2015 Spring Showcase
description
Transcript of 2015 Spring Showcase
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SAN DIEGO ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL
www.pac-arts.org
www.PacArts.org
A WEEK-LONG PRESENTATION OF ASIAN CINEMA16 FILMS, 9 COUNTRIES
APRIL 16-25, 2015
5TH ANNUAL
PRINCESS JELLY
FISH, PG. 11
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IT #2029
Glancing backfield, it looks so obvious. To slip
the bracing clutches of gang life. To escape the
pummeling cycles of abuse and poverty. To provide
for the half-dozen siblings cheering you on to
become more than the family has ever been before.
But looking downfield at the distant goal line comes
the sting of expectation and the hard hits of life
itself. The numbers arent devastating: Polynesian
Americans are 28 times more likely to enter the
NFL than any other ethnic group. Which of course
makes the weight on ones shoulders that much
heavier to shake off.
Over the span of four years, documentarians Tony
Vainuku and Erika Cohn followed four Samoan
and Tongan American high schoolers with tough
shoulders and gridiron dreams. Talented Fihi
draws from faith and the example he can be to his
siblings. Brothers Leva and Vita live in the shadow
of a father whos both a local football legend and a
notorious OG. And sensation Harvey, the top recruit
in Utah, must decide where to land: professionally,
academically, and personally.
With the dogged faith of its title, IN FOOTBALL WE
TRUST explores the sacrifices made in the name
of family, as well as the motivating role of culture:
Polynesian traditions as well as street codes of
masculinity. Embedded throughout are interviews
with NFL icons like Troy Polamalu and Haloti Ngata
who testify to the opportunity and the heartache of
the American dream.
Opening night sponsored by:
JOIN US FOR A TAILGATE PARTY
BEFORE THE FILM
Ticket Options with Tailgate:
$22 General, $19 Member (includes food & drink)
Film Only: $15 General, $12 Film Only (members)
Vouchers not accepted
OPENING NIGHT PRESENTATION
IN FOOTBALL WE TRUST
Thurs, April 16, 6:30pm 7:15pm & 8:30pm,
UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Tony Vainuku, Erika Cohn
USA | 89 mins
Directors Scheduled to Attend
4
,
13
SUSTAINING SPONSOR
PUBLIC SUPPORT
OPENING NIGHT
SUPPORTING
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
MEDIA
OFFICIAL AIRLINES
OFFICIAL PRINTER
IN KIND
SPECIAL THANKS: Derryl Acosta, Joe Austin, Jonny Benavidez, Marisa Bermumen, Caitlin
Brewer, Steve Eldred, Marti Emerald, Dominic Gerace, Richard Go, Rodney & Lois Lanthorne,
George McGregor, Michael Heu, Tim Moon, Leo Morales, Alexander Nguyen, Frank Robinson,
Michael Tu, Mark Tran, Miranda Ko & Jared Cui
GENEROUSLY PRINTED BY
SPONSORS WE COULDNT DO IT WITHOUT YOU
13
Pantone 137 Pantone 446
McGregor & Associates, Inc. Logomark2-color: Orange PMS 137 and Grey PMS 446Contact: Chris Josh 619-398-2828
Office of Councilmember
Marti Emerald
Office of Councilmember
Scott Sherman
FREE FOR MEMBERS! Dustin Nguyen (21 Jump Street, Fool for Love) plays a
pensive pawnbroker whos not easily impressed, let alone by the grannies trying to hawk
fake gold in his shop. That is, until he encounters a beautiful young regular whos even more
soft-spoken than he is. And so, with the cautious pragmatism of his profession, he strikes up
a relationship. The two dont say much, but both seem to have something to hide: his guilt-
ridden past, her own ideas of self-worth. Adapted from one of Dostoevskys best works,
GENTLE is a subtly unnerving exploration of a marriage haunted by a society that treats
women as commodities and that wavers, often eerily, between the pressures of religious
and financial value.
FILMS
GENTLE
Mon, April 20, 6:30pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Le-Van Kiet
Vietnam, USA | 101 mins
On the disputed island of Shikotan, war between Japan and the USSR didnt end after WWII.
But the ongoing clash doesnt keep 10-year-old Junpei and his young Russian neighbor
Tanya from becoming fast friends. While the older generation plots to claim the island for
their respective nations, Tanya, Junpei, and his younger brother Kanta scout the island
for their own emotional peace, cradled in young love, music, and the imagination. Often
compared to Studio Ghiblis Grave of the Fireflies, GIOVANNIS ISLAND captures the way
kids cope with homes displaced and family removed, but with a gentle sprinkling of magic.
The clean, elegant animation has a matter-of-fact realism, but its the pangs of familial and
romantic love that illuminate this forgotten history on the edge of the world.
GIOVANNIS ISLAND
Sat, April 18, 1:00pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Mizuho Nishikubo
Japan | 102 mins
9
Based on the collective memories of refugees who experienced the fall of Saigon and its
aftermath, JOURNEY FROM THE FALL follows the 20-year story of a family separated: a
wife, son, and mother sent off on a boat, and a husband left behind to survive a Communist
re-education camp. A rare epic of Asian American cinema, Ham Trans film bridges Vietnam
and the United States with a sweeping sense of history and culture, and more impressively,
with the bottled emotions of a generation displaced.
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
JOURNEY FROM THE FALL
Sun, April 19, 6:55pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Sat, April 25, 6:30pm, Hoover High School
Auditorium
Director: Ham Tran
USA | 135 mins | 2006
Director Scheduled to Attend
In this powerful personal documentary, director Doan Hoang turns the camera on her
family and the memories its suppressed for decades: that Doans parents left Doans half-
sister behind in Vietnam, and that the family has cut ties with brothers who fought for the
Communists. OH, SAIGON follows the family as they visit Vietnam for the first time in 20
years and as two generations confront the resentments that have cleaved several ends of a
family after war.
Preceded by: POMEGRANATE
Dir: Ham Tran
USA | 14 min | 2001
Fading memories of a grandfather and a childhood on the other side of the ocean.
OH, SAIGON
Sun, April 19, 4:55pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Fri, April 24, 6:30pm, Hoover High School
Auditorium
Director: Doan Hoang
USA, Vietnam | 57 mins | 2007
8
Ariel Hsing, Lily Zhang, and Michael Landers
are ordinary teenagers except for the fact
that they are among the highest-ranked
table tennis players in the nation. Their
parents too are everyday Bay Area Chinese
immigrants or middle class New Yorkers
except that they have the unique challenge
of seeing their children to the cusp of
world championship. Together, the families
devise workout regiments and nurture
an environment for athletic and personal
growth.
In a sport thats better associated with the
rec room than the Olympic stage, table
tennis affords little glamour, but as captured
in Mina T. Son and Sara Newens inspiring
documentary, requires a physical and mental
precision as strenuous as any athletes. But
beyond the sweat is the story of three young
people magnificently juggling success and
school, self and competition, friendship and
mentorship. What makes TOP SPIN such a
smash to watch is how seamlessly it moves
from suburban high school to world-class
training facility: the very path navigated
by Ariel, Lily, and Michael season after
season, carrying their Olympic dreams with
the charisma and confidence of teenagers
discovering who they can still be.
CLOSING NIGHT PRESENTATION
TOP SPIN
Thurs, April 23, 6:30pm,
UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Mina T. Son, Sara Newens
USA | 80 mins
Directors Scheduled to Attend
5
There are movie bandits, and then there are Tsui Hark bandits. The former make for grand
political espionage, as they do in this post-war tale. The latter are devious, flamboyant
rabble-rousers, baddies named Hawk and have the nose to match. With Tsui at the cockpit,
THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN 3D flies headfirst into glorious b-film territory, where
adaptations of the classics come by way of CGI tigers fighting CGI horses, and set-pieces
skiing down hills and hanging off planes. Good guys wear bad masks to infiltrate places
called Tiger Mountain, and heroes fling themselves through fiery snow because they dont
just need to win, they demand immortality. The political maneuvering is intricate and death-
defying, as is Tsuis action direction, so brimming with virtuosity it demands two endings.
FILMS
THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN 3D
Sat, April 18, 7:50pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Mon, April 20, 8:45pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Tsui Hark
China, Hong Kong | 143 mins
Will you come in the reception with me? asks a pregnant Sedigheh to the taxi driver that
just took her to the hospital. Its an innocent question, but in a country where unwed women
cant attain prenatal care, it is a last-ditch plea for help. And so the taxi driver, who already
has a wife at home, is hailed to serve as a surrogate husband. The hours that follow are a
gripping ethical thriller about the words a man can and cant say in front of a hospital staff of
women who have seen scenarios like this before. With a striking stylistic economy, director
Reza Mirkarimi masterfully portrays the wavering tension between fear and compassion
that erupts when we are hailed to empathize with every character in the film.
