Asian film fest examines many themes
Male libido, vanishing Chinese opera among subjects to be explored
Yvonne Zacharias , Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, October 31, 2007Asian male libido, father-son alienation in a changing Hong Kong, the vanishing art of Chinese opera, the challenges and triumphs of immigrants and war will all be explored at the 11th annual Vancouver Asian Film Festival that runs from Thursday to Sunday.
With 41 films to be screened, the festival at Tinseltown Theatres features its largest lineup to date. It also reflects an increasing trend toward feature films in this community.
Asian American success story Justin Lin will share his journey from indie filmmaker to Hollywood success in a special program called In the Director's Chair.
Other guests include filmmakers Fay Ann Lee, Ho Tam and Quentin Lee.
A stellar list of actors will also be in attendance, including Olivia Cheng, Yee Jee Tso, Edmond Kato Wong, Peter Shinkoda, Byron Lawson, Anthony Shim, Gigi deLeon, Jessica Lee Morocco, Grace Park, Kevan Ohtsji, Stephen Lobo, Sunita Prasad and Kira Clavell.
The eclectic lineup of films range from wild and whacky and whimsical to thought-provoking and deadly serious.
Here are some of the highlights:
- The opening night film is Finishing the Game, a comedy about an exhaustive worldwide search to replace the amazing Bruce Lee, the greatest icon of martial arts cinema who died in 1973.
- Writer-director Fay Ann Lee's romantic comedy Falling for Grace. It was a sold-out hit at last year's Tribeca Film Festival.
- Vancouver's Norman Lup-Man Yeung presents his award-winning portrait of a couple dealing with depression in Hello Faye.
- Two films illustrate the experience of Vietnamese characters. Cut & Dry is a documentary about a hairstylist in Canada and Bolinao 52 documents the return of a woman to her village 17 years after a gruelling escape.
- Writer/co-director David Ren's frothy comedy Shanghai Kiss mixes both Asian culture shock and Asian male libido.
- Chiu Leung Chun's touching and sentimental feature film Mr. Cinema shows how political ideology alienates father and son when the hardships of life in a changing Hong Kong takes its toll on the family.
- Hong Kong/Canadian/American director Quentin Lee will close the festival with his documentary 0506HK, which explores today's Hong Kong and his personal and political perspectives on whether or not to relocate there from Los Angeles one decade after the handover. There will also be several panel discussions, including one on the depiction of Asians in the media and the opportunities and challenges filmmakers have today and tomorrow.
For more festival details, visit info@vaff.org.
yzacharias@png.canwest.com
