DC Asian Pacific American Film, Inc.

Saigon Electric

Directed by: Stephane Gauger
Runtime: 108 min
Year: 2011
Country: USA/Vietnam
Language(s): Vietnamese w/ English subtitles
Website: Official Website

Opening Night reception following the screening.

Set in Vietnam and filled visually stunning dance sequences, Saigon Electric is a story of friendship, class, love, and dance. Mai is a traditional ribbon dancer from the countryside who moves to Saigon in hopes of being admitted to the national dance academy. She meets Kim, a hip hop dancer who is a member of Saigon Fresh. This local dance crew trains at the community center for disadvantaged youths with the hope of competing internationally in South Korea.

To do this, Saigon Fresh will need to defeat their main rival and defending champions, the North Killaz. Pressure to win is added when a hotel developer threatens to close down their community center and build a hotel in its place. Relationships and friendships are put to the test, as the characters will need to make difficult choices that lead to an electrifying climax that marks the fate of the Mai, Kim, and Saigon Fresh.

—David Zee

Preceded by:

Waltz of the Demon King

Directed by: Bryce Kho
Runtime: 6 min
Year: 2011
Country: USA

In this animated feature, Cosett and her sister are walking through the woods when they encounter the Demon King, a ravenous monster that terrorizes the local village. Cosett must face off against the Demon King in order to win back the soul of her sister.

Close Encounter of Mahjong

Directed by: Donald Li
Runtime: 89 min
Year: 2011
Country: China
Language(s): Mandarin with English subtitles

Five people meet in a tiny Chinese apartment for an afternoon game of mahjong, a traditional Chinese tile game. But everyone has something to hide in this stylized black comedy.

Liu has several things on his mind when the group gathers at his apartment for the game, including what to do when his mistress unexpectedly shows up.

Yan, a deeply superstitious man, is trying to find a way to cheat the game. A compulsive gambler, he promised his wife this would be his last game of mahjong, so he needs to win big.

Cindy works at a school teaching foreigners how to play mahjong and brings them out to practice their skills. She’s playing with Frank, a Westerner who is funding her turn, but she hasn’t decided yet whether she is playing with Frank or against him.

Mo is a health products salesman with a cure for any ailment under the sun. All he wants to do is sell some products so he can make manager. As the game progresses, he begins to suspect just what it is that Liu is trying to hide.
—Sharon Kim

Close Encounter of Mahjong from Donald Li on Vimeo.

Preceded by:

Set in the near future, a woman working in an antique electronics shop helps a desperate young man trying to recover the mysterious data hidden on a CD.

Young people struggling with their place in the world are the subject of these shorts. Looking for lost toys, and feeling disconnected from family and culture are not uncommon for these youth. They search for their own meaning and purpose in a rapidly changing world of jet-setting and migrations. —Tad Doyle

Total Runtime: 91 min

The Pony Collector

Directed by: Jason Ho
Runtime: 15 min
Year: 2011
Country: USA
Language: English and Hmong with English subtitles

A young boy searches for a missing pony figure that was given to him by his absent father. A sensitive, charming tale with some moments of magic.

The Pony Collector – Teaser from Jason Ho on Vimeo.

Roots of Love

Directed by: Harjant Gill
Runtime: 26 min
Year: 2011
Country: India
Language: English and Punjabi with English subtitles

This documentary depicts the generational shifts in the significance of hair and the turban among Sikhs in India. Cutting your hair can lead to cutting ties with your family and community.

Parachute Kids

Directed by: Allen Ho
Runtime: 15 min
Year: 2011
Country: USA
Language: English and Mandarin with English subtitles

Asian American youth living alone in the United States while their parents work overseas in Asia are known as ‘parachute kids’. Feeling disconnected, they lose themselves in partying and music in downtown LA.

Benny

Directed by: Huay-Bing Law
Runtime: 15 min
Year: 2011
Country: USA

An overweight teenager visits a friend from his past who is now a personal fitness trainer.

Miyuki’s Wind Bell

Directed by: Ken Ochiai
Runtime: 20 min
Year: 2011
Country: Japan/USA
Language: English and Japanese with English subtitles

Against her will, Miyuki must leave Tokyo and take her two young half-brothers to the country home of their quirky grandmother. After they arrive, she learns that she had to leave her home in order to find it.

Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words

Directed by: Yunah Hong
Runtime: 57 min
Year: 2010
Country: South Korea/USA

Star of both silent and sound pictures, Chinese American actress Anna May Wong lent her unmatched talent to such lauded works as Shanghai Express alongside Marlene Dietrich. She was the first Chinese American movie star, and started out in silent films at age 17. Anna May went on to make dozens of films in Hollywood, London, and Berlin. She was glamorous, talented, and cosmopolitan. Yet she spent most of her career typecast either as a painted doll or a scheming dragon lady.

Filmmaker Yunah Hong paints a vivid portrait of a Hollywood original, narrated in Anna May’s own words by actress Doan Ly. Excerpts from Anna May’s films, archival photographs, and interviews enhance this richly detailed picture of a woman and her times.
—Melissa Bisagni

Preceded by:

Seven Chinese Canadian filmmakers from the Toronto area (Lesley Loksi Chan, Lillian Chan, Aram Siu Wai Collier, Heather Keung, Serena Lee, Howie Shia, and Joyce Wong) were asked to create a film that answers the question, “What is your Chinatown?” The resulting works are insightful and complex bursts of creative contemplation, both personal and universal, that are beautifully tied together with the musical composition of Arthur Yeung.

Ten years later, three individuals look back on the impact that September 11has had on them and their home, New York City’s Chinatown.

