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2004-2005 AAIFF NATIONAL TOUR

BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY
92mins • DVD • $200
If washing dishes, crossing a river, or standing by your religion will get you what you want, then, by all means, do it! How far will you go to defend your beliefs? Watch the protagonists in these short films fight tooth and nail to achieve their dreams.

FLEETING BEAUTY
Dir. Virginia Pitts
New Zealand | 2004 | 10mins | Color | Documentary
Drawing an erotic map with cinnamon, turmeric and red chili spices on her lover's back, a woman tells stories of colonization the Europeans' quest for "powdered gold."

RED SAGA
Dir. Gabriela Krista Dalena
Philippines | 2004 | 15mins | Color | Experimental documentary
Children of the land faithfully guard the last harvest from thieves. This poetic film offers a glimpse into the protracted peasants' revolution and the passion and pain that paint the countryside red.

NORTH OF OJINAGA
Dir. Rommel Eclarinal
USA | 2004 | 24mins | Color | Mandarin/Spanish w/ES | Narrative
Two young immigrants, a Chinese woman and a Mexican man, are smuggled across the US border from Mexico and abandoned in the vast unforgiving Texas desert.

CHINESE DREAM
Dir. Victor Quinaz
USA | 2004 | 17mins | Color | Cantonese w/ES | Documentary
Indentured in a cramped, crowded and confined world, Country Boy's life is an endless toil. Yet, his sweat breeds a dream that his overbearing boss cannot stifle. A moving portrait of one man's determination.
2004 WINNER - San Francisco Int'l Film Festival, BEST SHORT

DASTAAR: DEFENDING SIKH IDENTITY
Dir. Kevin Lee
USA | 2005 | 11mins | Color | Documentary
Documenting a community's struggle against discrimination, the film begins by observing the simple, quiet act of putting on the dastaar, or turban. This daily ritual is imbued with the Sikh values of honor, discipline and faith, contrasting sharply with recent incidents of violence and discrimination against Sikh communities.

THE LITTLE TERRORIST
Dir. Ashvin Kumar
India, UK | 2004 | 15mins | Color | Hindi w/ES | Narrative
Based on a true story, the film follows a Pakistani Muslim boy who mistakenly crosses the mine-field strewn border into India and finds unexpected allies in a Hindu school teacher and his niece. When Indian soldiers search for the little terrorist, his allies must face their own prejudices and consider consequences versus conscience.
Nominee, 2005 Academy Awards, Best Live Action Short Film
Grand Prize Winner, 2005 Tehran Int'l Short Film Festival

FOR YOUTH BY YOUTH
46mins • DVD • $100
Trying to define young Asian America? Ask young Asian Americans. These youth filmmakers are here to set the record straight. Get a slice of life or a dose of social critique. Raw, thoughtful and defiant, these films take on the true stories of the misconstrued.

INERTIA
Dir. Erica Eng for Youth Sounds
USA | 2004 | 11mins | Color | Narrative
What seems like an ordinary day at school turns out to be a day of jump and jiving for the students - teacher included! If unsure whether to gasp or mingle, you're still invited to vibe to the rhythm and groove of a classroom gone awry.

BOUGHT AND SOLD
Dir. Global Action Project: Naomi Alchalal, Wendy Cheung, Ingrid Hernandez, Lakeasha Martin, Shakira Rogers, Lashonda Wilson
USA | 2001 | 15mins | Color | Documentary
In an age of mass consumption and globalization, just about anything is prey to the omnipotent marketing machine. Students of color voice their opinions on the exploitation of their respective cultures. What is truly right or wrong when it comes to self-expression? You decide.

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
Dirs. Brian Foo, Calvin Sun
USA | 2005 | 6mins | Color | Documentary
What is becoming of our precious Chinatown? Tourist kiosks, imitation Gucci and a flood of banks are becoming much too prevalent in a place that is considered a manifestation of the Chinese culture on American soil. Why can't we keep it real?

RESILIENCE
Dir. Marc Fagardo
USA | 2004 | 6mins | B/W & Color | Experimental
In this disturbing tale of child molestation, fear and confusion troubles a young girl after repeated encounters from her uncle. Facing potentially life-long emotional scars, she finds a positive outlet to deal with her misfortune.

