKed (page 127),

which thrives on the touristic gaze

that relies on an outsider like monika

treut, and starrY starrY night,

a rare co-operation between all three

“Chinas”: taiwan, hong Kong, and the

mainland.

taiwanese filmmakers, and agencies

like the taipei film Commission, have

learned to partner with longstanding

bodies like the government

information office, and new potential

partners like huayi brothers on

the mainland, and in doing so have

figured out how to continue to make

innovative, thoughtful, and resonant

films. a snapshot of taiwanese

cinema circa 2012 may look and

feel different from taiwanese films

of previous decades, but it continues

to assert the island’s passion for

bringing its stories to the silver

screen. We’re proud to join with

uCsd and teCo for a weekend of free

shorts, documentaries, and narrative

features to stoke those passions and

make them better known throughout

san diego. – Brian Hu

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TRIBUTE TO dIRECTORChUNG ChANG-WhA

it was the perfect storm. in 1972, hong Kong

powerhouse studio shaw bros. wanted to international

their product so they looked for talent elsewhere.

meanwhile, hollywood major Warner bros. sought

a film to capitalize on america’s excitement for tv’s

green Hornet and Kung Fu.

enter Chung Chang-wha, a 19-year veteran in the

Korean industry turning out spectacular melodramas,

swordsplay films, and costume pictures. the result

was (cue Quincy Jones’ ironside siren!) five fingers

of death which, under Warners’ watch, became an

international sensation that remained on the north

american box office charts for nearly three months.

for a foreign production in a xenophobic market,

the film was an unprecedented – and still seemingly

unthinkable – success that precipitated a two-year

kung fu craze. asian cinema is still only catching up.

a master of endlessly creative and exhilarating fights,

director Chung brought a jolt of energy to hong Kong

(and beyond) with his craft and his cosmopolitan

smarts. today, beyond the box office success and the

shaw bros. revolution, five fingers of death (aka

King Boxer) is still making its mark on films like Kill Bill

and the Man with the iron Fists. for his art, for his

passion, and for his imprint on world cinema, the san

diego asian film festival is proud to award Chung

Chang-wha its lifetime achievement award.

in celebration of director Chung’s award and the

film’s 40th anniversary, five fingers of death

(pg. 104) plays 6:30pm on friday, nov. 2 at mission

valley ultrastar.

Pacific Arts Movement is shining a spotlight on friend and long-time supporter, ed Lee of eLt insurance, recipient of our inaugural community Legacy Award.

this honor is presented to an outstanding individual who exemplifies service and leadership, and whose contributions have made a substantial impact to the legacy of our organization and the arts in san diego.

congratulations, ed Lee!

cOMMUnitYleGAcYAwARD


© 2012 ReSOlUSeAn PhOtOGRAPhY

®

Your Health Care Reform ExpertsELT Insurance Services is a proud sponsor of the 13th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival.

We can help you navigate the maze of health care reform so that you can get the best plans at the lowest cost.

• Lowest Cost Solutions

• Commitment to highest quality service

16835 W. Bernardo Drive, Ste. 212San Diego, CA 92127858.304.3000 x22

www.eltinsurance.com

Ed Lee, President

MEDICAL | DENTAL | LIFE | 401K | LONG TERM CARE

C

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CM

MY

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CMY

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ELT SDAFF12 ad.pdf 1 9/13/12 5:01 PM


A s i A n A M e r i c A n PA n o r A M A

ANIMATION ShORTS:ThE ILLUSION OF LIFE

nOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 2:30PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

nOv. 7 (weDneSDAY), 5:30PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

88 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

cast & crew scheduled to attend

co-presented by Art institute

BRIdGEusa | 3 mins | 2010 | Cg

DIRECTOR ting Chian tey

four animals need to cross the

same bridge. Who will win?

MR.ChAN: MISUNdERSTOOd MANusa | 3 mins | 2010 | 2d digital

DIRECTOR dan lee

mr. Chan is racially profiled at a

star trek convention.

Why dO WE PUT UP WITh ThEM?usa | 3 mins | 2011 | 2d digital

DIRECTOR david Chai

an animated poem about a little

stinker i love.

SUMO LAKEaustralia | 3 mins | 2011 |

2d traditional

DIRECTOR greg holfeld

a rapid re-telling of the swan lake

ballet as an animated wrestling-

giant-lizard movie.

ThE TENdER MARChJaPan | 5 mins | 2011 |

2d digital

DIRECTOR Wataru uekusa

visual roller-coaster ride right out

of a Japanese, pop culture-infused

graphic novel.

IN yOUR ARMSusa | 3 mins | 2011 | live aCtion

+ stoPmotion

DIRECTOR greg Jardin

What do you get when you mix Kina

grannis with 288,000 jelly beans?

BONNIEJaPan | 2 mins | 2011 |

live aCtion + stoPmotion

DIRECTOR masanori okamoto

a paper cutout named bonnie rides

like the wind.

STEPSJaPan | 2 mins | 2010 | live

aCtion + stoPmotion

DIRECTOR tochka

battle to the death between light

and man.

BUTTERFLy dREAMusa | 9 mins | 2011 | 2d digital

DIRECTOR Woonha Jang

a kid takes a cyberbully into his own

hands, but will he succeed?

SEASONSusa | 2 mins | 2011 |

2d digital + Cg

DIRECTOR haowei hu

surreal motion graphics journey

through the changing of seasons.

ThE RETURN OF dIVINE PROVIdENCEusa | 3 mins | 2010 | Cg

DIRECTOR rui Xu

a visual feast through ancient China

and dunhuang buddhistic culture.

MEMORIES OF ThE SONGKorea | 4 mins | 2010 |

2d digital + Cg

DIRECTOR Choi Jin-sung

a boy dreams about a girl, love, and

piping hot bowls of ramen.

ONE SIdEd LOVEusa | 4 mins | 2011 | 2d digital

DIRECTOR Jin a Yoon

despite a daughter’s bad behavior

toward her mother, love is not easily

withheld.

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dAyLIGhT SAVINGSnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 3:50PM,


usa | english | 73 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR dave boyle

CAST goh nakamura, Yea-ming Chen,michael aki, lynn Chen

director & cast scheduled to attend

last year’s grand Jury award winner surrogate

valentine ended in bittersweet limbo. this year,

we rejoin everyone’s favorite indie musician goh

nakamura (played by goh nakamura) who has

seemingly gotten over his longtime crush and is now

in a loving, committed relationship – that is, until his

girlfriend breaks things off unceremoniously, sending

goh into a spiraling funk of confusion and depression.

in an attempt to lift his spirits, goh heads to a house

party where he meets Yea-ming Chen (played by Yea-

ming Chen), the lead singer of acclaimed indie band

dreamdate. the two instantly click and spend the

rest of the evening talking about music, including Yea-

ming’s upcoming show in las vegas. ever a dream-

dater, Yea-ming decides she wants to leave their next

meeting up to fate, and goh is left in a love-struck

daze. egged on by an easily-excitable cousin, goh

decides they must road trip to vegas and put both

old and new relationships to the test.

With daYlight savings, dave boyle expands

the universe of his proposed trilogy, while goh

and Yea-ming are freed from the initial novelty of

playing themselves to deliver lovable, effortless

performances. more fantastic appearances from

the hilarious michael aki and the charming lynn

Chen means the next installment can’t come soon

enough. – James Paguyo

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FOR A GOOd TIME CALL...nOv. 2 (fRiDAY), 5:15PM,UltRAStAR MiSSOn vAlleY

81 mins

asian american stars like you’ve never seen

them before, in shorts that will make your jaw

drop and your Pocari sweat from laughter!

FORTUNE COOKIE MAGIC TRICKSDIRECTOR alex Chu usa | 10 mins | 2011

a Chinese father trying to “cure” his gay son triggers

martial arts zombie musical madness.

GOT A jOB!DIRECTOR Chicky otani usa | 2 mins | 2012

two ladies lunch, taking cracks at their so-called

fortune outside their factory job.

NICE GIRLS CREW – Episode 2DIRECTOR tanuj Chopra usa | 9 mins | 2012

a book club of best frenemies degenerates from

Count of monte Cristo to revenge cocktails, with

lynn Chen, sheetal sheth and michelle Krusiec.

5F-2DIRECTOR Chung lee taiwan | 25 mins | 2011

sultry criminal scenarios run amok when a

screenwriter asks his sex-addict neighbors to quiet

down.

A SUPER dUPER EXOTIC EROTIC FETISh SEXy “MUST SEE” STORy... A TRAGEdy OF ORIENTAL PROPORTIONS!DIRECTOR Jeff liu usa | 13 mins | 2012

Cherry blossom, hung Wei low, and fred are your

hosts-with-the-mosts in this outrageous suburban

sex club skit with tamlyn tomita, garrett Wang and

roger fan!

AT yOUR CONVENIENCEDIRECTOR raymond C. lai usa | 22 mins | 2012

a convenience store in the hood becomes a trip

down the rabbit hole for two buddies in this live-

action/animation sitcom with randall Park and

dwayne Perkins.

GRACELANdnOv. 2 (fRiDAY), 7:50PM,

UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 6 (tUeSDAY), 8:25PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

PhiliPPines, usa | tagalog With english subtitles | 84 mins | video | 2012

DIRECTOR ron moralesCAST arnold reyes, menggie Cobarrubias,

dido de la Paz, leon miguel

official selection, 2012 tribeca Film Festival

director scheduled to attendnov. 2 screening

Corrupt politician manuel Chango (menggie

Cobarrubias) is used to getting things his way, and

his driver marlon (arnold reyes) is usually the one to

clean up the mess. but a routine afternoon school

pickup involving marlon’s daughter and her best friend

(who happens to be manuel’s daughter), leads to

an unforeseeable cat-and-mouse game of mistaken

identities reminiscent of akira Kurosawa’s High & Low.

in a city where intensely stratified classes are only

crossable by underground crime, the pressure

cooker of everyday survival leads manuel and marlon

into seemingly insurmountable stickiness that stinks

of junkyards and illegal brothels of underaged girls.

in this stark vision of manila, fate hinges on decisions

made in the most suspect of situations.

new York director ron morales (santa Mesa, sdaff

best narrative feature ’08) makes a triumphant

return with another drama set in the streets of

manila – this time a gut-wrenching thriller wound as

tightly as any hollywood entertainment (and with less

narrative fat), but with a sensitivity to the emotional

toll of desperation across class lines. – eric Lallana

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I AM A GhOSTnOv. 2 (fRiDAY), 9:15PM,UltRAStAR MiSSOn vAlleYnOv. 6 (tUeSDAY), 8:00PM,UltRAStAR MiSSOn vAlleY

usa | english | 76 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR h.P. mendozaCAST anna ishida, Jeannie barroga,rick burkhardt

co-presented by University of San Diego – living learning community

director scheduled to attend nov. 6 screening

not since Jon moritsugu parked a motorcycle in the

middle of asian american cinema and set it ablaze

has there been a major asian american film as

unbeholden to tradition, as unencumbered by any

cause, and as joyously liberated as h.P. mendoza’s i

am a ghost. it’s also terribly fun and uncommonly

scary, and destined to be a cult classic.

i am a ghost is a haunted house story told from

the other side: the perspective of the haunter. in this

case, she’s an unknowing, accidental one – a ghost

(played by anna ishida) in discovery of her identity,

going through daily routines of cooking and mopping

in a cycle of surprise, denial, and fear. a medium is

hired by the haunted family to speak to her, in hopes

that she can take her spectral footprints elsewhere.

but acceptance is less acceptable when it means

confronting a brutal past.

it’s an ingeniously simple conceit, and like all

adventurous films, teaches us to watch the film

as we go along. We follow disassociated images,

not necessarily to piece together a puzzle, but to

track a most uncanny experience as it becomes

remembered, perceived, and forgotten in fractures.

as he’s shown with his scores for colma: the

Musical (sdaff ‘06) and Fruit Fly (sdaff ‘09), h.P.

mendoza has an ear for sonic textures, and here

applies them, in a collage of ambience, distortion,

radio noise, dialogue, and silence, to dramatic and

truly frightening effect.

as in those previous films, as well as mendoza’s

script for Yes, We’re open, i am a ghost is

playfully self-aware, digging into our love for haunted

house films and 1970s tales of paranoia like roman

Polanski’s repulsion. and within the rules of the

genre, i am a ghost exorcises a most shocking

and unusual specter: asian americans of an older

san francisco, haunting the present with repressed

traumas that beg to be remembered. – Brian Hu

jAKE ShIMABUKURO:LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS

nOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 3:15PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

nOv. 8 (thURSDAY), 6:10PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

usa | english | 52 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR tadashi nakamura

PRODUCER donald Young

sponsored by

co-presented by iloveMusubi.com, Asian Business Association,

vista Buddhist temple, hau’oli Strummers


tadashi nakamura’s trilogy of Japanese american

history (Yellow Brotherhood, Pilgrimage, A song For

ourselves,) intertwined social justice and identity

to debunk the model minority myth. his latest

documentary may be his self-proclaimed least-political

film, but as with his previous sdaff-winning work,

music intertwines with film and life in vibrant ways.

Young phenom Jake shimabukuro amassed millions

of hits from a single ukelele video (a jaw-dropping

cover of the beatles’ “While my guitar gently

Weeps”) on Youtube in 2006, propelling him into

the international limelight. life on four strings

takes us from the 1990s and early 2000s, when

Jake was an up-and-comer on the hawaii circuit,

to his recent endeavors, entertaining thousands in

opera houses worldwide and inspiring residents in

tsunami-devastated sendai.

nakamura with his visuals and shimabukuro with

his music collectively tell a story that complements

each other elegantly, resulting in nakamura’s best

film to date. and while life on four strings

doesn’t wear identity or politics on its sleeve, the

film’s glimpse into Jake shimabukuro’s personal

journey of artistic legitimacy for both himself and

the ukulele as an instrument is an underdog story

that resonates as a story for all asian americans.

– erwin Mendoza

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jULIANnOv. 6 (tUeSDAY), 4:00PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY (fRee)

usa | english | 40 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR bao nguyen

Best student documentary short, 2012 Palm springs shortFestsponsored by hom family foundation

When lance Corporal Julian brennan was killed by a

roadside bomb, he became the first combat death in

afghanistan during barak obama’s presidency. but

brennan left behind more than just a chapter break

in american military history; he left behind countless

first-person videos of himself narrating his difficult

decision to enter the military, especially given his

family’s complicated history with war.

bao nguyen’s short feature Julian collects

brennan’s vlogs and intercuts them with video

footage of brennan from his youth, and interview

footage with his family today. Cutting between

three temporalities and three documentary modes

(chronological first-person diaries, retrospective

talking-heads, non-chronological archival footage),

Julian enacts the complexity that is free choice

and its mystery. Julian’s final decision and fate, told

to us in the film’s opening titles, becomes refracted,

and complicated through talk about Julian’s love for

performance and through the constant image of

Julian’s face, especially during a mesmerizing and

impossible-to-pin-down scene of haircutting. the

result is a moving exploration of the unknowable: just

what goes on in the mind of somebody who decides

to put his life on the line. – Brian Hu

Preceded by: WILLusa | 5 mins | 2012

DIRECTOR eusong lee

as a father leaves for work one fateful september

morning, a child dreams.

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LANd BEFORE TIMEnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 5:00PM,


97 mins

fantastic futurisms, ghostly longings,

poetic undertows – six of our very best

shorts delve into land, personhood and

surprising intimacies.

MONdAy MONdAyDIRECTOR eric K. Yue

usa | 18 mins | 2012

elderly Chinese woman is determined to leave her

mark on the world before departing.

LAST REMARKSDIRECTOR umar riaz

usa, Pakistan | 17 mins | 2012

a revealing confession from a troubled servant in the

final minutes of his life.

ThE ChINESE GARdENSDIRECTOR valerie soe

usa | 17 mins | 2012

specters from Chinese immigrants in the Pacific

northwest at the turn of the 20th century.

dOL (FIRST BIRThdAy)DIRECTOR andrew ahn

usa | 12 mins | 2012

uncle nick attends his nephew’s special day and

yearns for a life out of reach.

OBAKEDIRECTOR Christopher makoto Yogi

usa | 13 mins | 2011

Japanese man in his final days is haunted by joyful

times from his past.

ThAT WhICh ONCE WASDIRECTOR Kimi takesue

usa | 20 mins | 2011

a young boy discovers his identity with the help of a

lonely ice sculptor.

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LATE SUMMERnOv. 5 (MOnDAY), 6:20PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

usa | english | 57 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR ernie ParkCAST michelle lynn hardin, tamiko robinson, Jessica townsend

west coast Premiere

2012 george c. Lin emergingFilmmaker Award recipient


if Yasujiro ozu could set a film in the black south,

it might look a lot like late summer, ernie Park’s

glowing adaptation of films like ozu’s Late Autumn.

Park not only riffs on ozu’s tales of family love and

social belonging, he crafts a kindred poetic language,

one born little by little, over time... in nashville.

Park’s tennessee is unlike any on screen before.

