Hyphen Blog

'Supermen of Malegaon' Kicks Off 3rd I South Asian Film Fest Tonight

2009-11-05T16:30:00Z

Director Faiza Ahmad Khan's behind-the-scenes documentary, Supermen of Malegaon, shows us DIY superpowers as she follows a ragtag group of amateur filmmakers in the titular textile town of Malegaon, India.

Led by Malegaon native Shaikh Nasir, the patchwork film crew produce a hyper-localized parody of a Superman flick. In their spirited, low-budget version, Superman dances about in blue flip-flops with bright red socks, has a 24-inch waist and often is the one in need of rescue whenever he encounters water.

Supermen of Malegaon is a montage of charming surprises. Nasir and his local talent improvise their own Hollywood resources, draping green cloth over a cargo truck for a green screen and using a bicycle in lieu of a dolly. The video editor, also the sound producer, sacrifices a full head of hair to fit an acting role as Superman's nemesis. The die-hard crew suffers production setbacks when Nasir accidentally dunks his only hand-held video camera in a river and his leading actor announces his last-minute wedding.

At the backdrop of all the excitement, Khan reveals a group of industrious men who also dream. Some want to escape the poverty of Malegaon, to move on to do major movies. Others, like Nasir, vow never to leave Malegaon as they strive to bring laughter and happiness to the locals through film. Yet all seem to share the same zeal for the art of filmmaking and the unlimited resource of human imagination.

Superman of Malegaon will be screened tonight at 7:15 at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco, a worthy opener for the 3rd I South Asian Film Festival.

3rd I Film Festival: 'IronEaters' by Shaheen Dill-Riaz

2009-11-05T09:43:39Z

Looming skeletons of decommissioned ships dwarf the figures of workers trudging barefoot along the Chittagong beachfront in Bangladesh. The men navigate around piles of rusty iron, the vestiges of the ships that made their final stop at the inaptly named "Peace, Happiness and Prosperity" shipyard.

"We work like animals," one man says, wading ankle-deep in sandy muck. He's pulling a heavy cable over his shoulder as he turns to the off-screen cameraman.

In his third feature-length film, IronEaters, social documentary filmmaker Shaheen Dill-Riaz follows the frustrating experience of migrant workers from Northern Bangladesh. The workers, primarily farmers, venture south to the Chittagong shipyard when famine strikes at home, hoping for a way to support their families.

]]>
Filmed on location over the course of five months, IronEaters provides an intimate look into the deliberately complex and exploitative bureaucracy under which many of the migrant workers become trapped. In addition to risking their lives daily in dangerous working conditions, the workers fall into a cycle of debt and loans, as supervisors withhold wages and cut hours, forcing the workers to buy on credit from local grocers.

IronEaters boasts poignant visuals that tell a compelling and heartbreaking story of men who are at the mercy of nature, machine, and other men. Dill-Riaz presents amazing and terrifying footage of men struggling against machine; cables rip violently apart and massive ships crash to pieces into the sea while workers scramble out of the way. Dill-Riaz effectively captures a microcosmic example of greed and poverty in developing nations, along with the crushing feeling of helplessness that seems to govern the situation.

IronEaters is showing at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco at noon, Sunday, November 8 as a part of the 3rd I South Asian Film Festival.

Don't Miss Mr Hyphen 2009!

2009-11-05T02:47:06Z

It is that time of year again... time to select the Most Visionary Asian American Male Activist Alive and crown him Mr. Hyphen 2009!

Saturday, November 14, 7 – 10pm
Oakland Asian Cultural Center
All ages welcome, 21+ for alcohol

]]> November 14, 2009, celebrating the men of the Asian American community. Each year, Hyphen and OACC celebrate Asian American men who devote themselves to worthy community causes. While structured like a pageant with rounds of talent, fashion and Q&A, Mr. Hyphen turns stereotypes on their heads in front of a sold-out crowd. Striking a blow for equal-opportunity all-in-good-fun ogling, Mr. Hyphen is an energy-filled evening of fun and charity. Rounds will be decided alternately by an audience vote and by an illustrious panel of judges. The man who is crowned Mr. Hyphen wins a $1,000 cash donation to his nonprofit organization.

Get tickets early! Advance $15 tickets available online at www.hyphenmagazine.com/mrhyphen
At the door: $20
Subscribe to Hyphen for only $5 at the event with ticket purchase!