FORTUNES FOR COOKIES: TYPICAL, TWO BOOTS, FUCK OFF
Dirs. Bonnie Chen, Amy Lam, Persephone Tan
USA | 2004 | 6mins | B/W & Color | English/Cantonese w/ES | Experimental
TYPICAL
What happened to individuality and creativity? The film screams at expectations, assumptions, and perceptions that are solely based on ethnic stereotypes. Sometimes, you just want to say, "AHHHHH!"
TWO BOOTS
Two girls. Two perspectives. One wants what the other loathes and vice versa. Using simple dialogue and intriguing stories, the film sheds light on a cultural enigma troubling Asian American youth of today.
FUCK OFF
People have a natural tendency to stare - especially if you look or act differently. Uncomfortable glances? Shaking heads? Sneers? FUCK OFF is dedicated to those who can't accept the fact that not everybody is the same.

LYK OMG, YOU HAVE GUM ON YOUR SHOE
Dir. Christina Mui
USA | 2004 | 2mins | Color | Experimental
Um, the girl in this film is like, so cool. She walks around the city with an attitude and she's totally artistic. The only thing bumming her out is a piece of gum stuck on her shoe. Can you say, Ewww!?

FROM HIGH BROW TO EYEBROW
98mins • DVD • $200
Thugged-out Aunties, Cyber-visionaries, Post-Colonial madmen, and Ivy League roommates roam these shorts from around the Desi diaspora. Bollywood may be the world's largest commercial film industry, but these shorts represent the burgeoning independent movement of young South Asian filmmakers. They counterpoint the extravagance of Bollywood with personal films that explore what is unsaid between friends and lovers. Combining the digital revolution with solid storytelling, these films are touching, entertaining, and present new perspectives from a new generation.
Curated by Shilpa Mankikar, Prerana Reddy, and Prachi Patankar of 3rd I New York.

AUNTY G'S
Dir. Geeta Malik
USA | 2004 | 6mins | Color | Narrative
The secret, double life of Dutiful Auntie Ji's. Five South Asian ladies go through their everyday routines: making breakfast for their families, playing ball, and throwing back some beers.

THE WAITER
Dir. Nilesh Patel
UK | 2004 | 5mins | Color | Narrative
From the Academy-Award nominated director of A LOVE SUPREME comes a new comedy about a waiter caught in a clash of cultures between London's East End and Cambridge.

SYSTEM OF UNITS
Dir. Richie Mehta
Canada | 2004 | 21mins | Color | Narrative
In the near future, supercomputers fuse with human minds to connect people worldwide to The Network. Messing one unit in the system, risks malfunctioning the network when he tries to express his desire for a woman.

WAXED POETIC
Dir. Keshni Kashyap
USA | 2004 | 2mins | Color | Narrative
A little ode to the ancient Indian beauty practice of hair waxing.

GOOD THING
Dir. Keshni Kashyap
USA | 2004 | 19mins | Color | Narrative
An award-winning, insightful and bittersweet tale of a despondent husband grappling with the question of whether you can ever find what you're looking for.

TOBA TEK SINGH
Dir. Afia Serena Nathaniel
Pakistan | 2005 | 18mins | B/W & Color | English/Urdu/Hindi/Punjabi w/ES | Narrative
Two or three years after Partition, the governments of Pakistan and India decided to exchange lunatics from their madhouses the same way they had exchanged civilians. Adapted from the classic play by Saadat Hasan Manto.

LIFE DOCUMENT TWO: IDENTITY
Dirs. Ayad Stehle-Akhtar, Tom Glynn
USA | 2002 | 27mins | Color | Documentary
Money, duplicity, assumptions, self-discovery. George, Chinese American, decides to make a documentary to explore his former Pakistani American roommate Ahmad's conversion to Islam.

GROWING PAINS
85mins • DVD • $200
Very little escapes the eyes of the young as they process the adult world. For some, Oedipal complexes, death, divorce and impending doom are nothing compared to taking your shirt off at the swimming pool. It's all relative, I guess.

GIDOO'S COSMIC CRISIS
Dir. Shivani Khanna
India, USA | 2004 | 12mins | Color | Animation
Light years away, Gidoo learns that he will die unless he alters the alignment of the stars. Determined to change his destiny, he sets off on a desperate, cosmic adventure that will test both his mettle and our theories of the universe.

FATHER AND SON
Dir. Gyeong-Tae Roh
USA | 2004 | 8mins | B/W & Color | Experimental
An experimental piece that weaves between reality and dream as it explores patriarchy, miscommunication and the balance of power in Asian families and societies.

BE VERY QUIET
Dir. Mona Nahm
Thailand, USA | 2004 | 26mins | Color | Thai w/ES | Narrative
As a child, Thana witnessed the rape and murder of his prostitute mother. Years later, he spots a man who resembles the killer and embarks on a path of vengeance.