Without a cowboy hat or gospel singer in sight, late

summer moves – make that strolls – through a black

community filled with riches: friends in bookstores,

poetry readings, academic debates, old charmers,

respectful crushes – the sort of extraordinary gift

of living where the corner store clerk is lookin’ out,

where running into people is filled with pleasure.

against this idyllic moment, nadia struggles with a

choice between leaving for university or opening a

teashop with her mother, recently recovered from

a serious illness. everyone has an opinion: choose

college. but nadia is quiet, and daily life with her

mother sonya (tamiko robinson) is so close, tender,

and gracious that college as an obvious good is no

longer so obvious.

ernie Park expands asian american filmmaking with

this masterful and heartfelt film, relaxing us into the

bittersweet feeling of a fading day. late summer’s

visuals shimmer, the performances breathe, and the

emotion comes not from conflict but from grace –

from knowing peace and deciding whether to leave

one kind of joy for the unknown. – christina ree

Preceded by: AN EARLy SUMMERusa | 17 mins | 2012

DIRECTOR lu lu

for Chinese migrants in los angeles, a season of

love ushers in hard choices.

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MONSTROUS WOMENnOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 2:00PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

99 mins

in these shorts, excessive women trouble,

arouse, twist, and trespass the limits of

the familiar.

co-presented by UcSD women’s center

EVERy dEATh hAS A STORyDIRECTOR Joseph mangat

usa | 15 mins | 2012

Woman rolls on gloves, watches infomercial, wipes

blood off toaster, walls, cabinets, floor.

BLEAChEdDIRECTOR Jessica dela merced

usa | 14 mins | 2011

beware the filipino ex-beauty queen armed with

whitening cream, especially if she’s your mother.

TWO SECONdS AFTER LAUGhTERDIRECTOR david rousseve

indonesia, usa | 16 mins | 2011

a docu-dance odyssey based on the explosive

indonesian dancer sri susilowati.

PRETTy PICTURESDIRECTOR Christina sun Kim

usa | 15 mins | 2012

desire twists in this gothic tale of a girl, her sexy

imaginary friend, and a perverse family web.

MOThERLANdDIRECTOR shariq siddiqui

usa | 16 mins | 2012

When mother becomes smother, amed schemes

escape in this sketch comedy.

AdVANTAGEOUSDIRECTOR Jennifer Phang

usa | 23 mins | 2012

sci-fi technology and desperate times set up an aging

spokeswoman to make a chilling decision.

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MR. CAO GOESTO WAShINGTONnOv. 2 (fRiDAY), 4:00PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY (fRee)nOv. 7 (weDneSDAY), 6:00PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

usa | english | 71 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR s. leo Chiang

inspiration Award, 2012 Full Frame documentary Film Festival

sponsored by hom family foundationco-presented by harvard club of San Diego, cSUSM APifSA, Asian Pacific islander American Public Affairs Association, Asia Pacific American coalition


dubbed the “accidental Congressman” from new

orleans, the political career of ang “Joseph” Quang

Cao is certainly an unlikely one. a survivor of the fall

of saigon, Cao sought to become a priest but fate

had a different course for him: Capitol hill.

as the first vietnamese american in Congress,

Cao’s surprise election in the heavily african

american district in louisiana was historic, marking

the first time in more than 100 years that voters

would send a republican to represent them. With

political stakes high, Cao naively placed his bets on

bipartisanship.

intimately familiar with the complicated political

climate of post-Katrina new orleans, mr. Cao

goes to Washington, by filmmaker s. leo Chiang

(A village called versailles, sdaff ’10), provides a

timely and captivating portrait of a political rookie

whose idealism comes face-to-face with the reality of

racial and partisan politics. – Lee Ann Kim

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NI hAO KAI-LAN& FRIENdS

nOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 10:00AM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY (fRee)

62 mins

our popular free program for youngsters

returns with another fun-filled morning

headlined by Kai-lan, the adorable

adventure-seeking character from nick

Jr’s ni hao, Kai-lan television series. it’s

followed by some kid-friendly live action and

animation short films.

sponsored by

co-presented byBarnard Mandarin Magnet elementary

ThE hULA dUCK dANCE PARTyusa | 24 mins | 2012 | 2d

STUDIO nickelodeon

Kai-lan invites us to a dance party

at the hula ducks’ island beach

house!

FLIGhT OF ThE FANTASyusa | 6 mins | 2012 |

live aCtion

DIRECTOR anthony Pang

from flight crew to broadcast

announcer to a boy’s backyard, an

airplane fantasy springs to life.

TRICK-OR-TREATusa | 4 mins | 2011 |

live aCtion

DIRECTOR Joshua hoh

an old man runs out of candy to

give out on halloween, so he’s

forced to get creative.

A hAPPy WIShtaiWan | 12 mins | 2011 | Cg

DIRECTOR Jack shih

a little girl named tin-tin escapes

the daily grind of school by

stretching her imagination and

disappearing into her fantastical

adventures.

WhEN I GROW UPusa | 3 mins | 2012 |

2d digital

DIRECTOR Jasmin lai

a girl doesn’t know what she

wants to be when she grows up.

BRIdGEusa | 3 mins | 2010 | Cg

DIRECTOR ting Chian tey

four animals need to cross the

same bridge. Who will win?

ThE STORyTELLERuK | 10 mins | 2011 |

live aCtion + 2d

DIRECTOR nandita Jain

7-year-old nirmala attempts to

grapple with the demons of her

granddad’s dementia when he

starts to forget the details of her

favorite story.

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Oh ThE PLACESyOU’LL GOnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 1:55PM, UltRAStAR MiSSOn vAlleY

94 mins

from the simplest crush to political

upheaval, these shorts from around the

world break down barriers of justice, love,

and myth itself.

co-presented by San Diego Arthouse Movies

WONdER BOyDIRECTOR Corrie Chen

australia | 15 mins | 2011

Young Chinese boy finds the going get rough while

adapting to his new surroundings.

UNRAVELDIRECTOR meghna gupta

united Kingdom | 14 mins | 2012

tons of discarded clothing arrives in india to meet a

different kind of fate.

ALL ThE LINES FLOW OUTDIRECTOR Charles lim Yi Yong

singaPore | 21 mins | 2011

mysterious waterways outline the old and new in

singapore.

ShEDIRECTOR moon seong-hyeok

south Korea | 17 mins | 2012

a housekeeper’s Cinderella-like fantasy turns into a

very different kind of fairy tale.

jOhNNy LOVES dOLORESDIRECTOR Clarissa de los reyes

usa | 27 mins | 2012

two filipino immigrants connect unconventionally in

new York City.

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QUEER 2.0nOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 7:00PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

92 mins

from online angst to fantasy females,

the latest version of queer life is more

complex than ever.

co-presented by we All test, north county lGBtQ Resource center, Greater

San Diego Business Association, Guys like Us, San Diego PflAG, San Diego

POZabilities, San Diego Gay Men’s chorus, UcSD lGBt Resource center

GOOGLE ChROME: yOURS TRULyDIRECTOR hieu tran

usa | 2 mins | 2012

uCsd grad directs this viral

response to a commercial about

a loving apology.

OUTDIRECTOR blaine ludy

usa | 10 mins | 2011

a felon gets a surprise when

trying to connect with his

estranged son.

PRETTy PICTURESDIRECTOR Christina sun Kim

usa | 15 mins | 2012

desire twists in this gothic tale of

a girl, her sexy imaginary friend,

and a perverse family web.

KIMChI FRIEd dUMPLINGSDIRECTOR Jason Karman

Canada | 14 mins | 2012

gay-on-gay family drama unfolds

at a Christmas gathering.

RITES OF PASSAGEDIRECTOR Jeff roy

usa, thailand | 19 mins |

2012

a transsexual female takes an

emotional trip to thailand for

reassignment surgery.

RAyMONdDIRECTOR mark reyes

PhiliPPines | 17 mins | 2011

a dying gay man seeks forgiveness

from the lover he abandoned.

ThE QUEEN OF My dREAMSDIRECTOR fawzia mirza

& ryan logan

usa | 3 mins | 2012

a bollywood love story with a

queer twist.

dOL (FIRST BIRThdAy)DIRECTOR andrew ahn

usa | 12 mins | 2012

uncle nick attends his nephew’s

special day and yearns for a life

out of reach.

connected to the arts

We applaud the San Diego Asian Film Foundation for their ongoing work that does so much to enrich our hearts and minds. As a sponsor of the arts, we’re strong believers in the power of both self expression and the human experience through film. And we proudly support those organizations that share our vision.

Connect at sdge.com

©2012 San Diego Gas & Electric Company. All copyright and trademark rights reserved. 0812

REEL VOICESnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), nOOn,

UltRAStAR MiSSOn vAlleY (fRee)

90 mins

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 work of nine students whose works

touch on issues ranging from cultural heritage, to work, to just having fun.

free post-screening receptionsponsored by Chipotle and Popeye’s.

NARUWAN TAIKODIRECTOR emily Johnson

6 mins

this film provides an insider’s

perspective of naruwan taiko, a

Japanese drumming group from san

diego, California. naruWan taiKo

highlights the teamwork, creativity,

and physical strength necessary to

perform with this highly skilled group.

TEENAGE TIMEDIRECTOR ashley shin

7 mins

how exactly do teenagers spend their

time? teenage time takes a unique

approach to answering this question.

AS ASIAN TEENS, WE hOLd A hERITAGEDIRECTOR sunny Kim

5 mins

a group of teenagers at a high school

in san diego show how it is their role

to maintain the asian heritage as

people who fit into america’s jigsaw

puzzle called “diversity.”

LIFE 100 POUNdS LIGhTERDIRECTOR adrian altez

5 mins

We all have our insecurities. life

100 Pounds lighter highlights

an amazing physical and emotional

transformation while showing that

sometimes the only person who can

help you is you.

A NEW MARINEDIRECTOR Juan gonzalez

7 mins

this film follows the last few days

of a young marine recruit before

he leaves for boot camp. a neW

marine highlights the motivation and

commitment of a new teenage marine

and features moving interviews with

the family members he will be leaving

behind.

My LIFE IN 5 MINUTESDIRECTOR tram ho

5 mins

this film offers a unique view into

the life of a vietnamese teen as

she reflects on her journey to the

united states and the pursuit of the

american dream.

UNFORGETTABLE NIGhTDIRECTOR Clementine mukarukundo

5 mins

unforgettable night provides

a detailed look at the lives of

teen refugees after fleeing the

democratic republic of Congo. told

from three unique perspectives,

this film highlights the struggles of

those forced to flee their war-torn

homeland.

LIFE UNdER ThE hOOdDIRECTOR Joseph Wilson

7 mins

under the hood provides an

intimate look into the life of a foster

kid learning the craft of automotive

maintenance. this film highlights the

amazing journey of a young man living

and working toward a life where he

can ultimately help others.

BEGINNINGSDIRECTOR Kathleen silverstein

6 mins

this film provides an intimate look

into the life of an adoptee. this

highly personal film explores the

filmmaker’s history, including a trip

back to her orphanage in suzhou

China. beginnings shows us that

there is nothing more important than

the bond and love that you share with

your family.

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REVENGE SERVEd hOTnOv. 9 (fRiDAY), 5:45PM,


95 mins

righteous, shmiteous. these whipsmart

shorts consider revenge in all its grimy,

moral and delicious disarray.

ThE 5DIRECTOR ravi Kapoor

usa | 17 mins | 2012

five brothers have trouble figuring out how to

avenge their mother’s death.

REUNIONDIRECTOR Jason Z. Wong

usa | 19 mins | 2012

longtime friends discover resolution involves two

different paths.

TO WANdER IN PANdEMONIUMDIRECTOR eddie Kim

usa | 24 mins | 2009

single dad resorts to anything just to improve his

no-win situation.

TERRA COTTADIRECTOR Yasmine gomez

usa | 6 mins | 2011

a young woman discovers her new roommates

have strange views about idol worship.

ThIEFDIRECTOR Jay Chern

taiWan | 29 mins | 2011

a stolen phone results in an unusual emotional

connection between perpetrator and victim.

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Sd BLOCK PARTynOv. 6 (tUeSDAY), 8:40PM, UltRAStAR MiSSOn vAlleY

76 mins

a celebration of local talent, featuring

killer moms, flirtatious dogs, and a man

named mr. toilet.

directors, cast, & crew scheduled to attend

MIRROR MOTELdireCtor adam lee

usa | 11 mins | 2012

a man with a guilt-ridden

past hopes to move forward

emotionally.

GhOSTS OF ThE CALIFORNIA SUNdireCtor Jason low

usa | 12 mins | 2012

reflections on the past and

present while traveling up the

California coast.

MEET MR. TOILETdireCtor Jessica Yu

usa | 3 mins | 2012

one man’s crusade to provide

basic sanitation for millions.

REEL VOICES jOURNEydireCtor Kathy sangha and the

reel voices Journey students

usa | 12 mins | 2012

refugee students at Crawford

high school document their

stories of migration.

GENIE BOOT CAMPdireCtor george Ye

usa | 7 mins | 2012

a teenager’s wish is granted: to

learn a skill not offered at your

typical trade school.

ThIS IS NOT A FILM dE FEMMEdireCtor sean dejecacion

usa | 7 mins | 2012

trolley-ride observations trigger

fantasies between a man and a

woman.

EVERy dEATh hAS A STORydireCtor Joseph mangat

usa | 15 mins | 2012

Woman rolls on gloves, watches

infomercial, wipes blood off

toaster, walls, cabinets, floor.

dOGGIE STyLEdireCtor rommel andaya

usa | 5 mins | 2012

a dog proves you can teach a

young man old tricks.

RULE 43direCtor mark gadia

usa | 4 mins | 2012

two men. one fight. Just don’t

break rule 43.

the 13th annual san diego asian film festival

SEEKING ASIAN FEMALEnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 1:25PM,


usa | english & mandarin Withenglish subtitles | 84 mins |

video | 2012DIRECTOR debbie lum

official selection, 2012 south By southwest Film Festival

co-presented by Bionic Sisters Productions


steven is a white man with a dream. now in his

60s, he scours numerous catalogs and websites

in search of a young Chinese wife. after fruitlessly

corresponding with numerous women online,

and even making some in-person visits, he finally

convinces sandy, a young woman from anhui, to

become his bride. however, when sandy finally

arrives in san francisco, steven gets much more

than he bargained for.

directed and narrated with considerable wit by

Chinese american filmmaker debbie lum, who

herself gets drawn unexpectedly into the story as

the couple’s interpreter and marriage counselor,

seeKing asian female examines the effect that

the internet, stereotypes, and racially-based dating

preferences can have on love and marriage in

the 21st century. furthermore, lum’s linguistic

connection with sandy reveals on camera the

subjectivity of a woman who decides to move across

the world for a man she can barely talk to. steven,

who doesn’t understand a lick of mandarin, hasn’t

a clue.

that which originally appears to be an analysis of

the “yellow fever” phenomenon, develops into an

even richer examination of modern relationships

and a fascinating look at one of the most unusual of

all love stories. – gene Huh

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ShANGhAI CALLINGnOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 2:15PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

usa, China | english & mandarinWith english subtitles | 100 mins |

video | 2012DIRECTOR daniel hsiaCAST daniel henney, bill Paxton,eliza Coupe, Zhu Zhu

Best new Actor, 2012 shanghai international Film FestivalBest new director, 2012 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

sponsored by

co-presented by Giving Back Magazine


the immigration story is as old as america itself.

the 21st century, however, sees the rise of the

reverse: the story of the expat, in particular the one

who moves to a major metropolis in China, where

commerce is king and english is as much the lingua

franca as mandarin. in these uncharted waters of

mobility and migration are fresh laughs and new

possibilities of what it means to be asian american.

in the case of shanghai Calling, we meet

sam (daniel henney), a hot-shot lawyer in new

York moving up the corporate ladder with another

successful closing. Just when he thinks he’s about

to make partner, he’s told to pack his bags for

shanghai to coddle a client. unluckily for sam,

despite his looks and last name, he doesn’t speak a

lick of Chinese. luckily for him, awaiting his arrival

in shanghai is bilingual relocation specialist amanda

(eliza Coupe) who knows her way around expat

central (“america town”), run by longtime resident

donald (bill Paxton). after a legal mess erupts, sam

must put out the fire with the help of shanghai’s

colorful cast of wayfarers.

in only his first full-length feature, writer-director

daniel hsia showcases impressive chops for

delivering as breezy, charming, and entertaining

a romantic comedy as any on either side of the

Pacific. – eric Lallana


ThE ShEIK & InOv. 5 (MOnDAY), 8:50PM,

UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 9 (fRiDAY), 4:00PM,

UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY (fRee)

usa, united arab emirates |

107 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR Caveh Zahedi

official selection, 2012 south By southwest Film Festival

co-presented by KPBS, nomads theatre company

filmmaker Caveh Zehedi is not one to shy from

the camera or from controversy. Known for his

inventive, funny, and contentious first-person essay

films that provoke both audiences and his cinematic

subjects – films like i don’t Hate Las vegas

Anymore, in which he persuades his family to take

ecstasy with him in order to prove the existence of

god, and i Am a sex Addict, in which he chronicles

his ten-year struggle to overcome an addiction to

prostitutes – Zahedi is back to his antics with the

sheiK & i, and this time he’s commissioned to do it.

invited by a middle eastern biennial to direct a

film on the theme of “art as a subversive act,”

Zehedi decides to make a film about making “art

as a subversive act,” all while attempting to poke

fun at the sheik of sharjah, the emirate’s ruler and

financier of the biennial. not amused by Zahedi’s

subversion, the biennial bans the film for blasphemy

and Zahedi is threatened with arrest and a fatwa.

amazingly, this is where Zahedi thrives as a

filmmaker. Where most would count a shut-down

as a loss, he revels in the obstacles and makes the

friction – itself full of humor, irony, and performance

– the content of the film itself. in lampooning its

source of funding, the sheiK & i becomes more

than just a film about the making of a film, but

rather the unmaking of it – and the unmaking of

our assumptions about creation and correctness.