Come experience a thought-provoking, highly relevant, and substantive opportunity to highlight positive community activism by some of our most inspiring Asian American men. All that with a health dose of hilarity and evening wear...

__________________

Robin Sukhadia
Mr. Hyphen 2006/2007

News Round Up: Felicia Lee and More

2009-11-04T19:44:36Z

+ This news is not new news, but I have been thinking a lot about Felicia Lee. I first read about her on Disgrasian, where they break down the disparity in coverage between Annie Le and Felicia Lee. A few weeks later, a former high school classmate of mine posted about her on Facebook. That's when I realized that Felicia was a classmate of mine, someone I barely knew and probably only talked to a few times. I am deeply saddened to hear about her violent death, and feel so sad for her friends and family members. Feels like I've been hearing about so many cases of abuse and violence against women, some perpetrated by strangers, and other ones, as this one is alleged, by her own boyfriend. This violence -- domestic, stranger violence, any kind -- against women MUST STOP. Especially in light of the recent Richmond High rape case.

+ Just heard a good segment on KPFA's Hard Knock Radio with Weyland Southon about the horrific Richmond rape case and rape culture. The guests are all men who share their perspectives. Please listen to it here, and also on their show this Friday.

]]> here and here.

+ I have been reading NurtureShock, about parenting/schooling, and learned about Deborah Leong, one of the creators of Tools of the Mind. She and Elena Bodrova developed a preschool curriculum that's been successfully replicated in many low income areas. Where there was chaos before, there's now concentration, self-restraint and cooperation. What?! That is one awesome lady in my book. I know next to nothing about her and the Tools of the Mind curriculum, except what I've read in NurtureShock, but anyone who comes up with a role-playing based curriculum for very energetic little kids is kickass in my book. (p.s. more on the race chapter in NurtureShock to come in a different post).

+ An interesting story at New American Media about a free acupuncture clinic in San Francisco that's seen a rise in patients due to the economy, people being laid off and people losing their health insurance. Conversely, though, private Chinese medicine practitioners are seeing a decline in clients, according to the article.

+ Rich Twu of the Dream League, an Asian American basketball league, informs me that he has a new blog in which you can read about everything Dream League and basketball here. He has a couple of posts on Harvard b-ball star Jeremy Lin here and here.

New York Times Spotlights Racism in South Korea

2009-11-04T19:39:17Z

by guest blogger Christine Pae

The New York Times recently published an article about racist tendencies in South Korea and what's being done to address it. Tell me something I don't know.

Yet there are some serious problems with how the situation is portrayed, for it is neither original nor enlightening, and makes rather grand generalizations about the nation. While there are some valid points to the article such as citing Korea's centuries-long history with imperialism and war -- a reasonable explanation for Korea's feelings -- the overall theme of the piece makes South Koreans sound overtly racist, as if it is a newfound development, a singular experience. Even the term "pure blood" is referred to more than once, making Korean nationals sound like a bunch of Death Eaters or something, if you get me.

]]>

"Our ethnic homogeneity is a blessing," said one of the critics, Lee Sung-bok, a bricklayer who said his job was threatened by migrant workers. "If they keep flooding in, who can guarantee our country won’t be torn apart by ethnic war as in Sri Lanka?"

Or this delicious bit:

Ms. Hahn said, "Even a friend of mine confided to me that when he sees a Korean woman walking with a foreign man, he feels as if his own mother betrayed him."

Holy abalone. I can just imagine a non-Korean or someone unfamiliar with Korean customs reading the article and making judgments about how Korea is a vastly racist country. Regardless of whether it is true or not, disdain for foreigners is not unique to Korea. America has its share of it. Or France. Or yes, pretty much anywhere.

Perhaps I am just confused. I am Korean American, which is different from being Korean in the motherland. Even I know that. That I have never visited Korea makes the article, its topic and the current situation, all the more foreign and elusive to me.

Yes, racism should be treated with a due cautionary attitude. But don't single out Korea in doing so.

3rd I Film Festival presents 'Zero Bridge' by Tariq Tapa

2009-11-04T00:34:48Z

What does a year of immersive observation result in? For filmmaker Tariq Tapa, it resulted in Zero Bridge, a film about the everyday struggles of life in Srinagar, Kashmir. Tapa focuses closely on the core emotional and human elements of the two primary characters in the film, Dilawar and Bani.