KATA PRACTICE
Dir. Siu Ta
Canada | 2004 | 5mins | B/W | Narrative
David, a 6-year-old junior green belt, practices for his final fight. As he concentrates on each technique, he soon confronts a challenge that goes beyond the physical.

SWIM TEST
Dir. Alex Chung
USA | 2004 | 13mins | Color | Narrative
Danny, a depressed high school student, must pass the swim test in P.E. in order to graduate. For Danny, it's not so much about swimming as it is about being shirtless. In this quiet Sundance favorite, Alex Chung provides intrigue and surprise to a seemingly simple story.

THROUGH PASSING
Dir. Chisan Lin
USA | 2004 | 8mins | Color | Narrative
A meditation on the death of a loved one. Exquisite imagery accompanies dance and narrative fragments in a film about reconciling the irreconcilable and transcending the irreversible.

SILENT YEARS
Dir. James Sereno
USA | 2004 | 13mins | Color | Narrative
Adapted from the poetry of acclaimed writer Lois-Ann Yamanaka, and told in Hawaiian pidgin, a woman journeys back to her past and confronts the haunting memories of teenage abuse.

HERSTORY
60mins • DVD • $110
Turning your life around can seem daunting, but to the women in these stories, they must overcome a personal struggle in regards to their profession, identity, family, or lover. Can a new beginning offer her more hope, a better life, or a brighter future?

OUR LIFE SAVING VINEGAR
Dir. Zita Jeng
Taiwan | 2005 | 22mins | Color | Mandarin/Taiwanese w/ES | Documentary
A group of ex-licensed prostitutes in Taiwan join forces as members of COSWAS (Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters), an advocacy and support organization in Taipei. They share their stories with candor and courage as they struggle to create a second chance for themselves.

LOWER EAST SIDE STORIES
Dir. Liselle Mei
USA | 2004 | 38mins | Color | English/Spanish w/ES | Narrative
Lower East Side Stories is a dramatic short, presented in a series of four sequential portraits of women of varying ages and ethnicities.
SOFIA is a thirteen year old Puerto Rican girl in a growing pains story about puberty, childish infatuation and the safety of paternal love.
KATHRYN is a bereaved urban professional, dealing with the death of her baby and its effect on her relationship with her husband.
DORIS is an elderly Jewish woman, who has lived in the quarter for years, resisting the neighborhood's changing face and her daughter's lesbian sexuality.
MIA is a young European woman, betrayed by her boyfriend and forced to face personal identity issues.
Their individual struggles for validation and self fulfillment are presented against the unique social and cultural back drop of the Lower East Side.

HIP HOPERA
90mins • DVD • $200
Stop, collaborate and listen. A Taiwanese opera star, Cambodian monkey dancers, Hmong b-boys and Senegalese rappers use dance and music to share stories of triumph, determination and resilience, even as conflict rages in their homelands.

THUNDER LANNYANG
Dir. Hsueh Yuting
Taiwan | 2004 | 15mins | Color | Taiwanese w/ES | Documentary
Coalminer, ice cream vendor, opera enthusiast. After a life of hard work, Jin-Tsai Chuan returned to his musical roots and revived Baguan traditional opera in Taiwan. From its origins in street theater, Baguan opera evolved into highly stylized productions featuring elaborate costumes, makeup, and songs drawn from tales from Ancient China. Chuan proves that karaoke, television and strip shows are simply no match for his beloved art form.

MONKEY DANCE
Dir. Julie Mallozzi
USA, Cambodia | 2004 | 65mins | Color | English/Khmer w/ES | Documentary
Linda, Sochenda and Samnang are three teens coming of age in Lowell, Massachusetts. Children of Cambodian refugees, they inhabit a gritty blue-collar world shadowed by their parents' nightmares of the Khmer Rouge. Against the backdrop of family struggle, the teens share an unusual obsession that runs through the film like a shimmering thread: dance. All three are members of the Angkor Dance Troupe, a rigorous performance group preserving a world-renowned Cambodian dance tradition almost lost when its practitioners were literally decimated by the Khmer Rouge. The film follows the three teens through a series of part-time jobs, car fantasies and car accidents, new girlfriends, college application woes, and Linda's stunning, revelatory trip to Cambodia. Shot over a long time period, the subjects become adults before our eyes as they navigate the confusing landscape of urban adolescence and ultimately begin to make good on their parents' dreams.

