We’re so excited, we feel LINSANE!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAY 21, 2013

LINSANITY, the feature documentary about Jeremy Lin, the young Asian American basketball player whose stunning rise in the 2012 NBA season captured imaginations of basketball fans and non-fans around the globe, will be the Opening Night Presentation of the 36th annual Asian American International Film Festival.

Asian CineVision is hosting the film’s New York premiere on Wednesday, July 24, 2013 at the Asia Society and Museum’s elegant Lila Wallace Acheson Theatre at 725 Park Avenue with a Gala reception to follow. Director Evan Jackson Leong (1040: CHRISTIANITY IN THE NEW ASIA) and producers Christopher Chen, Allen Lu, and Brian Yang, who started filming Jeremy four years ago, long before LINSANITY was a word, will be present to celebrate this homecoming.

“We are incredibly excited to host the New York premiere of LINSANITY,” says John C. Woo, Asian CineVision Executive Director. “To be able to bring this story back to the people that experienced that magical moment where Asian American hopes and pride took flight and soared, this will be the cultural and community high point of the summer.”

Starting from February 4th 2012 onwards, Jeremy Lin, the young Harvard alum point guard, and first Sino-American to play in the NBA, came out of complete obscurity to turn around the injury-plagued Knicks’ losing season—leading them to a 7 game winning streak and into the NBA playoffs. Ignited Asian and non-Asian sports fanatics from Taiwan to Vancouver, from LA to NYC, closely followed Lin’s journey, while sports writers and social media outlets dubbed Linsanity as their passionate response to his accomplishments game after game. The unprecedented buzz around Lin’s meteoric rise to NBA superstardom has electrified Asian and Asian American cultural economies and the discussion on identity and race.

Set for theatrical release in mid-September 2013, LINSANITY pins down the unforgettable frenzy of February 2012 with galvanizing game footage, juxtaposed with intimate interviews and home video with Jeremy and his family, showcasing their faith, passion, and perseverance. Justin Chang, in his Variety review, remarks upon “Lin’s impressive mental resilience and his quicksilver ability to turn setbacks into opportunities”. With narration by Daniel Dae Kim (LOST, HAWAII FIVE-O) and what critics have described as “superb editing,” “this is a film that,” Woo says “will be an outstanding highlight for the Festival.”

LINSANITY recaptures that thrilling moment in time when a determined young man did what seemed the unbelievable, and took us all to the heights with him. The film’s premiere at AAIFF’13 marks the legend of Jeremy Lin coming a full circle to its place of inception, where Lin-sane fans will relive the magic that was Linsanity.

About AAIFF

As the first and longest running film festival of its kind in USA, AAIFF proudly celebrates its 36th edition in 2013. For over three decades, AAIFF has played a leading role to introduce important Asian American and Asian artists to New York audiences premiering works by filmmakers such as Cui Zi’en, Lav Diaz, Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Ann Hui, Michael Kang, Eric Khoo, Mira Nair, Pang Ho-cheung, Park Chan-wook, Rea Tajiri, Johnnie To, Tsui Hark, Wayne Wang, Edward Yang and Zhang Yang. The Festival also spotlighted films by Oscar-winning artists including Christine Choy, Keiko Ibi, Ang Lee, and Jessica Yu. For a glimpse of 2012’s festival, check out: www.asiancinevision.org/aaiff. The AAIFF’13 website will launch June 21—stay tuned!

About 408 Films

408 Films is a financing, consulting, and production company that structures financing and private equity for both traditional film productions and new media ventures. With a base in both the US and in Asia, 408 Films is comprised of business and film industry professionals with backgrounds in venture capital, law, film production, and acting.

In addition to producing LINSANITY, 408 Films has a slate of projects in development that range from narrative feature films and documentaries to webseries. The company has produced FOG (Kit Hui) and SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW (Nadine Truong), which is currently on the film festival circuit nationwide.

For Media Partnerships, contact: Vivian Foung – marketing@asiancinevision.org
For Chinese Press Partnerships, contact: Lesley Yiping Qin – programs@asiancinevision.org
For Sponsorships, early or bulk-buy options, contact: Judy Lei – judy@asiancinevision.org

Asian CineVision is proud to announce the 2013 Asian American International Screenplay Competition. Our last screenplay, MOTEL directed by Michael Kang, has gone on to a full-length feature film. Winners will get a reading by local NYC actors and feedback from the audience at the Museum of Chinese in America on July 31, 2013.
Submit your script(s) by June 14, 2013 (note the extension!) for a chance to be seen and heard at AAIFF’13!

