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Program 7
Directors Guild of America • 9:45 p.m. • Theatre 2
 
FAMILY STORIES LOST AND FOUND (RT: 83 minutes)
Family, whether nuclear or otherwise, are the focus of this grouping of new works. Festival veterans Fatimah Tobing Rony and Michael Velasquez bookend these tales of acculturation and new beginnings, comprising both the older and younger generation.

TREASURE
(USA, 2003) Dir./Scr.: Fatimah Tobing Rony
VC FILMFEST veteran Fatimah Tobing Rony (EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN, Festival 2001) offers a visual poem about a woman who finally emerges from the cellar of her imagination.
Video, 2 min., color, Narrative

 
HOW TO MAKE KIMCHI ACCORDING TO MY KUN-UMMA
(Canada, 2003) Dir.: Samuel Kiehoon Lee
Fun, family, and food are the focus of this witty yet informative look into Korean culture as filtered through Bong Ja Lee, the filmmaker's Kun-Umma (auntie). The film delivers not only a recipe for kimchi, but also tells the story of an immigrant woman juggling with being a grandmother, a leader in the Toronto Korean-Canadian community, and an aunt to the pestering nephew who’s attempting to document her life.
Video, 18 min., color, Documentary


 
THE FIRST GENERATION
(USA, 2003) Dir./Scr.: Z. Eric Yang
When he was a little boy in China, Lee dreamed of seeing the world. Now, many years later, Lee is struggling to secure a life for his wife and son in America. When he learns that his mother has fallen ill back in China, Lee is forced to make one of the most difficult decisions in his life.
Video, 17 min., color, Narrative
 



RETIREMENT REHEARSAL
(USA, 2003) Dir.: Anisha Pattanaik; Scr.: Sylvia Mulholland
When George Norton, an Actuary at Union Life for 30 years, is unexpectedly “let go” his life changes before his eyes. Newly-retired, George battles with feelings of loss, rejection and disappointment. His well-meaning wife, Janet, recognizes his struggles and does everything she can to help him cope with this adjustment. Gradually, George realizes that his value to his wife is as much or more than that to the company, allowing the couple to begin a new phase of life together.
Video, 24 min., color, Narrative
 
TAKING CARE OF THEIR OWN: The Story of Yellow Brotherhood
(USA, 2003) Dir.: Tadashi H. Nakamura
TAKING CARE OF THEIR OWN chronicles the 30 year evolution of an Asian American self-help organization, Yellow Brotherhood, through its founders, who started the group in the turbulent 1960s, and their children who carry on its legacy as a youth basketball program. Coming to grips with their parents’ unjust camp experience during WWII and overcoming their own struggles with drug abuse and gang violence, the original members are now fathers who pass their hard-earned lessons on to subsequent generations.
Video, 20 min., color and black & white, Documentary
 
SENTIMENTAL
(USA, 2003) Dir./Scr.: Michael Velasquez
VC FILMFEST fave Michael Velasquez offers a “dedication to my family, and an attempt to make family slide shows interesting.”
Video, 2 min., color, Narrative

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