TODAY
Mon, April 20, 4:40pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Tues, April 21, 6:25pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Reza Mirkarimi
Iran | 87 mins
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KEY 210.5 1 2 3 4 5 0.5 1 2 3 4 5 0.5 1 2 3 4 5 0.5 1 2 3 4 5KOMORI Part No.T30LS428
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Spring Showcase Booklet 2015 (Size: 12" x 8.5 = 16 pages folded)
Page 1: COVER FRONT Image 5th ANNUAL SPRING SHOWCASE APRIL 1625, 2014 A weeklong presentation of Asian cinema 16 Films, 9 Countries (PacArts Logo) www.pacarts.org Page 2: COVER INSIDE About PacArts MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Caption: Executive Director Lee Ann Kim and actor George Takei at the 2014 Spring
On behalf of Pacific Arts Movement, it is our pleasure to present our 5th Annual Spring Showcase, a week-long presentation of dynamic films from around the world.
From Polynesian warriors on the football field, teenage parenthood, and the search for the perfect shoes to a suspenseful ride in the back of an Iranian taxi cab, this years slate of films is brilliantly curated by our Artistic Director Brian Hu, and it includes Cinema Little Saigon - a tribute to the 40th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.
In addition to our Spring Showcase, we invite you to join us year-round for other programs including our annual Asian culinary celebration - Chew the Scene on October 1, and the San Diego Asian Film Festival, which celebrates its 16th season this year, November 5-14.
We believe that film has the power to entertain, inspire, and build a compassionate society. Join us, and be part of our Movement.
LEE ANN KIM
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Schedule & Tickets..................................................3
Films .......................................................................4-12
Cinema Little Saigon ........................................ 6-8
Sponsors ................................................................... 13
Membership ............................................................. 15
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3
Monday
APRIL
20Tuesday
APRIL
21Wednesday
APRIL
22
Thursday
APRIL
23
Thursday
APRIL
16Friday
APRIL
17Saturday
APRIL
18
Sunday
APRIL
19
Friday
APRIL
24
Saturday
APRIL
25
ULTRASTAR HAZARD CENTER 7510 HAZARD CENTER DRIVE APRIL 16-23
HOOVER HIGH SCHOOL 4474 EL CAJON BLVD APRIL 24-25
TICKET INFORMATION ALL-ACCESS PASS
4:40PM6:30PM8:45PM
6:30PM7:15PM8:30PM
6:20PM8:35PM
1:00PM3:10PM5:20PM7:50PM
1:00PM
3:25PM4:55PM6:55PM
6:30PM 4:00PM
6:30PM
4:30PM6:25PM8:15PM
6:25PM8:55PM
In Football We Trust (USA) p4In Football We Trust (USA) p4In Football We Trust (USA) p4
Catfish in Black Bean Sauce (USA) p7All That Glitters: 2 Short Docs p7Oh, Saigon (Vietnam, USA) p8Journey from the Fall (USA) p8
Oh, Saigon (Vietnam, USA) p8 Catfish in Black Bean Sauce (USA) p7Journey from the Fall (USA) p8
Today (Iran) p12Gentle (Vietnam, USA) p9The Taking of Tiger Mountain (China, HK) p12
Mariquina (Philippines) p10Princess Jellyfish (Japan) p11
Giovannis Island (Japan) p9Margarita, With a Straw (India) p10My Brilliant Life (South Korea) p11The Taking of Tiger Mountain (China, HK) p12
Margarita, With a Straw (India) p10Today (Iran) p12Princess Jellyfish (Japan) p11
My Brilliant Life (South Korea) p11Mystery Kung Fu Theater
Top Spin (USA) p5TBA
SCHEDULE & TICKET INFORMATION
Opening Night Film & Tailgate PartyIncludes screening and a Tailgate Meal with BeverageVouchers not accepted opening night. The All-Access Pass
is the best way to enjoy all the films at the San Diego Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase!
General Admission
FREE Screenings
General
Member
Group 10+
Film Only
Film Only (member)
$22
$19
$19/ticket
$15
$12
PriceGeneral
Member
$100
$65
General
Member
Student/Senior/Military
Group 10+
$12
$9
$9
$9/ticket
Cinema Little Saigon - April 24-25 (Hoover High)
GENTLE - April 20th (free for members)
Tickets are avaible now at
pacarts.orgAnd at UltraStar Mission Valley box office starting April 11 CONTACT US: 619-400-591 [email protected]
6:30PM8:30PM
Bollywood standout Kalki Koechlin (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, SDAFF 13) breaks through
in a big way as star of the loveable indie MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW. Swerving away
from the arduous trappings of the disability tragedy, MARGARITA is about jumping into life
headfirst, from the music scene of Delhi to the hot-blooded streets of New York. Along the
way, Laila (Koechlin) makes friends with the disabled and the able-bodied, falls in love with
men and women, and charms with her smile and her comic proclivity for storming through
expectations of what life with cerebral palsy ought to be. Skillfully directed by Shonali Bose
as a jubilant tale of self-discovery, MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW is a cocktail shaker full of
passion and cheer.
FILMS
MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW
Sat, April 18, 3:10pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Tues, April 21, 4:30pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Shonali Bose
India | 100 mins
In the city of Marikina, Romeo Guevarra is remembered as a master shoemaker. To his
daughter Imelda though, his memory is tainted, now a fog of faded glory following her testy
adolescence and the steely determination of three women out to find happiness in spite of
him. After Romeos death, Imelda revisits her relationship with her father and pays tribute to
him the best she can: through shoes, the only way the members of the Guevarra family ever
seemed able to express themselves. Milo Soguecos MARIQUINA is a loving tribute to that
process of reconciliation, as well as a nostalgic tribute to craft the sort made by hands and
shaped by the heart. For a family and nation hardened by its missteps, MARIQUINA offers a
lyrical reprieve, a gift wrapped in a shoebox and a pop song for the journey ahead.
MARIQUINA
Fri, April 17, 6:20pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Milo Sogueco
Philippines | 116 mins
10
Since arriving in the United States as children, Vietnamese siblings Mai and Dwayne were
raised by a black couple, and twenty years later, have found happiness in love and family.
But when Mai locates their long-lost mother in Vietnam, the multi-racial family gets thrown
into disarray with comic results. The Vietnamese refugee story gets a humorous spin by
way of the 90s culture-clash family comedy courtesy of actor-director-writer Chi Muoi Lo
in this seminal Vietnamese American film.
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
CATFISH IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE
Sun, April 19, 1:00pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Sat, April 25, 4:00pm, Hoover High School
Auditorium
Director: Chi Muoi Lo
USA | 119 mins | 1999
Two short documentaries explore the uncanny ways Vietnamese see themselves in America
and vice-versa.
COVER GIRL: A GIFT FROM GOD
Director: Nguyen Tan Hoang
USA | 17 mins | 2000
Meet Dalena, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed American who flawlessly sings Vietnamese
standards and becomes an international sensation.
#NAILEDIT: VIETNAMESE & THE NAIL INDUSTRY
Director: Adele Pham
USA | 30 mins | 2015
With Hollywood on one side and the African American community on the other, Vietnamese
women corner the market on nail art.
ALL THAT GLITTERS:
TWO SHORT DOCUMENTARIES
Sun, April 19, 3:25pm,
UltraStar Mission Valley
7
On this years 40th anniversary of the Fall of
Saigon, there will be flag ceremonies, tributes
to heroes living and fallen, and flashbacks to
the critical events of April 30, 1975. But these
events must also remind us of the narratives
that often go silent, namely those of refugees
who are now Vietnamese Americans,
participants in civic culture and neighbors
in areas like City Heights. Their narratives
draw attention to the lived and ongoing
experience of displacement, narratives that
represent Vietnamese Americans as lively,
desiring, and imaginative, and not simply as
collateral damage or as confirmations of the
American dream.
So this year, Pacific Arts Movement highlights
those stories with Cinema Little Saigon,
a film retrospective that celebrates the
cinematic achievements of Vietnamese
American filmmakers, in particular those
whose films complicate the usual narrative
of refugee rescue and the great success of
a model minority. Since the 1990s, these
filmmakers have traced their own family and
community histories, and projected bold
visions of the future. They refract memory
and experience through a number of creative
modes and genres: cross-cultural comedy,
historical epic, intimate drama, first-person
documentary, experimental video.
This retrospective draws attention not only to
the classics of Vietnamese American cinema,
but to the neighborhoods that have inspired
these works, places like City Heights, where
part of the retrospective will be set. Hence
Cinema Little Saigon: like Chinatown as
much a frame of mind as it is a geographic
designation, as much a well of cinematic
creativity and aspiration as it is a megaplex
or a community auditorium. Whatever the
anniversary, this cinema measures its vitality
through the communities its bridged, the
audiences its awakened, and the artists it
continues to inspire.
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
6
Young lovers Dae-su and Mira didnt expect to have a baby at 17, and they certainly didnt
expect one like Ahreum, born with a rare affliction for rapid aging. 16 years later, husband
and wife, played with spunk by superstars Gang Dong-won and Song Hye-kyo, are still
frolicking and potty-mouthed, but theyre grounded by a precocious son much wiser than
they. Not surprisingly, Ahreum doesnt have many friends of any age group, but with his
parents hes bonded by the reality that they all have had to grow up too fast. With MY
BRILLIANT LIFE, director E J-yong delivers his warmest, most glowing film to date which
happens also to be a most unusual meditation on the experience of time and family. At its
core a light comedy and youth romance, MY BRILLIANT LIFE dwells not on misfortune but
on the rare opportunity to see that each others lives are miracles.