UNITED NATIONS OF HIP HOP
Dir. Christina Choe
Senegal | 2004 | 10mins | Color | English/French/Wolof w/ES | Documentary
Jay-Z posters adorn bedroom walls, youth sport Adidas, MCs battle on street corners. No, this is not New York or LA. This is Senegal, West Africa. Explore the far reaches of hip hop, capitalism and the global economy.

IT'S IN THE BLOOD
74mins • DVD • $180
From long-lost to finally-found, from Calypso to Bollywood, from riches to rags - even when there's nothing left in the world there is always family. These films use meditation, music and unexpected twists to explore the ties that bind.

SOMETHING OTHER THAN OTHER
Dirs. Andrea Chia, Jerry Henry
USA | 2005 | 7mins | Color | Documentary
Sometimes checking the right box just isn't that simple. The parents of a multiracial child examine racial identity in this experimental personal documentary.

MY FATHER'S EYES
Dir. Lisa Fotedar Miller
USA | 2004 | 5mins | Color | Narrative
Unexpected gifts are in store for a young, mixed-race American woman and her Indian father as they meet each other for the first time.

MIRACLE MILE
Dir. Dong Hyeuk Hwang
Korea, USA | 2004 | 18mins | Color | English/Korean w/ES | Narrative
Looking for her long lost brother, a young Korean woman finds herself in LA with no friends and a language barrier. Could a chance meeting lead to a happy ending?

THE MONSTER AND THE PEANUT
Dir. Franklin Jin Rho
USA | 2004 | 21mins | Color | Narrative
On the verge of a nervous breakdown, a high school physics teacher searches obsessively for a scientific explanation for traffic jams. THE MONSTER AND THE PEANUT is an Emmy-winning film about hiding from your inner demons.

EAT RICE (CHI FAN)
Dir. Angela How
Singapore, USA | 2004 | 13mins | Color | English/Mandarin w/ES | Narrative
Three women sit down to their daily lunch ritual of slurping porridge to the beat of their favorite radio melodrama. Suddenly, three men enter their home and sanctuary, breaking the peace.

LIBRARY MAJNU
Dir. Paul Awguwawela
UK | 2005 | 10mins | Color | English/Hindi w/ES | Narrative
A modern day Romeo and Juliet with a Bollywood twist. A college library, forbidden love and a meddling father - nothing that a little song and dance can't cure.

MAMA SAYS
108mins • DVD • $220
Does Mama always know best? Maybe not, but where would we be without our maternal figures? Whether they're single or married, traditional or professional; waxing, waning or no longer with us - they build the bridges from one generation to the next. These films pay tribute to Mamas in their many forms - the stern yet loving, multi-tasking, lullaby-singing superwomen!

A SUNNY DAY
Dir. Eun Oh
USA | 2004 | 9mins | Color | Korean w/ES | Narrative
Harsh words from a judgmental neighbor are the last thing a single mother needs. But maybe a daughter needs to hear them to appreciate the one parent she has.

THE MOON PLEASE
Dir. Kevin Choi
USA | 2004 | 16mins | Color | Narrative
A young New York executive is running late on her first day back to work after maternity leave. As she scrambles through one obstacle after another, she suddenly notices a drastic change in the world outside.

TURMERIC WATERS
Dir. Rani Grassi Breslow
India | 2004 | 37mins | Color | English/Tamil w/ES | Documentary
Coming-of-age ceremonies bring a community together as a family commemorates the moment their child becomes an adult. This documentary offers a look at the South Indian celebration that marks a girl's passage into womanhood.

AFTERNOON (BUOI CHIEU)
Dir. Kim Spurlock
USA | 2005 | 10mins | Color | English/Vietnamese w/ES | Narrative
A rainy afternoon. An unexpected guest. Drawn by her husband's grief and the desire to experience physical sensation, the spirit of the family matriarch comes calling.

FAMILY PORTRAIT (JIA FU)
Dir. Ellery Ngiam
Singapore | 2004 | 27mins | Color | Narrative
The failing economy and financial sacrifices weigh heavy on a wealthy family as they come together for a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner.

MOTHER (INAY)
Dir. Debbie Formoso
USA | 2004 | 9mins | Color | Tagalog w/ES | Narrative
In a new environment thousands of miles from home, a young Filipina immigrant struggles to care for a 90-year-old grandmother who suffers from dementia.