– Joseph Mangat

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SON OF ANIMAL STyLEnOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 1:00PM, UltRAStAR MiSSOn vAlleY

85 mins

When i edited giant robot from 1994-2010,

most readers probably didn’t understand why

an asian pop culture magazine would feature

so much skateboarding. the reason was that

skating has informed and influenced pretty much

everything in my world: the music i listen to, the

art i like, the clothes i wear, and the places i go.

Cinema, too. son of animal stYle features

new, excellent work by independent american

filmmakers (who happen to be my friends) who

brilliantly convey not only the rush of rolling

on four wheels but also how the energy and

creativity spill over into so many other facets of

life. – Martin Wong

ThE WORKING MANDIRECTOR samrod shenassa,

randal Kirk ii, Wing Ko

usa | 9 mins | 2011

in this noir-inspired short, a young

rogue, armed with a new suit and

new gear, has been recruited as a

double agent for madam l.

PERFECT TIMEDIRECTOR Wing Ko

usa | 3 mins | 2012

four grown men skate on candy-

colored plastic boards through various

downtown l.a. obstacles, landmarks,

and locales in search of pizza.

ThE BROThERhOOd: ChICAGODIRECTOR Wing Ko

usa | 35 mins | 2012

featuring more than 20 years of

previously-unseen footage, this

documentary traces the fates of

three first-wave skaters from the

second City.

TRAVELING SOUNdSDIRECTOR ben Clark,

langdon taguiped

usa | 17 mins | 2011

Pro skater and musician ray barbee

travels to ventura to meet thump

drums maker andrew “Jenkins”

Jones and Xoco moraza from rey

fresco.

WIdE ANGLE SOUNdS:MARIO RUBALCABADIRECTOR ben Clark,

langdon taguiped

usa | 5 mins | 2011

a video portrait of ex-professional

skater and drummer mario

rubalcaba.

WILLy SANTOS VS. jO KOyDIRECTOR angela Calero

usa | 5 mins | 2012

og skater for birdhouse Willy

santos and proudly Pinoy stand-up

comedian Jo Koy go mano a mano

in a san diego skatepark.

SAMPLERDIRECTOR darin lee, Conor

mcgivern

usa | 11 mins | 2012

a fat and totally biased slice of

hawaii’s skateboarding scene, from

makiki skatepark to diamond head’s

vacant Cannon Club.

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UPLOAdEd: ThE ASIAN AMERICAN MOVEMENT

nOv. 6 (tUeSDAY), 6:25PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

usa | english |

80 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR Kane diep

PRODUCERS Kane diep, farah moriah, Julie Zhan

EDITORS rommel andaya, mark gadia

director & crew scheduled to attend

long relegated to exaggerated stereotypes that

lampoon, oppress, or make irrelevant completely,

asians americans were able to sidestep the

embarrassing film and tv caricatures and find

creative outlets with self-representations in

independent films like the landmark Better Luck

tomorrow in 2002. Yet, that brief window of

possibility did not translate into an explosion of

opportunity in the mainstream.

these cycles of pessimism make the massive

popularity of asian americans on digital moving

image channels like Youtube all the more

impressive and empowering. Young videomakers

and performers like ryan higa, Christine gambino,

and Kevin Wu have in many ways redefined asian

american mainstream and niche identities – and

have been extraordinarily successful in the process.

first-time feature filmmaker Kane diep’s uPloaded:

the asian ameriCan movement examines the

movement of asian american actors, filmmakers,

dancers, and musicians to the digital sphere, and

the movement it has created in audiences and in

popular culture more generally. through insightful

interviews with asian american performers of both

old and new media, the documentary imagines social

media as a democratic platform to revolutionize the

asian american creative arts. – eric Lallana

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VIETTEnOv. 5 (MOnDAY), 7:00PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 7 (weDneSDAY), 8:10PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

usa | english & vietnamese Withenglish subtitles | 90 mins |

video | 2012DIRECTOR mye hoangCAST mye hoang, sean mcbride, Chi Pham


viette begins like many an asian american film.

viette, a young vietnamese american woman,

carries the stress of getting into college while hiding

a white boyfriend from stifling immigrant parents

who can’t resist scapegoating the americans and

those who love them. but then it goes somewhere

that resembles no asian american film before,

stretching a decade tearfully, holding nothing back

be it sexual or violent, and calling for a woman’s

voice to make sense of life’s ironies.

by the film’s elegiac close, viette is like no asian

american film because mye hoang is like no other

asian american filmmaker. it’s a textbook auteurist

work – hoang is the director, writer, producer, and

lead actor – with an eye only on what seems to

be painful truths: dark sides of fairy tales more

compromised than enchanting.

every frame in viette screams its need to exist.

it’s hard to talk about viette as just a film, but

a personal film, one which in many ways defies

analysis the way a diary shrugs off critique by the

force of its sheer existence. but to not speak of

the film’s construction is to miss the careful ways

in which viette’s courageous resolve despite being

a suffocated teen or conflicted adult comes out

through sparkling cranes and Christmas lights,

and especially through a haunting pop score that

somehow freezes time like a prom slow dance and

points waywardly toward freedom. – Brian Hu


ThE WORLdBEFORE hER

nOv. 5 (MOnDAY), 6:35PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

Canada | english, hindi,marathi, guJarati With

english subtitles | 90 mins |

video | 2012DIRECTOR nisha Pahuja

Best documentary Feature,2012 tribeca Film Festival

Best canadian Feature, 2012 Hot docs canadian international Film Festival

Best Foreign Film,2012 traverse city Film Festival

sponsored by theresa nguyen-Muth, State farm Agent

at the annual miss india pageant, young women

are thrown into the limelight to stand for the nation,

their gender, and themselves. at the durgha vahini

camp, young women learn to fight, fire, and defend

according to extremist tenants of hindu nationalism.

What might seem like two documentaries sewn

together is one of the most riveting, purposeful,

and intelligent takes on women facing the future in

recent memory.

as in errol morris’s Fast, cheap & out of control,

there’s a certain poetry to the way seemingly

irreconcilable worlds are interwoven. the cross-cuts

are remarkable, and through them we see how these

two extremes of femininity are shockingly similar:

the training of the body, the sacrifice of desire,

the negotiation of tradition. but far from critiquing

these extremes, which society, through lenses

of feminism, pacificism, and tradition are wont to

do, the World before her never scapegoats,

focusing on the bold ways in which these young

women confidently make sense of the lives they have

chosen. their gaze forward is full of contradiction,

but never do we doubt the clarity of their vision as

they step into the world.

Canadian documentarian nisha Pahuja gets

extraordinary access into both the militant training

camps and the beauty boot camps, and unflinchingly

captures in both worlds the sweat, spirit, and

excitement of never looking back. – Brian Hu

Preceded by: ThE QUEEN OF My dREAMSusa | 3 mins | 2012

DIRECTOR fawzia mirza & ryan logan

a bollywood love story with a queer twist.

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yES WE’RE OPENnOv. 2 (fRiDAY), 8:35PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

usa | english | 80 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR richard WongCAST lynn Chen, Parry shen, sheetal sheth, Kerry mcCrohan, dave boyle

Best screenplay, 2012 Los AngelesAsian Pacific Film Festival

director, cast, & crew scheduled to attend

somewhere between the sheets is happiness in

this sharp contemporary comedy from the writer-

director team of colma: the Musical (sdaff ‘06).

sylvia (lynn Chen) and luke (Parry shen) are a

typical young couple in the bay, neurotically poring

over the details of relationships in a modern age.

enter elena (sheetal sheth) and ronald (Kerry

mcCrohan), a couple with a “flexible” approach to

monogamy. against the backdrop of a progressive

city and its progressive lovers, sylvia and luke

test their modern-day values against their carnal

pleasures and the identities they thought they’d

already figured out. this is a sex-romp with heart,

intelligence, and bite for bay area living.

an all-star cast joins the dynamic duo of writer-

composer h.P. mendoza (Fruit Fly, sdaff ’09; i Am a

ghost, sdaff ‘12) and director richard Wong, who

once again enliven beautiful san francisco with wit,

humor, and self-reflexive playfulness. – Phillip Lorenzo

Preceded by: GOOd hEAdusa | 4 mins | 2012DIRECTOR richard Wong

the private and public lives of a woman who never

looks back.


MARK YOUR CALENDARS! IT’S COMING!

MAY 2-12, 2013 | SUBMIT YOUR FILM TODAY

WWW.VCONLINE.ORG/FESTIVAL

A V I S U A L C O M M U N I C A T I O N S P R O D U C T I O N

A S I A N F I L M F E S T L A @ A S I A N F I L M F E S T L A

THE LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL

2013_SDAFF Trade Ad A.indd 1 8/16/12 5:26 PM


A s i A P o P !

11 FLOWERSnOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 5:00PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 5 (MOnDAY), 4:35PM,


China, franCe | mandarin With english subtitles |110 mins | video | 2011

DIRECTOR Wang XiaoshuaiCAST liu Wenquing, Wang Jingchun, Yan ni

official selection, 2011 torontointernational Film Festival

official selection, 2011 Busan international Film Festival

official selection, 2012 international Film Festival rotterdam

co-presented by chinese School of San Diego, families with children from china, UcSD Asian

& Pacific islander Student Alliance

Without much ado, Wang Xiaoshuai has emerged in

the last 10 years as one of China’s most decorated

and respected filmmakers, picking up hardware at

seemingly all the major european festivals. he’s

done it largely through no-nonsense, effective, and

street smart films about modern China. in other

words, he’s a lot like the adorable 11-year-old at

the center of 11 floWers: a headstrong, genial

kid who makes do during the Cultural revolution

without much fuss, but with true conviction.

no surprise then that the kid, Wang han, is based

on Wang Xiaoshuai and his memories growing up

in those waning years of social turmoil. as with

Jiang Wen’s seminal in the Heat of the sun, 11

floWers looks at the Cultural revolution as a

memory, not a history lesson or an ideological tract.

there are games between schoolmates, scoldings

from parents, and worlds to discover. there’s a tale

about wanting a new shirt, only to have it stolen.

and there’s a dickensian adventure about meeting

a runaway criminal.

the Cultural revolution in the contemporary Chinese

imagination is fractured through these sorts of

wistful memories – through nostalgia, coming-of-

age, and individual experience. the memory that

is 11 floWers is a beautiful, vivid, and at times

funny one that never takes its eye off the social

violence just beyond the frame. – Brian Hu

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ACE ATTORNEynOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 8:50PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 5 (MOnDAY), 8:25PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

JaPan | JaPanese With english subtitles | 135 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR takashi miikeCAST hiroki narimiya, takumi saito,mirei Kiritani, akiyoshi nakao

official selection, 2012 internationalFilm Festival rotterdamAudience Award, 2012 new YorkAsian Film Festival

as junior partner of mia fey, rookie defense lawyer

Phoenix Wright kicks off his career by successfully

defending longtime friend larry butz. from there,

strange occurrences lead to a mysterious murder

which implicates Wright at the scene of the crime.

this dominoes into a string of connected cases of

increasing intrigue. With only one court victory under

his belt, Phoenix Wright must trust his talents (and

others’ paranormal abilities) in order to prove his

friend’s innocence.

takashi miike kicks 2012 into high gear with aCe

attorneY, a film that feels less like his violent

international breakthrough Audition, and more like his

bubbly recent adaptions Yatterman and ninja Kids!!!

(sdaff ’11). adapted from Capcom’s ever-popular

video game series, aCe attorneY retells the story

with miike’s stylish flair and faithfully gives the familiar

characters and situations a cinematic spin.

miike’s outrageousness matches the tone and mood

of aCe attorneY perfectly, and most impressively,

imbues the game elements with the appropriate

imagination on the level of story. gamers, sit back

and relax. miike doesn’t sell you short on how Phoenix

Wright and friends should be imagined on the big

screen. take that! – erwin Mendoza


ALL ABOUT My WIFEnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 1:40PM,

UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 7 (weDneSDAY), 5:45PM,


south Korea | Korean With english subtitles | 121 mins | video | 2012

DIRECTOR min Kyu-dongCAST lim soo-Jung, lee sun-Kyun,

ryoo seung-ryong

sponsored by

co-presented by USD communication Studies

it all came like a dream. Jung-in and doo-hyun meet-

cute under a table during an earthquake in Japan.

turns out they’re both Koreans living in nagoya:

she a beauty looking to practice her Japanese, he

a seismologist with Japanese to spare. they marry

in a k-pop heartbeat.

seven years later, doo-hyun feels more than an

itch. it’s more like a rash. his dream bride turns

out to be a quick-tempered, flame-throwing warden

on watch 24 hours a day. doo-hyun has to get out

of this earthquake of a marriage, but can’t bring

himself to utter the d-word. so instead of a divorce,

he goes for the opposite: seduction. noticing that

his neighbor’s doorway has become a runway of

international supermodels begging for love in every

language, he wonders if the Casanova-next-door can

seduce his wife and grant him his freedom. the

price of freedom, of course, is more than doo-hyun

can afford.

a classic screwball story with a sassy-girl spin,

all about mY Wife begins as an overdrive (un)

romantic comedy but hits the home stretch with

uncommon smarts about how men and women

adjust to each other, in good times and in bad. the

love-triangle sizzles thanks to the unshaven, sleepy-

eyed cynicism of the Casanova played by ryoo seung-

ryong (the Front Line, spring showcase ’12), the

manic desperation of lee sun-Kyun as doo-hyun,

and especially the blistering sadism of lim soo-Jung

(i’m a cyborg but that’s okay, sdaff ’07). – Brian Hu

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ARChITECTURE 101nOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 9:15PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

south Korea | Korean With english subtitles | 118 mins | dCP | 2012DIRECTOR lee Yong-JuCAST lee Je-hoon, bae suzy,uhm tae-Woong, han ga-in

closing night Film, 2012 shanghai international Film FestivalBest new Actress, 2012 Paeksang Arts Awards

first love is even more beautiful when it’s painful, no?

When the heart cramps with confusion or longs in

spite of one’s self. Yes, we’re talkin’ han, the suffering

– magic ingredient X of all Korean dramas. a 2012

Korean box office hit unusual for its resonance with

male audiences, arChiteCture 101 foregoes the

melodrama and delivers instead a touching depiction

of love that doesn’t land, and the near-miss that

haunts the heart forever.

helmed by an all-star cast (including suzy from

girl group miss a), arChiteCture 101 weaves

between young and old seung-min, a shy architecture

student falling in love for the first time, and the

now-professional hired decades later by the same

woman seo-yeon to rebuild her home. adult seung-

min is resilient and coy, a believable evolution from

hurt, except in his adult impulses we sense a young

boy wandering blindly toward unfinished feelings.

thoughtfully reminiscing over 1990s seoul (and

resurrecting sales of exhibition songs along the way),

the film binds place indelibly with emotion, from a

professor’s assignment to transform the city into a

map of memories, to seo-yeon’s final home built from

their awkward history together.

rising star lee Je-hoon (the Front Line, sdaff

spring showcase ’12) captivates as the young seung-

min. as misunderstandings accumulate, lee’s face

becomes the film’s touchstone, registering a heart

losing its bearings and the disorientation between

a young man’s modest hope and epic pain. it’s a

mesmerizing tension to watch him holding his gentle

heart at arm’s length, and a pleasure to watch love

finally send him aflutter. – christina ree


ChA ChA FOR TWINSnOv. 2 (fRiDAY), 8:00PM, UcSD

AtKinSOn hAll AUDitORiUM (fRee)nOv. 8 (thURSDAY), 7:35PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

taiWan | mandarin With english subtitles | 110 mins | dCP | 2012DIRECTOR Jim Wang, Yang Yi-Chien

CAST huang Peijia, Paul Chiang, lun ou Yang

north American Premiere

sponsored by tecO-lA

hollywood has gleefully churned out numerous

identical twin comedies of switching places and

parent-trapping, and they predictably show the

ups and downs and lessons learned. What sets

Cha Cha for tWins apart is the care it gives

to identity: being a twin is not simply physical, but

deeply personal too. of course, that doesn’t mean it

can’t also be enchanting.

17-year-old identical twin sisters Poni and mini

Chang (both huang Peijia) play on the school’s

basketball team and excel in the classroom. but at

their age, hormones have kicked in and new feelings

start to surface, especially for Poni when it comes

to boys, homework, and sports. Jealousy ensues

when younger twin mini gets romantic attention

from schoolmate Yogurt (lun ou Yang). Poni’s

struggle to display her differences reaches a high

point when Ping (Paul Chiang from Au revoir taipei)

takes notice of Poni...or is it mini? the follies of

mistaken identity ensue of course, but all toward a

surprisingly thoughtful conclusion.