FILMS
MY BRILLIANT LIFE
Sat, April 18, 5:20pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Wed, April 22, 6:25pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: E J-yong
South Korea | 117 mins
Five female otakus are too sheepish and antisocial to leave their geek haven Amamizukan,
let alone talk to boys. Luckily, when Tsukimi is forced to step into the outside world, her
accidental encounter is with the leggy beauty Kuranosuke, who wears beautiful dresses
and seductive OH NO Kuranosuke is a man!! What will Tsukimis otaku sisters think?
Amamizukan will crumble! But when their true threat comes in the form of evil politicians
set on demolishing Amamizukan in the name of development, the otakus realize they
must band together with Kuranosuke and make their voice heard. PRINCESS JELLYFISH is
a pop culture parade glittered with rainbow candy, where democracy is a fashion show and
gender is as gelatinous as jellyfish.
PRINCESS JELLYFISH
Fri, April 17, 8:35pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Tues, April 21, 8:15pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Taisuke Kawamura
Japan | 126 mins
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KEY 17KEY 3 KEY 4 KEY 5 KEY 6 KEY 7 KEY 8 KEY 9 KEY 10 KEY 11 KEY 12 KEY 13 KEY 14 KEY 15 KEY 16 KEY 18 KEY 19 KEY 20
25 GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY25 25 K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K CK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YY P 75252550505050 25 25
KEY 210.5 1 2 3 4 5 0.5 1 2 3 4 5 0.5 1 2 3 4 5 0.5 1 2 3 4 5KOMORI Part No.T30LS428
-
Spring Showcase Booklet 2015 (Size: 12" x 8.5 = 16 pages folded)
Page 1: COVER FRONT Image 5th ANNUAL SPRING SHOWCASE APRIL 1625, 2014 A weeklong presentation of Asian cinema 16 Films, 9 Countries (PacArts Logo) www.pacarts.org Page 2: COVER INSIDE About PacArts MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Caption: Executive Director Lee Ann Kim and actor George Takei at the 2014 Spring
On behalf of Pacific Arts Movement, it is our pleasure to present our 5th Annual Spring Showcase, a week-long presentation of dynamic films from around the world.
From Polynesian warriors on the football field, teenage parenthood, and the search for the perfect shoes to a suspenseful ride in the back of an Iranian taxi cab, this years slate of films is brilliantly curated by our Artistic Director Brian Hu, and it includes Cinema Little Saigon - a tribute to the 40th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.
In addition to our Spring Showcase, we invite you to join us year-round for other programs including our annual Asian culinary celebration - Chew the Scene on October 1, and the San Diego Asian Film Festival, which celebrates its 16th season this year, November 5-14.
We believe that film has the power to entertain, inspire, and build a compassionate society. Join us, and be part of our Movement.
LEE ANN KIM
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Schedule & Tickets..................................................3
Films .......................................................................4-12
Cinema Little Saigon ........................................ 6-8
Sponsors ................................................................... 13
Membership ............................................................. 15
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3
Monday
APRIL
20Tuesday
APRIL
21Wednesday
APRIL
22
Thursday
APRIL
23
Thursday
APRIL
16Friday
APRIL
17Saturday
APRIL
18
Sunday
APRIL
19
Friday
APRIL
24
Saturday
APRIL
25
ULTRASTAR HAZARD CENTER 7510 HAZARD CENTER DRIVE APRIL 16-23
HOOVER HIGH SCHOOL 4474 EL CAJON BLVD APRIL 24-25
TICKET INFORMATION ALL-ACCESS PASS
4:40PM6:30PM8:45PM
6:30PM7:15PM8:30PM
6:20PM8:35PM
1:00PM3:10PM5:20PM7:50PM
1:00PM
3:25PM4:55PM6:55PM
6:30PM 4:00PM
6:30PM
4:30PM6:25PM8:15PM
6:25PM8:55PM
In Football We Trust (USA) p4In Football We Trust (USA) p4In Football We Trust (USA) p4
Catfish in Black Bean Sauce (USA) p7All That Glitters: 2 Short Docs p7Oh, Saigon (Vietnam, USA) p8Journey from the Fall (USA) p8
Oh, Saigon (Vietnam, USA) p8 Catfish in Black Bean Sauce (USA) p7Journey from the Fall (USA) p8
Today (Iran) p12Gentle (Vietnam, USA) p9The Taking of Tiger Mountain (China, HK) p12
Mariquina (Philippines) p10Princess Jellyfish (Japan) p11
Giovannis Island (Japan) p9Margarita, With a Straw (India) p10My Brilliant Life (South Korea) p11The Taking of Tiger Mountain (China, HK) p12
Margarita, With a Straw (India) p10Today (Iran) p12Princess Jellyfish (Japan) p11
My Brilliant Life (South Korea) p11Mystery Kung Fu Theater
Top Spin (USA) p5TBA
SCHEDULE & TICKET INFORMATION
Opening Night Film & Tailgate PartyIncludes screening and a Tailgate Meal with BeverageVouchers not accepted opening night. The All-Access Pass
is the best way to enjoy all the films at the San Diego Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase!
General Admission
FREE Screenings
General
Member
Group 10+
Film Only
Film Only (member)
$22
$19
$19/ticket
$15
$12
PriceGeneral
Member
$100
$65
General
Member
Student/Senior/Military
Group 10+
$12
$9
$9
$9/ticket
Cinema Little Saigon - April 24-25 (Hoover High)
GENTLE - April 20th (free for members)
Tickets are avaible now at
pacarts.orgAnd at UltraStar Mission Valley box office starting April 11 CONTACT US: 619-400-591 [email protected]
6:30PM8:30PM
Bollywood standout Kalki Koechlin (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, SDAFF 13) breaks through
in a big way as star of the loveable indie MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW. Swerving away
from the arduous trappings of the disability tragedy, MARGARITA is about jumping into life
headfirst, from the music scene of Delhi to the hot-blooded streets of New York. Along the
way, Laila (Koechlin) makes friends with the disabled and the able-bodied, falls in love with
men and women, and charms with her smile and her comic proclivity for storming through
expectations of what life with cerebral palsy ought to be. Skillfully directed by Shonali Bose
as a jubilant tale of self-discovery, MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW is a cocktail shaker full of
passion and cheer.
FILMS
MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW
Sat, April 18, 3:10pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Tues, April 21, 4:30pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Shonali Bose
India | 100 mins
In the city of Marikina, Romeo Guevarra is remembered as a master shoemaker. To his
daughter Imelda though, his memory is tainted, now a fog of faded glory following her testy
adolescence and the steely determination of three women out to find happiness in spite of
him. After Romeos death, Imelda revisits her relationship with her father and pays tribute to
him the best she can: through shoes, the only way the members of the Guevarra family ever
seemed able to express themselves. Milo Soguecos MARIQUINA is a loving tribute to that
process of reconciliation, as well as a nostalgic tribute to craft the sort made by hands and
shaped by the heart. For a family and nation hardened by its missteps, MARIQUINA offers a
lyrical reprieve, a gift wrapped in a shoebox and a pop song for the journey ahead.
MARIQUINA
Fri, April 17, 6:20pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Milo Sogueco
Philippines | 116 mins
10
Since arriving in the United States as children, Vietnamese siblings Mai and Dwayne were
raised by a black couple, and twenty years later, have found happiness in love and family.
But when Mai locates their long-lost mother in Vietnam, the multi-racial family gets thrown
into disarray with comic results. The Vietnamese refugee story gets a humorous spin by
way of the 90s culture-clash family comedy courtesy of actor-director-writer Chi Muoi Lo
in this seminal Vietnamese American film.
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
CATFISH IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE
Sun, April 19, 1:00pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Sat, April 25, 4:00pm, Hoover High School
Auditorium
Director: Chi Muoi Lo
USA | 119 mins | 1999
Two short documentaries explore the uncanny ways Vietnamese see themselves in America
and vice-versa.
COVER GIRL: A GIFT FROM GOD
Director: Nguyen Tan Hoang
USA | 17 mins | 2000
Meet Dalena, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed American who flawlessly sings Vietnamese
standards and becomes an international sensation.
#NAILEDIT: VIETNAMESE & THE NAIL INDUSTRY
Director: Adele Pham
USA | 30 mins | 2015
With Hollywood on one side and the African American community on the other, Vietnamese
women corner the market on nail art.
ALL THAT GLITTERS:
TWO SHORT DOCUMENTARIES
Sun, April 19, 3:25pm,
UltraStar Mission Valley
7
On this years 40th anniversary of the Fall of
Saigon, there will be flag ceremonies, tributes
to heroes living and fallen, and flashbacks to
the critical events of April 30, 1975. But these
events must also remind us of the narratives
that often go silent, namely those of refugees
who are now Vietnamese Americans,
participants in civic culture and neighbors
in areas like City Heights. Their narratives
draw attention to the lived and ongoing
experience of displacement, narratives that
represent Vietnamese Americans as lively,
desiring, and imaginative, and not simply as
collateral damage or as confirmations of the
American dream.
