| |
| Features Menu |
San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival 2009
|
|
 |
|
The annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
(SFIAAFF) is coming back again this March. This festival, presented
by the Center for Asian AmericanMedia (CAAM), is reaching its 27th edition this year,
and it claims to be a showcase of the best of Asian and Asian American films
from around the globe.
SFIAAFF takes place from March 12 to 22, 2009 in San Francisco, Berkeley
and San Jose. Film screenings, filmmaker tributes, and panel discussions
take place at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street in San Francisco;
Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, 1881 Post Street in San Francisco; Pacific Film
Archive, 2575 Bancroft Way in Berkeley, and the Camera 12 Cinemas, 201 South
Second Street in San Jose.
As the organizer announced last week, the 2009 SFIAAFF will again feature a
dynamic and forward-looking selection of the best in new Asian and Asian American
cinema. Ranging from locally produced musicals to Asian blockbusters that have
been lauded on the international film festival circuit, the Festival's program
is the largest showcase of its kind in the world. At the heart of the Festival
are its two Competitions, for Asian American Narrative and Documentary Features,
as well as diverse selections of films from around the world, both short and
feature-length.
|
|
| |
Festival director Chi-hui Yang announcing the program at a press confrerence. (K. Lui) |
|
|
|
Opening and Closing Nights
"Emergent Korean cinema is well represented this year, garnering both the Opening and
Closing nights slots in this year's festival". The opening film of the festival is
Lee Yoon-ki's My Dear Enemy, a drama about the city of Seoul and its inhabitants.
On the other end, So Yong Kim's Treeless Mountain will be the closing night
film.
Other Korean features include Na Hong-jin's Chaser, Bong Joon-ho's Tokyo!
and Harry Kim's Dirty Hands - The Art and Crimes of David Choe.
|
|
|
|
|
Focus: Kiyhoshi Kurosawa and Takahiko Iimura
Every year, the festival features some spotlight directors. This year, two renowned
Japanese filmmakers earn the spot, including Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Takahiko Iimura.
Kurosawa should be no stranger to fans of J-horror, while Iimura is a pioneer in the
world of the experimental cinema in Japan.
With seven of his films being screened, the good news is that Kiyoshi Kurosawa is scheduled to attend
the festival to address the audience. These films span different periods of
his career, including Serpent's Path, Revenge: The Scar that Never
Fades, Revenge: A Visit from Fate, Pulse, License to Live,
Eyes of the Spider and Tokyo Sonata. Seven films are probably
not enough to satisfy the appetite of Kurosawa's fans, however, for the audience
who have little knowledge of the director, this eclectic selection is perhaps a
good tutorial. Tokyo Sonata, which won the grand jury award at the Certain
Regard section of Cannes Film Fesival in 2008, is especially a film that
anyone should not miss.
Other notable Japanese films include Ryosuke Hashiguchi's All Around Us,
San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi's You Don't Know Jack: The Jack Soo
Story and David Boyle's White on Rice.
|
|
|
|
|
Ang Lee and Chinese Cinema
In a city filled with Chinese immigrants, Chinese and Chinese American continue to be a
major part of SFIAAFF. Central to this is an evening with the ever-evolving master of
cinema Ang Lee in an on-stage conversation with UC Berkeley professor Linda Williams.
The event will begin with the screening of Lust Caution and follow by the
exciting conversation and question session.
The International Showcase are scheduled with films from China including Pang Lei's
Panda Candy, Jia Zhang-ke's 24 City and Cao Bao-ping's The Equation
of Love and Death; Hong Kong film High Noon, and a Chinese American feature
Children of Invention.
One may argue the lack of representation from Hong Kong and Taiwan (no single film
from the latter one this year), but the high quality selection from China and the
special appearance of Ang Lee should probably make it up and soothe the mind of the Chinese
film lovers a bit.
|
|
|
|
|
Comment
In general, with a wide range of films from all over Asia and the diaspora of Asian,
this year's SFIAAFF should be exciting for both Asian film lovers as well as the
general audience.
However, as mentioned, certain groups of audience (especially people looking for
Hong Kong and Taiwanese cinema) may find it less appealing since the representation
of films are quite uneven. With a heavy focus on South Asian cinema and perhaps
Japanese/Korean cinema, there isn't much for fans looking for some good Chinese
films from outside of China. The festival should definitely start thinking how to
attract those disappointed groups, who also formed the backbone of the festival audiences
in previous years, back to the event.
Another interesting finding of this year's festival is the shortage of attending guests.
While the guest list is not complete yet, the list so far does not contain any
glamorous names. Other than Ang Lee, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and perhaps Alex Tse (the
writer of Hollywood film Watchmen), nothing much on the list seems too captivating.
Besides, among the thirty so guests on the
list, 90% are directors, leaving only about two or three spots for actors. If a
festival wants to attract spotlight and media attention, affluent flow of glamorous
name or beautiful face is indispensable. But as stated above, the guest list is not
final at this point, and let's hope the modified version will provide more surprise.
For more information of SFIAAFF, do check out their official website here.
written by: staff (02/2009)
information provided by: CAAM
|
|
|
h t t p : / / w w w . c i n e s p o t . c o m /
