On March 12, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival opened in San Francisco with Lee Yoon-Ki’s My Dear Enemy. Organized by the Center for Asian American Media, happening March of every year, it celebrates the voice of Asian American independent filmmakers and the future of new Asian Cinema.
Some featured films include:
1. The Forgotten Woman (India)
The Forgotten Woman is a documentary from Dilip Mehta about the widows of India and how they have been forgotten by society. One by one, their families have died but they remain alive.
2. White Rice (Japan/USA)
White Rice, directed by David Boyle, is about a divorced man named Jimmy, who is 40 and shares a bunk bed with his 10-year-old nephew. Boyle shows us a man’s desperate attempt to postpone maturity and have even a hint of happiness. White Rice is the Opening Night Film for the Film Festival’s schedule in San Jose
3. Dirty Hands (USA)
Dirty Hands is a documentary film from Harry Kim about street artist David Choe. The documentary follows Choe’s transformation and evolution as an artist from a lesbian fiction ghostwriter to an artist displaying his pieces in multi-million dollar galleries. But the documentary also shows Choe’s failures, that what goes up must also go down.
4. Adela (Philippines)
Adela, directed by Adolfo Alix, Jr., is about Adela, who wants to unite her family to celebrate her 80th birthday, but she realizes it’s slowly becoming an unsuccessful mission.
5. Tokyo Sonata (Japan/Netherlands)
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Tokyo Sonata is part of the Festival’s Spotlight on Kurosawa. Tokyo Sonata is about a modern Japanese family trying to evolve in a world that changes everyday.
The SF International Asian American Film Festival will run in San Francisco from March 12 to 19, in Berkeley from March 13 to 21 and in San Jose from March 20 to 22.