So this year, Pacific Arts Movement highlights
those stories with Cinema Little Saigon,
a film retrospective that celebrates the
cinematic achievements of Vietnamese
American filmmakers, in particular those
whose films complicate the usual narrative
of refugee rescue and the great success of
a model minority. Since the 1990s, these
filmmakers have traced their own family and
community histories, and projected bold
visions of the future. They refract memory
and experience through a number of creative
modes and genres: cross-cultural comedy,
historical epic, intimate drama, first-person
documentary, experimental video.
This retrospective draws attention not only to
the classics of Vietnamese American cinema,
but to the neighborhoods that have inspired
these works, places like City Heights, where
part of the retrospective will be set. Hence
Cinema Little Saigon: like Chinatown as
much a frame of mind as it is a geographic
designation, as much a well of cinematic
creativity and aspiration as it is a megaplex
or a community auditorium. Whatever the
anniversary, this cinema measures its vitality
through the communities its bridged, the
audiences its awakened, and the artists it
continues to inspire.
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
6
Young lovers Dae-su and Mira didnt expect to have a baby at 17, and they certainly didnt
expect one like Ahreum, born with a rare affliction for rapid aging. 16 years later, husband
and wife, played with spunk by superstars Gang Dong-won and Song Hye-kyo, are still
frolicking and potty-mouthed, but theyre grounded by a precocious son much wiser than
they. Not surprisingly, Ahreum doesnt have many friends of any age group, but with his
parents hes bonded by the reality that they all have had to grow up too fast. With MY
BRILLIANT LIFE, director E J-yong delivers his warmest, most glowing film to date which
happens also to be a most unusual meditation on the experience of time and family. At its
core a light comedy and youth romance, MY BRILLIANT LIFE dwells not on misfortune but
on the rare opportunity to see that each others lives are miracles.
FILMS
MY BRILLIANT LIFE
Sat, April 18, 5:20pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Wed, April 22, 6:25pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: E J-yong
South Korea | 117 mins
Five female otakus are too sheepish and antisocial to leave their geek haven Amamizukan,
let alone talk to boys. Luckily, when Tsukimi is forced to step into the outside world, her
accidental encounter is with the leggy beauty Kuranosuke, who wears beautiful dresses
and seductive OH NO Kuranosuke is a man!! What will Tsukimis otaku sisters think?
Amamizukan will crumble! But when their true threat comes in the form of evil politicians
set on demolishing Amamizukan in the name of development, the otakus realize they
must band together with Kuranosuke and make their voice heard. PRINCESS JELLYFISH is
a pop culture parade glittered with rainbow candy, where democracy is a fashion show and
gender is as gelatinous as jellyfish.
PRINCESS JELLYFISH
Fri, April 17, 8:35pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Tues, April 21, 8:15pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Taisuke Kawamura
Japan | 126 mins
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KEY 17KEY 3 KEY 4 KEY 5 KEY 6 KEY 7 KEY 8 KEY 9 KEY 10 KEY 11 KEY 12 KEY 13 KEY 14 KEY 15 KEY 16 KEY 18 KEY 19 KEY 20
25 GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY25 25 K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K CK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YY P 75252550505050 25 25
KEY 210.5 1 2 3 4 5 0.5 1 2 3 4 5 0.5 1 2 3 4 5 0.5 1 2 3 4 5KOMORI Part No.T30LS428
-
SAN DIEGO ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL
www.pac-arts.org
www.PacArts.org
A WEEK-LONG PRESENTATION OF ASIAN CINEMA16 FILMS, 9 COUNTRIES
APRIL 16-25, 2015
5TH ANNUAL
PRINCESS JELLY
FISH, PG. 11
NO
N P
RO
FIT OR
G
US PO
STAGE
PAID
S
AN
DIE
GO
CA
PE
RM
IT #2029
Glancing backfield, it looks so obvious. To slip
the bracing clutches of gang life. To escape the
pummeling cycles of abuse and poverty. To provide
for the half-dozen siblings cheering you on to
become more than the family has ever been before.
But looking downfield at the distant goal line comes
the sting of expectation and the hard hits of life
itself. The numbers arent devastating: Polynesian
Americans are 28 times more likely to enter the
NFL than any other ethnic group. Which of course
makes the weight on ones shoulders that much
heavier to shake off.
Over the span of four years, documentarians Tony
Vainuku and Erika Cohn followed four Samoan
and Tongan American high schoolers with tough
shoulders and gridiron dreams. Talented Fihi
draws from faith and the example he can be to his
siblings. Brothers Leva and Vita live in the shadow
of a father whos both a local football legend and a
notorious OG. And sensation Harvey, the top recruit
in Utah, must decide where to land: professionally,
academically, and personally.
With the dogged faith of its title, IN FOOTBALL WE
TRUST explores the sacrifices made in the name
of family, as well as the motivating role of culture:
Polynesian traditions as well as street codes of
masculinity. Embedded throughout are interviews
with NFL icons like Troy Polamalu and Haloti Ngata
who testify to the opportunity and the heartache of
the American dream.
Opening night sponsored by:
JOIN US FOR A TAILGATE PARTY
BEFORE THE FILM
Ticket Options with Tailgate:
$22 General, $19 Member (includes food & drink)
Film Only: $15 General, $12 Film Only (members)
Vouchers not accepted
OPENING NIGHT PRESENTATION
IN FOOTBALL WE TRUST
Thurs, April 16, 6:30pm 7:15pm & 8:30pm,
UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Tony Vainuku, Erika Cohn
USA | 89 mins
Directors Scheduled to Attend
4
,
13
SUSTAINING SPONSOR
PUBLIC SUPPORT
OPENING NIGHT
SUPPORTING
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
MEDIA
OFFICIAL AIRLINES
OFFICIAL PRINTER
IN KIND
SPECIAL THANKS: Derryl Acosta, Joe Austin, Jonny Benavidez, Marisa Bermumen, Caitlin
Brewer, Steve Eldred, Marti Emerald, Dominic Gerace, Richard Go, Rodney & Lois Lanthorne,
George McGregor, Michael Heu, Tim Moon, Leo Morales, Alexander Nguyen, Frank Robinson,
Michael Tu, Mark Tran, Miranda Ko & Jared Cui
GENEROUSLY PRINTED BY
SPONSORS WE COULDNT DO IT WITHOUT YOU
13
Pantone 137 Pantone 446
McGregor & Associates, Inc. Logomark2-color: Orange PMS 137 and Grey PMS 446Contact: Chris Josh 619-398-2828
Office of Councilmember
Marti Emerald
Office of Councilmember
Scott Sherman
FREE FOR MEMBERS! Dustin Nguyen (21 Jump Street, Fool for Love) plays a
pensive pawnbroker whos not easily impressed, let alone by the grannies trying to hawk
fake gold in his shop. That is, until he encounters a beautiful young regular whos even more
soft-spoken than he is. And so, with the cautious pragmatism of his profession, he strikes up
a relationship. The two dont say much, but both seem to have something to hide: his guilt-
ridden past, her own ideas of self-worth. Adapted from one of Dostoevskys best works,
GENTLE is a subtly unnerving exploration of a marriage haunted by a society that treats
women as commodities and that wavers, often eerily, between the pressures of religious
and financial value.
FILMS
GENTLE
Mon, April 20, 6:30pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Le-Van Kiet
Vietnam, USA | 101 mins
On the disputed island of Shikotan, war between Japan and the USSR didnt end after WWII.
But the ongoing clash doesnt keep 10-year-old Junpei and his young Russian neighbor
Tanya from becoming fast friends. While the older generation plots to claim the island for
their respective nations, Tanya, Junpei, and his younger brother Kanta scout the island
for their own emotional peace, cradled in young love, music, and the imagination. Often
compared to Studio Ghiblis Grave of the Fireflies, GIOVANNIS ISLAND captures the way
kids cope with homes displaced and family removed, but with a gentle sprinkling of magic.
The clean, elegant animation has a matter-of-fact realism, but its the pangs of familial and
romantic love that illuminate this forgotten history on the edge of the world.
GIOVANNIS ISLAND
Sat, April 18, 1:00pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Mizuho Nishikubo
Japan | 102 mins
9
Based on the collective memories of refugees who experienced the fall of Saigon and its
aftermath, JOURNEY FROM THE FALL follows the 20-year story of a family separated: a
wife, son, and mother sent off on a boat, and a husband left behind to survive a Communist
re-education camp. A rare epic of Asian American cinema, Ham Trans film bridges Vietnam
and the United States with a sweeping sense of history and culture, and more impressively,
with the bottled emotions of a generation displaced.
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
JOURNEY FROM THE FALL
Sun, April 19, 6:55pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Sat, April 25, 6:30pm, Hoover High School
Auditorium
Director: Ham Tran
USA | 135 mins | 2006
Director Scheduled to Attend
In this powerful personal documentary, director Doan Hoang turns the camera on her
family and the memories its suppressed for decades: that Doans parents left Doans half-
sister behind in Vietnam, and that the family has cut ties with brothers who fought for the
Communists. OH, SAIGON follows the family as they visit Vietnam for the first time in 20
years and as two generations confront the resentments that have cleaved several ends of a
family after war.
Preceded by: POMEGRANATE
Dir: Ham Tran
USA | 14 min | 2001
Fading memories of a grandfather and a childhood on the other side of the ocean.