MANY FACES OF EVE
97mins • DVD • $200
A nagging mother, an overly concerned father, a demanding boyfriend, a jealous girlfriend - too many cooks can ruin a good woman. The obligations of love, family and food can lead a woman to a life of domestic ruin. The women in these short films struggle to shed their masks and find ways to just be.

3 MEALS
Dirs. Colin Goh, Yen Yen Woo
Singapore | 2005 | 19mins | Color | English/Hokkien w/ES | Narrative
San, a Singaporean woman under pressure from her mother to "find a good man," hosts three disastrous meals - two with would-be suitors, and the last with her mother herself.

THE CORRECT USE OF ORANGES
Dir. Mari Okada
USA | 2005 | 17mins | Color | Narrative
Expected to cook the perfect meal for her boyfriend, a girl is liberated when she discovers oranges. This perfect food allows her to indulge in a life free of pleasing others.

MOTHERS (NANAY)
Dir. Clarissa de los Reyes
USA | 2004 | 5mins | B/W | Narrative
Left alone with the infant she cares for, a Filipino nanny attempts to recapture her lost motherhood - an urge that causes an unthinkable act.

PRETTY
Dir. Shabbir Emon Hassan
USA | 2004 | 27mins | Color | Narrative
The perfect couple, the perfect plan and the unforeseen death. Josie and Stacey find each other at an art gallery one afternoon. Lost and enthralled in sexual games, they find themselves in a bloody mess a week later.

SINGAPORE GIRL
Dir. Li-Anne Huang
Singapore | 2004 | 19mins | Color | Narrative
A coming-of-age story about a young girl living in a sexist world where beauty is her way out - or is it? In her quest to become a Singapore Airlines stewardess, Ling finds that her dreams to see the world conflict with her love for a boy at home.

SWEET DREAMS (SUHANE SAPNE)
Dir. Soman Chainani
India | 2005 | 10mins | Color | English/Hindi w/ES | Narrative
Deepti Daryanani (from Bollywood's YEH KYA HO RAHA HAI) stars as Soshila, an ingenue who leads two vastly different lives. By night, she prowls clubs with her friends - kindling hearts, inciting mischief, reigning like a queen amused by her own powers. But as soon as day breaks, her powers are completely lost...

THE OZ IMAGINATION
81 min • DVD • $200
In our efforts to capture diverse Asian global experiences, this year the AAIFF is casting the spotlight on Australian filmmakers. 2005 has been a milestone year for the Asian Australian community in many ways; director Sejong Park (BIRTHDAY BOY) was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short and writer-director Khoa Do (DELIVERY DAY) was named the Young Australian of the Year. These achievements, along with the nine shorts on display, reflect the depth of antipodean talent and creativity.

MY BEIJING FRIEND
Dir. Nassiem Valamanesh
Australia | 2004 | 5mins | Color | Mandarin w/ES | Narrative
Nassiem Valamanesh embarks on a nostalgic trip back to Beijing, looking for his long-lost friend. Suffused with a lingering sense of melancholy, the picturesque journey is pure visual poetry in motion.

REVERIE SANS FRONTIERS
Dir. Luhsun Tan
Australia | 2004 | 6mins | Color | Experimental
Inspired by the real story of an asylum-seeker stranded alone on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, Luhsun Tan has reimagined a phantasmagorical landscape that is borderless. A stunning combination of animation and live action, the film perfectly captures the Kafka-esque plight of the prisoner.

THE WAY
Dir. Qing Huang
Australia | 2003 | 7mins | Color | Animation
Chinese ink painting has never looked more vivid and alluring. Qing Huang marries 3D computer animation with the aesthetic of traditional Chinese art to create a new, exciting media art form. Step into a world where peach blossoms morph into bamboo trees and carps leap out of the screen.

DELIVERY DAY
Dir. Jane Manning
Australia | 2001 | 26mins | Color | English/Vietnamese w/ES | Narrative
It's parent-teacher day, but Trang's mum is furiously trying to meet a delivery deadline at her garment sweatshop. How does an 11-year-old reconcile the demands of her Vietnamese family with her desire to fit in? Bolstered by strong acting and light-hearted vibes, the film pries into the world of migrant experiences between two generations

MOTHER TONGUE
Dir. Susan Kim
Australia | 2003 | 6mins | Color | English/Korean w/ES | Animation
Set in Korea 1976, a daughter makes audio recordings of everyday events and sends it to her father who has moved to Australia. As she and her mother wait to join him, the tapes bridge the real and imaginary distance between them.