General Guidlines:

1. AAIFF’13 Screenplay Competition is open to all film scripts written by and/or about Asians or Asian Americans.
2. Submitted scripts must be original screenplays and the sole property of the applicant(s).
3. All entries must be in English, or have the English translation.
4. All lengths are welcome. (Recommended lengths: 70-120 pages for features; 15-40 pages for shorts.)
5. The is no limit to the number of works from one applicant.
6. Screenplays that have previously won at any kind of competition are not eligible.
7. All entries must be in PDF or MS Word format. E-mail your script(s) and C.V. with contact info to festival@asiancinevision.org. Subject line must be “AAIFF’13 Screenplay Competition”.

GRACELAND
2012. 84min. Directed by RON MORALES

Theatrical Release Date: April 26, 2013 at Village East Cinema
VOD Release Date: March 28, 2013

Marlon Villar (Arnold Reyes), a subservient chauffeur for the corrupt Congressman Manuel Chango (Menggie Cobarrubius) and a family man desperately waiting for a kidney donor for his wife’s, is nothing more than an everyman that would be easily passed by in the buzzing streets of Manila. His insignificant stature goes unnoticed even when he is suddenly dragged into the most unimaginable turmoil. His daughter Elvie (Ella Guevara) is mistaken for Chango’s daughter and kidnapped and worst of all, Chango’s mischievous princess is shot dead on the spot. Now Marlon can only keep the truth under the radar of Chango and the inquisitive Detective Ramos (Dido de la Paz) for everything he has in the world is at the mercy of others. In the first 20 minutes GRACELAND hits you with hammer blows non-stop and then the story unfolds, as the madness snowballs along the way, with more secrets revealed, and everyone involved stripped off the thin layer of innocence.

Ron Morales studied Photography in Parsons and earned a BFA in filmmaking at NYU. Working as a key grip for studio productions but always inspired by a variety of indie gems, he went on to make his first feature film SANTA MESA in 2007 about an orphaned boy departing for the Philippines from New Jersey – alluding to his personal trajectory of homecoming. In his research for his second project, Ron encountered the issues of human trafficking and child prostitution that have been visible and pressing topics in the Philippines, but the combat against which has been constantly impeded. For a summer he interviewed people from all walks, many of them were victims of these trades. “They told me who they were and they talked about all kinds of family struggles,” Ron said, “To let them talk about their own experiences was a kind of support.” Beyond the therapeutic listening Ron has transformed the raw materials to a narrative film, because it would cope more in depths and reach to a broader audience. With a strong belief in the power of storytelling, and with an extraordinary impulse to tell the story well, he constructs a scenario that studies the behaviors of individuals enmeshed in a dysfunctional system and intricate interest struggles. The documentary aesthetics applied to the handheld camera work, the visceral texture of Metro Manila’s underworld, and the un-exploitative, yet unwavering approach to the dark subject matters, are delicately framed within the somberness of a tragedy – every move would potentially lead to devastation on a larger scale.

Still from GRACELAND. Arnold Reyes as “Marion Villar”. Photo by SUNGRAECHO. Courtesy of Graceland Film, LLC.

Like most crime thrillers, Marlon is a reluctant hero snatched onto an impossible journey, but the film also makes it clear, non-judgmentally, that he is a passive accomplice as well as a victim. Wala is a Taglog cockfighting term that came to Ron Morales oftentimes when he was writing the script. The “have not” (literal translation of “wala”) is to some extent on the same wavelength of “the disfranchised”, but more poignant in its emphasis on survival that first and foremost entails possession in the underworld. There is neither temptation, nor superpower bestowed on Marlon Villar, only the bad luck that keeps catching up with him. Justice appears irrelevant in this game. It is a luxury unaffordable by Marlon, and a responsibility never taken by the powerful like Chango. But in the end, the karmic price is paid by the most vulnerable: the motif of premature demise or victimization runs throughout the film, from the shocking shoot-dead of Chango’s daughter, to the heart-wrenching expose of the brothel of child prostitutes, to the very end, when Marlon has to witness that the necessity of being dishonest is imposed on and then internalized by his own kid.

What makes the film stand out of the current Filippino crime thrillers is its understated display of wealth and sex, two subjects that would easily be rendered self-congratulatory or exploitative. On the other hand, Marlon’s behavioral logic strapped to the naturalism the filmmaker envisions for the film, curbs a Quentinian underdog’s revengeful killing spree. A tint of turquoise in the rural scene is reminiscent of Park Chan-wook’s SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, a story also about kidnapping going awry, organ trafficking and unrequited indignation that turns flamboyantly absurd in the end. What constitute Metro Manila in the world of GRACELAND are the dilapidated slums, vast dumpsites, seedy streets and stagnant waters, stylistically framed, dimly lit and compassionately tinted in Morales’ lens.  The repression never has a chance to turn into to a carnivalesque, every move of Marlon, his wordlessless connivance, muffled growls and silent lies, are all tied to the immediate urgency to save the family and to survive.