OH, SAIGON
Sun, April 19, 4:55pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Fri, April 24, 6:30pm, Hoover High School
Auditorium
Director: Doan Hoang
USA, Vietnam | 57 mins | 2007
8
Ariel Hsing, Lily Zhang, and Michael Landers
are ordinary teenagers except for the fact
that they are among the highest-ranked
table tennis players in the nation. Their
parents too are everyday Bay Area Chinese
immigrants or middle class New Yorkers
except that they have the unique challenge
of seeing their children to the cusp of
world championship. Together, the families
devise workout regiments and nurture
an environment for athletic and personal
growth.
In a sport thats better associated with the
rec room than the Olympic stage, table
tennis affords little glamour, but as captured
in Mina T. Son and Sara Newens inspiring
documentary, requires a physical and mental
precision as strenuous as any athletes. But
beyond the sweat is the story of three young
people magnificently juggling success and
school, self and competition, friendship and
mentorship. What makes TOP SPIN such a
smash to watch is how seamlessly it moves
from suburban high school to world-class
training facility: the very path navigated
by Ariel, Lily, and Michael season after
season, carrying their Olympic dreams with
the charisma and confidence of teenagers
discovering who they can still be.
CLOSING NIGHT PRESENTATION
TOP SPIN
Thurs, April 23, 6:30pm,
UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Mina T. Son, Sara Newens
USA | 80 mins
Directors Scheduled to Attend
5
There are movie bandits, and then there are Tsui Hark bandits. The former make for grand
political espionage, as they do in this post-war tale. The latter are devious, flamboyant
rabble-rousers, baddies named Hawk and have the nose to match. With Tsui at the cockpit,
THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN 3D flies headfirst into glorious b-film territory, where
adaptations of the classics come by way of CGI tigers fighting CGI horses, and set-pieces
skiing down hills and hanging off planes. Good guys wear bad masks to infiltrate places
called Tiger Mountain, and heroes fling themselves through fiery snow because they dont
just need to win, they demand immortality. The political maneuvering is intricate and death-
defying, as is Tsuis action direction, so brimming with virtuosity it demands two endings.
FILMS
THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN 3D
Sat, April 18, 7:50pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Mon, April 20, 8:45pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Tsui Hark
China, Hong Kong | 143 mins
Will you come in the reception with me? asks a pregnant Sedigheh to the taxi driver that
just took her to the hospital. Its an innocent question, but in a country where unwed women
cant attain prenatal care, it is a last-ditch plea for help. And so the taxi driver, who already
has a wife at home, is hailed to serve as a surrogate husband. The hours that follow are a
gripping ethical thriller about the words a man can and cant say in front of a hospital staff of
women who have seen scenarios like this before. With a striking stylistic economy, director
Reza Mirkarimi masterfully portrays the wavering tension between fear and compassion
that erupts when we are hailed to empathize with every character in the film.
TODAY
Mon, April 20, 4:40pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Tues, April 21, 6:25pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Reza Mirkarimi
Iran | 87 mins
12
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M+Y C+Y C+M75 75 75 75
KEY 17KEY 3 KEY 4 KEY 5 KEY 6 KEY 7 KEY 8 KEY 9 KEY 10 KEY 11 KEY 12 KEY 13 KEY 14 KEY 15 KEY 16 KEY 18 KEY 19 KEY 20
25 GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY GRAY25 25 K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K CK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YK C M YY P 75252550505050 25 25
KEY 210.5 1 2 3 4 5 0.5 1 2 3 4 5 0.5 1 2 3 4 5 0.5 1 2 3 4 5KOMORI Part No.T30LS428
-
SAN DIEGO ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL
www.pac-arts.org
www.PacArts.org
A WEEK-LONG PRESENTATION OF ASIAN CINEMA
16 FILMS, 9 COUNTRIES
APRIL 16-25, 2015
5
TH
ANNUAL
PRINCESS JELLY
FISH, P
G. 11
NO
N P
RO
FIT
OR
G
US
POST
AGE
PAID
S
AN
DIE
GO
CA
PE
RM
IT #
2029
Glancing backfield, it looks so obvious. To slip
the bracing clutches of gang life. To escape the
pummeling cycles of abuse and poverty. To provide
for the half-dozen siblings cheering you on to
become more than the family has ever been before.
But looking downfield at the distant goal line comes
the sting of expectation and the hard hits of life
itself. The numbers arent devastating: Polynesian
Americans are 28 times more likely to enter the
NFL than any other ethnic group. Which of course
makes the weight on ones shoulders that much
heavier to shake off.
Over the span of four years, documentarians Tony
Vainuku and Erika Cohn followed four Samoan
and Tongan American high schoolers with tough
shoulders and gridiron dreams. Talented Fihi
draws from faith and the example he can be to his
siblings. Brothers Leva and Vita live in the shadow
of a father whos both a local football legend and a
notorious OG. And sensation Harvey, the top recruit
in Utah, must decide where to land: professionally,
academically, and personally.
With the dogged faith of its title, IN FOOTBALL WE
TRUST explores the sacrifices made in the name
of family, as well as the motivating role of culture:
Polynesian traditions as well as street codes of
masculinity. Embedded throughout are interviews
with NFL icons like Troy Polamalu and Haloti Ngata
who testify to the opportunity and the heartache of
the American dream.
Opening night sponsored by:
JOIN US FOR A TAILGATE PARTY
BEFORE THE FILM
Ticket Options with Tailgate:
$22 General, $19 Member (includes food & drink)
Film Only: $15 General, $12 Film Only (members)
Vouchers not accepted
OPENING NIGHT PRESENTATION
IN FOOTBALL WE TRUST
Thurs, April 16, 6:30pm 7:15pm & 8:30pm,
UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Tony Vainuku, Erika Cohn
USA | 89 mins
Directors Scheduled to Attend
4
,
13
SUSTAINING SPONSOR
PUBLIC SUPPORT
OPENING NIGHT
SUPPORTING
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
MEDIA
OFFICIAL AIRLINES
OFFICIAL PRINTER
IN KIND
SPECIAL THANKS: Derryl Acosta, Joe Austin, Jonny Benavidez, Marisa Bermumen, Caitlin
Brewer, Steve Eldred, Marti Emerald, Dominic Gerace, Richard Go, Rodney & Lois Lanthorne,
George McGregor, Michael Heu, Tim Moon, Leo Morales, Alexander Nguyen, Frank Robinson,
Michael Tu, Mark Tran, Miranda Ko & Jared Cui
GENEROUSLY PRINTED BY
SPONSORS WE COULDNT DO IT WITHOUT YOU
13
Pantone 137Pantone 446
McGregor & Associates, Inc. Logomark
2-color: Orange PMS 137 and Grey PMS 446
Contact: Chris Josh 619-398-2828
Office of Councilmember
Marti Emerald
Office of Councilmember
Scott Sherman
FREE FOR MEMBERS! Dustin Nguyen (21 Jump Street, Fool for Love) plays a
pensive pawnbroker whos not easily impressed, let alone by the grannies trying to hawk
fake gold in his shop. That is, until he encounters a beautiful young regular whos even more
soft-spoken than he is. And so, with the cautious pragmatism of his profession, he strikes up
a relationship. The two dont say much, but both seem to have something to hide: his guilt-
ridden past, her own ideas of self-worth. Adapted from one of Dostoevskys best works,
GENTLE is a subtly unnerving exploration of a marriage haunted by a society that treats
women as commodities and that wavers, often eerily, between the pressures of religious
and financial value.
FILMS
GENTLE
Mon, April 20, 6:30pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Le-Van Kiet
Vietnam, USA | 101 mins
On the disputed island of Shikotan, war between Japan and the USSR didnt end after WWII.
But the ongoing clash doesnt keep 10-year-old Junpei and his young Russian neighbor
Tanya from becoming fast friends. While the older generation plots to claim the island for
their respective nations, Tanya, Junpei, and his younger brother Kanta scout the island
for their own emotional peace, cradled in young love, music, and the imagination. Often
compared to Studio Ghiblis Grave of the Fireflies, GIOVANNIS ISLAND captures the way
kids cope with homes displaced and family removed, but with a gentle sprinkling of magic.
The clean, elegant animation has a matter-of-fact realism, but its the pangs of familial and
romantic love that illuminate this forgotten history on the edge of the world.
GIOVANNIS ISLAND
Sat, April 18, 1:00pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Mizuho Nishikubo
Japan | 102 mins
9
Based on the collective memories of refugees who experienced the fall of Saigon and its
aftermath, JOURNEY FROM THE FALL follows the 20-year story of a family separated: a
wife, son, and mother sent off on a boat, and a husband left behind to survive a Communist
re-education camp. A rare epic of Asian American cinema, Ham Trans film bridges Vietnam
and the United States with a sweeping sense of history and culture, and more impressively,
with the bottled emotions of a generation displaced.