Co-directors Jim Wang and Yang Yi-chien

accomplish with great fun the difficult job of

cinematically creating a world where two people

look identical but are far from it, while newcomer

huang Peijia shows nice subtlety playing both twins

as they transition into young adulthood and find a

place for themselves. –eric Lallana

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dANCING QUEENnOv. 7 (weDneSDAY), 8:00PM,cinePOliSnOv. 8 (thURSDAY), 4:00PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY (fRee)

south Korea | Korean With english subtitles | 124 mins | dCP | 2012DIRECTOR lee suk-hoonCAST uhm Jung-hwa, hwang Jung-min,lee han-wi, ra mi-ran

sponsored by

behind every great man, is an even more fabulous

dancing hot mama, wasting away in leg warmers until

she lands that big break. and for all of us wannabe

great men and dancing hot mamas, there is the lively

K-pop charmer danCing Queen which, like a good

hit of nescafe coffee mix, has all the ingredients

for a perky sweet time, not least of which includes

superstars hwang Jeong-min and real-life former

“Queen of Pop” uhm Jung-hwa.

Continuing the sunny (spring showcase ’12) trend

of Korean coming-of-age films for the middle-aged,

danCing Queen begins with a bang, taking us

from school-age crush to domestic doldrums in the

rush of a few music-packed, sight-gag-filled minutes.

hwang and uhm make the perfect bumbling couple,

entertaining us with their stubborn affection. uhm

plays a former 80s dance-floor-queen-turned-

aerobics-instructor who secretly auditions for an

American idol-style show, braving the ridicule that

ensues. her husband (hwang), a struggling country

lawyer with a knack for being an accidental hero, gets

tapped to run for mayor of seoul as a disingenuous

ploy by the ruling political party.

in their middle age, both get one last best chance

to chase their dreams: he as populist champion,

she for girl-group celebrity. but in a world of tongue-

wagging and age-policing, there’s room for only one

sequin-shimmering, live broadcast dream to shine.

What results is a hilarious tale of screwball love,

hidden identities, and a rousing ending that will have

the tears flowing as fast as you can dust off your

personal karaoke mic. danCing Queen delivers the

K-pop package at 100%: full of laughs, tears, music,

and socio-political heart.– christina ree


dOOMSdAy BOOKnOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 7:25PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 6 (tUeSDAY), 5:55PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

south Korea | Korean With english subtitles | 115 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR Kim Jee-Woon, Yim Pil-sung

CAST Kim Kang-Woo, Kim gyu-ri,ryoo seung-bum, Koh Joon-hee

Best Film, 2012 Fantasiainternational Film Festival

west coast Premiere

sponsored by

in three short films, two star directors joke and

philosophize at the ways we approach our own vitality

in dire circumstances. in “brave new World”, the

zombie apocalypse we’ve all secretly feared comes

with comedic tones and over-bearing moms. the

second short, “a heavenly Creature,” prepares us

for a world where subservient robots are the norm

and one robot in a buddhist temple surprises and

surpasses humanity by achieving enlightenment.

finally, “happy birthday” serves up the end of the

world via asteroid, and all we have are our weird,

hysterical families.

originally a collaboration between three directors,

doomsdaY booK survived production woes and

other end-of-the-world debacles with two directors

intact. With “a heavenly Creature,” Kim Jee-woon

(i saw the devil, A Bittersweet Life, sdaff ’06; A

tale of two sisters, sdaff ‘04) departs from his

recent genre stylings to deliver a film of remarkable

emotion and beauty. With “brave new World,” Yim

Pil-sung (Hansel & gretel, spring showcase ’11)

finds humor and love in the most hopeless places.

together, they make “happy birthday” an auspicious,

hilarious, and awkwardly delightful beginning to the

end of the world as we know it. – erwin Mendoza

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GF*BFnOv. 7 (weDneSDAY), 6:30PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

taiWan | mandarin With english subtitles | 105 mins | dCP | 2012DIRECTOR Yang Ya-cheCAST Kwai lun-mei, Joseph Chang,rhydian vaughn

opening night Film,2012 taipei Film Festival

director Yang Ya-che follows up his acclaimed debut

orz Boys with yet another look at growing up, the

environments that shape young people’s fates,

and the memories they end up taking with them.

however, it seems orz Boys was just practice for the

much more ambitious nostalgia trip gf*bf, which

covers three decades in the lives of three pegs in a

love triangle.

beginning in high school, mabel (Kwai lun-mei),

liam (Joseph Chang), and aaron (rhydian vaughn)

see their adolescent antics turn into unrequitable

love. their passions come to a head as taiwan’s

democracy movement does, and as martial law is

explosively lifted. “When you wake up, taiwan will no

longer be the same,” they’re told, but the awakening

is not merely one from a political slumber or even a

romantic one. it’s the rise of a whole new generation

of taiwanese, reared on graffiti and 80s rock.

harkening back to taiwanese cinema’s more fervent

90s, gf*bf wears politics on its sleeves and tears

on its cheeks. impassioned and romantic, Yang’s

starry-eyed sophomore feature stands out amongst

the year’s best for taiwanese cinema.


KAhAANInOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 3:30PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

india | hindi Withenglish subtitles |

128 mins | 35mm | 2012

DIRECTOR sujoy ghoshCAST vidya balan, Parambrata Chatterjee,

nawazuddin siddiqui, indraneil sengupta

sponsored by theresa nguyen-Muth, State farm Agent

one of the first things vidya bagchi learns when

she arrives to town is that in Kolkata, everyone has

two names. What starts off as a joke – the locals

can’t pronounce her name – comes to stand for a

city of many faces and denizens of indeterminable

identities. vidya has arrived to Kolkata from london,

where she and her husband arnab are computer

engineers. one day, arnab headed to india only to

eventually disappear without a trace. and so an

extremely pregnant vidya packs her bags and heads

to Kolkata.

on the surface, the town is bubbling with charming

folks – a boy at the guesthouse who brings “running

water,” stumbling cops eager to help – but soon vidya

steps into a labyrinthine mess of overlapping worlds

populated by shady characters like bob biswas, a

Peter lorre-looking assassin with an unforgettable

comb-over, and the elusive milan damji, who vidya

is told looks exactly like her husband. Kolkata is also

the scene of a mysterious gas attack that may or

may not have to do with vidya and her husband.

following the cleverly-planted twists and guessing

the outcome is half the fun. the other half is

watching the soaring vidya balan, who follows up

her award-winning performance in the dirty Picture

with a show-stopping role as a desperate woman

who holds her cards, and her emotions, close to

the heart. it’s a physical performance, with baby in

front and a bookbag on the back, as she runs about

town. balan pairs that physicality with an immensely

likeable courage to make her pursuit more than just

a charade-like game, but rather a passionate quest

to set things right. – Brian Hu

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NIGhTFALLnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 6:25PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 8 (thURSDAY), 8:35PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

hong Kong | Cantonese With english subtitles | 108 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR roy Chow hing-yeungCAST simon Yam, nick Cheung, Kay tse, michael Wong

for a man whose wife inexplicably committed suicide,

life events can be haunted by the possibility of the

impossible. for a cop whose wife committed suicide

in such mysterious conditions, it means no murder

case can ever truly be resolved.

on one such case, detective george lam (simon

Yam) investigates the brutal death of a larger-than-

life classical music icon (played by michael Wong),

and begins to investigate the intense, creepy mute

Wong Yuen-yueng (nick Cheung), a recently paroled

convicted murderer. after Wong’s capture and

detainment, things appear opened and shut. What

transpires though are more revelations to the

contrary and lam pursues every possibility, taking

him deep into the past of lovers and daughters.

director roy Chow hing-Yeung (Murderer) goes well

beyond his love-it-or-hate-it debut by employing every

trick in the hong Kong action arsenal, but succeeds

by delivering a well-paced, character-driven, and

totally surprising story that will make audiences want

to see it again. – eric Lallana


PAINTEd SKIN:ThE RESURRECTION



China | mandarin With englishsubtitles | 131 mins | video | 2012

DIRECTOR WuershanCAST Zhou Xun, vicky Zhao,

Chen Kun, mini Yang

opening night Film, 2012shanghai international Film Festival

co-presented by San Diego chinese historical Museum

love can mend hearts and bring people together.

love can also destroy kingdoms and cause war. love

can bring about desperations and bargains with

demons. in Painted sKin: the resurreCtion,

love steamrolls through all on a beautiful cinematic

canvas of lavish sets and ornate costumes.

Princess Jing (vicky Zhao) journeys for the man who

failed to protect her in her youth, huo Xin (Chen

Kun), now a general. she does this not for revenge,

but to reignite love. however, instead of finding the

general, she encounters two sumptuous demons:

Quer (mini Yang), a bird demon, and Xiaowei (Zhou

Xun), a fox demon, both in search of a human heart.

as the princess finally catches up with the general,

she is rejected, and she blames her disfigured

appearance, which has haunted her much of her

life. in desperation, Jing strikes a deal for the beauty

of Xiaowei, who in turn gets that much closer to the

beating heart she craves.

What follows is a sensually-charged action/

adventure with the fate of hearts, spirits, and nations

teetering to the whims of passion and jealousy.

What sets Painted sKin: the resurreCtion

apart from other mainland big-budget fantasies

(including gordon Chan’s 2008 stab at the Painted

skin saga), is its audacious sense of fun and its

sinister exploration of beauty, gender, and the skin

trade. already the highest-grossing film of all time in

China, Painted sKin: the resurreCtion brings

mongolian director Wuershan (the Butcher, the

Wife, and the swordsman) to the top ranks of

Chinese storytellers. – Phillip Lorenzo

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REMINGTON & ThE CURSE OF ZOMBAdINGSnOv. 9 (fRiDAY), 8:15PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

PhiliPPines | tagalog With english subtitles | 96 mins | video | 2011DIRECTOR Jade CastroCAST martin esudero, lauren Young,roderick Paulate

Best Asian Film, 2012 neuchâtel

international Fantastic Film Festival

sponsored by Jhigs & friendsco-presented by we All test, filmOut San Diego, Guys like Us, long Yang club of SD, San Diego Gay Men’s chorus

Producer/writer scheduled to attend

imagine a place where falling in love can be a drag.

Where masculinity and machismo appear out of

place in a town run by women. Where a menacing

killer attacks gay citizens one by one and the undead

rise up to exact their revenge. such is the world of

remington and the Curse of the Zombadings,

in which the titular remington, brilliantly played by

maximo oliveros’ doppelgänger martin escudero,

attempts to woo the new girl in town (lauren

Young) with his pretty-boy looks and cocky

smile. things go awry when remington experiences

a curious transformation that threatens his budding

romance and puts him in danger of becoming the

next victim. in an attempt to spare his life, remington

joins forces with the queen (roderick Paulate) who

cursed him as a child and accidentally summons an

army of super bongga zombadings!

the third feature by independent filmmaker

Jade Castro (My Big Love, My Kontrabida

girl), remington blends the supernatural elements

of filipino horror with the teen romance to create

a genre-bending film full of fabulous twists and

sensational turns that will quicken the heart of even

the undead. but, beneath the feel-good camp and

remington’s beki charm is a classic coming-of-age

story that reminds us of the importance of being

true to yourself. – Malou Amparo


STARRy STARRy NIGhTnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 1:45PM,

UcSD AtKinSOn hAll AUDitORiUM (fRee)

taiWan, hong Kong, China |

mandarin & frenCh With english subtitles | 99 mins | video | 2011

DIRECTOR tom shu-yu linCAST Xu Jiao, rene liu, lin hui-min,

Kenneth tsang

sponsored by tecO-lAco-presented by

nomads theatre company

13-year-old mei is getting old enough to understand.

that her parents’ home is full of beautiful french

impressionist art, but is missing the warmth of family.

that Jay, the scrawny kid bullied at school, may be

an outcast, but is no more a loner than mei. that

all things must come to end: her parents’ marriage,

her grandfather’s life, and indeed childhood itself.

With the world closing in, mei looks to the expansive

out-there mapped by the starry, starry night, leading

to an unforgettable adventure into the woods with

Jay in tow. tom shu-yu lin (Winds of september,

sdaff ’09) directs the best film adaptation to date of

a Jimmy liao illustrated novel, capturing exquisitely

the sublimity of liao’s fantasy worlds, the feeling of

smallness of people in their wondrous environments,

and the boundless heart that keeps the characters’

curiosities charging against the winds of loneliness.

a cast of veterans leads the way – singer-actors

rene liu and harlem Yu as mei’s jaded parents,

hong Kong legend Kenneth tsang as a gentle

grandfather. but it is Xu Jiao (the boy from cJ7) who

is the heart of the film as mei, a wide-eyed forager

of remnants of a childhood slipping away: puzzle

pieces, origami animals, imaginary friends. she’s

scared and hesitant, but has a budding boldness

that helps her shape her own destiny between

taiwan and the west, between reality and fantasy,

between innocence and experimentation. tom lin

captures the inner world of a 13-year-old with great

sincerity and honesty, and colors that world with

delicate, magical strokes we’ve never quite seen

before. – Brian Hu

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10+10nOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 4:30PM,UcSD

AtKinSOn hAll AUDitORiUM (fRee)nOv. 5 (MOnDAY), 8:35PM,


taiWan | taiWanese, mandarin, & ataYal With english subtitles |

118 mins | dCP | 2011DIRECTOR hou hsiao-hsien, arvin Chen, Wang

shau-di, Wang tung, Chu Yen-ping, ho Wi-ding, Wu nien-chen, shen Ko-shang, hou Chi-jan,

sylvia Chang, Chang tso-chi, Chen Yu-hsun, Chen Kuo-fu, Yang Ya-che, Cheng Wen-tang,

Cheng Yu-chieh, hsiao Ya-chuan, leon dai, Chung mong-hong, Wei te-sheng

CAST shu Qi, Joseph Chang, leon dai, lin Ching-tai

official selection, 2012 Berlin Film Festival

sponsored by tecO-lAco-presented by taiwanese American

community center

in 1982-83, two omnibus films in taiwan faced off

against each other. in our time (1982) (page 108)

showcased four rookie directors, while the Wheel

of Life (1983) contained shorts by three old-timers.

between the two, in our time was the commercial

and critical success and built momentum for new

directors to challenge the status quo and launch

the taiwan new Cinema movement in the 1980s.

last year, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary

of the republic of China, the golden horse film

festival posed a similar face-off between old and new

by inviting 10 veterans and 10 relative newcomers

to make five minute short films about “taiwan’s

uniqueness.” the result is, unlike in our time, the

Wheel of Life, or the 1983 omnibus Four Moods

(1969), a collection of shorts strikingly diverse in

subject, tone, and style, ranging from the happy-go-

lucky of Wang tung, to the documentary ecstasy of

Cheng Wen-tang, to the youthful whimsy of arvin

Chen. some are deathly sincere, some jokey, some

aggressive, some mystical. and for a film produced

to commemorate a historical moment with master

narrative undertones, 10+10 has a wonderfully

diverse set of approaches to time itself – histories

breaking and intersecting, rhythms moving to the

eccentric pace of each director. each short is five

minutes, yet we feel 20 times over how differently

duration (and history) can be experienced.

and then there’s hou hsiao-hsien’s shimmering “la

belle epoque,” a short seeped in history, memory,

and continuity, yet it seems to exist outside of time

itself. it’s a masterful close to 10+10, a breath

of crisp autumn’s air that recalibrates any current

historicization of taiwanese cinema, and reminds

us that any evaluation of taiwan’s uniqueness must

include the reminder that the nation has a great

artist like hou hsiao-hsien. – Brian Hu

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ChIPSnOv. 2 (fRiDAY), 6:45PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 6 (tUeSDAY), 5:45PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

JaPan | JaPanese With englishsubtitles | 68 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR Yoshihiro nakamuraCAST gaku hamada, fumino Kimura,nao omori, eri ishida

west coast Premiere

sponsored by

a band of amateur thieves, a bag of consommé

potato chips, a baseball legend, a life-saving giraffe.

a film with such a rag-tag collection of characters

and surprises is perhaps too random to sustain plot

twists or dramatic reveals. it’s possibly too oddball

to deliver an emotional payoff. Yet, that ChiPs

leaves even the most jaded festival programmers

holding back tears by the end speaks to how deft

a work of plotting and characterization it is, and

how effortlessly that kookiness is handled, through

unexpected laughs and the unlikeliest empathy, by

director Yoshihiro nakamura (A Boy & His samurai,

sdaff ’11).

it’s a masterpiece of the reveal, with delightful

characters slowly accumulating atop each other

and propelling the story along bizarre turns and sly

flashbacks. a social misfit with savant tendencies (he

inadvertently discovers both newtonian gravity and

the Pythagorean theorem) has a special obsession

with a hometown baseball hero. his partner-in-crime

is a small-time thief who can’t look anybody in the

eye. director nakamura himself appears as a failed

ballplayer who now prefers to be called “the Ceo.”

there’s a girlfriend too, and a mother who does what

she pleases and steals the show – and the plot.

avoiding the kind of zany obscurity that many

Japanese comedies rely on, ChiPs concocts an

enchantment that can’t be explained so much as

evoked in pitch-perfect non-sequiturs and metaphoric

patterns of uncanny switching: pinch-hitting, trading,

upgrading. and then rounding the bases home:

finding roots, feeling one’s self-worth, re-discovering

a favorite flavor of potato chips. – Brian Hu


FIVE FINGERSOF dEATh

nOv. 2 (fRiDAY), 6:30PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

hong Kong | mandarin With english subtitles | 97 mins | video | 1972

DIRECTOR Chung Chang-whaCAST lo lieh, Kim Kee-joo, Chan Chuen,

Chan shen, tien fung, bolo Yeung

40th anniversary LifetimeAchievement Award screening

sponsored by vivalachi Alternative health & wellness Services

co-presented by three treasures cultural Arts Society


Chinese kung fu films had been produced as early

as the 1905 ding Jun Mountain, but it wasn’t

until march 21, 1973 that mainstream america

got a proper taste with Chung Chang-wha’s shaw

brothers extravaganza five fingers of death

(aka King Boxer).