EX
Dirs. Andrew Soo, Julie Kalceff
Australia | 2003 | 9mins | Color | Narrative
Rachel's girlfriend, Kath, has finally moved in and Rachel has arranged the perfect weekend. But her plans start to unravel when Kath's ex calls... EX casts a wry look at relationships, teasing out the humor amidst the anxiety. Will it end happily ever after?

BRIGHT (MING)
Dir. Qing Huang
Australia | 2004 | 4mins | B/W & Color | Animation
Inspired by an age-old Chinese folktale, BRIGHT adds a new twist to how thunder and lightning came about in striking shadow puppet-style animation. Watch as Thunder God pursues Mother Lightning across the sky, and they unleash their powers in a mating dance.

DINKUM
Dir. Eu-hua Chua
Australia | 2003 | 18mins | B/W & Color | Documentary
Over 150 years ago, migrant Chinese passed through a goldfield town in Bendigo and left behind a legacy. This fascinating documentary delves into the public history of their contribution and the personal experience of the search for identity.

SHOCK JOCK
56mins • DVD • $110
From the comic to the terrifying, these high-spirited shorts will grab your attention. What does a self- absorbed assassin have in common with a piece of spam going through a Kafka-esque metamorphosis; a howling werewolf and a man howling from a nose hair; a computer-generated monster and a dysfunctional office? See for yourself!

SPAM-KU: I WON A HAIKU CONTEST ABOUT SPAM
Dir. Steven K. Tsuchida
USA | 2004 | 5mins | Color | Narrative
Roy wins a poetry contest with his Spam haiku. The prize: A lifetime supply. Will his life change for the better or will it take a gooey turn?

DO NOT DISTURB
Dir. Michael Ogasawara
USA | 2004 | 3mins | Color | Animation
Got skeletons in your closet? This creepy animation testifies that you never know what will pop up from your past.

THE PREPARATION
Dir. Peter Wang
USA | 2004 | 3mins | Color | Narrative
As Tim prepares for his first date with Grace, he finds something unsightly in his nose.

PORCELAIN
Dir. M.R. Stiff
USA | 2004 | 6mins | Color | Narrative
After a night at a club, a Filipino man ends up in the feng shui'ed house of a white man. These days, yellow fever and rice queens are all the rage. But what do you do when you're the object of racialized affection?

ON GUARD
Dir. Kevin Lee
USA | 2004 | 12mins | Color | Narrative
A white boss, an Asian middle manager and a black security guard. The blame game ensues when an office building is vandalized. How does power affect race relations at the workplace?

HAIRWOLF
Dir. Nancy Kim
USA | 2004 | 4mins | Color | Narrative
If you can't beat them, shave them? This is a tale of a werewolf who learns the true meaning of life.

THE HAIRS
Dir. Yohei Kawamata
USA | 2004 | 5mins | Color | Experimental
With every touch, a little more disappears.

OR
Dir. John H. Kim
USA | 2004 | 4mins | Color | Experimental
A stove, a meal, a man. A stove, a woman, a man. A film within a film? A fiction within a fiction? What's real? What isn't?

ANONYMOUS ASSASSIN
Dir. John Eung Soo Kim
USA | 2004 | 4mins | Color | Narrative
A self-absorbed assassin proves to be his own downfall during his very last execution.

LAW OF THE JUNGLE
Dir. John H. Kim
USA | 2004 | 7mins | Color | Narrative
A businessman confronts the terror within in a spectacular chase through a dystopic downtown LA.

TABLE FOR ONE
90mins • DVD • $200
A casual encounter can cause a chain reaction that changes the course of your life. Missed connections and intersecting paths can lead us to the ones we love. Others appear in our lives for a fleeting but important moment. Is it coincidence? Fate? Instant karma? Watch and ponder.

PESO
Dir. James Bang
USA | 2004 | 12mins | Color | Narrative
In Spanish, 'peso' means weight. The lives of three different characters intersect in New York City as their burdens are lifted by their subtle influences on one another.

THIS MOMENT
Dir. Leena Pendharkar
USA | 2004 | 14mins | Color | Narrative
Uma, an Indian American woman, receives a romantic, sunrise proposal from her African American boyfriend. Though her instincts say yes, she is haunted by her father's wishes for her to marry the perfect Indian man.

9:30
Dir. Mun Chee Yong
USA | 2004 | 13mins | Color | Narrative
Chan Kin Fai (Sung Kang from BETTER LUCK TOMORROW) flies 14092.2 km to LA from Singapore to forget the person he loves. Still, he calls her every morning at 9:30 Singapore time. An homage to Wong Kar Wai, 9:30 deliberates on space and love..