This focus enables him to deftly avoid the obvious quagmire of judgments regarding politics, culture, and religion in Kashmir. The result is something that feels very true and very real. Zero Bridge never seems fictional, and that is the triumph of the film.

In person, Tapa is fascinating to talk to. He is dedicated to storytelling, and took just a brief break from his intensive writing practice to talk with Hyphen about the film and his creative process.

]]> I wanted to start with your creative process. What was your process to get Zero Bridge made? What was your intention when creating the film?

I was interested in presenting the humanity of an important part of the world. I don't have any agenda or any particular stake in the argument about Kashmir. But my main interest was in putting a face on this large gap in my understanding of a place I have heard a lot about. I have visited Kashmir a lot, and spent time there with extended family. For a long time, I kept a long running file of stories and things not connected to actually making a film there, much less a cycle of films. So, I took the material that I have been collecting for years, and from that I developed situations and characters when I arrived in Srinagar.

What is your personal relationship with Kashmir? Have you spent a lot of time there?

Compared to someone living there, no. But compared to Americans or most Indians, yes. Freud talks a lot about the uncanny. The uncanny is that which is unsettling, haunting yet oddly familiar in its unknowability. I didn't realize it, but I had been developing an uncanny relationship with Kashmir because of my father's background, and my experiences through extended trips. Every artist undertakes a project in order to settle some kind of tension. But when I went to Srinagar, I didn't go to make it all about me. You try to humble yourself before the subject matter at hand, and you try to learn about it as much as you can, invest in the specifics, and in getting the details as right as you can. That is what I was doing while I was there, trying to get the details right. So, using all the materials I had, all the stories, was a way for me to open a door for people, so they could see that I wasn't a tourist blowing in and out of Kashmir for a time.

Let's talk about details of life in Srinagar and the way you capture them in Zero Bridge. The scene where Dilawar is arrested by the police and thrown into the rat hole is particularly compelling. The scene really shows us the way authority works in Kashmir and the way that young men are running the police station. How did you get close to that world?

It is impossible to not come into regular contact with the police in Srinagar. Depending on the environment, most of the time it is unfriendly, but occasionally, because the police are given beats to cover, they start to know people by face, by place, by the things they do, and the times they do them. After a certain time you get to know people in an area. So I got to know a few people in my area, and I would ask them things, spend time with them, have tea with them, observe.

While watching the film, it takes a while to decipher if it is a documentary or fictional film. I think it is one of the strengths of the film.

Everyone who has seen the movie has said that they felt that the camera is invisible. It makes me feel good, makes me feel like I succeeded in what I was trying to do. The main thing I was interested in, at the time I made the movie, were movies where the director didn't draw attention to themselves. I just found myself feeling that so many movies could have been better if it wasn't the director telling me, "Look at me, I'm directing." I just felt that there were too many like that. I was interested, considering this is my first feature and the first time that Kashmir is being presented in a realistic, non-partisan fashion, [in making sure] that it was of the essence to stay out of the way, make my presence disappear...otherwise, I was going to look like a jackass. So much of creative work is about ego suppression.

Let's talk about one scene on Nagin Lake. Dilawar is speaking eloquently in such great English. For one moment, you believe he could be somebody in the world. This guy obviously understands Bani's quest for freedom, right? What was you motivation behind the scene?

There were two. If the movie's stated goal is to show the daily life in Srinagar city, you have to deal with tourism. It would be like making a western film without horses. However, I knew he wasn't going to be a tourist, so it made sense that he would have a part-time job, which allowed me to work in a larger theme, which is the second thing. I felt it important, in regards to his interest in being parochial, to place him in the context of the world, encountering the rest of the world. I wrote that scene, and had no idea of how to cast it. I thought of acting it myself, but that wasn't going to work because I am a terrible actor, and I don't look western enough.

It is a compelling scene. Dilawar's nose is amazing. The big nose makes it difficult to see the rest of his face. The character talks in restrained ways. He's a stunning character...

I have watched this movie in many countries, and everyone mentions his nose. The Italians and Moroccans went nuts about the nose. He looks like a young Adrien Brody, said one reporter.

What are you currently working on?