Second Place Audience Award winner at Tribeca Film Festival 2012, where the film held its world premiere, the somber message of GRACELAND and its genre elements made it a success both at home and worldwide in the festival run – “generally speaking”. People outside the Philippines have always approached Ron with the “Is it real?” kind of questions. While among the domestic Filipino film audience who have been excited about a series of record hitting romantic comedies in 2012, “when people get to see the film they really appreciate it.” The production of a film of such a weight on a micro-budget is a such rarity in both U.S. and the Philippines. In the five-year long march to get the film made, the actually shoot was finished within 17 days in Manila, thanks to a devoted crew mixing locals and U.S. filmmakers, and blessed discoveries of the right locations. Upon the film’s theatrical release in the U.S., aside from the awareness-raising aspects of the film, Ron hopes that the film will also encourage the Film-Am community to go back to the homeland: “The Philippines has changed a lot. Every time I go back, I am amazed by how beautiful the places and the people are.”

- Lesley Yiping Qin

GRACELAND opens on April 26th at Village East Cinema. The film is a Drafthouse Films release.
Check out the film’s website, twitter and facebook for updates and a screening near you.

April 27, Saturday, 2:00pm – 4:00pm
NYU’s Department of Cinema Studies
Tisch School of the Arts
721 Broadway, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10003

FREE Event open to public, followed by discussion and reception

Asian CineVision is a nonprofit media arts organization devoted to the development, exhibition, promotion, and preservation of Asian and Asian American film and video. Since 1978, ACV has presented the Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF), the first and longest running festival in the U.S. to showcase for the best in independent Asian and Asian American cinema. AAIFF has been the first to provide the U.S. premieres of acclaimed film directors including Wayne Wang, Mira Nair, Marilou Diaz-Abaya, and Ang Lee. After the Festival each year, select feature and short films go on with the National Festival Tour available for rent by institutions and organizations around the nation.

Learn more about the National Festival Tour at the Asian CineVision website: www.asiancinevision.org

This special program consists of five narrative, documentary and experimental short films from AAIFF’12, made by or about Asians or Asian Americans. It takes the viewer from rural Vietnam to cosmopolitan Shanghai, to Southern India mountains, and back to the land of the U.S., with stories of coming of age, urban bromance, fight for educational rights and immigrant experiences.

Introduction by John C. Woo, Executive Director of Asian CineVision and the Asian American International Film Festival.

Screenings followed by a Q&A with Andy DeJohn (director, MOTHER’S MILK), Holly Carter (founder and Executive Director of BYkids, which produced FIRE IN OUR HEARTS), and Takahiro Morooka (actor, MY SPIRITUAL MEDICINE).

Moderated by Zhen Zhang (NYU Cinema Studies), and Yiping Qin (Program Associate at Asian CineVision).
ABOUT THE FILMS

Mother’s Milk (Sua Me)
2011 | USA | 18 min | Vietnamese w/ES
Dir. by Andy DeJohn
Anh is a young girl living in the Vietnamese countryside with her mother and little sister. When Anh’s mother falls ill, she must learn to cope with her new found duties and take care of her ailing family. Andy DeJohn is a graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. MOTHER’S MILK (Sua Me) was his thesis film.

My Spiritual Medicine
2011｜China | 35 min | English, Mandarin, Japanese w/ES
Dir. by Liang Cheng
Two white-collar clerks set up a private radio program in the buzzing Shanghai. An Otaku lady lives in isolation. As the random fates of individuals are linked and changed by the radiowave, love, in all possible forms, burgeons. The film was a hit on the Chinese streaming websites in 2011, a landmark of the thriving trend of the internet-based “micro-films” in China. Critic Eric Nakamura remarks that it is a “joy of seeing something that can be compared to the mystery of a Wong Kar Wei film”.

Two Seconds After Laughter
2011 | Indonesia/USA | 16 min | English, Indonesian w/ES
Dir. by David Rousseve
Weaving stunning cinematography, traditional Indonesian dance, Sundanese music, and an emotionally potent narrative, TWO SECONDS AFTER LAUGHTER is a conversation on the nature of memory, and the joys and emotional dislocation experienced by immigrants. David Roussève is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University (Politics, Theater and Dance, and Africa Studies) and a 2004 Guggenheim Fellow. He is currently Professor of Choreography at UCLA.

Bleached
2011 | USA | 14 min | English, Tagalog w/ES
Dir. by Jessica dela Merced
Swayed by the prospect of attention from both her image-obsessed mother and a cute boy, Lenny, a Filipino-American girl, concedes to using a skin lightening cream at the price of her identity. Writer/director/actor Jessica dela Merced is a Filipino filmmaker born and raised in San Francisco. She is completing an MFA from the New York University Film Program.