Chao Chi-hao (lo lieh) is trained in kung fu in

order to defeat corrupt master ming’s students at

a martial arts tournament. ming hires malicious

Japanese samurai mercenaries and the horrific

head-butter Chen (Kim Kee-joo) to do dastardly

deeds, one being to break Chao’s hands and spirit.

broken and bloodied, Chao goes into hiding, heals,

learns the secret iron Palm skill, and then enters

the tournament. during the tournament’s ado,

nobody sees ming assassinate Chao’s master.

after Chao learns the truth, it’s time to battle ming

and the Japanese using his five fingers of death.

but who will really die?

try watching this film like it was 1973, when most

of us were clueless as to what this “fresh” genre

was all about, and were blown away to discover a

film that was like an american Western where feet,

fists, and swords replaced guns. it’s got glowing

red hands, iron palm kung fu, death strikes, and

audio shticks from the nbC-tv show ironside. it

was far out to learn that iron palm was real and

you could learn it too if you dared. now that’s cool,

man. – craig reid

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FLyING SWORdSOF dRAGON GATEnOv. 6 (tUeSDAY), 7:30PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

hong Kong, China | mandarinWith english subtitles | 122 mins |

3d dCP | 2011DIRECTOR tsui harkCAST Jet li, Zhou Xun, aloys Chen, mavis fan

Best Action choreography,2011 Hong Kong Film Awards

co-presented by

Asian Story theater

trouble awaits again at the dragon gate inn. the

mythical jianghu rest-stop, where martial heroes

and corrupt officials cross paths (and swords) with

bumbling innkeepers, is this time the setting of

a collision course between eunuchs in search of

defectors, nomads in search of treasure, and would-

be lovers separated by miles of desert sand and three

years of solitary devotion to the code of the warrior.

this time they join forces with other wayfarers looking

for adventure. and this time it’s in 3d.

director tsui hark is the undisputed master

of the modern swashbuckler, and here shows

that his previous detective dee was no one-off

resurrection of his 1980s’ and 90s’ brawn. With

flYing sWords of dragon gate, tsui brings

back the visual zingers, off-the-wall theatrics, and

androgenous heroes that have made him a legend.

always an innovator, as in films as diverse as the

special effects-showcase Zu Warriors of the Magic

Mountain and the high school (opera) musical the

Lovers, tsui gives a classic tale a contemporary

spin, this time testing how far he can take the flying

daggers, gravity-defying leaps, and breathtaking

blocks and parries into the third dimension. the

spectacular result is best captured in the film’s

cyclone-set climax: one of the most jaw-dropping

action scenes in martial arts cinema memory.

somewhere along the way, Jet li manages to whip

up unfriendly competition and Zhou Xun manages

to scare up fear and envy. but it’s the mysterious

aloys Chen who steals the show in two roles that

embody the great fun that is flYing sWords: full

of surprise and humor, teeming intrigue, and way

over-the-top wuxia swagger. – Brian Hu


ThE GREATCINEMA PARTy


PhiliPPines, south Korea |

english & tagalog With english subtitles | 70 mins | dCP | 2012

DIRECTOR raya martin


20 minutes into raya martin’s latest work the

great Cinema PartY, fellow filipino superstar

director lav diaz spectrally appears on screen

and jokily welcomes us to a party where andrei

tarkovsky and andre bazin will be attending. indeed,

the legends of film are everywhere: on the dreamy

ruin-scapes and in the determination to capture the

passing of fleeting moments onto film – what bazin

called “change mummified.”

but there are others at the party too. filipino

soldiers who fought for freedom. old movie idols

etched on walls. an editor of Cinema scope. You

and me, perhaps, with our smart phones and our

roving curiosity. and raya martin too, recently

named one of the world’s 40 best directors under

40, and who, at a mere 28-years-old already has

an oeuvre to be envied by filmmakers of any age.

the great Cinema PartY is another of martin’s

reimaginings of silent cinema to the pulse of a new

slacker joy. it’s a joy haunted by a past only known via

8mm memories, through which a youthful sense of

discovery and camaraderie emerges out of colonial

shadows that continue to linger on the surfaces of

buildings and objects. for martin, there is something

beautiful and conscionable about living with the past,

being at peace, and drinking/dancing/swimming

with it in the mysterious darkness.

in three black-and-white sequences – the first a

silent, eisensteinian montage of war footage, the

second a breezy walk through ruins, and the third

the titular party thrown at a community arts festival

– martin, without pretension and seemingly without

effort, longingly crafts an ode to the landscape of

cinephilia, and rewrites the rules of how to grieve,

remember, and celebrate. – Brian Hu

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IN ANOThER COUNTRynOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 4:15PM,MUSeUM Of PhOtOGRAPhic ARtS

south Korea | english & KoreanWith english subtitles |

89 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR hong sang-sooCAST isabelle huppert, Yu Jun-sang, Jung Yu-mi

official selection, 2012 cannes Film Festival

in another CountrY marks hong sang-soo’s

eighth film featured at the Cannes film festival,

where he won the Prix un Certain regard in

2010. Known for mostly-improvised, inventively-

constructed narratives in a unique, comic style,

hong sang-soo (the day He Arrives, sdaff ’11)

crafts in another CountrY along much the

same trajectory. this time out though, hong

strings along venerable french actor isabelle

huppert for the soju-laced ride; in fact, the film

was purportedly conceived so the two could work

together.

huppert plays three different roles in three different

stories – all as french tourists visiting a south

Korean seaside village. all three characters are

named anne, and all get involved in roundabout (and

hysterical) conversations with a local lifeguard. to

make things even more playful and self-referential,

the characters are conjured up by a bored student

filmmaker who passes her time by working on a

screenplay.

the film is a masterfully-crafted jazz riff on language

(the characters often speak broken english to

communicate), monogamy (all stories involve

infidelity in some form or another), and Korea’s

fetishization of western women (everyone thinks

isabelle huppert is beautiful). the way characters

come in and out of the dreams and also the way

scenes and dialogue repeat in each story but in

different contexts make the film quite whimsical.

add to that the use of sparse cutting and jokily

unmotivated zooms, and we’ve got hong sang-soo

at his playful best. – Joseph Mangat


IN OUR TIMEnOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 2:00PM, UcSD AtKinSOn hAll AUDitORiUM (fRee)

taiWan | mandarin With english & Chinese subtitles | 106 mins |

video | 1982DIRECTOR tao te-chen, edward Yang,

Ko i-chen, Chang YiCAST sylvia Chang, lee li-chun,

li Kuo-hsiu, shih an-ni

new 30th anniversary digital restoration

co-presented by nomads theatre company

With the sashaying, electric guitar loneliness that

begins santo & Johnny’s instrumental classic

“sleepwalk,” world cinema history is forever

changed. these are the nostalgic beginning notes

of a movement that captured the international film

community’s attention, and which defined many

of the most exciting directions that cinema would

take in the subsequent decades.

it was 1982, the early years in a decade that

would define taiwan’s emerging democracy –

its deshackling from martial law and cold war

paranoia. in these years, writers like Pai hsien-

yung and huang Chun-ming were in very different

ways breaking from the dominant narrative of the

republic of China and telling stories that were self-

reflexive and critical. some of their younger peers,

led by cultural renegades like Wu nien-jen, Chu

tien-wen, and edward Yang, became interested in

cinema and started hanging out at Yang’s house,

where they were joined by young blood already

in the film industry, including a budding director

named hou hsiao-hsien.

in our time is considered the first film of the

taiwan new Cinema movement. as the local film

market was quickly losing ground to competition

from hong Kong and hollywood, the government-

owned Central motion Picture Corporation decided

to give the kids a shot. in our time is a collection

of four shorts, each by a different rookie director,

and each about a different decade in taiwan’s

recent history. Collectively, they document a

generation growing up with college woes, sexual

discovery, and the hypnosis of american rock ‘n

roll. independently, they showcase the new voices

of young taiwan, including one from director

edward Yang (A Brighter summer day, Yi Yi),

who would go on to become one of the greatest

directors of all time. – Brian Hu

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ThE LANd OF hOPEnOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 6:30PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 8 (thURSDAY), 7:00PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

JaPan | JaPanese With englishsubtitles | 133 mins | dCP | 2012DIRECTOR sion sonoCAST isao natsuyagi, naoko otani, megumi Kagurazaka, Jun murakami, hikari Kajiwara

netPAc Award, 2012 toronto international Film Festival

west coast Premiere

co-presented by San Diego Yu Yu

for decades, sion sono has invaded our sensibilities,

exposed our lack of civility, and deconstructed our

carnal repressions and moral compasses. as he

did last year with Himizu, this master of cinema

has found a new direction to point his signature

sensibilities: fictional imaginings of the fukushima

disaster and its after-effects.

in the prefecture of nagashima (an amalgam of

Japan’s nuclear traumas), the ono family is torn

apart when an earthquake causes a nuclear

meltdown. the government draws danger zones

across the prefecture, going right down between

the houses of two next-door neighbors: the onos

and the suzukis. the elder ono Yasuhiko (isao

natsuyagi) makes the decision to stay in the “safe”

zone where their home lies, while the suzuki family

evacuates. sono captures the oft-surreal ways the

government exhibits denial through their policy,

discriminates across its citizenry, and causes mass

nuclear fear, all while telling a touching story of two

families and their struggles to stay united.

sono (cold Fish, sdaff ’11; Love exposure) builds

the social horror through imagery flavored by

hysteria, and then brings the audience closer to

family through unexpected displays of loyalty and

affection that only bubble to the surface at this

moment of frenzy. sono surrounds his brilliant

actors with beautiful and tragic imagery and feeds

them with wonderfully-written moments of conflict,

loss, and resolution. – Phillip Lorenzo


A MAN WITh STyLEnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 7:45PM,

UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 5 (MOnDAY), 6:05PM,


JaPan | JaPanese With english subtitles | 110 mins | video | 2011

DIRECTOR Yuya ishiiCAST Ken mitsuishi, tomorowo taguchi,

ryu morioka, Jun Yoshinaga

Audience Award, 2011 LA eigaFest

sponsored by

never the cool one in school, Junichi miyata was

the target of taunts and punches. on one tearful

day, he promised himself (with best friend sanada

as witness) to be a “cool guy” – effortlessly stylish

and devoid of all emotion.

fast forward decades to miyata as an adult, now

a widowed truck driver with two college-bound kids

who are eager to make their big move to tokyo.

his only friend is still sanada, whose easygoing

personality is resilient enough to tolerate miyata’s

now jagged cynicism. Worried that he may be dying

from the same ailment that took his wife, miyata

prepares for the imminent end and attempts to

connect with his children before departing – though

who will leave first remains unknown to miyata.

What ensues is a frantic but heartwarming journey

to learn more about his children as he himself

confronts the emotional barriers that distanced

him from his loved ones in the first place.

Wunderkind writer-director Yuya ishii manages

to craft yet another quirky tale with just the

right amounts of drama and adventure-seeking

delight. as the titular dandy, Ken mitsuishi gives

a charming performance as a stoic man with

masked vulnerabilities and a heart of gold, leaving

the audience pleasantly surprised at just how much

style he really has. – Maryanne Bilbao


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MEKONG hOTELnOv. 2 (fRiDAY), 6:00PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 5 (MOnDAY), 9:30PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

thailand | thai With english subtitles | 57 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR apichatpong WeerasethakulCAST Jenjira Pongpas, maiyatan techaparn, sakda Kaewbuadee, Chai bhatana

official selection, 2012 cannes Film Festival

west coast Premiere

apichatpong Weerasethakul has won nearly

every award a director can win at Cannes, and

has cinematically rendered his pet themes of

reincarnation and ghosts in seemingly every

imaginable direction: as mirrors (syndromes & a

century), in light and dark (tropical Malady), and

as wistful hauntings (uncle Boonmee Who can

recall His Past Lives, sdaff ’10). that, with each

new film, he still continues to find surprising new

angles on familiar subjects while exploding cinema’s

boundaries, demonstrates handily what a fountain

of creativity and world treasure he’s become.

meKong hotel is an experimental featurette that

shifts between fact and fiction, the secular and

the fantastic. it melds pieces from an unrealized

project (using previously-shot footage, including

behind-the-scenes shots of apitchapong auditioning

a musician and rehearsing actors), while exploring

the relationship between a vampire-like mother and

her daughter. scenes contain the same calming

and soothing spirit as the mekong river it’s shot

on, even when intestines are being eaten.

a film about filmmaking, apichatpong presents the

idea of longing and creation under the lustrous

thai sunset shade. like sifting through an artist’s

sketchbook, Mekong Hotel gives insight into the

creative process of one of today’s most innovative

and possibly greatest filmmakers. – Joseph Mangat

Preceded by:

SAKdAthailand, sWitZerland | 6 mins | 2012

DIRECTOR apichatpong Weerasethakul

a body in search of a name. a voice echoing along

the mekong river.


ROMANCING INThIN AIR

nOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 4:15PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

hong Kong | mandarin & Cantonese With english & Chinese subtitles |

114 mins | 35mm | 2012DIRECTOR Johnnie to

CAST sammi Cheng, louis Koo,li guangjie, gao Yuanyuan

Johnnie to is hands down one of the most interesting

filmmakers in the world. a darling of both critics

and audiences, only to can show you the same

scene four times and make you cry while your brain

synapses explode. funny, poignant, and almost

macabre, romanCing in thin air, is also one of

his most thematically ambitious and cinematically

elegant, and easily belongs with his best.

the opening credits vault us into the middle of a

hong Kong awards show and appropriately set the

tone, as ceremony, acting, storyline, text, credits,

beginning, and ending all mix to strange effect. the

film then cuts to something simpler: sue (sammi

Cheng), an innkeeper in a remote mountain retreat,

waits for a husband lost in the woods for seven

years. unbeknownst to her, she accidentally brings

home michael, a hong Kong superstar (louis Koo)

in a drunken downward spiral after being left at

the altar on national television. While the rest of

hong Kong searches for michael, romance buds

between him and sue. but a series of twists reveal

uncanny connections between them and the ways

movies and human stories can mess and unsettle

each other.

Johnnie to (don’t go Breaking My Heart, sdaff

’11; Life Without Principle, spring showcase ’12)

weaves pop fandom, buddhist destiny, cinema,

and breathtaking shots so seamlessly we barely

notice how the film is also deconstructing what is

happening before our very eyes, an incredible feat

achieved without a trace of irony or self-celebration.

– christina ree


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APPARITIONnOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 11:40AM,


PhiliPPines | tagalog With english subtitles | 87 mins | dCP | 2012

DIRECTOR vincent sandovalCAST mylene dizon, Jodi sta. maria,

raquel villavicencio

official selection, 2012 vancouver international Film Festival

sponsored by

it’s the early 1970s, and President ferdinand

marcos’ grip on the Philippines is tightening. student

protests rage and dissidents vanish without clue.

meanwhile, deep in the forest is a cloister convent

isolated from the rumbling world outside. radios

are banned and news is rare. however, as tensions

mount within the convent gates, free will inside and

outside begins to mirror each other.

We’re introduced to the convent through new

arrival sister lourdes, who befriends sister remy,

whose brother is amongst the disappeared activists

outside. their curiosity about the outside world

starts to get the best of them, leading to a brutal

assault and aftermath that cuts to the heart of

the convent’s faith. soon, a mystery develops, with

the mother superior leering about as a shadowy

power figure, and questions brewing on the convent

grounds about responsibility, guilt, and community.

a stirring allegory about freedom and order, and set

in an eerie pressure cooker that feels part church,

part colonial prison, aPParition strikes political,

religious, and moral nerves with a haunting quiet.

director vincent sandoval sculpts light and shadow

with great care, conjuring Catholic mysticism while

never straying too far from the teledrama intrigue

that makes the film such a biting critique. – Brian Hu


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BOUNdARynOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 9:35PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

PhiliPPines | tagalog With englishsubtitles | 110 mins | video | 2011DIRECTOR benito bautistaCAST ronnie lazaro, raymond bagatsing, edwin nombre

2011 cinemalaya independentFilm Festival, netPAc Award

sponsored by

co-presented by filipino American chamber of commerce San Diego county, Philippine& Asian Report, ASiAnReader

director benito bautista (the gift of Barong, sdaff

‘06) refashions true stories of manila’s taxi cab

drivers into an ominous, unpredictable ride from the

dark streets of manila to the isolated hills of antipolo.

it’s only a few days before Christmas in manila

and struggling cab driver limuel needs to reach

his boundary (quota of customers) by the end of

the night. he picks up a wealthy-looking, generous

business man trying to make his way to antipolo.

but limuel has a plan for his naïve and unsuspecting

customer – a plan that he is none too proud to carry

out. things suddenly go beyond limuel’s control as

he himself is thrown from the wheel to the helpless

backseat of a plot bigger than he ever expected.