I am working on something for television. I was commissioned by Time, Inc. studios to develop a miniseries about the origins, rise and decline of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. I have been researching it and writing it for the past 15 months. Intermittently, as I wait for reviews and notes, I am writing my next films.

Zero Bridge is playing at the 3rd I South Asian Film Festival on Sunday, November 8 at 4:15 pm at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. The screening will be followed by an in-person Q & A with Tariq Tapa facilitated by Robin Sukhadia.

__________________

Robin Sukhadia
Mr. Hyphen 2006/2007

The Hyphenite's Social Calendar: AP/LGBTQ, First Expressions

2009-11-03T23:08:13Z

Wednesday November 4th -- San Francisco

David Chang Speaks Out

Chef David Chang -- of Momofuko fame -- will join a panel discussion on food, art, and anything goes. He'll be joined by Momofuku cookbook co-author Peter Meehan, Chris Cosentino, and Meadowood chef Chris Kostow.

7 pm
Cafe du Nord
2170 Market St, San Francisco
FREE
RSVP to events(at)7x7(dot)com with "Changtastic" in subject line.

]]> Thursday November 5th -- San Jose

First Thursdays: Translating API/LGBTQ Issues Into Action

South Bay First Thursdays is a monthly dinner series for people in the public and private sectors interested in AAPI community issues and service opportunities. This month's panel will focus on the intersection of API and LGBTQ issues, and features speakers from API Equality, Out4Immigration, and Song That Radio. More info here.

7 to 9 pm
United Way
1922 The Alameda Room 105, San Jose
FREE
RSVP here

Thursday November 5th -- NYC

Contemporary Asian American Artists and the Social Imaginary

From AnOther Western project by Pipo Nguyen-Duy

Margo Machida, one of the leading scholars on Asian American art, will discuss issues explored in her new book Unsettled Visions: Contemporary Asian American Artists and the Social Imaginary. Topics will include migration flows of the 1990s, hipster embrace of "Asian" cultures, and new forms of globalized contact and conflict. Machida will also examine a diverse body of artwork, including the shape-shifting personae of photographer Pipo Nguyen-Duy and the mutant, hybridized "species" sculpted by Ming Fay.

12:30 to 1:45 pm
20 Cooper Square, room 485
FREE
RSVP here

Sixth Annual Write to Our Culture

Alfa

Write to Our Culture features Filipino/a American artists donating their time and talent to support the READ Philippines program. This year's lineup includes singer/songwriter Alfa, artist Bonnibel Fonbuena, DJ Boo, singer M. Josephine, and Warhol Soup. Hosted by comedian Air Tabigue. More info and advance tickets here.

6:30 pm
Nightingale Lounge
213 2nd Ave, NY
$ 15 door / $ 11 advance

Thursday November 5th to Sunday November 8th -- San Francisco

Third I South Asian Film Festival

The Seventh Annual Third I San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival presents shorts, features, and documentaries from South Asia and the South Asian Diaspora. Screenings will be at the Roxie and Castro Theaters. Full festival lineup and tickets here.

Friday November 6th -- Bellevue, WA

First Expressions & American Indian Film Festival

Check out an artist reception and film premiere of UNRESERVED: The Work of Louie Gong. Gong, an activist/contemporary artist of Chinese and Indigenous heritage, has gained popularity with Eighth Generation, his custom, hand-painted Coast Salish kicks. The First Expressions exhibit is presented in conjunction with the Seventh Annual American Indian Film Festival.

Reception with refreshments at 5 pm

Screening at 7 pm
Carson Theatre, Bellevue College
3000 Landerholm Circle SE, Bellevue WA
FREE

Friday November 6th -- NYC

The Evolving Cultural Identity of Chinese American Artists

Join Tony-award winning playwright David Henry Hwang, in conversation with composer/conductor pianist Bright Sheng and SF Chronicle's Asian Pop columnist Jeff Yang, for a discussion on how China's past and present are shaping the modern cultural identity of Chinese American artists. More info here.

7 to 9 pm
Museum of Chinese in America
215 Centre St, New York
$ 15 / $12 students & seniors / $ 10 MoCA Members
For tickets email education(at)mocanyc(dot)org

Women of Iran Film Series

Focusing on lives of women in Iran, this film series presents portraits of strong women negotiating their space and freedom among strict social conventions. The next film is Border Cafe (2005), directed by Kambozia Partovi. More info here.

