F R I D A Y , A P R I L 3 0
Program 3
Directors Guild of America • 7:30 p.m. • Theatre 1
THE WORLD CAN BE A HEAVY BURDEN (RT: 100 minutes)
The weight of history, memory, and expectation bear heavily on the protagonists of this kick-off selection of new Asian American works. At turns luminous and brooding, these stories—told from perspectives both youthful and aged—represent a growing maturation of our communities’ artists and hint at bigger and better things to come.
MEMORY
(USA, 2004) Dir./Scr.: Cedar Sherbert
Kumeyaay filmmaker Cedar Sherbert explores the heartache of memory as an aunt mysteriously returns during preparations for the memorial of a young boy. A selection of the 2004 Sundance Film Festival’s Native Forum.
35mm, 15 min., color, Narrative
SHUI HEN
(USA, 2003) Dir.: Maximillian Jezo-Parovsky; Scr.: Maura C. Johnston, Amy A. Johnston, M. Jezo-Parocvsky, Story: Sonia Chi
Shui Hen, a Chinese girl in Hong Kong, goes to Cuba to reunite after fifteen years with the family who left her behind. She quickly discovers she’s a stranger within her own family and feels dissatisfied with dynamics brought on by being within a family. As a young person, she wants to be free to go to school, but her family has plans to have her work at the family shop and to set her up for marriage. After all, the family feels this is what they owe her after being separated for fifteen years…
35mm, 24 min., color, Narrative
ETERNAL GAZE
(USA, 2003) Dir./Scr.: Sam Chen
Inspired by the life of Alberto Giacometti, one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, ETERNAL GAZE follows the artist through the last 9 years of his remarkable life, and journeys into the depths of his famously tortured psyche. Along the way, ETERNAL GAZE foregrounds the human conditions of despair, love, and hope that were as much a part of Giacometti’s art as they were about the artist himself.
35mm, 16 min., color and black & white, Animated
9:30
(USA/Singapore, 2003) Dir./Scr.: Mun Chee Yong
Chan Kin Fai flies to Los Angeles from Singapore to forget the person he loves. He doesn’t manage to forget. He ends up calling her everyday at 9:30 Singapore time. Sung Kang (BETTER LUCK TOMORROW) turns in a brooding performance in a story about a man’sintense longings and his futile attempt to leave them behind.
35mm, 13 min., color, Narrative
DAY OF INDEPENDENCE
(USA, 2003) Dir.: Chris Tashima; Scr.: Chris Tashima, Tim Toyama, “Chunky”, Phil Wong
Zip, a 17 year-old Nisei (second-generation) baseball pitcher, faces the tragic circumstances of the internment of 110,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II. Set in an internment camp in the summer of 1943, DAY OF INDEPENDENCE chronicles the journey of an American family torn apart by forced incarceration, and by a father’s decision that changes the family forever. Confronted with challenges both extreme and mundane, Zip ultimately triumphs through courage, sacrifice and the All-American game of baseball.
35mm, 27 min., color, Narrative
PERFECTION
(USA, 2003) Dir./Scr.: Karen Lin
The board game “Perfection”—a race against time where players must match shapes to a board in 60 seconds—mirrors an Asian American woman’s struggle to achieve success and gain her parents’ approval. Taught the game as an infant, she races into her teens winning competitions and getting straight As, only left to wonder whether or not her parents will love her even if she fails. Ultimately she must decide to end the game...
35mm, 6 min., black & white, ExperimentalCLICK HERE to go to the VC FILMFEST ONLINE BOXOFFICE and purchase tickets for this program.