MISSING
Dir. Kit Hui
USA | 2004 | 14mins | Color | Narrative
To find his missing girlfriend, Samuel follows a mysterious trail of words written on pieces of paper left in unlikely places. As he uncovers the mystery of her disappearance, he catches a haunting glimpse of New York City and realizes something unexpected.
2005 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Competition
2005 Tribeca Film Festival

CLEAN
Dir. Stephen Dypiangco
USA | 2004 | 4mins | Color | Narrative
A Central Park maintenance woman struggles with a moral dilemma after discovering a wallet full of money.

CAUSE AND DEFECT
Dir. Michael Ogasawara
USA | 2004 | 3mins | Color | Narrative
How did it happen? A tragic accident from end to beginning.

THE LISTENER
Dir. Michael Chang
Ireland | 2004 | 11mins | Color | Narrative
A young woman in Ireland is entranced by a blind street musician. When she must return something to him, she gets a closer look into his life.

G-23
Dir. Anthony Chen
Singapore | 2004 | 19mins | Color | English/Cantonese/Mandarin/Tamil w/ES | Narrative
Emotional suppression, Singapore-style. The lives of three idiosyncratic city dwellers - a young Indian girl, an elderly man and a middle-aged lady - intertwine through a ticket-tearer who works at the local Indian cinema.

WAR, WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?
94mins • DVD • $200
Waging war is always easier against a faceless enemy. What do you do when your enemies become human beings with stories of their own? Nationalism vs. patriotism? Red state vs. Blue? In the end, what are we fighting for? Ideology? Humanity? Characters are forced to take sides and battle it out in these short films.

POL POT'S BIRTHDAY
Dir. Talmage Cooley
USA | 2004 | 10mins | Color | Khmer w/ES | Narrative
After the fall of Phnom Penh in 1979, Pol Pot and his ruthless Khmer Rouge army spent the next decade retreating slowly towards Thailand. In 1985, the office staff of this brutal dictator attempt to throw a surprise birthday party for their boss.
2004 Sundance Film Festival

WHOSE CHILDREN ARE THESE?
Dir. Theresa Thanjan
USA | 2004 | 27mins | Color | Documentary
A gripping look at the post 9-11 world of three Muslim teenagers as they deal with prejudice and the federal policy of Special Registration.

STRANDED
Dir. Willard Motomura
USA | 2004 | 13mins | Color | Narrative
1944, France. Far from home, two Japanese American GIs stumble upon a wounded German soldier and must decide his fate. What are the consequences when you show compassion to your enemy?

THE LOST SOLDIER
Dir. Kohta Asakura
USA | 2004 | 9mins | Color | Experimental
Meet Gordon Wright - a middle class, politically apathetic American, whose daily dose of "news" eventually affects his perception of life and reality.

IN WHOSE NAME
Dir. Nandini Sikand
USA | 2004 | 11mins | Color | Experimental
This politically-charged essay explores the co-opting of icons by right-wing and national agendas. An evocative pastiche of symbols and emagery told through told through Super-8 home movies, Bollywood film and comic book art.

AN OLD SOLDIER'S WAR
Dir. Gerry Balasta
USA | 2004 | 7mins | Color | English/Tagalog w/ES | Narrative
Pedro, an ex-soldier from the Philippines is now making food deliveries in New York. While making a delivery, Pedro encounters a face from his past.

PAWNS OF THE KING
Dir. Ming Liang Lai
USA | 2004 | 17mins | Color | English/Japanese w/ES | Narrative
Haunted by his past, a World War II Zero fighter pilot is forced to confront his fears in a game of chess.

62 YEARS AND 6,500 MILES BETWEEN
Dir. Anita Wen-Shin Chang
USA, Taiwan | 2005 | 52mins | Color | English/Mandarin/Taiwanese w/ES | Documentary
In the exhilarating momentum of Taiwanese self-determination, and the increasing instability of American democracy, the filmmaker navigates cultural, geographical and linguistic distances in search of wisdom and hope from her 100 year-old Taiwanese activist grandmother (Ama).
The film explores the filmmaker's discovery about her grandmother's political sensibility just prior to entering a full-care facility; the personal and intimate details remembered by those closely associated with her; her award -winning autobiographical essay which was published in 1994 by the Taipei Women's Rights Organization; and the filmmaker's own memories. As the film progresses, we hear history being told from various perspectives. Eventually, twists and turns develop along the way: the expectation that the camera is a reliable witness, or that the biography was even written by Ama.
In the end, viewers come away with some insight into Taiwan's colonial past and now as a new democracy, Taiwan's relationship to the neocolonial powers of U.S. and transnational corporations, the post-colonial diasporic experience, and at the same time witness the incredible challenges of constructing a history.