7 pm
Asia Society
725 Park Avenue, New York
$ 11 nonmenbers / $ 7 members/students/seniors tickets here

Saturday November 7th -- New York

Artist Workshop with Cui Fei

Manuscript of Nature V by Cui Fei

Create unique takeaway pieces with contemporary Chinese artist Cui Fei. Participants will make their own artwork using organic found materials such as tendrils, leaves, and thorns. More info here.

2 to 4 pm
Museum of Chinese in America
215 centre St, New York
$ 25 / $ 20 students and seniors (inludes museum admission)
RSVP at education(at)mocanyc(dot)org.

Lucky Girl Adoptee Symposium

A day of workshops and discussions for adults and adoptees on some of the many topics raised by Mei-Ling Hopgood's book Lucky Girl, such as identity, culture, stereotypes, birth search, etc. Workshops are geared for 13 years of age and up, and will be followed by a cocktail reception and performance by musician and Operation Babylift adoptee Jared Rehberg. More info here.

Noon to 6 pm
19 University Place Auditorium
$ 10, register here

Saturday November 7th -- San Francisco

Arkipelago Reading Series

Justin Chin

This installation of the Phillipine American Writers and Artists, Inc Arkipelago Reading Series will feature writers Justin Chin, Sarah Gambito, and Marianne Villanueva, with musical guests Myrna del Rio and Bo Razon. More info here.

2 pm
Bayanihan Center
1010 Mission St, San Francisco
FREE

Sunday November 8th -- New York

Seasons of Sizhu: Winter

Min Xiao-Fen and her Blue Pipa Trio present an exploration of winter themes in Sizhu music, including classical, contemporary, and jazz. Part of "Four Seasons of Sizhu: Silk and Bamboo Sundays", a series of eight educational performances for children and famlies by New York's leading musical ensembles.

2 to 3:30 pm
Museum of Chinese in America
215 Centre St, New York
Free with museum admission

Opportunities

I Am Korean American Seeks Personal Profiles

I Am Korean American is a new online project which encourages Korean Americans to submit personal profiles to a growing collection that showcases the Korean American community's diversity. The goal is to collect as many profiles as possible, in order to provide a rich and varied snapshot of individuals that identify as Korean American, as well as ultimately serve as a useful historical archive. More info and submission here.

Novel Writing Workshop with Wendy Lee -- NYC

Wendy Lee, book editor and author of Happy Family, will lead this weekly workshop on the craft of novel writing as well as the business side of selling a manuscript to publishers. More info and registration here.

Tuesdays November 10th -- December 15th
The Asian American Writers' Workshop
16 West 32nd St, 10th floor, New York
$ 225 general / $ 200 AAWW members

'Searching for Sandeep' at the 3rd I South Asian Film Festival

2009-11-03T18:17:57Z

In a moment of naivety, I opted to watch Searching for Sandeep prior to bed -- choosing it over Warrior Boyz (to be reviewed soon!) under the rationale that a documentary about love would be far less disheartening than a feature on South Asian gangs in Canada. Although I cannot directly compare the hardships of relationships with gang warfare, I had forgotten how terrifying love can be. The aforementioned statement is particularly true for Searching for Sandeep's protagonists -- two queer women who foster an intimate relationship in spite of geographical, racial, and personal differences. Searching for Sandeep, one of the films slated to be screened at the 3rd I South Asian Film Festival, is a fascinating documentary that highlights the complex, central role of identity in relationships.

]]> Searching for Sandeep follows Poppy Stockwell, the film’s Sydney-based director. After a disappointing stint on the Sydney singles scene (insert requisite forlorn shots of Sydney’s lesbian bars here), Poppy takes her search to the internet where she meets Sandeep Virdi, a closeted Indian British woman who, at 31, lives with her traditional Sikh parents. In typical 21st century form, Poppy documents the entire thing on camera for reviewers like me to witness (and at times wince at) the vulnerability, the awkwardness and triumph requisite in courtship. This is perhaps Searching for Sandeep’s greatest strength. By relying on simple filmmaking, the documentary candidly focuses on Poppy and Sandeep’s relationship as it develops from online repartee, to flirtatious text messaging, to a long awaited rendezvous in Thailand.