Fire in Our Hearts
2011 | India | 27 min | English, Marathi w/ES
Dir. by Jayshree Janu Kharpade
Jayshree was born to an indigenous family who have been disenfranchised at the very bottom of India’s social and economic ladder. With courage and conviction, Jayshree illuminates the tenacious efforts of the tribal union for equal rights to education and dignity. FIRE IN OUR HEARTS is produced by BYkids, a non-profit organization that gives kids from diverse cultures the tools and mentoring to make documentary films on globally relevant issues.

Click here to view the embedded video.

FLAT3 is a new web-series that follows Lee, Jessica and Perlina as they try to figure out who they are, what they’re doing in this life, and whose turn it is to buy toilet paper.

Sometimes smart, often silly, a little rude and a lot awkward, FLAT3 is a Kiwi comedy with a unique cultural take – universal in its specificity and relatable in its fresh perspective. We hope.

The series is co-written and directed by Roseanne Liang, director of My Wedding and Other Secrets (AAIFF’11 Audience Award Winner), and features new Go Girl JJ Fong.

Asian CineVision will feature season 1 of the series on CineVue.

LOCKED OUT AT 81 BOWERY: THE FIGHT FOR HOME CONTINUES
HERE TO STAY (2008) and ROOM #11 (2011), two films by ManSee Kong
Words by Sukjong Hong

“If they evict us, we wouldn’t know where to go,” says 80-year-old Wong Pui Tak, a retired Chinatown restaurant worker, in HERE TO STAY, a short documentary film by ManSee Kong. In the film, Mr. Wong speaks on behalf of himself and the more than thirty residents of 81 Bowery’s fourth floor SRO as they struggle to keep their homes. When a new landlord takes over the building in 2003, he tries to evict everyone from the fourth floor, and the tenants fight back. But in 2008, an anonymous tip about dangerous living conditions triggered an emergency eviction by the city. It took the landlord nine months to make the required repairs, but in 2009, Mr. Wong and many other tenants finally returned home. How could he expect that just a few years after winning that long battle, that he would find himself locked out again?

Click here to view the embedded video.

HERE TO STAY (dir. ManSee Kong, 2008); Video Courtesy of Third World Newsreel

However, on March 7^th, he and the other residents of 81 Bowery came home and found the doors of their units broken down. They were told that they couldn’t stay because of fire hazards, and later, an additional hazard of gas leaks. There was no warning, no time to prepare. This time it was not because of their landlord, but because this CNN clip had spurred a viewer in Arizona to report the building to the Fire Department of New York. When CNN returned to cover the eviction, they ended their coverage with, “It’s so sad for him, but, boy, it does look like a fire trap, doesn’t it?”

Who speaks for the benefit of the tenants at 81 Bowery? Is it CNN, whose coverage of the “dirty, dangerous” “fire trap” has resulted in all of the tenants being evicted? What is missing from the all-too-common portrayal of low-income immigrants as uneducated, helpless, and ‘other’? For one, the stereotype of the immigrant as victim ignores the history of many organizing for better conditions.

When they were evicted in 2008, the tenants at 81 Bowery, along with the Chinatown Tenants Union, spoke at rallies and press conferences to pressure the landlord and the city so they could return to their homes. Before this, they had sent hundreds of complaints to the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) about dangerous wiring, broken windows and bathroom stalls, and other unsafe conditions.  In the wake of this eviction, the tenants are again meeting at the Chinatown Tenants’ Union and planning a series of actions to make it clear that they plan to return home to 81 Bowery. Alongside them, Kong is filming in an effort to make a follow-up film that supports their organizing and highlights the impact of gentrification in Chinatown.

Kong first got to know the tenants in 2005 while working as a youth program coordinator and organizer at CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities, which runs the Chinatown Tenants Union. While taking Third World Newsreel’s Production Workshop in 2005, she began working on HERE TO STAY as a way of using videography and filmmaking as an organizing tool.

When she interviewed Mr. Wong for the film, he was one of the leaders of the 81 Bowery tenants. Despite his advanced years, he was one of the most outspoken and persistent, rallying the other tenants to stand together. He has lived in Chinatown since 1977, and, as he says in the film, Chinatown then was far more affordable than it is now.

For now, Mr. Wong is staying in temporary housing provided by HPD. But, as is true for many of the evicted tenants, the daily commute and its cost is taking its toll. Kong shared, “Now that he has to spend his limited money on Metro Cards to go to Chinatown, he is no longer able to cook his regular meals and has taken to eating ramen for dinner most nights. He’s never left Chinatown, and has twice taken the wrong subway, towards the wrong direction.” For other tenants, especially those who are undocumented, their shelter situation is even more uncertain, as they are ineligible for temporary housing from the Red Cross or the city. Some are crashing with relatives or friends, and one tenant, Kong said, told her he was sleeping on the subway.

