Fred Ho's Last Year [Special Presentation]

Watch the trailer

Monday, October 13, 2014 | 7:00PM
Emerson/Paramount Center
559 Washington Street, Boston MA 
(T: Park Street, Downtown Crossing, or Boylston)

2014 | 58 mins | USA | Documentary
Directed by Steven De Castro

Followed by Q&A with Steven De Castro

When faced with widespread cancer and imminent death, what is an ardent non-conformist, unconventional, uncontrollable, avant-garde, experimental composer, bandleader, baritone saxophonist, writer and activist supposed to do? Become a warrior against said cancer of course and set out, in his “final” year, to share and teach his life’s work while continuing to write books and compose and stage new works. Fred Ho is this warrior. Purveyor of what he calls Afro-Asian New American Multicultural music, Ho is a dynamo and true independent. His nearly undefineable music is an amalgam of Pan Asian, soul and what is generally considered jazz (a term Ho prefers not to use due to what he calls its derogatory genesis). His philosophical leanings are progressive and revolutionary. His fashion sense is equally idiosyncratic. In the last five years or so, Ho has suffered through various bouts of cancer leaving his insides in disarray but making his purpose even more focused and profound. 


BAAFF Filmmaker Spotlight: Steven De Castro by BAAFF
  
BAAFF: What do you think the message of the film and Fred's choice is?
De Castro: For Fred, I think it's about legacy. He really believed in leaving a legacy after he passed. His mortality makes us think, "what is the meaning of being on this planet?" and to Fred it was that everyone can make something of their lives no matter how much time you have left, and leave a memorable legacy....Click to read more.

Co-presented by the Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) (www.aarw.org)