Yet, the handheld camcorder captures far more than a flourishing relationship. The film is an interesting examination of love in a globalized world where boundaries are crossed. Some, like the butch/femme binary in queer female relationships, are deconstructed. Although Sandeep observes that Poppy is “quite butch” from their first, gawky encounter, the identity becomes irrelevant as the two become committed partners -- and as Sandeep develops her own, fluid gender expression. Yet others, like the cultural and generational divide between Sandeep and her parents, remain strong. By the end of the film, facing estrangement from her conservative father, Sandeep laments, “Without the support of your parents, you’re nothing.” Despite the familiarity of Sandeep’s cry about the rigidity of Asian parents, Searching for Sandeep beautifully highlights the intersection of race, sexual orientation, geography, and generation in modern love.

Searching for Sandeep is showing this Saturday, November 7, 3:25 pm at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco as a part of the 3rd I South Asian Film Festival.

NBA Commentator Calls Jianlian Yi "The Chinaman"

2009-11-02T22:36:41Z

Classy.

The title of this entry is pretty much self-explanatory. As you can hear for yourself, one of the NBA commentators refers to Jianlian Yi of the New Jersey Nets as a Chinaman right around the 0.50 mark. I'm sort of grateful that I can embed this video for you all to watch, but I also think it's a laughing matter that NBA.com did not catch this and has it up on its official website.

I can already imagine what's going to happen if we call the commentator out on this.

]]>
1) I am not a racist! I had no intention whatsoever of using a racial slur. I called him a Chinaman because it's an accurate description of Yi Jianlian. He is a man, from China, hence Chinaman. It is in no way, shape, or form derogatory.

2) I am sorry if you feel offended by my comment, but it is simply not true that I was trying to offend anyone.

3) I am simply uneducated and did not know that Chinaman is a racial slur. I sincerely apologize for my usage of this word and promise that this will never happen again.

Call me a cynic, but out of all the possible scenarios, I'd say that based on similar experiences in the past, 1 and 2 are probably more likely to take the cake.

Who is this commentator anyway? I'd like to send him a nasty email.

9500 Liberty Offers Compelling Look at Immigration Debate

2009-10-31T20:13:12Z

For those in urban centers who are insulated from the immigration debate, 9500 Liberty offers revealing view of the contentious battle going on elsewhere in the country. The documentary film, produced by Eric Byler and Annabel Park, chronicles what happened in Prince William County, VA, after a law was passed in 2007 requiring police officers to question anyone they believed had "probable cause" to be an undocumented immigrant.

]]> Hyphen was a media sponsor), and what stood out for me was the stark language and the allusions to war being used by Prince William County immigration foes, who directed most of their anger at a Latino population that has more than doubled over the past two decades.

"Don't ever forget 9/11, and who was responsible for 9/11? Illegals." (Though a nice comeback was, "Don't confuse 7/11 with 9/11. The guys at 7/11 just want to work.")

"We are going to repel this invasion ... and the weapons they're using are their anchor babies."

But how do you do force police to become immigration officers without using racial profiling? Really, you can't.

What happens when you marginalize 20 percent of your community's population? For Prince William County, a racial divide that forces the county board to rethink its decision to go after immigrants.

Byler and Park (who were featured in The Spaces Issue of Hyphen) deftly show the human cost of the immigration debate, and how the hatred and anger of a few can unravel a community.

9500 Liberty began as traditional documentary but Byler and Park realized they needed to get their footage out there sooner and started posting on YouTube. It became an interactive project and in the middle of it, the filmmakers became participants by joining the organizing effort to repeal the probable cause law.

Park said Thursday that was a simple matter of telling the truth, stepping forward and not being afraid. "Immigration is not a Latino issue, it's an American issue."

Byler urged people who live in diverse places like San Francisco "that have already embraced the 21st century" and are inclusive of immigrants to get involved in the fight so that a vocal minority doesn't hijack the debate.

US Commission on Civil Rights member Michael Yaki said after the screening that the film "needs to be seen by every member of Congress."

"The immigration debate won't begin on a national level unless they truly understand what is happening," Yaki said.

Awesome Theater: 'Sunday Will Come'

2009-10-30T17:21:53Z

It's one of the great tragedies of art that the best innovations are impossible to describe.