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
JOURNEY FROM THE FALL
Sun, April 19, 6:55pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Sat, April 25, 6:30pm, Hoover High School
Auditorium
Director: Ham Tran
USA | 135 mins | 2006
Director Scheduled to Attend
In this powerful personal documentary, director Doan Hoang turns the camera on her
family and the memories its suppressed for decades: that Doans parents left Doans half-
sister behind in Vietnam, and that the family has cut ties with brothers who fought for the
Communists. OH, SAIGON follows the family as they visit Vietnam for the first time in 20
years and as two generations confront the resentments that have cleaved several ends of a
family after war.
Preceded by: POMEGRANATE
Dir: Ham Tran
USA | 14 min | 2001
Fading memories of a grandfather and a childhood on the other side of the ocean.
OH, SAIGON
Sun, April 19, 4:55pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Fri, April 24, 6:30pm, Hoover High School
Auditorium
Director: Doan Hoang
USA, Vietnam | 57 mins | 2007
8
Ariel Hsing, Lily Zhang, and Michael Landers
are ordinary teenagers except for the fact
that they are among the highest-ranked
table tennis players in the nation. Their
parents too are everyday Bay Area Chinese
immigrants or middle class New Yorkers
except that they have the unique challenge
of seeing their children to the cusp of
world championship. Together, the families
devise workout regiments and nurture
an environment for athletic and personal
growth.
In a sport thats better associated with the
rec room than the Olympic stage, table
tennis affords little glamour, but as captured
in Mina T. Son and Sara Newens inspiring
documentary, requires a physical and mental
precision as strenuous as any athletes. But
beyond the sweat is the story of three young
people magnificently juggling success and
school, self and competition, friendship and
mentorship. What makes TOP SPIN such a
smash to watch is how seamlessly it moves
from suburban high school to world-class
training facility: the very path navigated
by Ariel, Lily, and Michael season after
season, carrying their Olympic dreams with
the charisma and confidence of teenagers
discovering who they can still be.
CLOSING NIGHT PRESENTATION
TOP SPIN
Thurs, April 23, 6:30pm,
UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Mina T. Son, Sara Newens
USA | 80 mins
Directors Scheduled to Attend
5
There are movie bandits, and then there are Tsui Hark bandits. The former make for grand
political espionage, as they do in this post-war tale. The latter are devious, flamboyant
rabble-rousers, baddies named Hawk and have the nose to match. With Tsui at the cockpit,
THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN 3D flies headfirst into glorious b-film territory, where
adaptations of the classics come by way of CGI tigers fighting CGI horses, and set-pieces
skiing down hills and hanging off planes. Good guys wear bad masks to infiltrate places
called Tiger Mountain, and heroes fling themselves through fiery snow because they dont
just need to win, they demand immortality. The political maneuvering is intricate and death-
defying, as is Tsuis action direction, so brimming with virtuosity it demands two endings.
FILMS
THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN 3D
Sat, April 18, 7:50pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Mon, April 20, 8:45pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Tsui Hark
China, Hong Kong | 143 mins
Will you come in the reception with me? asks a pregnant Sedigheh to the taxi driver that
just took her to the hospital. Its an innocent question, but in a country where unwed women
cant attain prenatal care, it is a last-ditch plea for help. And so the taxi driver, who already
has a wife at home, is hailed to serve as a surrogate husband. The hours that follow are a
gripping ethical thriller about the words a man can and cant say in front of a hospital staff of
women who have seen scenarios like this before. With a striking stylistic economy, director
Reza Mirkarimi masterfully portrays the wavering tension between fear and compassion
that erupts when we are hailed to empathize with every character in the film.
TODAY
Mon, April 20, 4:40pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Tues, April 21, 6:25pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Reza Mirkarimi
Iran | 87 mins
12
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M+YC+YC+M 75757575
KEY 17 KEY 3KEY 4KEY 5KEY 6KEY 7KEY 8KEY 9KEY 10KEY 11KEY 12KEY 13KEY 14KEY 15KEY 16KEY 18KEY 19KEY 20
25GRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAY 2525KCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKC KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY YP75 25 25 50 50 50 502525
KEY 21
0.512345
0.5123450.5123450.512345
KOMORIPart No.T30LS428
-
Spring Showcase Booklet 2015
(Size: 12" x 8.5 = 16 pages folded)
Page 1: COVER FRONT
Image
5th ANNUAL SPRING SHOWCASE
APRIL 1625, 2014
A weeklong presentation of Asian cinema
16 Films, 9 Countries
(PacArts Logo)
www.pacarts.org
Page 2: COVER INSIDE About PacArts
MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Caption: Executive Director Lee Ann Kim and actor George Takei at the 2014 Spring
On behalf of Pacific Arts Movement, it is our pleasure to present our 5th Annual Spring
Showcase, a week-long presentation of dynamic films from around the world.
From Polynesian warriors on the football field, teenage parenthood, and the search for
the perfect shoes to a suspenseful ride in the back of an Iranian taxi cab, this years slate
of films is brilliantly curated by our Artistic Director Brian Hu, and it includes Cinema
Little Saigon - a tribute to the 40th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.
In addition to our Spring Showcase, we invite you to join us year-round for other programs
including our annual Asian culinary celebration - Chew the Scene on October 1, and the
San Diego Asian Film Festival, which celebrates its 16th season this year, November 5-14.
We believe that film has the power to entertain, inspire, and build a compassionate
society. Join us, and be part of our Movement.
LEE ANN KIM
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Schedule & Tickets..................................................3
Films .......................................................................4-12
Cinema Little Saigon ........................................6-8
Sponsors ...................................................................13
Membership .............................................................15
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3
Monday
APRIL
20
Tuesday
APRIL
21
Wednesday
APRIL
22
Thursday
APRIL
23
Thursday
APRIL
16
Friday
APRIL
17
Saturday
APRIL
18
Sunday
APRIL
19
Friday
APRIL
24
Saturday
APRIL
25
ULTRASTAR HAZARD CENTER 7510 HAZARD CENTER DRIVE APRIL 16-23
HOOVER HIGH SCHOOL 4474 EL CAJON BLVD APRIL 24-25
TICKET INFORMATIONALL-ACCESS PASS
4:40PM
6:30PM
8:45PM
6:30PM
7:15PM
8:30PM
6:20PM
8:35PM
1:00PM
3:10PM
5:20PM
7:50PM
1:00PM
3:25PM
4:55PM
6:55PM
6:30PM4:00PM
6:30PM
4:30PM
6:25PM
8:15PM
6:25PM
8:55PM
In Football We Trust (USA) p4
In Football We Trust (USA) p4
In Football We Trust (USA) p4
Catfish in Black Bean Sauce
(USA) p7
All That Glitters: 2 Short Docs p7
Oh, Saigon (Vietnam, USA) p8
Journey from the Fall (USA) p8
Oh, Saigon (Vietnam, USA) p8Catfish in Black Bean Sauce
(USA) p7
Journey from the Fall (USA) p8
Today (Iran) p12
Gentle (Vietnam, USA) p9
The Taking of Tiger Mountain
(China, HK) p12
Mariquina (Philippines) p10
Princess Jellyfish (Japan) p11
Giovannis Island (Japan) p9
Margarita, With a Straw (India) p10
My Brilliant Life (South Korea) p11
The Taking of Tiger Mountain
(China, HK) p12
Margarita, With a Straw (India) p10
Today (Iran) p12
Princess Jellyfish (Japan) p11
My Brilliant Life (South Korea) p11
Mystery Kung Fu Theater
Top Spin (USA) p5
TBA
SCHEDULE & TICKET INFORMATION
Opening Night Film & Tailgate Party
Includes screening and a Tailgate Meal with Beverage
Vouchers not accepted opening night.
The All-Access Pass
is the best way to
enjoy all the films
at the San Diego
Asian Film Festival
Spring Showcase!
General Admission
FREE Screenings
General
Member
Group 10+
Film Only
Film Only (member)
$22
$19
$19/ticket
$15
$12
Price
General
Member
$100
$65
General
Member
Student/Senior/Military
Group 10+
$12
$9
$9
$9/ticket
Cinema Little Saigon - April 24-25 (Hoover High)
GENTLE - April 20th (free for members)
Tickets are avaible now at
pacarts.org
And at UltraStar Mission Valley box office starting April 11
CONTACT US: 619-400-591 [email protected]
6:30PM
8:30PM
Bollywood standout Kalki Koechlin (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, SDAFF 13) breaks through
in a big way as star of the loveable indie MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW. Swerving away
from the arduous trappings of the disability tragedy, MARGARITA is about jumping into life
headfirst, from the music scene of Delhi to the hot-blooded streets of New York. Along the
way, Laila (Koechlin) makes friends with the disabled and the able-bodied, falls in love with
men and women, and charms with her smile and her comic proclivity for storming through
expectations of what life with cerebral palsy ought to be. Skillfully directed by Shonali Bose
as a jubilant tale of self-discovery, MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW is a cocktail shaker full of
passion and cheer.
FILMS
MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW
Sat, April 18, 3:10pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Tues, April 21, 4:30pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Shonali Bose
India | 100 mins
In the city of Marikina, Romeo Guevarra is remembered as a master shoemaker. To his
daughter Imelda though, his memory is tainted, now a fog of faded glory following her testy
adolescence and the steely determination of three women out to find happiness in spite of
him. After Romeos death, Imelda revisits her relationship with her father and pays tribute to
him the best she can: through shoes, the only way the members of the Guevarra family ever
seemed able to express themselves. Milo Soguecos MARIQUINA is a loving tribute to that
process of reconciliation, as well as a nostalgic tribute to craft the sort made by hands and
shaped by the heart. For a family and nation hardened by its missteps, MARIQUINA offers a
lyrical reprieve, a gift wrapped in a shoebox and a pop song for the journey ahead.