Click here to view the embedded video.

ROOM #11 (dir. ManSee Kong, 2011); Video Courtesy of ManSee Kong

The short film “Room 11” by ManSee Kong (2011) also centers on the precarious life of the tenants at 81 Bowery. The short tells the story of a mother and daughter who, in the midst of eating dinner, are suddenly notified of their eviction. But out of fear, and perhaps as a small act of defiance, the mother refuses to open the door to the pounding city workers. It is a moment that returned to haunt Kong as she and several CTU organizers knocked on the doors of tenants this March to notify everyone of the eviction and an emergency meeting. She recalled, “When I arrived at the door of a grandmother’s room, I knocked, but it remained closed, even though I could see her moving around inside. I knocked again, and gave her the update from the other side of the door. Not a single peep was heard from the other side. But she was there. I could almost sense her fear through the door. It was so upsetting to realize, at that moment, that this was happening to them again.”

Of course, 81 Bowery is not the only building where low-income tenants are finding themselves squeezed out. 11 Allen Street, 55 Delancey  and 61 Delancey are other buildings where low-income Chinese and Latino tenants are being pressured to leave by their landlords but have resisted for years. One only need walk down the streets to see that Chinatown and the Lower East Side are transforming at breakneck speed, as tenements and factory buildings give way to high rise luxury buildings.

According to Helena Wong, Executive Director at CAAAV, what is happening in Chinatown shows a pattern of development that privileges the wealthy and is making it inaccessible for the residents who have lived there for decades. “Supermarkets that provided basic affordable necessities have closed, like the Pathmark and the Hong Kong Supermarket, and safety nets are disappearing, like public housing.”

She continued, “It’s not only in Chinatown; New York City as a whole has been going through a process where there’s no affordable housing. But the city has always been a city for new immigrants. The fight in Chinatown is coming from the heart and soul of NYC; immigrants provide invisible labor, but are often underemployed, exploited, so they’ve created community where they can support each other and survive.”

This is why CAAAV and its Chinatown Tenants’ Union continues to support and organize low-income tenants. Wong asserted, “For us, it’s about preserving ‘community,’ which is at the heart & soul of NYC.”

This larger pattern of displacement is what Kong wants to highlight in her follow-up film about 81 Bowery. She wants people to see what is happening to low-income families, and know that there are groups like CAAAV to support and be involved with. And while she is still in the middle of filming, she is already envisioning how she would like the film to be shared – not necessarily on the festival circuit, but passed around by bootleg DVD sellers to the Chinatown community itself.  “I’m tired of people looking in from the outside at places like the Bowery and Chinatown and saying, ‘Gentrification is really sad,’ and just stopping there. I want community members to see the potential of organizing to improve their own conditions. Since most of our community members consume DVDs and videos as a way to unwind after a long work day, they are an important way to reach our community.”

CAAAV members were at 81 Bowery when the eviction was taking place, and released a statement with four key demands, listed here: 1) The landlord correct the violations that are preventing the tenants to be able to return to their homes; 2) The FDNY and all relevant agencies expedite the process to lift the vacate order; 3) The residents are provided housing by the City each and every day the vacate order is in effect; 4) The preservation of truly affordable housing at 81 Bowery be the priority of the City.

CAAAV’s Chinatown Tenants Union continues to support the evicted tenants. They are planning a press conference at noon on Sunday, March 31^st in front of 81 Bowery.  For those who have an interest in supporting the organizing work of CTU, and especially those who can speak an Asian language, CTU is always looking for volunteers.

When people ask how they can help, however, Helena stressed the importance of first asking: Is the struggle of the tenants your struggle? How is the struggle for affordable housing and community survival critical to your life? From rezoning plans to the proposed leasing of public housing land to private developers, there are numerous processes that contribute to gentrification, and just as many routes for the public to organize and intervene.

You can find updates on the 81 Bowery tenant situation at www.caaav.org or by following CAAAV on twitter @caaav.

MANSEE KONG is an independent filmmaker whose work focuses on the experiences of immigrants in the U.S., and empowerment through grassroots community organizing. Her work has screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, various film festivals, and community-based spaces. ​Visit her website here.

SUKJONG HONG is a New York–based writer and activist. She receives the Open City Fellowship of the Asian American Writers Workshop and contributes to Open City magazine, published by AAWW that documents the pulse of metropolitan Asian America as it’s being lived on the streets of New York right now.