GARLIC = RICH AIR THE DOCUMENTARY
Dir. Kenzan Tsutakawa-Chinn
USA | 2004 | 20mins | Color | Documentary
Garlic is the new gold. A documentation of Shu Lea Cheang's net-installation, Garlic = Rich Air, dated 2030. Welcome organic garlic as the new currency in a post-capitalist society where the global economy and all other currencies have collapsed!

trt 72mins • Beta, DVD • $180

BLUE HOUR
Dir. Francisco Aliwalas
USA | 2004 | 80mins | Color | Narrative
This sci-fi neo-noir thriller is an inspiring example of how limited means can result in uniquely exciting film. John (Arthur Acuna) comes to New York to visit his old friend Catfish (Orlando Pabotoy) whose gambling problem has resulted in deep debt to some intimidating gangsters. Against his better judgment, John agrees to help his friend by subjecting himself to medical experiments conducted by a mysterious Orwellian organization known as The Foundation. After being given a potion and put to sleep, he wakes up on a bench three days later to find his surroundings deserted, and his memories of the past three days erased. As he tries to solve the mystery of what happened to him, flashes of memories from this missing time haunt him. Shadowy figures pursue him and John must figure out who he can and can't trust.
Francisco Aliwalas has created an independent production in the truest sense of the term. He worked as a virtual cinematic one-man band: he directed, wrote, edited, composed the score and shot his film guerilla-style on the streets of Manhattan - no insurance, no permits and on a micro-budget of $1,000. BLUE HOUR recalls Hitchcock, dystopian science-fiction and paranoid 70s thrillers such as THE PARALLAX VIEW and THE CONVERSATION. In his second feature, Aliwalas proves that bloated budgets and big-name stars aren't necessary to create a compelling, visually interesting film.

80mins • Beta, DVD • $180

MALADAPTIVE
Dir.Adam Chin
USA | 2004 | 93mins | Color | Narrative
Maladaptive: referring to behaviors that are counterproductive to the individual. When Graham, a middle-aged college professor, announces to his wife and friends that he's planning on buying a second home, he leaves out the fact that he's also planning on dumping his wife and getting her beautiful best friend Emily to move in with him. Meanwhile, Emily is starry-eyed over teen-aged Stuart; her ex-boyfriend Roger is chasing Clare, a woman who claims her profession is divorce. Award-winning writer/director Adam Chin spins a tumultuous story of six characters groping clumsily after love as they wonder aloud whether companionship is merely a poor substitute for passion.
Accompanied by San Francisco jazz great Marcus Shelby's rich music score, MALADAPTIVE foregrounds Graham as a lovesick and lost professor with a graying jazz-cat's soundtrack running through his head. Chin weaves a tapestry of maladaptive patterns perpetuated by six people who should know better in a film that would make Woody Allen proud. The impressive ensemble cast breathes life into a witty, intelligent script in this charming comedy of errors set in that city by the bay.

93mins • DVD • $200

PINK LUDOOS
Dir.Gaurav Seth
Canada | 2004 | 90mins | Color | Narrative
Gaurav Seth follows his award-winning feature film, A PASSAGE TO OTTAWA, with PINK LUDOOS, an effective look into issues of family, tradition, religion, class and love. Gugan Dhaliwal is a young, feisty, westernized Punjabi Canadian who is forced to take on responsibilities that surpass those of the average 19-year-old. After becoming pregnant with triplet girls, her carefree life of shopping, and the occasional drink or toke ends. She begins to feel that the world wants more from her and that she is the source of the change she wants to see.
The movie touches on topics familiar to the Indian diaspora genre but is filled with surprises and gives a distinct view of what it means to be torn between two worlds. Gugan must reckon with her mother wanting to marry her off to a man she has never met and her own uncertainties about the belief in the Sikh god, or any god at all. At the same time, her life takes a turn for the better when she unexpectedly meets a mysterious, handsome man who seems perfect - if she only knew something about him!
Seth handles serious matters with a touch of humor and magic. Music, symbols, color and pink balloons are scattered throughout the film, giving it a light-hearted touch that seamlessly complement the issues Seth wishes to discuss and question.

90mins • Beta • $200