Power. deception. morality. desperation. the

intrinsic human conflict of navigating the fine line

between power and ethics can have unforeseen

consequences when one starts to get too close to

either side. bautista artfully finesses these concepts

while commenting on the grim issues of class and

political strife that filipinos are all too familiar with.

in this claustrophobic taxi ride through the gritty

streets of manila, it is hard not to feel the tension,

fear, and uncertainty these characters experience,

and suddenly we’re fellow captives strewn along the

captivation plot. – Maryanne Bilbao




ChILdREN OF SRIKANdI

nOv. 5 (MOnDAY), 4:00PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY (fRee)

indonesia, germanY | indonesian & english With english subtitles |

74 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR the Children of srikandi Collective

official selection, 2012 Berlin international Film Festival

sponsored by

co-presented byindonesian Arts & culture center

a film that revels in performance, Children of

sriKandi is as much about being young, lesbian,

and indonesian, as it is about serenading elders

on the street, a mother’s uncanny fairy tales, and

rocking gucci suspenders. it delivers the modern

energy and razor sharp edges of indonesian queer

sisterhood bundled into a documentary that is

smart, edgy, and evocative.

in 2010 indonesia, two lgbt events, one a

longstanding film festival, were attacked by

conservative groups. against this backdrop and in a

country with the world’s largest muslim population,

eight women’s personal stories are intercut with

gorgeous shadow puppetry stunningly performed

by transgender players about the story of srikandi,

a warrior woman who identifies as a man in the

mahabharata, a famous indian epic.

originally a workshop of eight films, Children

of sriKandi makes the oft-distracting anthology

structure feel more like effortless discovery. no

accident as the filmmakers decided to use different

art practices to perform each other’s stories,

multiplying identity and playing with the documentary

format. the art is arresting and fresh, exploring

areas such as butchness and the hijab, the cagey

promise of solidarity, and the discovery of first love.

there are stunning photos of seamless indonesian

neighborhoods interrupted by queerness in all its

glory, and amber-lit strolls through the streets

punctuated by guitar ballads and theater.

With tracks by indonesia’s only female hip hopper

Yacko, Children of sriKandi is the first film by

and about queer women in indonesia, proving the

rewards of filmmaking in the hands of its subjects.

the film gives us a slice of emerging queerness that

is radical and specifically indonesian, in voices that

feel like they come from the future. – christina ree


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GOLdEN SLUMBERSnOv. 9 (fRiDAY), 5:35PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

Cambodia, franCe | Khmer & frenChWith english subtitles | 96 mins |

video | 2011DIRECTOR davy Chou

official selection, 2012 Berlin international Film Festival

sponsored by

a cinematic séance for cinema itself, golden

slumbers begins with footage of a journey in

slow motion. We’re heading back in time but the

spaces we’re exploring are of a haunted present.

the 1960s and 70s were known as a “golden

age” of Cambodian cinema, or at least that’s how

it was recollected to young Parisian davy Chou, who

only recently discovered that his grandfather was

producer van Chann, whose films embody the glory

of a Cambodia before the Khmer rouge squashed

the movie industry. With the murderous regime

came the near eradication of the 400 films made

in 15 years.

Without archival footage to rely on, golden

slumbers has to reinvent the history-of-film

documentary. Chou lingers on images of old spaces

(theaters-emptied-out, movie palaces-turned-karaoke

bars) and sounds of an era (radio transmissions

of film trailers, pop songs engraved on vinyl and

digitized for Youtube). the period is evoked through

memories of those who made the films, those who

idolized the stars, and those who remembered

fleeing war through cinema. in the absence of

footage from the films, Chou stages shadows of the

golden age: film narratives are recalled through the

fog of memory, special effects are evoked obliquely

and jokingly, movie faces are remembered through

newsprint and fading posters. Collectively, they form

a fuzzy picture that we as 21st century filmgoers

can fill in so that the Cambodian golden age can be

resurrected and survive. – Brian Hu




ThE IRAN jOBnOv. 2 (fRiDAY), 7:30PM,

UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 4:30PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

iran, usa, germanY | english & farsi With english subtitles |

93 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR till schauder

PRODUCER sara nodjoumi, till schauder

sponsored by

co-presented by nAAcP-SD, San Diego Arthouse Movies

director & producer scheduled to attend

for many in the united states, iran means “illegal

nukes” or “rogue state.” but for the u.s virgin

islands athlete Kevin sheppard, it means job

opportunity. undeterred by the increasing hostiles

between the u.s. and iran, sheppard accepts an

offer to play pro basketball in the city of shiraz.

as the hired-gun foreigner on a newly-established

team, sheppard struggles against lofty

expectations, while also trying to navigate iran’s

cultures and traditions. ever the slick-tongued

charmer, sheppard brings his on-court enthusiasm

and charisma to his interactions with teammates

and neighbors. despite wanting to distance

himself from the country’s politics and religion,

sheppard, in the spirit of hospitality and good

fun, inadvertently makes his home a safe haven

for three progressive iranian women who expose

him to debates regarding gender roles, religion,

and the islamic government. before he knows it,

his efforts on the basketball court start to run

parallel with the mounting tensions of the 2009

presidential elections.

director till schauder masterfully brings together

a crowd-pleasing sports film with a surprising

narrative of cultural and political struggle. not only

does schauder elegantly chronicle the experiences

of a fish out of water, he uncovers the hidden

strength of iran by highlighting its people’s own

agency for reform and progress. – tracie Yang

Preceded by: BASKETBALL, MERI jAANusa | 5 mins | 2012

DIRECTOR veena hampapur

for an indian immigrant twice displaced, home is

where the hoops are.


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ThE KING OF PIGSnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 6:05PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 8 (thURSDAY), 9:50PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

south Korea | Korean With english subtitles | 97 mins | video | 2011DIRECTOR Yeun sang-hoCAST Yang ik-June, Kim Kkobbi, oh Jung-se, Kim hye-na

netPAc Award, 2011 Busan international Film Festivalofficial selection, director’s Fortnight, 2012 cannes Film Festival

sponsored by

don’t take the kids to see the King of Pigs. it

opens with the grisly, seemingly senseless murder of

a woman by her husband, Kyung-min, followed by a

desperate phone call that opens a portal to an equally

bloody past. 15 years prior, Kyung-min and Jong-

suk were more than classmates; they were on the

same side of a violent middle school free-for-all. more

specifically, they were on the losing side: the pigs, as

they were known, working-class sons forced to bear

the punches and sexual abuse of the rich kids.

don’t take the kids to see the Kings of Pigs. they

may get the wrong idea when they are introduced

to Chul, the new kid on the block who decides that

even though he’s not wealthy, even though the violent

middle school class hierarchies are condoned by

faculty and in fact are institutionalized in society

more generally, and even though it risks his family

and friends, his clenched fists are not going to let his

oppressors get their way.

don’t take the kids to see the King of Pigs. they

may get the wrong idea from the animation: a brilliant

combination of a cold dehumanization, through

which violence becomes desensitized through

digital abstraction, and the brutal shock of seeing a

“children’s” medium hijacked by molesters, suicide

kings, and anxious killers. at the same time, it’s

precisely the children’s medium that drives the point

home: that the everyday trauma of bullying, one of

the most hushed and willfully disregarded tumors of

Korean masculinist society, must be viewed through

the vernacular of the young to become clear.

don’t take the kids to see the King of Pigs. they

know the story all too well already. this is for the

adults with kids of their own, and for the adults

haunted by their own memories of the playground.

– Brian Hu

the 13th annual san diego asian film festivalPantone 137 Pantone 446


MEMORIESLOOK AT ME


China | mandarin With english subtitles | 91 mins | video | 2012

DIRECTOR song fangCAST Ye Yu-zhu, song di-jin,

song Yuan, song fang

Best First Feature, 2012Locarno Film Festival

official selection, 2012new York Film Festival

west coast Premiere

sponsored by

song fang returns home to nanjing from beijing,

and spends time with her parents at home. the

family reunion is completed by the arrival of her

brother and his wife and daughter. in their otherwise

commonplace conversations, on everything from

marriage to illness, collective memories shift

into view and disjunctures between generations

become gently remarkable. like the passing of the

day, ordinary moments slip impressively from the

lightly comic (as in an episode with a chicken) to the

unexpectedly profound, building an anti-melodrama

that is utterly moving.

naturalistic to the core, but also carefully written

and composed, memories looK at me shares

much with the summery improvisations of recent

hou hsiao-hsien, in whose Flight of the red

Balloon director-writer-actor song fang played a

supporting role. but it’s with liu Jiayin’s trailblazing

oxhide ii (sdaff ’11) that song’s debut feature is

in spiritual dialogue. both films star the director

and her parents, all possibly playing themselves,

fabulously breaking down barriers between

documentary and fiction. With memories looK

at me, song fang further explores domesticity as

a space where friends and family reflect on the

changes around them. (Practically the entire film is

set indoors in their homes.) between grandmother

and granddaughter, song fang stands representing

a generation in flux, moving from city to city, quietly

watching everyone around grow older. – Brian Hu


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MONEy & hONEynOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 11:30AM, UcSD AtKinSOn hAll AUDitORiUM (fRee)

taiWan | mandarin, english,tagalog With english subtitles |

96 mins | video | 2011DIRECTOR Jasmine lee Ching-hui

official selection, 2011 Busan international Film FestivalAudience Award, 2011 Women Make Waves Film Festival

US Premiere

sponsored by tecO-lA

co-presented byUcSD cross cultural center

beneath the great presence of taipei’s skyline,

the symbolic triumph of the nation’s wealth and

modernization, is a quaint five-story nursing home

full of immigrant workers whose aspiration for

wealth has yet to be fulfilled. spanning 12 years,

moneY & honeY follows the stories of filipina

caretakers driven overseas for work, and their

indomitable will to bring better opportunities to their

families at home while working at a nursing home in

taiwan. out of the political and economic contexts

of the Philippines and taiwan, director Jasmine lee

Ching-hui captures in assured, intimate terms deep

insight into the lives of these various filipina workers

and their physical and emotional sacrifice.

and yet, while it is easy to simply focus on the

bleak circumstances these individual women might

find themselves in, lee successfully encompasses

the struggles as well as the joviality and creativity

of the women’s livelihoods. from the enduring

relationships they form with their patients and

co-workers (as well as the director, whose

grandmother is the impetus for the documentary),

to the struggles of living for years away from their

families, moneY & honeY is both a troubled and

hopeful film that captures the strength of women

migrant workers enduring to live the modern dream

of love and prosperity. – tracie Yang



MOURNINGnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 4:25PM,


iran | farsi With english subtitles |

85 mins | video | 2011DIRECTOR morteza farshbaf

CAST sharareh Pasha, Kiomars giti,amir hossein maleki

new currents Award & FiPresci Prize, 2011 Busan international Film Festival

sponsored by

mourning opens in darkness while a married

couple violently argues as they storm off into the

night, leaving their young son with his aunt and

uncle who are both deaf. the deaf couple (who

have underlying issues of their own) decide to drive

the boy back to his parents in tehran. along the

way, they encounter a tragedy which they attempt

to conceal from the boy. What the couple fails to

realize, however, is that the boy is keenly self-aware

of his surrounding landscapes (both environmental

and social) and has things to conceal of his own.

the film too is extraordinarily perceptive to

landscapes, and the ways faces, hands, and even

subtitles create worlds of emotional meaning.

a meditation on communication, disability and

grief, mourning is a surprisingly masterful film

from such a young filmmaker (born in 1986). With

a child protagonist, gorgeous shots of the iranian

countryside, and a narrative that unfolds inside a car,

the influence of abbas Kiarostami is unmistakable.

it should surprise no one then that first-time feature

director morteza farshbaf conceived mourning

through one of the legendary director’s workshops.

and although some have called the film “Kiarostami

lite,” imitation or not, farshbaf’s ability to create

a gentle, poignant, and playful film of this stature

is an amazing achievement by any standards. –

Joseph Mangat


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NUCLEAR NATIONnOv. 7 (weDneSDAY), 4:00PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY (fRee)

JaPan | JaPanese With englishsubtitles | 96 mins | video | 2012

DIRECTOR atsushi funahashi

official selection, 2012 Berlin

international Film Festival

official selection, 2012 Hong Kong


official selection, 2012 edinburgh



sponsored by

amongst the first images in nuClear nation is

a sign leading to a disaster relocation center that

reads, “media personnel not permitted beyond this

point.” somehow though atsushi funahashi’s camera

makes it in: not just into sites of extraordinary

destruction, but into the everyday worlds of fukushima

evacuees now inhabiting high schools partitioned into

makeshift living quarters. What he finds isn’t the

expected sentimentality of loss or the furor against

the government. sure, it’s moving to watch and

the anger is real. but what sets nuClear nation

ahead of the increasingly-crowded pack of fukushima

documentaries is its commitment to capturing a new

reality: watching tv, listening to music, and drinking

sake, because there’s nowhere to go. these everyday

moments make the extraordinary ones all the more

impressive. and when family members and homes

are lost, it’s hard to avoid the extraordinary, even

though everyone just wants to get back to normalcy.

for the mayor of futaba, normalcy becomes an

existential crisis. he is amongst the many subjects

of the film, followed for months after the disasters.

he explains the bargain his city entered to become

networked into a “nuclear nation,” and how the

normalcy he misses was the result of a radioactive

pact. We also meet men who worked in the nuclear

reactors. We gain access to council meetings of

mayors who run “nuclear cities.” funahashi’s access

is impressive and targeted without ever being

imposingly ideological. there are just so many images

and sounds still to uncover – the makeshift official

signs written on paper and posted with masking

tape, the sounds of a brass band playing an oldie for

evacuees – that to do anything but simply watch and

listen to the aftermath is the worst denial. – Brian Hu




OLd dOGnOv. 8 (thURSDAY), 6:30PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

China, tibet | tibetan With english subtitles | 88 mins | video | 2011

DIRECTOR Pema tseden CAST Yanbum gyal, drolma Kyab,

lochey lochey, tamdrin tso

Best narrative Feature, 2012 Brooklyn Film Festival

grand Prize, 2011 tokyo FiLMexofficial selection, 2012 international

Film Festival rotterdam

sponsored by

“sell it before it’s stolen.” this line winds its way like a

vagrant snake charmer throughout old dog, Pema

tseden’s masterful docu-realist fable. an award-

winning novelist, tseden has emerged as a startling

auteur in the quickly developing tibetan “new Wave,”

and has become the first filmmaker to film entirely

in the tibetan language. in old dog, bracing social

allegory and narrative quietude underlie sweeping

vistas, a tense mix which brings to mind ingmar

bergman as much as it does Jia Zhang-ke for the

way the landscape suddenly becomes a surface,

uncanny and porous.

old dog is a deceptively simple story, captivating

in its spare narrative escalation. gonpo, a scraggly

man on motorbike, putters through a barren tibetan

mountain town with his dusty dog trotting alongside.

gonpo haggles with a trader, a cop acts as arbiter,

and finally the dog changes hands. but not for the

last time, as gonpo’s father and the dog’s true owner,

an elderly sheepherder named akhu, embarks on a

series of retrievals and rescues from various dog-

nappings as the going price skyrockets.

as akhu fails at each turn to protect his dog, “sell

it before it’s stolen” becomes a bankrupt, voracious

logic, a mounting pressure infecting every nook and

cranny. slowly, the violence invisible in the film’s

tranquil surface reveals itself in a landscape that

is mortgaged. Cinematographer sonthar gyal’s

textured wide shots give us a tibet with crowded

horizon lines, featureless skies, stark shadows, and

long takes – effortlessly capturing a sort of filmic

equivalent of being in high altitude – air too sharp, too

thin to inhale without noticing pain. – christina ree


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ThE ORATORnOv. 7 (weDneSDAY), 7:55PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

neW Zealand | samoan With english subtitles | 110 mins | 35mm | 2011

DIRECTOR tusi tamaseseCAST fa’afiaula sanote, tausili Pushparaj, salamasina mataia, ioata tanielu

special Jury Mention, orrizonti section, 2011 venice Film Festivalofficial selection, 2012 sundance Film Festival

sponsored by

co-presented by Samoan community council of SD

the first-ever feature film in the samoan language

speaks loudly. from out of the yam leaves and

across the fields where men exert their masculinity

comes a voice demanding to be heard. a little

person, saili, lives just outside of town with his

ostracized wife vaaiga and their teenage daughter.

looked down upon from by his village and hers, they

live a quiet, solitary life until saili decides he must

bury his loved ones in accordance to the rituals

of his family. meanwhile, in a huge slight to saili,

vaaiga’s family arrives to take her away. it’s time.

saili must make himself heard.

the orator pulls no punches when it comes to

showcasing the will of men attempting to overtake

each other through performance – nor when it

comes to presenting the beautiful lushness of

upolu island in samoa. the most impressive thing

about the orator, aside from the fact that it’s a

first time feature, is how it manages to represent

samoan traditional culture in all of its complexity,

without ever appearing didactically or reductively

ethnographic, instead allowing the details of ritual

energize the drama and its themes of honor, love,

and mourning. the orator speaks volumes about

new talent tusi tamasese and all of samoan cinema

to come. – Brian Hu



114

Preserving our heritage through the

language of film.