Now, I'm not sure that the unfortunately titled The Future Project: Sunday Will Come will revolutionize live stage performance as we know it, fix the health care crisis, and make you love your mother more. But it is a terrific piece ... and I am having trouble describing it.

Let's try this: ever feel like you're living in a fish bowl?

]]> Sunday Will Come takes that cliché and turns it on its ear ... or rather, follows it out to its logical conclusion. Living in a fishbowl isn't just about feeling watched, or even feeling trapped. It's more an existential state, being controlled from outside, like pet fish, yet alone and helpless in illness and death.

The interdisciplinary performance alternately depicts a pair of aquarium fish, one of whom is dying, and the couple that owns the fish trying to decide what to do about it. The fish scenes are beautiful, using only dance and movement to show the labored breathing and flopping around of the dying fish, and the attempts of the healthy fish to support and assist. The scenes between the human couple rely on absurdist dialogue and metafictional studies of how to produce a performance piece. Interspersed throughout are songs and monologues from a chorus-like figure that mostly stalks the stage's literal border.

*Sigh* Okay, see? impossible to describe. Because what I described above sounds at best grisly, and at worst self indulgent and boring. But it is neither.

Produced from the ground up by San Francisco's oldest arts nonprofit, Intersection for the Arts, this piece is part of a larger project, The Future Project, which imagines the future broadly -- the future of the world, the future of theater, the future of whatever. It is a collaboration between Intersection's two resident performance companies: the theater company Campo Santo, directed and represented here by Sean San Jose, and the dance company Erica Shuch Performance Project, led and represented here by Erica Chong Shuch. The text is developed/adapted from texts by such Intersection collaborators as Daniel Alarcón, Philip Kan Gotanda, and Octavio Solis. Thrown into the mix is singer/songwriter/rapper Denizen Kane (Dennis Kim, formerly of I Was Born With Two Tongues), who performs his own songs and monologues as the Chorus.

The lineup of collaborators has as high (and Asian American) a pedigree as you can get in this circle San Francisco arts, but the show's success depends more on the energy of San Jose's and Shuch's performance. Ultimately, all of the best art is about the sheer joy of creative innovation. When that joy is present, there's no masking it. So any description of this piece will inevitably fall short: make it sound like something dry, incomprehensible, and existentialist, when it is actually an entertainment of a particularly high order.

Okay, that's all I'm going to say. Go see it if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area any time until November 7. Thursday performances are "pay what you can." Go see it.

The Future Project: Sunday Will Come runs through November 7. Tickets are $15 to $25. Click here for tickets or call 415.626.2787 x109.

Documentary 'The Recess Ends' Gets Folks Talking About the Recession

2009-10-30T06:01:30Z

Since the recession hit, much attention has been focused on banks, politicians, economists, and the myriad of theories on what sunk us and what will lift us out. In their documentary The Recess Ends, filmmaking brothers Austin and Brian Chu look at the recession through a revolutionary lens: a human one.

]]>
While watching the film, my inner film critic couldn't help but think, "This interview could be shorter," or "The scenes should have been organized differently." But they were lil' gripes made irrelevant by the genuineness of the film and its mission. To get me to ignore my anal-retentive film-viewing ways is a feat in and of itself.

The bleak images of foreclosed homes and job loss gradually brighten as the film shifts to themes of community, service, lifelong dreams, and a sense that people can, and will, rebound quicker than the economy. While some Americans may feel like crawling into fetal position until financial markets stabilize, others are taking the initiative to strengthen their communities, turning to grassroots organizing and thinking of their neighborhoods as something to invest in. As Boggs says during her interview, "The American revolution is gonna be different from other revolutions. Because it's gonna require us giving up things rather than acquiring more things."

One of the admirable traits of this documentary is its apolitical stance. While references to President Obama and interviews with politicians appear, there's clearly no agenda aside from capturing how people maintain their spirit in tough times. After all, the recession hits every average American regardless of political affiliation or beliefs. There's also a noticeable lack of demonizing of the banks and Washington. It's just not that kind of film. And sometimes that's what we need.

Check out the official blog of The Recess Ends for video clips, info, and updates.

A second screening is scheduled at the Victoria Theater in San Francisco on November 20. Learn more about the event here.

Asianspotting: Asian Female in Miley Cyrus' New Hit

2009-10-30T05:37:14Z

Check it.

