Programs Listing

 

S A T U R D A Y , A P R I L 3 0
PROGRAM 18, 7:30 p.m.
Directors Guild of America, Theatre Two

Making a Stand
TRT: 100 minutes

A world at war, people at war, struggling to reconcile a state of warÖthese and many issues are at the forefront of this surprising selection of award-winning worksópossibly the first time that VC FILMFEST has addressed these issues in this manner. A trio of exceptional works from the New Zealand Film Commission interface with a set of works produced locally, but with a world-view wise beyond the years of their precocious directors.

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A PLACE TO STAND (Turangawaewae)
(New Zealand, 2003) Dir.: Peter Burger; Scr.: Wiremu Grace
Tiare (a koro or old man), a veteran from the Vietnam War, lives homeless, wandering the city, collecting bits and pieces in his plastic bags. His daughter brings her own daughter to visit in an effort to persuade him to return to their ancestral home. His reverie is disturbed by boys whose play casts him back into the haunting images of his service in the Vietnam War, and by a heavily tattooed gang member whom he believes to be a fellow soldier. With his guard down, he forgets to watch out for himself and is knocked down by a car. In convalescence, his daughter convinces him to return home. They return home, but it becomes clear that the past still haunts him.
35mm, 13 minutes, Color, Narrative

  
 


STRANDED
(United States, 2004) Dir./Scr.: Willard Motomura
France, 1944. Two Japanese American GIs, Kazuo and Richard, stumble upon a young German soldier who has been shot and left for dead. Kazuo, a replacement soldier from California, voices his concern to help the German. Richard, a veteran from Hawaii, wants to abandon the German. The divide between Kazuo and Richard not only includes their battlefield experience but also the discrimination they faced at home. Eventually, Kazuo convinces Richard to report the situation to their superiors. Richard departs in order to get a clear radio signal and, while he is away, a German squad confronts Kazuo and its fallen comradeÖ
35mm, 13 minutes, Color, Narrative
  
 


TIGA E LA ILOA
(New Zealand, 2003) Dir./Scr.: Popo Lilo
Brothers Tuna and Ioane, and their friend Frankie drink and fight every Saturday night and attend church every Sunday morning. However, when a routine street fight puts Frankie in intensive care, the brothersí reaction may divide their future forever.
35mm, 11 minutes, Color, Narrative
  
 


RUNNING IN TALL GRASSES (Chay Trong Co Cao)
(United States, 2004) Dir./Scr.: Howard Duy Vu
Seven-year-old Vinh travels with his mother to visit his father in a reeducation camp in Vietnam sometime after the end of the war. Because of his internment, the father has been absent from his young boyís life for several years. During the camp visit, Vinh tries to stand up to what he sees as injustice of his fatherís abandonment of the family. Frustrated, he runs off, unaware of the danger that lurks. His mother desperately gives chase. Will Vinh come to understand that his parents are just ordinary people, trying to make the best of a difficult situation?
35mm, 14 minutes, B/W, Narrative
  
 


SWIM TEST
(United States, 2004) Dir./Scr.: Alex Chung
Danny, an African-American teenager, must take the swim test in order to graduate from high school. But first, he must make it through the last day of classes. Subtle and devastating, this Sundance 2005 selection offers an unexpected study of the emotion-numbing effects of domestic abuse.
35mm, 13 minutes, Color, Narrative
 
 
 

MIRACLE MILE
(United States/South Korea, 2004) Dir./Scr.: Dong Hyeuk Hwang
MIRACLE MILE is a neon sign that stands on a strip of road separating Koreatown from Beverly Hills. For James and Jiyoung, it represents a potential for hope in the lonely desolate city of Los Angeles. When James happens to meet Jiyoung at the airport, she enlists his help to find her brother, who was sent to America 20 years earlier for adoption. As they search, James remembers his own childhood as an adopted child. He begins to hope and believe that he is the one she is looking for. Through their journey, the two strangers realize that theyíve discovered a sense of family in each other.
35mm, 18 minutes, Color, Narrative

 

  
 
 
SONS OF TU (Tama Tu)
(New Zealand, 2004) Dir./Scr.: Taika Waititi
Six Maori Battalion soldiers wait for night to fall in the ruins of a ruined Italian home. Forced into silence they keep themselves amused like any boys would, with jokes and laughter. As they try and ignore the reminders of war around them, a tohu (sign) brings them back to the world of the dying. They gather to say a karakia (prayer) to unite their spirits before they head back into the dark of war.
35mm, 18 minutes, Color, Narrative
  
DGA