MARIQUINA
Fri, April 17, 6:20pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Milo Sogueco
Philippines | 116 mins
10
Since arriving in the United States as children, Vietnamese siblings Mai and Dwayne were
raised by a black couple, and twenty years later, have found happiness in love and family.
But when Mai locates their long-lost mother in Vietnam, the multi-racial family gets thrown
into disarray with comic results. The Vietnamese refugee story gets a humorous spin by
way of the 90s culture-clash family comedy courtesy of actor-director-writer Chi Muoi Lo
in this seminal Vietnamese American film.
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
CATFISH IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE
Sun, April 19, 1:00pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Sat, April 25, 4:00pm, Hoover High School
Auditorium
Director: Chi Muoi Lo
USA | 119 mins | 1999
Two short documentaries explore the uncanny ways Vietnamese see themselves in America
and vice-versa.
COVER GIRL: A GIFT FROM GOD
Director: Nguyen Tan Hoang
USA | 17 mins | 2000
Meet Dalena, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed American who flawlessly sings Vietnamese
standards and becomes an international sensation.
#NAILEDIT: VIETNAMESE & THE NAIL INDUSTRY
Director: Adele Pham
USA | 30 mins | 2015
With Hollywood on one side and the African American community on the other, Vietnamese
women corner the market on nail art.
ALL THAT GLITTERS:
TWO SHORT DOCUMENTARIES
Sun, April 19, 3:25pm,
UltraStar Mission Valley
7
On this years 40th anniversary of the Fall of
Saigon, there will be flag ceremonies, tributes
to heroes living and fallen, and flashbacks to
the critical events of April 30, 1975. But these
events must also remind us of the narratives
that often go silent, namely those of refugees
who are now Vietnamese Americans,
participants in civic culture and neighbors
in areas like City Heights. Their narratives
draw attention to the lived and ongoing
experience of displacement, narratives that
represent Vietnamese Americans as lively,
desiring, and imaginative, and not simply as
collateral damage or as confirmations of the
American dream.
So this year, Pacific Arts Movement highlights
those stories with Cinema Little Saigon,
a film retrospective that celebrates the
cinematic achievements of Vietnamese
American filmmakers, in particular those
whose films complicate the usual narrative
of refugee rescue and the great success of
a model minority. Since the 1990s, these
filmmakers have traced their own family and
community histories, and projected bold
visions of the future. They refract memory
and experience through a number of creative
modes and genres: cross-cultural comedy,
historical epic, intimate drama, first-person
documentary, experimental video.
This retrospective draws attention not only to
the classics of Vietnamese American cinema,
but to the neighborhoods that have inspired
these works, places like City Heights, where
part of the retrospective will be set. Hence
Cinema Little Saigon: like Chinatown as
much a frame of mind as it is a geographic
designation, as much a well of cinematic
creativity and aspiration as it is a megaplex
or a community auditorium. Whatever the
anniversary, this cinema measures its vitality
through the communities its bridged, the
audiences its awakened, and the artists it
continues to inspire.
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
6
Young lovers Dae-su and Mira didnt expect to have a baby at 17, and they certainly didnt
expect one like Ahreum, born with a rare affliction for rapid aging. 16 years later, husband
and wife, played with spunk by superstars Gang Dong-won and Song Hye-kyo, are still
frolicking and potty-mouthed, but theyre grounded by a precocious son much wiser than
they. Not surprisingly, Ahreum doesnt have many friends of any age group, but with his
parents hes bonded by the reality that they all have had to grow up too fast. With MY
BRILLIANT LIFE, director E J-yong delivers his warmest, most glowing film to date which
happens also to be a most unusual meditation on the experience of time and family. At its
core a light comedy and youth romance, MY BRILLIANT LIFE dwells not on misfortune but
on the rare opportunity to see that each others lives are miracles.
FILMS
MY BRILLIANT LIFE
Sat, April 18, 5:20pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Wed, April 22, 6:25pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: E J-yong
South Korea | 117 mins
Five female otakus are too sheepish and antisocial to leave their geek haven Amamizukan,
let alone talk to boys. Luckily, when Tsukimi is forced to step into the outside world, her
accidental encounter is with the leggy beauty Kuranosuke, who wears beautiful dresses
and seductive OH NO Kuranosuke is a man!! What will Tsukimis otaku sisters think?
Amamizukan will crumble! But when their true threat comes in the form of evil politicians
set on demolishing Amamizukan in the name of development, the otakus realize they
must band together with Kuranosuke and make their voice heard. PRINCESS JELLYFISH is
a pop culture parade glittered with rainbow candy, where democracy is a fashion show and
gender is as gelatinous as jellyfish.
PRINCESS JELLYFISH
Fri, April 17, 8:35pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Tues, April 21, 8:15pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Taisuke Kawamura
Japan | 126 mins
11
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03/23/2015 11:31:36
39122_PacArts_impo.job Sig1 SideB Process Yellow 03/23/2015 11:31:36
39122_PacArts_impo.job Sig1 SideB Process Black
03/23/2015 11:31:36
M+YC+YC+M 75757575
KEY 17 KEY 3KEY 4KEY 5KEY 6KEY 7KEY 8KEY 9KEY 10KEY 11KEY 12KEY 13KEY 14KEY 15KEY 16KEY 18KEY 19KEY 20
25GRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAY 2525KCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKC KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY YP75 25 25 50 50 50 502525
KEY 21
0.512345
0.5123450.5123450.512345
KOMORIPart No.T30LS428
-
Spring Showcase Booklet 2015
(Size: 12" x 8.5 = 16 pages folded)
Page 1: COVER FRONT
Image
5th ANNUAL SPRING SHOWCASE
APRIL 1625, 2014
A weeklong presentation of Asian cinema
16 Films, 9 Countries
(PacArts Logo)
www.pacarts.org
Page 2: COVER INSIDE About PacArts
MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Caption: Executive Director Lee Ann Kim and actor George Takei at the 2014 Spring
On behalf of Pacific Arts Movement, it is our pleasure to present our 5th Annual Spring
Showcase, a week-long presentation of dynamic films from around the world.
From Polynesian warriors on the football field, teenage parenthood, and the search for
the perfect shoes to a suspenseful ride in the back of an Iranian taxi cab, this years slate
of films is brilliantly curated by our Artistic Director Brian Hu, and it includes Cinema
Little Saigon - a tribute to the 40th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.
In addition to our Spring Showcase, we invite you to join us year-round for other programs
including our annual Asian culinary celebration - Chew the Scene on October 1, and the
San Diego Asian Film Festival, which celebrates its 16th season this year, November 5-14.
We believe that film has the power to entertain, inspire, and build a compassionate
society. Join us, and be part of our Movement.
LEE ANN KIM
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Schedule & Tickets..................................................3
Films .......................................................................4-12
Cinema Little Saigon ........................................6-8
Sponsors ...................................................................13
Membership .............................................................15
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3
Monday
APRIL
20
Tuesday
APRIL
21
Wednesday
APRIL
22
Thursday
APRIL
23
Thursday
APRIL
16
Friday
APRIL
17
Saturday
APRIL
18
Sunday
APRIL
19
Friday
APRIL
24
Saturday
APRIL
25
ULTRASTAR HAZARD CENTER 7510 HAZARD CENTER DRIVE APRIL 16-23
HOOVER HIGH SCHOOL 4474 EL CAJON BLVD APRIL 24-25
TICKET INFORMATIONALL-ACCESS PASS
4:40PM
6:30PM
8:45PM
6:30PM
7:15PM
8:30PM
6:20PM
8:35PM
1:00PM
3:10PM
5:20PM
7:50PM
1:00PM
3:25PM
4:55PM
6:55PM
6:30PM4:00PM
6:30PM
4:30PM
6:25PM
8:15PM
6:25PM
8:55PM
In Football We Trust (USA) p4
In Football We Trust (USA) p4
In Football We Trust (USA) p4
Catfish in Black Bean Sauce
(USA) p7
All That Glitters: 2 Short Docs p7
Oh, Saigon (Vietnam, USA) p8
Journey from the Fall (USA) p8
Oh, Saigon (Vietnam, USA) p8Catfish in Black Bean Sauce
(USA) p7
Journey from the Fall (USA) p8
Today (Iran) p12
Gentle (Vietnam, USA) p9
The Taking of Tiger Mountain
(China, HK) p12
Mariquina (Philippines) p10
Princess Jellyfish (Japan) p11
Giovannis Island (Japan) p9
Margarita, With a Straw (India) p10
My Brilliant Life (South Korea) p11
The Taking of Tiger Mountain
(China, HK) p12
Margarita, With a Straw (India) p10
Today (Iran) p12
Princess Jellyfish (Japan) p11
My Brilliant Life (South Korea) p11
Mystery Kung Fu Theater
Top Spin (USA) p5
TBA
SCHEDULE & TICKET INFORMATION
Opening Night Film & Tailgate Party
Includes screening and a Tailgate Meal with Beverage
Vouchers not accepted opening night.