After the whole Miley Cyrus "slanty eye" gesture incident a couple of months ago (which I don't think she ever apologized for since she believes she was merely making a "goofy face"; we're all just crazy right?)*, looks like homegirl is trying to make it up to the community she offended by strategically placing an Asian person in her chart-topping song, "Party in the USA." Hmmm...

Tell me I'm just reading too much into it.

*Apparently Miley "did" apologize the second time around, but in my honest opinion, I wouldn't really consider that an apology. Seriously. Someone needs to write a book on the art of apologizing. I'll stop before I get too mean.

On Godzilla, Ken Jeong, and the End of the World

2009-10-29T20:55:02Z

In the terrible 1998 remake of the Japanese monster-flick Godzilla, the mayor of New York is an arrogant buffoon who nearly dooms the city. The rumor? The character -- Mayor Ebert -- is a stab at the movie critic Roger, who has blasted Emmerich in the past for an overreliance on special effects and spectacle, at the expense of character development and plot. Consider the opening paragraph from this, his review of Emmerich's 2004 film The Day After Tomorrow.

Anyway, I have a feeling that, upon watching the trailer for Emmerich's upcoming film 2012, Roger Ebert and I had the same reaction: not this shit again.

]]> It’s not that I care especially about the eroding standards of American filmmaking, or that I don’t think 2012 will be entertaining. I’m not a movie critic, and I don’t have a bone to pick with Emmerich for the fact that most trailers for his film give more face time to collapsing skyscrapers than they do actual people.

It’s that this guy -- you know, Jet Li’s triad-boss father in Romeo Must Die and “Master Yu” in Rush Hour 3 -- is featured as a Tibetan lama crushed by tidal waves flooding the Himalayas. He goes down swinging, literally, at a large Buddhist bell -- the implication being, of course, that he sacrifices himself to warn others of the impending end. It’s selfless work, being more mystically attuned than the rest of us.

Granted, the Tibetan monk -- Asian America’s magical negro -- grates a lot less harshly than unabashed stereotypes like Ken Jeong’s monstrosity of a racist role in The Hangover. I don’t want to rehash all that’s been said, but I do want to say: when I saw The Hangover at a free advance screening at UCSB, I enjoyed the film up until a hysterical naked Asian man leapt out of a car trunk to beat three white men with a tire iron. When he turned out to be an effeminate, lisping gangster stashed in the trunk as a “lucky charm,” I was incredulous -- really? Still?

On one level, it’s important to direct our venom at racist casting, racist writing, and racist roles. It’s sad that Ken Jeong, who probably speaks better English than most Americans, can’t span a three-year stretch of comedic movie roles without playing the racial equivalent of a fart joke. But is it really still off-limits to ask: what obligation do Asian American actors have to not take roles that play to racist stereotypes?

It’s a question that might be fairer to aim at a successful actor like Jeong than at someone like Mark Dacascos, who, when not doing backflips into Kitchen Stadium on Iron Chef America, plays villains with names like “Von Griem” and “Cobra.” And it’s a question that might not be fair at all, given the amount of money invested into maintaining our familiar Oriental tropes -- here, I am reminded of a recent Panda Express commercial involving Orange Chicken, chopsticks, and, of course, pandas.

But I still have to wonder: when an Asian actor is asked to feign Buddhist mysticism, or chirp Oriental gibberish and run naked through the desert, can we really only fault the dearth of other roles if he or she accepts? What responsibility do they have to reject those roles -- to say, "This is wrong"?

Calvin Sun's Keynote Speech at SERCAAL

2009-10-29T20:12:08Z

I thought this was an excellent keynote speech given by Calvin Sun at last week's Southeast Regional Conference of Asian American Leaders (SERCAAL)*. I first came across Calvin's work several years ago on Asian American female body image while he was still in college, during which time he also helped create an annual college film festival and was also Columbia's former senior class VP. He's usually involved in a million different passions, activist and not, and it says a lot that he was chosen to speak, given the other speakers they've had. I believe the experiences, perspectives, and ideals he shares here sound representative of a lot of other passionate mid/late-twenties Asian American activists right now helping to shape the country in their own ways. Sun mentions being inspired by Better Luck Tomorrow, which leads me to wonder how influential BLT has been in awakening other Generation-Y Asian Americans...

*conference name corrected, with thanks to Julia Yip