Big in Bollywood

Directed by: Kenny Meehan & Bill Bowles
Runtime: 74 min
Year: 2010
Country: USA

As an Indian American actor working in Los Angeles, Omi Vaidya is subject to type-casting and less than desirable supporting roles. That is, of course, until he happens to land a dream role in one of the biggest Bollywood films of all time. He becomes a star… in India.

Filmmakers Kenny Meehan and Bill Bowles, two of Vaidya’s good friends, travel to India with him to document the premier of 3 Idiots, Vaidya’s Bollywood film debut. Meehan and Bowles end up with a documentary that charts their friend’s rapid rise to fame and the ups and downs that come with being celebrity.

Vaidya not only has to cope with instant super stardom in a foreign culture where he barely speaks the language, but also stardom in a country one billion people strong. Will this new international celebrity make it big back in the United States? Or will he only remain big in Bollywood? Only time will tell.
—Laura Major

Preceded by:

Grandpa’s Wet Dream

Directed by: Chihiro Amemiya
Runtime: 16 min
Year: 2010
Country: Japan/USA
Language(s): Japanese with English subtitles

An unlikely star in the Adult video industry, 75-year-old Shigeo Tokuda has yet to tell his family about his second job.

This collection of short films is filled with stories of the struggles of love, life, and family that resonate across lands and cultures. —Sunbin Song

Total Runtime: 78 min

The Potential Wives of Norman Mao

Directed by: Derek Nguyen
Runtime: 8 min
Year: 2011
Country: USA

Norman Mao is a 33-year-old man-child living with his parents in Hong Kong. Desperate to find him a wife, his parents take him to New York for Norman’s last chance to escape a life of loneliness.

Tu & Eu

Directed by: Edward Shieh
Runtime: 15 min
Year: 2010
Country: USA

Through one brief phone conversation, star-crossed lovers from around the world face the differences that could threaten true love.

Maintenance Man

Directed by: Suel Kim
Runtime: 14 min
Year: 2011
Country: South Korea

The life of the maintenance man of an apartment building is dull and mundane, but one morning he finds a mysterious package sitting on his desk.

Ka’ai, the achiever in her family, is excited to leave Hawaii for college, but her slacker brother Koa is making her exit less than grand.

Floating Lanterns

Directed by: Jamie Renee Williams
Runtime: 9 min
Year: 2011
Country: USA

On the last day of the Japanese festival for the dead, rebellious American teen Naoko discovers the dead body of her younger brother.

Chocolate Meat

Directed by: Justin Madriaga
Runtime: 8 min
Year: 2010
Country: USA

A dad and his Filipino heritage may not be so lame after all if he can make chocolate meat.

Firecracker (Fatakra)

Directed by: Soham Mehta
Runtime: 19 min
Year: 2011
Country: USA

A man needs help from the gods to reconnect with his wife and son who have newly arrived to the United States from India after three long years.

Jimmy Murakami: Non-Alien

Directed by: Sé Merry Doyle
Runtime: 75 min
Year: 2011
Country: Ireland/USA

Jimmy Murakami is a Japanese American who grew up in the United States, developed a well-respected career in Hollywood, and established a full life in his adopted country Ireland. He is an Oscar-nominated animator, whose films include When the Wind Blows and The Snowman. While it would seem that he has a wonderful life, his childhood continues to haunt him.

Murakami was only eight years old when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor during WWII. He and his family, along with over a hundred thousand Japanese Americans, were sent to internment camps. Murakami’s family spent four years in the Tule Lake camp in the California desert, where his sister Sumiko died of leukemia.

This documentary film showcases Murakami’s series of paintings reflecting on his time at the Tule Lake camp and culminates in Murakami’s return to Tule Lake to confront his pain and anger.
—Sharon Kim

Preceded by:

Four Immeasurables

Directed by: Keith Johnson
Runtime: 7 min
Year: 2010
Country: Australia

As a Chinese calligrapher prepares to paint, he tries to hold onto his past.

Fumiko Hayashida: The Woman Behind the Symbol

Directed by: Lucy Ostrander
Runtime: 15 min
Year: 2009
Country: USA

A photograph of Fumiko Hayashida in 1942 became a symbol of the Japanese American internment. At the age of 97, she travels back to the Minidoka internment camp for the first time since she was released 63 years prior.

Resident Aliens: A Cambodian/American Story

Directed by: Ross Tuttle
Runtime: 50 min
Year: 2010
Country: Cambodia/USA
Language: English and Khmer with English subtitles

Resident Aliens is the story of three Cambodian-born refugees who have grown up in America, but for different reasons, are deported back to their native country. After living a majority of their lives as Americans, they must adjust to their circumstances in an unfamiliar homeland. This compelling documentary takes the audience on a tour of daily struggles, employment, old habits, self-doubt, family, and responsibilities.

KK, China, and Looney live in the unpredictable city of Phnom Penh, where every day is a battle ground of trials and tribulations. KK negotiates the transition from gang-banger to big brother to the local youth. China has difficulty with her medical condition, while Looney perseveres in his relationship with China. Facing constant challenges, each new resident finds a way to cope with their new reality.
—Zandra Wilson

resident aliens trailer from Ross tuttle on Vimeo.

Preceded by:

Voice Unknown

Directed by: Jinhee Park
Runtime: 33 min
Year: 2011
Country: USA
Language: Korean with English subtitles

2011 DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival – Best Documentary Short

In the spring of 2007, Faith Kim embarked on the treacherous journey out of North Korea, her homeland. Risking her life, as well as the lives of her loved ones, she recounts her story.