AAIFF’12 alumni Debbie Lum x This American Life

1. “They’re All So Beautiful” producer and filmmaker Debbie Lum guests on This American Life this weekend to talk about yellow fever and the making of her award-winning documentary “SEEKING ASIAN FEMALE” (AAIFF’12) Check your local listings for “This American Life Episode 491: TRIBES–It’s the story of a white guy who only wants to date Asian women, who finally convinces one to marry him: then has to adjust to the reality of a real actual Asian woman in his life. The phrase ‘finding your tribe’ is a total cliche — but one that does apply to certain situations.” (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/491/tribes)

The conversation on “yellow fever” continues online at theyreallsobeautiful.com, official premiere: April 1. Preview Episode 1 here http://youtu.be/dRHLIvg7zHQ and follow our online forum with reactions from Tracy Quan (The Daily Beast), Celine Parrenas Shimizu (UC Santa Barbara), Jeff Yang (The Wall Street Journal), and Ian Lang (AskMen.com).

CINEMA SPOTLIGHT: BO WANG and China Concerto

2. Brooklyn-based video artist Bo Wang talks about his latest work CHINA CONCERTO, a video commentary on the social psychology that had bolstered the Red Culture Movement in China. Read more about his film here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jessica Sanchez x Ne-Yo

3. Runner up American Idol (Season 11) – Jessica Sanchez debuts with her first single “Tonight” ft. Ne-Yo. We are definitely digging the track and it is definitely on our work playlist! We wish her luck on her debut and hope she encounters much success! Watch her music video below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

2013 Seoul Sonic North American Tour x NYC

4. Kicking off March Madness, K-Pop creative agency, DFSB Kollective, has just unveiled the confirmed dates and venues for the third edition of its highly anticipated SEOULSONIC concert series.

Stagediving into Seoul’s dynamic music scene, SEOULSONIC breaks the speed of now with a pulsating radar on Korea’s top breakthrough artists. From indie clubs to international festivals, SEOULSONIC pushes the tempo of Korean music acts making waves across and beyond Asia. More info below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

CineVue: When and why did you conceive this project? How was it in Chongqing when you were filming there? After Bo Xilai’s scandal, how did the situation change in Chongqing?

Bo Wang: In the summer of 2010, when I first saw the spectacles of Bo Xilai’s red campaign, I could not stop thinking about making a film out of it. Later through my researches I realized what I was really interested in was not the phenomenon in Chongqing per se, but something more general that happened to be disclosed in the case of Chongqing. I actually haven’t spent much time on researching into the period after Bo Xilai’s downfall. There are posts about how symbols from Bo Xilai’s period have been silently removed. But I’d suspect how many real changes could happen.

CV: You use images and sequences from revolutionary films, official media, and everyday life. What are your personal memories being exposed to these images at the different stages of your life?

BW: There are a lot I can talk about my personal memories with propaganda images. Born in early 1980s, I grew up in the time of intense economic reforms. As a kid I did find revolutionary films, official media too cliched and boring. I would prefer a Disney cartoon or later a Schwarzenegger movie. The propaganda images seemed to belong to the never-turning-back past. Interestingly, as time went by, I felt more and more aware about their traces on the present lives. They are always there but with a different mask. Apparently from my film you can see my fascination on collecting these kinds of images. And to some extent, I don’t tend to distinguish political images and images as commodities. They are the same, in a certain sense.

CV: What is your observation of the propaganda discourse and collective affects in China, and the contradiction of the Chinese society?

BW: I think the scene of public performances is such a good model to understand the mechanism how propaganda and regulation on individuals work. It is obviously wrong to believe that people spontaneously join the dancings or singings because they do like the corny lyrics. They simply participate in the collective actions, for whatever reason, without admitting the content. Likewise, it would be too simple to believe today the regulations on individuals are manifested through making-believes.

CV: Both the voice-over of reading a letter addressed to someone else, as well as the reference to Antonioni’s China, pose questions of the reading position. Where did you find your position? What would you like your audience to walk away with after watching this piece?

BW: Very early on when I was thinking about structure of the film, I decided to focus on spectacles and images which I have full access to. To bring in a partially outsider’s point of view gives me full excuse to stay in that level without going further trying to explain the back-stories. And I am actually partially an outsider since I don’t live there any more for many years. To write the scripts in a foreign language, here English, is also a way to bring up contradictions that have been neutralized in the Chinese language. I’d say my position is kind of vague. The person who wrote the letters could be me, but not necessarily. To have a voice-over with a strong but un-identifiable accent for me is a way to suggest the position to be not so purely “Western”. I don’t think I have anything particular that I wish to give to my audiences through the piece. I’d like to hear how people respond.

CV: I have the impression that video arts in China arose in conjuncture with the country’s market reform and the increasing prevalence of the medium, and it also plays around the dual system of the commercial and the political. Are there any Chinese video artists, either politically committed, or artistically groundbreaking, that you look up to?