www.piccom.org

Proud sponsors of theSan Diego Asian Film Festival

PIC_sfaff_20120813_ad_FINALR1.indd 1 9/14/12 11:54 AM

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ThE RAW &ThE COOKEdnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 4:00PM, UcSD AtKinSOn hAll AUDitORiUM (fRee)nOv. 6 (tUeSDAY), 6:10PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

taiWan, germanY | mandarin,taiWanese, english, amis With english subtitles | 83 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR monika treut

official selection, 2012 Berlininternational Film Festival

sponsored by

co-presented by San Diego Alliance for Asian Pacific islander Americans, taiwanese American community center

it’s no secret. taiwan loves its food and so does the

rest of the world. but what makes culinary love so

special?

after 38 years of martial law, taiwan quickly made

made its rise as a successful modern democratic

nation. taiwan has also come to develop its own

cultural and political identity, even under the looming

shadow of its neighbor, China. interestingly enough,

this new modern taiwanese identity has also

translated into the population’s conception of cuisine

and food preparation. from the densely-populated

cities to the small counties inhabited by native

indigenous peoples, the eco-geography of taiwan’s

present dictates the philosophy and preparation of

food. for the city-dwelling foodie, cuisine is an art

form with the best organically-grown ingredients,

while native indigenous tribes preserve traditional

preparation techniques as a way to honor their

ancestors and celebrate their cultural identity.

in her fourth taiwan-set film, director monika truet

successfully transports viewers through modern

taiwan with all of its ecological and demographic

diversity. not only does the film leave viewers with

a taste of taiwanese cuisine it also gives viewers a

taste of the country’s evolving cultural and political

identity. Come with bellies full and minds open: this

film offers food for thought! – tracie Yang




ShUN LI & ThE POET (IO SONO LI)

nOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 7:00PM,MUSeUM Of PhOtOGRAPhic ARtS

italY | italian, mandarin With english subtitles | 100 mins | video | 2011

DIRECTOR andrea sengreCAST Zhao tao, rade serbedzija,

marco Paolini

official selection, 2011 venice Film Festival

co-hosted with the San Diego italian film festival

sponsored by

many recent european films have chronicled the

social and personal consequences of the recent

wave of immigration to europe, but few with the

delicacy and insight of andre segre’s lovely film.

brought to italy by a “broker” who she’s slowly

paying off while saving money to bring across her

son, shun li is sent from her factory job to a bar in

Chioggia, a small town in the veneto lagoon. there

she strikes up a friendship with bepi, a fisherman

nicknamed “the Poet,” himself a representative of

an earlier immigration to italy from eastern europe.

the two come to share a special understanding,

and their relationship transforms them both.

segre effectively draws us into this “immigrant

world,” not simply to expose its unfairness but to

reveal the ways in which immigrants create their

own special support systems. an unusual and

compelling first feature deservedly selected for

the director’s fortnight section of the venice film

festival, shun li & the Poet has a terrific central

performance by Zhao tao, Jia Zhang-ke’s muse in

films like Platform and the World. the film takes

the essence of an all-too-real situation (the recent

influx of Chinese immigrants into the environs of

venice) that is also simultaneously a new filmic

look at aspects of venetian life, refreshingly

naturalistic and free of picture postcard tourism.

– san diego italian Film Festival


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SLEEPLESS NIGhTnOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 1:30PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 8 (thURSDAY), 6:00PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

south Korea | Korean With english subtitles | 54 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR Jang Kun-jaeCAST Kim soo-hyeon, Kim Ju-ryoeng

grand Prize & Audience Award, 2012 Joenju international Film Festivalstudent critics Award, 2012 edinburgh international Film Festival

US Premiere

sponsored by

a film this precise, natural, and filled with

tenderness deserves a poem as a festival review,

a bridge of language that reads like five very plain

words walking slowly into your heart. no matter

whether you’re newlywed, single, or marooned as

a rock, sleePless night will return a sense of

how intimacy at its most basic can be ethical and

profoundly romantic.

sleePless night captures that mystery,

immediacy and promise that sometimes happens

during a nocturnal window in time, all while following

the everyday routines of a young couple. husband

and wife get by meagerly, wonder if children will rob

their love for each other, and fear complacency and

petty fights. highly naturalistic in cinematography

and dialogue, the film presents conversations that

become the open musings of lovers who feel safe,

free of marital role-playing or agenda. dreams and

random chance, a missing bike and shooting stars,

unsettle and add a whiff of charm. one of the film’s

many achievements is delivering the modesty of

uncertainty without losing any of its hauntingness.

the enormity of love in this film accumulates in the

small ways two people braid together – bathing,

making love, eating, talking. each encounter with

familiarity transcends repetition. no less is their

gaze upon each other: level, reasoned, warm – a look

that is as exact and measured as the camerawork.

the film’s main achievement is the way it builds upon

itself until by film’s end a life of hopeful love has been

formed before our eyes. – christina ree




WhEN ThEBOUGh BREAKS

nOv. 8 (thURSDAY), 7:25PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

China | mandarin With english subtitles | 147 mins | video | 2011

DIRECTOR Ji dan

official selection, 2012 international Film Festival rotterdam

objectif d’or for Best documentary, 2012 Millennium international

documentary Film Festival

west coast Premiere

sponsored by

in size and scope, it’s hard to top recent

masterpieces of Chinese documentary like ghost

town, and in piercing intimacy, it’s hard to lock in

much closer than a Fortune teller or Last train

Home. and yet Ji dan’s remarkable, miraculous

When the bough breaKs manages to do both

uncompromisingly and with absolute dedication

to its subject: a family of five on the outskirts of

a city. the father collects and sells scrap metal,

while three children go to school with limited

funds. but this is no mere ode to the tribulations

of destitution, or to the monetary expense of

getting ahead. before long, a portrait of a most

turbulent family comes into view. the parents,

especially a disgruntled drunkard dad, do all they

can to maintain some semblance of control, while

the pre-teen twin daughters hold the family’s long-

term financial vision, though they too exhibit their

father’s impatient proclivity for conflict.

in notes of high drama of the classical sort, Ji dan

explores upward mobility’s downward emotional

turmoil on a family as days, months, years pass,

often without the usual expositional sign-posts.

long, impeccably-shot verbal arguments seem to

stretch hours of a day, and are riveting not so much

for the yelling, but for the minutiae, in particular

the silence of the son, whose fate motivates

much of the conflict. through it all is a sense of

environmental doom: the weather, the military jets,

the sounds of firecrackers in the distance. When

the film comes to a close following a lunar new

Year unlike any other, a visceral transcendence

is achieved that numbs the skin and pounds the

heart. – Brian Hu


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yOUNG GUN INThE TIMEnOv. 2 (fRiDAY), 10:10PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleYnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 8:20PM,UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

south Korea, JaPan | Korean With english subtitles | 95 mins |

video | 2012DIRECTOR oh Young-dooCAST hong Young-geun, Choi song-hyeon, ha eun-Jung, bae Yong-geun

west coast Premiere

sponsored by

filled with a lovable cast of quirky b-movie characters

and eccentric manga underdog soul, Young gun

in the time is a detective action movie that giddily

swings on the monkey bars of low-budget magic.

fresh off the sensational success of his award-

winning debut invasion of Alien Bikini, filmmaker oh

Young-doo promptly turned down multiple job offers

and reunited his original cast for his second feature,

the inventive freewheeling gem Young gun in the

time, made for a paltry $30K.

Combining seijun suzuki’s Japanese detective films

with Back to the Future, Young gun follows our

low-rent detective hero, Young gun, a frizzy-headed,

scrawny knight in blazing hawaiian shirt. honorable to

the core, Young gun is hired by a lovely and obsessive

museum researcher to find and kill a dangerous

foe. except the lovely and obsessive researcher

mysteriously dies and reappears, setting off a race for

a powerful time machine, zany car chases and fight

sequences with kooky villains lurking around every

corner. the jokes are sly: Young gun’s r&d hack

also runs a sex shop. his babe-a-licious “secretary,”

a veritable Korean Jessica rabbit, turns out to be

Young gun’s demanding creditor. even the name

“Young gun” is a romanization of the actor’s name.

Weird, adventurous, endearing, and reminiscent of

early stephen Chow, Young gun thrives on oh Young-

doo’s gymnastic irreverence in filmmaking. Combine

that with unforgettable characters, especially hong

Young-geun as the unlikely hero, and Young gun

will ignite newfound glee in the creative hijinks that

can come from low budget freedom. – christina ree



P R O U D 2 0 1 2 S P O N S O R


e X t r e M e

dEAd BITEnOv. 8 (thURSDAY), 10:00PM,


thailand | thai With english subtitles | 94 mins |

35mm | 2011DIRECTOR Joey boy

CAST Joey boy, dJ spidamonkee,buddha bless, nang oum

official selection, 2012new York Asian Film Festival

official selection, 2012 Fantasiainternational Film Festival

west coast Premiere

Joey boy plays himself: a popular hip-hop artist

who leads the record label gancore Club. as in

real life, Joey boy moves plenty of records and sells

out many shows. sometimes, even the undead

digs his music. after a concert, Joey boy and the

gang nearly get eaten by these new fans, and they

escape only to get another assignment: to be in a

music video with dancing girls in bikinis.

What starts out as the usual trip to an island

with bikini babes, fried squid, and various tests

of fraternal bonding, turns into a nightmarish trip

filled with zombies, crazed villagers, and victimized

mermaids in a hallucinogenic journey into the dark

side of a good time. dead bite blurs the lines of

comedy, hip-hop, and horror in the most unusual

unmaking-of-a-band since this is spinal tap.

sdaff extreme presents the greatest drama/

comedy/horror about a hip-hop band fighting

bikini’d zombies that eat mermaids in thailand, ever.

it’s the directorial debut of none other than Joey

boy himself (aka apisit opasaimlikit, who starred in

Headshot, sdaff spring showcase ‘12). for hip-

hop fun tinglish-style, with a little undead goodness,

look no further than dead bite! – Phillip Lorenzo


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dEAd SUShInOv. 3 (SAtURDAY), 10:00PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

JaPan | JaPanese With englishsubtitles | 91 mins | video | 2012DIRECTOR noboru iguchiCAST rina takeda, shigeru matsuzaki, Kentaro shimazu

official selection, 2012 Fantasiainternational Film Festival

west coast Premiere

sushi is a staple of the Japanese diet. in the united

states, it evolved from an exotic food into an item you

can easily get at the supermarket, and it is normal to

find a sushi bar just about anywhere in the world. in

other words, sushi has been exploited the world over.

that time has come to an end! dead sushi captures

the struggle of sushi to find its identity. these dead

fish are in need of support, but instead they get

chopped up, dipped in soy sauce and wasabi, and

then devoured by grubby humans. so now Keiko, a

disregarded sushi apprentice (rina takeda) has been

thrown into a battle that she did not see coming.

Keiko must now use the skills that she learned from

a sushi master to fight the undead sushi that are hell-

bent on eating us!

from noboru iguchi, the unstoppable talent who

brought us Machine girl, robogeisha (sdaff ’10),

and Mutant girls squad, comes a not-so-complex

story of revenge at its most insane, depraved…and

eXtreme. viewer discretion is strongly advised as

this film contains sushi violence, sushi bloodletting,

sushi acid spraying, explicit sushi sex, and... extreme

sushi! – Phillip Lorenzo


hENGEnOv. 4 (SUnDAY), 10:00PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

JaPan | JaPanese With english subtitles | 54 mins | hd | 2012

DIRECTOR hajime ohataCAST Kazunari aizawa, aki morita,

teruhiko nobukuni

official selection, 2012 Yubari international Fantastic Film Festival

official selection, 2012 Fantasia international Film Festivall

west coast Premiere

like many young married couples, Yoshiaki and Keiko

have problems managing their relationship and love.

With this couple, however, marriage counseling may

not be enough.

Yoshiaki is going through some changes. not the type

that is symptomatic of a midlife crisis or a loveless

marriage. seizures, speaking in tongues, and the

occasional protrusion of monstrous appendages

have become a near-daily occurrence for Yoshiaki.

Keiko deals with having to commit either to his

imprisonment in the mental health system, or to

become an unlikely accomplice in his need to kill and

to aid in his transformation into something she is

not fully aware of.

“stand by your man” takes on an entirely new

meaning in this thoroughly entertaining journey into

the human, err, inhuman condition. the ultra-low

budget shocker from hajime ohata is a brisk, no

nonsense, and shockingly awesome look into the

limits of love. – Phillip Lorenzo


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MONdOMANILA, OR:OR: hOW I FIXEd My hAIR AFTER A RAThER LONG jOURNEynOv. 9 (fRiDAY), 10:20PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

PhiliPPines | tagalog With english subtitles | 75 mins | hd | 2012DIRECTOR Khavn de la CruzCAST tim mabalot, marife necesito, Palito, Whitney tyson

official selection, 2012 internationalFilm Festival rotterdam

tony de guzman lives in a world many of us could

never understand, mostly because we don’t have

the mind of Khavn de la Cruz. unsure whether he

can ever survive another week, tony only extends his

teenage life a day at a time through his ability to cheat

a corrupt system that at every turn is prepared to do

him in. Comfort only comes in the unlikely friendships

he’s formed with the colorful block-full of one-armed

rappers, pimps, dwarves, and neighborhood gays.

they all find different ways to cope with the inevitability

that they will be cheated, abused, and perhaps killed.

this chaotic paradise is all that tony knows.

this dramatic, musically-charged, horrifically-

experimental, exploitative cinematic experience is one

that is not easy to digest. in fact, this may be the

most socially- and politically-jarring film to come out of

the Philippines in quite some time. from the opening

epigraph by Claire danes (as well as the director’s

choice reaction), to the slum circus filled with dirty

politicians, pedophiles, addicts, prostitutes, and

other dwellers of the land called mondomanila, the

audience has little choice but to heed the ringleader.

sdaff extreme is pleased to present its second

signature release (last year’s cold Fish was the first):

mondomanila, or: hoW i fiXed mY hair after

a rather long JourneY from underground

king Khavn de la Cruz, known for his guerilla

filmmaking and his strong beliefs about the state of

the Philippines. a film nine years in the making, this

rancid, gruesome, and shockingly human portrayal of

a country in constant turmoil is deathly funny and a

true original. – Phillip Lorenzo


TEBANA SANKIChI:SNOT ROCKETS

nOv. 2 (fRiDAY), 10:00PM, UltRAStAR MiSSiOn vAlleY

JaPan | JaPanese With english subtitles | 74 mins | video | 2012

DIRECTOR Yudai YamaguchiCAST tak sakaguchi, hidetoshi ezawa,

nozomi maeda, itsuji itao

west coast Premiere

Who is tebana sankichi, and why does he fight

crime? Where is the postman going? What makes

tebana slap a girl in the face after he saves her?

What’s with his friend who repeats everything

twice repeats everything twice?

none of these important questions will be

answered, so much as asked ad nauseam as if

badly in need of ritalin. like tv channel-flipping on

speed, snot roCKets is a hyper-kinetic experience

that simply begs for audience participation in the

form of random aisle running, dollar-store goodies,

and mystery boxes. don’t ask why. such questions

will not be answered.

the only certainty is that in this very very strange

reimagining of a 1995 short, tak sakaguchi

(Yakuza Weapon, sdaff ’11) returns as a

bourgeois boy who loses everything so he becomes

a face-slapping, expletive-yelling hero who fights for

us all. bring your dollar bills and prepare for some

interactive movie magic. – Phillip Lorenzo


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dIGIFEST 2012

after a successful first edition, digifest is back! a partnership between Pac-arts and streaming video site dramafever, digifest is an innovative online festival curated for all of north america. best of all, it’s free.

this year, digifest starts up right as the san diego asian film festival winds down. relive favorite sdaff moments from years past, and discover some we’ve never shown. the 2012 lineup features stars like aaron Kwok and sung Kang, and proudly showcases 10 titles from asian and asian america, from dance films to romantic comedies to provocative indies. many of these films are not available anywhere yet – on dvd or otherwise.

it all gets going november 10 (the day after this year’s san diego asian film festival) and runs until January 31. so log on, rate the films, share your thoughts with other dramafever users, and keep supporting asian and asian american cinema!

highlights include: empire of silver, Cast me if You Can, great day, Colin hearts Kay, the harimaya bridge, 4 Wedding Planners, house of suh, saigon electric, and more.

WATCH FILMS FREE AT WWW.DRAMAFEVER.COM/DIGIFEST


emPire of sun 4 Wedding Planners house of suh

thinkblue.org

Think Blue San Diego is proud to

sponsor the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

Through our partnership with the Festival,

we hope to increase environmental awareness

among film makers and festival fans.

Please help us by doing your part to

keep San Diego beautiful.

facebook.com/ThinkBlueSanDiego

2012 Asian Film Fest Ad-FINAL.indd 1 8/30/12 2:43 PM

Proud sponsor of the

2012 San Diego Asian Film Festival

@UTSanDiegofacebook.com/UTSanDiegoCox 114 • UTTV.comUTSanDiego.com C 11

hyphenmagazine .com

sdiff

presents

Discover & Inhabit Italythrough lm and events at feStivale 2012

Nothing can truly capture the exquisite pleasure of time spent in Italy, but there’s a way to come close here in San Diego: Join us at the San Diego Italian Film Festival where we present seventeen fabulous films.

sandiegoitalianfilmfestival.com

Io sono Li (Shun Li and the Poet)Co-presented with the SDAFF

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

WawanesaUS.com 877.WAWANESA

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Diversity. It’s not what you think. At Macy’s it’s part of everything we do.Shown: Michelle L. Wang, Macy’s Planning

We salute your efforts to connect, strengthen and innovate using the media art form.

