
Hey everyone! Today is the last day of the festival! I hope to see you all there. The festival opens with an encore presentation of Pui Chan: Kung Fu Pioneer. If you happen to miss yesterday’s showing it will appear again at 12:30 @ the Paramount Center.
After the encore we begin with Reel Food: A Shorts Program which include:
Wonder Boy
Directed by Corrie Chen, Clancy struggles as a Chinese-Australian from what he is at school and what he is at home against the backdrop of the Chinese New Year.
People Aren’t Bad
4 min documentary about 80-year-old Yukata Kobayashi who shares his struggles as a Japanese American before and leading up to the Japanese Internment Camps. His story focuses on this dark period along with an unexpected experience of compassion and kindness from a tower guard of the Topaz Internment Camp. Directed by Matthew Hashiguchi
The Commitment
Directed by Albert M. Chan The Commitment focuses on a gay couple (Robert and Ethan) who have been chosen to adopt a child from an Asian birthmother, Victoria. Through the facilitations of the social worker (Susan) Robert, Ethan, and Victoria navigate the humorous and awkward situations. Through the process Victoria soon forms a bond with both Robert and Ethan. When the unexpected occurs Robert and Ethan go through neuroticism and anxiety which threaten their relationship
Bleached
Filipino-American teenager Lenny Blanco just wants to be left alone, but unfortunately her overbearing mother plans Lenny to become a model for a skin lightening cream that could increase her cosmetic sales. As Lenny is swayed by her mother and a cute boy she concedes to bleaching her hair in order to change her identity and risk her health. Directed by Jessica dela Merced
Café Eleve
Directed by Kelly Li Café Eleve tells a story of a ballerina who sacrifices her passion to support her family. Upon an item that was left by a customer, she rediscovers freedom she once felt along with a person she’s never met.
My 2009 Experience
Directed Henry Ho My 2009 Experience is a diary about personal life, immediately family, and the passing of a father.
The Commitment
Rahul is a dancer who decides to give up her career to marry Asha. After a few year he wakes from a dream realizing that he’s unhappy. Directed by Raahul Singh
Nani
Caught spraying graffiti, Oscar does community service at a nursing home whom he meets Isabel, a dementia patient. Though at the age of 84 she happens to tag an entire block in pink.
Whew!! That’s a lot! But as we come to a close we end on the last film of the festival Shanghai Calling.
Directed by Daniel Hsia the film takes a look at a New York attorney, Sam, who is sent to Shanghai for an assignment which then turns into a legal mess that could end his career. With the help of an attractive relocation specialist, an unassuming journalist, and a street-smart assistant, Sam could save his job, find romance, and appreciate Shanghai’s wonders. (Paramount Center)