BW: There’re many great video artists in China but I feel hard to single out a few names. Personally speaking influences are always mixed together and how works of art have impacted me relies hugely on contexts. And I get as much inspirations from vernacular pieces as from artistic works. For instance, I always find those 24 hour on-going videos in the tiny windows of massage places in Chinatown really fascinating…

CV: When did you show the work in China? How was it received? Where else did you show the work to? Any intriguing reception?

BW: It was first shown in Beijing Independent Film Festival last August in Songzhuang, a artistic village outside of Beijing. The festival was forcefully shutdown by power outage on the day of opening. Since then the screenings had to be held privately in artists’ studios. I had 8 to 10 people in the audience when showing the film on the very last day. It was planned to be shown in China Independent Film Festival in Nanjing last November, but the festival was also suspended due to similar reason.

CV: Congratulations on your screening at MoMA! And the film will be also showing among the Chinese Independent exhibition that tours around multiple colleges in Atlanta. That’s very exciting. Any new project we should anticipate from you?

BW: Thanks! It was great experience to show film at MoMA. I have just started to plan on my next project. But the idea is still vague, I’d like to tell you more once it’s getting more clear!

Bo Wang, born 1982 in Chongqing, China, is a visual artist currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Bo works mostly in photography, video and films. His photography project Heteroscapes takes records of the absurdity in the coexistence of rural culture, communist legacy and materialism in Chongqing in the era of intensified transition.Visit his website here.

CineVue: As an AAIFF’12 alum, what is your fondest memory of being at the festival? 

Paolo Bitanga: My fondest memory of being at the festival was opening night; I thought it was fantastic for as a kick-off for the entire festival. It was packed and I went to the screening of SHANGHAI CALLING – a full house. The film was a great start for the festival, it was great seeing the directors and some of the actors I got to meet them afterwards, a great reception afterwards with good food. I got to meet with a lot of fellow filmmakers and network. Yes, opening night!

CV: Tell us a little bit about the influence of children in MANG ABE’S UBE.

PB: With most of my films, I celebrate creativity, especially among the youth. Especially with my film COMRADES (AAIFF’12). It was a children’s film. I think about MANG ABE’S UBE, as a family film I guess. We also emphasize on the one child character. I guess in my work, a recurring theme is empowering children through creativity, because I am very sentimental about my past, my roots, as a creative person when I was younger. I was engaged in all forms of art, I was into acting, drawing, public speaking, and then I eventually started dancing. But what was constant, was the storytelling part – I make sure to focus on story with everything I do.

Still from MANG ABE’s UBE

CV: What made you decide to shoot in the Philipines, and what are your connections there?

PB: Well I’ve always wanted to shoot back home. You know most of my creative talent was fostered in that environment and I wanted to pay tribute to it and do my biggest production yet over there. And one thing that I noticed growing up, I’ve been to a lot of countries around the world – various continents, and I realized that the Philippines is really the most, one of the most colorful countries in the world. And I don’t think a lot of people see that. I don’t think a lot of people know that. So I want to really bring that out. I think the problem is that there is a tint of pollution that coats the vibrant surfaces of the Philippines’ backdrop and I wanted the colors to pop out beyond that. I want to show the world really just how vibrant the look of the Philippines is and celebrate the cultural diversity through that image and that as ethic.

Crew working on MANG ABE’S UBE

CV: Who worked on the project with you and how did you assemble your team?

PB: Since it was an international co-production, a hybrid of American filmmakers and Filipino filmmakers coming together. And so on the American side you got my colleagues here who’ve I been making films with for three years now, and so we had Chris Zou as assistant director, Dennis Hu who is 1st sound mixing, my producer Kayla Wong, Roland Lazarte my director of photography, I worked with them on some of my best projects. And for team Philippines, we locally outsourced some of the independent cinema’s great talents – my line producer is Armi Cacanindin, and she worked on AMIGO which was also at the Asian American International Film festival, and Toronto International Film Festival, she was also apart of GRACELAND, which did massively well at Tribeca last year, it got runners up for audience awards. It’s coming out by the end of the month , so you can actually watch it in theaters,  you can see the Philippines in theaters here. My production designer is Jeck Cogama, and he is fantastic. He is one of the best production designers in Philippines’ independent cinema. He was worked on some of the greatest films that have come out of the Philippines, and gone to international film festivals. SO I was blessed to be working with both of them and they helped recruit the rest of the team. We averaged about 50 people on set a day; we had a lot of hands working on this film its what I like to call a “short but big production.”

And as for my cast, I worked with professional actors, really great all from the Philippines. We had Leon Miguel, who played the villain in GRACELAND, but he’s playing the main character in MANG ABE’S UBE, and Leon Miguel was also in the film METRO MANILA, which won audience award at this year’s Sundance. The funny thing about Leon Miguel is that he seems to have more international fans than Filipino fans because the independent cinema in the Philippines isn’t celebrated too much there, and is known more abroad.