The All-Access Pass
is the best way to
enjoy all the films
at the San Diego
Asian Film Festival
Spring Showcase!
General Admission
FREE Screenings
General
Member
Group 10+
Film Only
Film Only (member)
$22
$19
$19/ticket
$15
$12
Price
General
Member
$100
$65
General
Member
Student/Senior/Military
Group 10+
$12
$9
$9
$9/ticket
Cinema Little Saigon - April 24-25 (Hoover High)
GENTLE - April 20th (free for members)
Tickets are avaible now at
pacarts.org
And at UltraStar Mission Valley box office starting April 11
CONTACT US: 619-400-591 [email protected]
6:30PM
8:30PM
Bollywood standout Kalki Koechlin (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, SDAFF 13) breaks through
in a big way as star of the loveable indie MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW. Swerving away
from the arduous trappings of the disability tragedy, MARGARITA is about jumping into life
headfirst, from the music scene of Delhi to the hot-blooded streets of New York. Along the
way, Laila (Koechlin) makes friends with the disabled and the able-bodied, falls in love with
men and women, and charms with her smile and her comic proclivity for storming through
expectations of what life with cerebral palsy ought to be. Skillfully directed by Shonali Bose
as a jubilant tale of self-discovery, MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW is a cocktail shaker full of
passion and cheer.
FILMS
MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW
Sat, April 18, 3:10pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Tues, April 21, 4:30pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Shonali Bose
India | 100 mins
In the city of Marikina, Romeo Guevarra is remembered as a master shoemaker. To his
daughter Imelda though, his memory is tainted, now a fog of faded glory following her testy
adolescence and the steely determination of three women out to find happiness in spite of
him. After Romeos death, Imelda revisits her relationship with her father and pays tribute to
him the best she can: through shoes, the only way the members of the Guevarra family ever
seemed able to express themselves. Milo Soguecos MARIQUINA is a loving tribute to that
process of reconciliation, as well as a nostalgic tribute to craft the sort made by hands and
shaped by the heart. For a family and nation hardened by its missteps, MARIQUINA offers a
lyrical reprieve, a gift wrapped in a shoebox and a pop song for the journey ahead.
MARIQUINA
Fri, April 17, 6:20pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Milo Sogueco
Philippines | 116 mins
10
Since arriving in the United States as children, Vietnamese siblings Mai and Dwayne were
raised by a black couple, and twenty years later, have found happiness in love and family.
But when Mai locates their long-lost mother in Vietnam, the multi-racial family gets thrown
into disarray with comic results. The Vietnamese refugee story gets a humorous spin by
way of the 90s culture-clash family comedy courtesy of actor-director-writer Chi Muoi Lo
in this seminal Vietnamese American film.
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
CATFISH IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE
Sun, April 19, 1:00pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Sat, April 25, 4:00pm, Hoover High School
Auditorium
Director: Chi Muoi Lo
USA | 119 mins | 1999
Two short documentaries explore the uncanny ways Vietnamese see themselves in America
and vice-versa.
COVER GIRL: A GIFT FROM GOD
Director: Nguyen Tan Hoang
USA | 17 mins | 2000
Meet Dalena, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed American who flawlessly sings Vietnamese
standards and becomes an international sensation.
#NAILEDIT: VIETNAMESE & THE NAIL INDUSTRY
Director: Adele Pham
USA | 30 mins | 2015
With Hollywood on one side and the African American community on the other, Vietnamese
women corner the market on nail art.
ALL THAT GLITTERS:
TWO SHORT DOCUMENTARIES
Sun, April 19, 3:25pm,
UltraStar Mission Valley
7
On this years 40th anniversary of the Fall of
Saigon, there will be flag ceremonies, tributes
to heroes living and fallen, and flashbacks to
the critical events of April 30, 1975. But these
events must also remind us of the narratives
that often go silent, namely those of refugees
who are now Vietnamese Americans,
participants in civic culture and neighbors
in areas like City Heights. Their narratives
draw attention to the lived and ongoing
experience of displacement, narratives that
represent Vietnamese Americans as lively,
desiring, and imaginative, and not simply as
collateral damage or as confirmations of the
American dream.
So this year, Pacific Arts Movement highlights
those stories with Cinema Little Saigon,
a film retrospective that celebrates the
cinematic achievements of Vietnamese
American filmmakers, in particular those
whose films complicate the usual narrative
of refugee rescue and the great success of
a model minority. Since the 1990s, these
filmmakers have traced their own family and
community histories, and projected bold
visions of the future. They refract memory
and experience through a number of creative
modes and genres: cross-cultural comedy,
historical epic, intimate drama, first-person
documentary, experimental video.
This retrospective draws attention not only to
the classics of Vietnamese American cinema,
but to the neighborhoods that have inspired
these works, places like City Heights, where
part of the retrospective will be set. Hence
Cinema Little Saigon: like Chinatown as
much a frame of mind as it is a geographic
designation, as much a well of cinematic
creativity and aspiration as it is a megaplex
or a community auditorium. Whatever the
anniversary, this cinema measures its vitality
through the communities its bridged, the
audiences its awakened, and the artists it
continues to inspire.
CINEMA LITTLE SAIGON
6
Young lovers Dae-su and Mira didnt expect to have a baby at 17, and they certainly didnt
expect one like Ahreum, born with a rare affliction for rapid aging. 16 years later, husband
and wife, played with spunk by superstars Gang Dong-won and Song Hye-kyo, are still
frolicking and potty-mouthed, but theyre grounded by a precocious son much wiser than
they. Not surprisingly, Ahreum doesnt have many friends of any age group, but with his
parents hes bonded by the reality that they all have had to grow up too fast. With MY
BRILLIANT LIFE, director E J-yong delivers his warmest, most glowing film to date which
happens also to be a most unusual meditation on the experience of time and family. At its
core a light comedy and youth romance, MY BRILLIANT LIFE dwells not on misfortune but
on the rare opportunity to see that each others lives are miracles.
FILMS
MY BRILLIANT LIFE
Sat, April 18, 5:20pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Wed, April 22, 6:25pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: E J-yong
South Korea | 117 mins
Five female otakus are too sheepish and antisocial to leave their geek haven Amamizukan,
let alone talk to boys. Luckily, when Tsukimi is forced to step into the outside world, her
accidental encounter is with the leggy beauty Kuranosuke, who wears beautiful dresses
and seductive OH NO Kuranosuke is a man!! What will Tsukimis otaku sisters think?
Amamizukan will crumble! But when their true threat comes in the form of evil politicians
set on demolishing Amamizukan in the name of development, the otakus realize they
must band together with Kuranosuke and make their voice heard. PRINCESS JELLYFISH is
a pop culture parade glittered with rainbow candy, where democracy is a fashion show and
gender is as gelatinous as jellyfish.
PRINCESS JELLYFISH
Fri, April 17, 8:35pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Tues, April 21, 8:15pm, UltraStar Mission Valley
Director: Taisuke Kawamura
Japan | 126 mins
11
39122_PacArts_impo.job Sig1 SideB Process Cyan 03/23/2015 11:31:36
39122_PacArts_impo.job Sig1 SideB Process Magenta
03/23/2015 11:31:36
39122_PacArts_impo.job Sig1 SideB Process Yellow 03/23/2015 11:31:36
39122_PacArts_impo.job Sig1 SideB Process Black
03/23/2015 11:31:36
M+YC+YC+M 75757575
KEY 17 KEY 3KEY 4KEY 5KEY 6KEY 7KEY 8KEY 9KEY 10KEY 11KEY 12KEY 13KEY 14KEY 15KEY 16KEY 18KEY 19KEY 20
25GRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAY 2525KCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKCMYKC KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY KCMY YP75 25 25 50 50 50 502525
KEY 21
0.512345
0.5123450.5123450.512345
KOMORIPart No.T30LS428
-
SAN DIEGO ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL
www.pac-arts.org
www.PacArts.org
A WEEK-LONG PRESENTATION OF ASIAN CINEMA
16 FILMS, 9 COUNTRIES
APRIL 16-25, 2015
5
TH
ANNUAL
PRINCESS JELLY
FISH, P
G. 11
NO
N P
RO
FIT
OR
G
US
POST
AGE
PAID
S
AN
DIE
GO
CA
PE
RM
IT #
2029
Glancing backfield, it looks so obvious. To slip
the bracing clutches of gang life. To escape the
pummeling cycles of abuse and poverty. To provide
for the half-dozen siblings cheering you on to
become more than the family has ever been before.
But looking downfield at the distant goal line comes
the sting of expectation and the hard hits of life
itself. The numbers arent devastating: Polynesian
Americans are 28 times more likely to enter the
NFL than any other ethnic group. Which of course
makes the weight on ones shoulders that much
heavier to shake off.
Over the span of four years, documentarians Tony
Vainuku and Erika Cohn followed four Samoan
and Tongan American high schoolers with tough
shoulders and gridiron dreams. Talented Fihi
draws from faith and the example he can be to his