MACY’S IS PROUD TO CELEBRATE THE 13TH ANNUAL SAN DIEGO ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL

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uc san diego

division

of ARTS

and humanities artmakingeducationresearch

music

visual arts

theatre & dance

dah.ucsd.edu

WeDS@7 experimental music

conrad prebys music centernov. 7, 14 / 7 pm

rEd fish blUe fiShpercussion ensemble

conrad prebys music centernov. 15 / 8 pm

ELIZABeTH ILuMPING IN FaRGOIN ThE RED aND BROWN WaTERcutting-edge theatrevarious ucsd theatre district venuesnov. 14-dec. 1

ARTS iN ACTiONsite-specific dancelocation TBDNov. 30 + Dec. 1

DRoNES AT HoMEmultimedia exhibitcalit2 gallerythrough dec. 7

NanoMacroMegawork by ucsd artistsgallerystructural and materials engineering buildingthrough dec. 7

STAFF LISTeXeCutive direCtor

lee ann Kim

managing direCtor

Phillip lorenzo

artistiC direCtor

brian hu

marKeting direCtor

amy nguyen

membershiP direCtor

lina Park

develoPment direCtor

Janis takahashi

eXeCutive manager

elgin aguilar

Programmers

malou amparo

maryanne bilbao

michael Chen

sam Chen

gene huh

eric lallana

Joseph mangat

erwin mendoza

James Paguyo

Christina rhee

Carissa serie

tracie Yang

graPhiC design team

Yen tan, lead designer

marilyn Jones

Cathy nguyen

darlene Portades

Julia terwyn

CommunitY outreaCh

James Paguyo

Website & logo design

buchanan design

online Content

ryan Wong

volunteer Coordinators

Kao vang

Yayoi tsutakawa-Chinn

street team Coordinator

rizzhel Javier

marKeting assoCiates

melody Cheng

ni huang

mea lath

france magtira

Cathy nguyen

andrew Perias

darlene Portades

t.Jay santa ana

Yurie suzuki

Julia terrwyn

sean Wilburn

PubliC relations assoCiates

nikki Jimenez

sPeCial events

elgin aguilar

megan lam

Pavee suvagondha

ProduCtion Coordinator

Chris Paffendorf

faCilities

Julia richardson

Kevin fontaine Cola

theater oPerations

amy Kim

guest serviCes

bryce Killlian

monica emery

lisa Yadao

Will Call

elaine lallana

Christina rhee

gigi vo

ProJeCtionists

brook falkenstein

staci gaines

Jimmy lee

Jon miller

Chris Paffendorf

sophia verbiscar

oPerations assoCiates

amy Kim


STAFF LIST (CONT.)

reel voiCes

Jini shim, Coordinator

Pat Clark, instructor

Joseph mangat, assistant

Youth daY

Crissy Pascual

Yurie suzuki

board of direCtors

stephen Chin, Chairman

harlen bayha, vice Chair

amethyst griffith, secretary

steven hong, treasurer

Paul bergman

andy hoang

dan hom

sheila Kanoya

dr. Jeff Krebs

benjamin lee

stephen lew

mitch reff

arturo rivera

gary Wong

advisorY board

dr. leeva Chung

Jonathan fohrman

robert ito

lani lutar

Joseph mendoza

ed nesfield

louis song

dominic tong

PhotograPhers

Jose bucud

michael domingo

John Pascasio

reggie regala

allan regala

edward sebastian, Jr.

video ProduCtion team

rommel andaya, Coordinator

deejay viloria, Coordinator

sharon aguinaldo

austin Chen

amy fan

maya gonzales

nick goto

eric han

Ken honjo

Jenasi magpantay

leticia ng

Johnathan nguyen

anthony Pang

victor shui

ali tanaka

sunny thipsidakhom

lisa Yadao

aCCounting

lee forrester

legal rePresentation

mintz levin

festival trailer

mike Watson, editor

david helpling, composer


ThANK yOUbeth accomando, film school Confidential

thomas ackerman, spirit graphics & Printing

mike avila, sdaff member

tyler baptist

theresa battle, Price Charities

robert bennett

brad bohensky, Yelp

brian blake, sdsu hospitality & tourism management

Program

bob hoffman Productions

heather bohn, Knsd nbC-universal

steve borg, California bank & trust

aaron bruce, sdsu

adriana bruner, Point loma Crdit union

bobby buchanan, buchanan design

nino “neens” Camilo, ilovemusubi

sean Capshaw, resolusean Photography

dee dee Castro, viejas

Cristina Chacon

lynn Chen

timo Chen, Composer extraordinaire

dr. lilly Cheng, Confucius institute

sheau-Ching Chiang-nicholas, Yu-Yu magazine

david Chien

Karin Chien, dgenerate films

sidnee Chong, ecoPackstore

dr. leeva Chung, usd

Kerrya Corcoran, smart Water

dan Cornthwaite, sdsu associated students

Pascal Courtin

greg Cox, County supervisor

Kaye de lancey hentschke

Crystal decker, Well go usa

Kimbo diego, red Pearl Kitchen

James dierker, stella artois

Jill faucher, California bank & trust

abe ferrer, visual Communications

leanne ferrer, PiC

anna fleming, Csusm

Carlton floyd, usd

Kara forrest

fritz friedman, sony Pictures

vivian fung, harvard alumni association

sue george, moPa

arianna georgi, enlightened hospitality group

sal giametta, County of san diego

Wendy gillespie

Joshua green, emerging Pictures

rey s. guerrero, uCsd

Julie ha, Koream

Johnathan hale, sdgln

Kathryn hammelman, Qualcomm

mye hoang

tom & loretta hom

tracie hong, sd u-t

david hou, dramafever

daniel hwang, Yogurtland

Jeff iwami, Kyocera

david iwashita, lafayette

Jan Jackson, Csusm

Parissa Jafari, ultrastar

nikki Jimenez

hua Jin, sdCaa

Chris Jocson, hyphen magazine

drexel Jones, Chipotle

matt Jumper, sdihf

angela Killoren, CJ entertainment

Chol Kim, Coke bottling Co

Chong Kim

gene Kim

Jay Kim, Paramount Pictures

myung soon Kim

dr. Yong J. Kim

Jasmin King

dr. don Kikkawa

Cary Klemmer, family health Centers of sd

toni Kraft, Cafe merlo

victor laruccia, sdiff

anderson le, hiff

Chong lee, Qualcomm

ed lee, elt insurance

dae lee, Kashi

Kent lee

tK lee, teCo-la

seth lerer, uCsd arts & humanities

grant lewis, morgan stanley

alex li


ThANK yOU (CONT.)


Ping-hui liao, uCsd

irving ling, uCsd

Karen lim, City College

george lin (riP)

frank lin

Phillip lin

tricia lin

nancy liu

Jennifer lo

mymy lu, Cox Communications

scott marks

lidia martinez, southwest airlines

dan matthews

marnie mcgranahan, Chipotle

ryan michaelsen, lafayette hotel

timothy moon, Zion market

theodore morales, go green marketing

theresa nguyen-muth, state farm

van anh nguyen, vntv

Keesa ocampo, abs-Cbn

shawn Park, sansai

suk Park, drama fever

Jennifer Parker, sdsu associated students

Judy Patacsil, miramar College

steve Peace

rick Phillips, KCCla

Cecil Pratt, ultrastar theaters

summer Polacek, voice of san diego

Joseph ramirez, uCsd CCC

rebecca rayburn, raytheon

ebonie rayford, uCsd

mitchell & miyo reff

reggie regala

dr. Craig & sylvia reid

Joe richter, ultrastar theaters

Jeff roberto, soar

ron roberts, County supervisor

frank robinson, union bank

aubrey Kuan roderick, mira Costa College

tatiana roven, bob hoffman video

damon rubio, ultrastar

Warren ruis, sdge

Joey sadile, buchanan design

ono sanfilippo, Kiehl’s

dana sass, barona

shirley sanz, at&t

William saung, Wawanesa

felicia shaw, san diego foundation

Patricia sinay, holland america line

massoud shirazi, super volunteer

Pam slater-Price, County supervisor

louis song, Proven inc.

samuel song

Weston song

ryan suda, blacklava

seema sueko, mo’olelo

teCo-la

Joyce teague, Jahssd

george takei

mykey terrado, bloomingdale’s

dr. Karin e thomas

emily ting

goran topalovic, subway Cinema

greg toya, Csusm

Charles tu, uCsd

Patricia tran, uCsd

duane trammel, 48hfP san diego

Jimmy tsai

ada tseng, asia Pacific arts

felix tuyay, sWC

danitza villanueva, giving back magazine

Pedro villegas, sdge

emily Webb, bam Communications

James Wicks

Chantell Williams

lee Wills, Qualcomm

adam Wolman, Wide lantern

alan Wong

Jennifer Wong, audrey magazine

martin Wong

simon Wong

Wendy Wong, the Ken blanchard Companies

nancy Worlie, KPbs

ditas Yamane

Chi-hui Yang

Phil Yu, angryasianman

FILM INdEX/PRINT SOURCE LIST10+10 (pg. 102) [email protected]

11 FLOWERS (pg. 88)[email protected]

38–39°C (pg. 59) [email protected]

5, THE (pg. 76) [email protected]

5F-2 (pg. 61) [email protected]

ACE ATTORNEY (pg. 89) [email protected]

ADVANTAGEOUS (pg. 68) [email protected]

ALL ABOUT MY WIFE(pg. 90) [email protected]

ALL THE LINES FLOW OUT(pg. 71)[email protected]

APPARITION (pg. 114)[email protected]

ARCHITECTURE 101 (pg. 91) [email protected]

AT YOUR CONVENIENCE (pg. 61) [email protected]

BASKETBALL, MERI JAAN(pg. 118) [email protected]

BLEACHED (pg. 68) [email protected]

BONNIE (pg. 58) [email protected]

BOUNDARY (pg. 115) [email protected]

BRIDGE (pg. 70) [email protected]

BUTTERFLY DREAM (pg. 58) [email protected]

CHA CHA FOR TWINS(pg. 92) [email protected]

CHILDREN (pg. 59) [email protected]

CHILDREN OF SRIKANDI (pg. 116) [email protected]

CHINESE GARDENS, THE(pg. 66) [email protected]

CHIPS (pg. 103) [email protected]

CLIMBER (pg. 59) [email protected]

DANCING QUEEN (pg. 93) [email protected]

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS (pg. 60) [email protected]

DEAD BITE (pg. 134) [email protected]

DEAD SUSHI (pg. 135) [email protected]

DOGGIE STYLE (pg. 77) [email protected]

DOL (FIRST BIRTHDAY) (pg. 66, 72) [email protected]

DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’: EVERYMAN’S JOURNEY (pg. 44) [email protected]

DOOMSDAY BOOK (pg. 94) [email protected]

EARLY SUMMER, AN (pg. 67) [email protected]

EDEN (pg. 46) [email protected]

EVERY DEATH HAS A STORY(pg. 68, 77)[email protected]

FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH (pg. 104) [email protected]

FLIGHT OF THE FANTASY (pg. 70) [email protected]

FLYING SWORDS OF DRAGON GATE(pg. 105) [email protected]

FORTUNE COOKIE MAGIC TRICKS (pg. 61) [email protected]

GENIE BOOT CAMP (pg. 77) [email protected]

GF*BF (pg. 95) [email protected]

GHOSTS OF THE CALIFORNIA SUN(pg. 77) [email protected]

GOLDEN SLUMBERS (pg. 117) [email protected]

GOOD HEAD (pg. 85) [email protected]

GOT A JOB! (pg. 61) [email protected]

GRACELAND (pg. 62) [email protected]


FILM INdEX/PRINT SOURCE LIST (CONT.)GREAT CINEMA PARTY, THE(pg. 106)[email protected]

HAPPY WISH, A (pg. 70) [email protected]

HENGE (pg. 136) [email protected]

I AM A GHOST (pg. 63) [email protected]

IN ANOTHER COUNTRY (pg. 107) [email protected]

IN OUR TIME (pg. 108) [email protected]

IN YOUR ARMS (pg. 58) [email protected]

IRAN JOB, THE (pg. 118) [email protected]

JAKE SHIMABUKURO: LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS (pg. 64) [email protected]

JOHNNY LOVES DOLORES (pg. 71) [email protected]

JULIAN (pg. 65) [email protected]

KAHAANI (pg. 96)[email protected]

KIMCHI FRIED DUMPLINGS (pg. 72) [email protected]

KING OF PIGS, THE (pg. 119) [email protected]

LAND OF HOPE, THE (pg. 109) [email protected]

LAST REMARKS (pg. 66) [email protected]

LATE SUMMER (pg. 67) [email protected]

LOVE STRIKES! (pg. 48) [email protected]

MAN WITH STYLE, A (pg. 110) [email protected]

MEET MR. TOILET (pg. 77) [email protected]

MEKONG HOTEL (pg. 111) [email protected]

MEMORIES LOOK AT ME (pg. 120) [email protected]

MEMORIES OF THE SONG (pg. 58) [email protected]

MIRROR MOTEL, THE (pg. 77) [email protected]

MONDAY MONDAY (pg. 66) [email protected]

MONDOMANILA (pg. 137) [email protected]

MONEY & HONEY (pg. 121) [email protected]

MOTHERLAND (pg. 68) [email protected]

MOURNING (pg. 122) [email protected]

MR. CAO GOES TO WASHINGTON (pg. 69) [email protected]

MR. CHAN: MISUNDERSTOOD MAN(pg. 58) [email protected]

MY NAME IS MITCH (pg. 59) [email protected]

NI HAO, KAI-LAN (pg. 70) [email protected]

NICE GIRLS CREW (pg. 61) [email protected]

NIGHTFALL (pg. 97) [email protected]

NUCLEAR NATION (pg. 123) [email protected]

OBAKE (pg. 66) [email protected]

OLD DOG (pg. 124) [email protected]

ON THE WATER (pg. 59) [email protected]

ONE SIDED LOVE (pg. 58) [email protected]

OPUESTO (pg. 59) [email protected]

ORATOR, THE (pg. 125) [email protected]

OUT (pg. 72) [email protected]

PAINTED SKIN: THE RESURRECTION(pg. 98) [email protected]

PRETTY PICTURES (pg. 68. 72) [email protected]

QUEEN OF MY DREAMS (pg. 72) [email protected]



FILM INdEX/PRINT SOURCE LIST (CONT.)RAW & THE COOKED, THE (pg. 127) [email protected]

RAYMOND (pg. 72) [email protected]

REEL VOICES (pg. 74) [email protected]

REEL VOICES JOURNEY (pg. 77) [email protected]

REMINGTON & THE CURSE OF THE ZOMBADINGS (pg. 99) [email protected]

RETURN OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE, THE(pg. 58) [email protected]

REUNION (pg. 76) [email protected]

RITES OF PASSAGE (pg. 72) [email protected]

ROMANCING IN THIN AIR (pg. 112) [email protected]

RULE 43 (pg. 77) [email protected]

SAKDA (pg. 111) [email protected]

SEASONS (pg. 58) [email protected]

SEEKING ASIAN FEMALE (pg. 78) [email protected]

SHANGHAI CALLING (pg. 79) [email protected]

SHE (pg. 71) [email protected]

SHEIK & I, THE (pg. 80) [email protected]

SHOPGIRL, THE (pg. 59) [email protected]

SHUN LI & THE POET (pg. 128) [email protected] SLEEPLESS NIGHT (pg. 129) [email protected]

SON OF ANIMAL STYLE (pg. 81) [email protected]

STARRY STARRY NIGHT (pg. 100) [email protected]

STEPS (pg. 58)[email protected]

STORYTELLER, THE (pg. 70) [email protected]

SUMO LAKE (pg. 58) [email protected]

SUPER DUPER (pg. 61) [email protected]

TEBANA SANKICHI: SNOT ROCKETS(pg. 138)[email protected]

TENDER MARCH, THE (pg. 58) [email protected]

TERRA COTTA (pg. 76) [email protected]

THAT WHICH ONCE WAS (pg. 66) [email protected]

THIEF (pg. 76) [email protected]

THIS IS NOT A FILM DE FEMME(pg. 77)[email protected]

TO WANDER IN PANDEMONIUM (pg. 76) [email protected]

TRICK-OR-TREAT (pg. 70) [email protected]

TWO SECONDS AFTER LAUGHTER (pg. 68) [email protected]

UNRAVEL (pg. 71) [email protected]

UPLOADED: THE ASIAN AMERICAN MOVEMENT (pg. 82) [email protected]

VIETTE (pg. 83) [email protected]

WHEN I GROW UP (pg. 70) [email protected]

WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS (pg. 130) [email protected]

WHY DO WE PUT UP WITH THEM?(pg. 58) [email protected]

WILL (pg. 59) [email protected]

WONDER BOY (pg. 71) [email protected]

WORLD BEFORE HER, THE (pg. 84) [email protected]

YES, WE’RE OPEN (pg. 85) [email protected]

YOUNG GUN IN THE TIME (pg. 131) [email protected]

YOURS TRULY (pg. 72) [email protected]

NOTES


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San Diego Asian Film Festival 2012 Program Booklet

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Transcript of San Diego Asian Film Festival 2012 Program Booklet