And our child actor Micko Laurente, playing his son in the film, is an up and coming. He had his cinematic debut a month before we shot he was in a film at the metro manila film festival back home and some of the great reviews of the film was on his acting saying that this 7 year old child actor is going to be the next big thing. So we got him at the right time, right after he got his big break and he was amazing to work with, such acute kid – he turned 8 on the first day of shooting and we also had Bong Cabrera who plays the storyteller in the film. He’s not in the film as much as the two characters but it was great working with him. It was a great cast.

Still from MANG ABE’S UBE

CV: What is the most challenging thing when producing the film?

PB: The challenge in producing the film was the long distance relationship, because I had to email back and forth, we had the time zone differences, – I wouldn’t get e-mails from them for weeks really. I was working with professionals and they were working on different sets and they were on huge features, working with the best Filipino directors and they didn’t have that much time to think about my short film until the few weeks before production and what else made it difficult was the difference between the Philippines and American dynamic because  to make movies in America, things needs to be set, they have to be scheduled perfectly, they have to be pre-planned pre-conceived, which is the same thing for the Philippines except they do things a little more last minute for lack of a better term.  So really those 2 weeks leading to production were all planning everyday non-stop because the months before they were quite meager and so we had to get used to that. We had to get used to the unpredictability, it was quite nerve-wracking – like are we really making this film, is it really going to happen when we get to the Philippines, are they really going to be prepared? And they were amazing it was great working there and I’ve already written my next feature to be shot there and hopefully it’ll get produced

CV: What do you hope to do with the film?

PB: This is my calling card film. I put my heart and soul into this. From my college experience, everything I learned in college is just put into this one product and I’m using it to pitch myself as a director – hopefully it’ll get seen by some great audiences, and I’m planning to send it to the biggest film festivals in the world like Cannes in France, Toronto, Sundance, Tribeca, and everywhere else, AAIFF and other Asian Film Festivals. Not looking for profit, but just to get my name out hopefully someone see some talent there and they’d like to endorse me on my feature.

CV: What are some of your aspirations as a filmmaker?

PB: They’re very typical, predictable but I’m going for it. I want to make a name for myself as a feature film director. I want to make big movies here in America and I want to do it in the name of Philippines cinema and I really want to help out my country, help inspire people and help get people to succeed because I work for my friends, family, I want all of us to move up together, and I always makes sure to keep in touch with everyone and help out when I can. I’ll make it big here in America and help my hometown along in the process.

CV: Any last words to CineVue audience?

PB: We’re looking to raise funds. We have the indiegogo campaign up, we’re looking to raise (money) as much as we can, because like I said it was a short but big production. And I think it’s worth being a part of and I think it’s kind of rare that you see just so much being put into a short film. Its amazing –  the talent my fellow crew members. I was just inspired. I’ve never experience my own passion being matched and raised by other people fueling their own creativity, their own passion to it and just magnifying it to bigger scale it’s very touching and I hope this just continues and hopefully people will enjoy the film and people would like to see me make more films.

Help fund the film here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mang-abe-s-ube?c=home

 Originally from the Philippines, Paolo has crafted numerous works throughout his time at New York University’s film program such as Pinoy B-boy, a feature-length documentary about Filipino breakdancers. He co-founded Mochi Productions, a New York-based collective of filmmakers that produces online video content including their original webseries, Sun and The Art of Dating. His films have screened at acclaimed festivals Doc NYC, Newport Beach Film Festival, and the Asian American International Film Festival.

1. Call for entries are closed. Our committees are in high gear to bring you the best of the best for the 2013 Asian American International Film Festival! Our festival is nothing without the help of our staff, interns, and volunteers. Are you passionate about independent film and Asian and American media? Join our team this summer to help bring AAIFF’13 to life.  More info here: http://www.asiancinevision.org/interns13/

CineVue Presents…FLAT3 – Episode 02!

2. FLAT3 is a new web-series that follows Lee, Jessica and Perlina as they try to figure out who they are, what they’re doing in this life, and whose turn it is to buy toilet paper.

In episode 02, we meet Jessica who is struggling to become a serious actor, without being stereotyped! Her hunky actor boyfriend Aiden doesn’t seem to mind though. But does the new hot waiter? Watch it on CineVue here.

ACV CINEMA CLUB LAUNCHES on 03/21

3. Love movies? Live films? Love ACV? Join our ACV Cinema Club! We’ll host this free informal series every third Thursday of the month at our office. We’ll view independent Asian and Asian American films.

Love Goh Nakamura? – we’ll kick this off with an informal screening of SURROGATE VALENTINE.

Limited seating available. You must RSVP to ellen@asiancinevision.org  by 03/20 to attend with the following info -

Name:
Date of Birth:
Email:
Phone:

p.s – Free beer on us! – you love beer right?