Claus Mueller

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Celebrating its 40h anniversary Asian CineVision presented from July 23 to August 1 the 38^th edition of the Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) with more than 50 features and shorts from different countries by and about Asian and Asian Americans. Broadly speaking the productions dealt with migration, cultural and social Asian American identities, labor and political issues, the experience of Asian groups in different countries, and the problems of education and growing up.

As distinct from many other film festivals considering their primary function as connecting film makers with theatrical or non-theatrical distribution or new electronic plat forms,  AAIFF is  clearly a community oriented enterprise providing its niche audience with the best films and documentaries from various Asian countries and  services aimed at the Asian American community.   Asian CineVision will prepare again a circulating package of films for communities and other non-theatrical viewing venues. Broader exposure may be problematic anyhow because few theatrical venues would be open to Asian American films. 

Most titles screened were sponsored by community organization and institutions such as The Asia Society, Asian American Association of Time Inc. Tea & Milk, Pan Asian Repertory Theater, Interference Archive, Filipino American National Historical Society, HKETO, New York Asian Women’s Center, and Network of Indian Professionals.

As a new expansion AAIFF staged a significant part of its program in Flushing, a section of Queens which has had a rapid growth of its Asian American population. Chinese, Korean, Indian and other Asian groups now amount to more than half of Flushing's residents. Four days of screening and exhibitions at the Flushing Town Hall were tied to concerns of the Asian American community living there. They covered health and food themes but also local film productions. Asian CineVision is also managing all of the cultural programs of the Flushing Town Hall. As some of the festival was funded by Kickstarter donors, the costs of screening free films in Flushing were raised at the Asia Society opening gala. Most appropriately, the opening night film in Flushing SEOUL SEARCHING by award winning Benson Lee (USA, South Korea, 2015) covered a summer program in Seoul for young Koreans from different countries. Based on true events the film overcomes the stereotypes of the Korean individual and enlightens about the problems of a bi-cultural identity, of connecting to the past and finding a firm sense of self.

Among the special events of the festival were seminars with Arthur Dong, filmmaker of noted documentaries on Asian Americans such as FORBIDDEN USA, 1989 and THE KILLING FIELDS OF DR. HAING S. NGOR, 2015 as well as Dr. Ruby Yang the director of the opening film MY VOICE, MY LIFE;  a Comic Book Master Class with Greg Pak, an acclaimed author and producer, and the screening of the Taiwanese film There is a Reason TO STUDY on an alternative schooling approach by Alden Young  who started this film as a fourteen year old student. For the Screenplay reading EAST OF WESTERN by Tim Drain was selected, a story of a Hispanic outsider who is involved with the Korean mob. Drain’s script was ranked first in the 2015 International Screen Play competition sponsored by AAIFF and SAG-AFTRA.

MY VOICE, MY LIFE, Ruby Yeng, Hong Kong, 2015. The Oscar winning film maker Ruby Yeng directed this documentary which opened the film festival at the Asia Society and synched with the mission of the fest, audience engagement and community orientation through the coverage of important issues.  High school students were recruited from underperforming low ranked Band 3 schools in Hong Kong to participate over several months in a training program for a publicly performed musical. Their close cooperation and rigorous schooling in music, dance, and acting generated a community of young artists who performed well beyond their own expectations.  Several years ago HBO sponsored the SOUND OF BOMBAY project in which lower class Indian high school students were trained to stage with the Bombay Symphony orchestra the Indian version of the Sound of Music.  Ruby Yeng’s project encompassing visually impaired students, withdrawn and troubled ones, and those who had fallen behind their education focused on this venture as an alternative to traditional education which had neglected these students. Whereas the Sound of Bombay resulted in a temporary lift of the participants’ self-esteem, MY VOICE MY LIFE emancipated as a confidence and character building enterprise the high school students providing them with a sense of autonomy and control. As reported by Ruby Yeng consequences ranged from improved relation with the parents, going back to school or planning for college, and plans for their future occupation. In the most touching example a blind student makes his parents accept without fear and shame his condition.

HELL ON WHEELS, AMC, John Wirth, USA 2015.  The inclusion of a cable television program was another new feature of the 2015 AAIFF. Episodes 1 and 3 of the fifth season of HELL ON WHEELS from the AMC cable network were selected coinciding with the 150^th anniversary of the Chinese building the West-East section of the Central Pacific railroad. On the basis of extensive research the series presented detailed insights into the everyday life and problems of the Chinese working communities. Without the Chinese immigrant labor the rail road would not have been built because other ethnic groups like the Irish could not endure the heavy task. Yet of the 15,000 laborers no traces were left behind and only one has been identified by name thus far. The episodes were most instructive showing the life style of the Chinese in the rail road camps and the antagonism they faced. The similarities between minority issues of that period and today’s conflicts with Latin American workers are startling. The acting performance of the principals was noteworthy.  Given the diversity and segmentation of the US television audience other series focusing on the Chinese community are now feasible.

FOR HERE OR TO GO? Rucha Humnabadkar, USA, 2014. Focusing on the high tech west coast communities this feature illustrates the impact of the recession in the USA on students and interns from India whose jobs and visas are no longer secure. They are forced to stay in their employment and cannot switch jobs and if they change need new sponsors. If they registered for a college that is not accredited their visa can be voided. Immigration authorities have little sympathy and some consider going back to India. Yet if they have lived for years in the United States it is difficult to readjust and to return to a setting no longer closely familiar to them, not knowing if they actually fit in.

THE KILLING FIELDS OF DR. HAING S. NGOR, Arthur Dong, USA, 2015.   When he received in 1984 an Oscar for his supporting role in The Killing Fields Haing Ngor came into national attention and used this platform to educate many Americans about the Khmer Rouge and their devastating role in the Cambodian genocide that killed millions of people. This documentary by Arthur Dong uses Ngor’s autobiography as the backbone for telling his story from early childhood in Cambodia’s capital. Raised by an upscale family he has a comfortable life without worries and becomes a physician. He experiences no concerns about the future until the Khmer Rouge occupied Pnomh Penh in 1975 and evacuated the city’s population for forced labor in the country side. Since the Khmer Rouge killed all educated people Ngor did not reveal his background and was able to survive. In other parts of the film his escape from Cambodia is shown, work in border refugee camps, eventual passage and settlement in the United States and his establishment of a foundation to help orphans and the rebuilding of Cambodia. From 1984 - 1996 he worked as actor in film and television. He was murdered in 1996 because he refused to surrender to street criminals a gold locket with the image of his wife who had been killed in the Cambodian, his only remaining memento.  Arthur Dong’s documentary is a superb achievement, given its unique construction, comprehensive research, and faithful representation of Cambodia’s history. Haing Dhor literally speaks to us through the film because there is an abundance of his spoken reflections from many interviews and speeches, complemented by rare archival footage of Cambodia.  Animation covers the gaps for which there is no visual material and sections from his book are voiced over.  This film is one of the best and most accessible introductions to recent Cambodian history because of the personalization of the tragedy. 

FACTORY BOSS, Wei Zhang, China 2014. Connecting issues in China’s slow shift towards a value added and service oriented economy the feature FACTORY BOSS is an important part of the festival. It depicts the struggle of a traditional plastic toy factory owner to preserve his company and the jobs of his large labor force.  Wei Zhang worked on this film for seven years basing the story on news reports. Overcoming the obstacles of a changing global economy and export driven production is an unchartered theme in Chinese features. Facing competition from lower labor cost countries, the increase in the cost of raw materials and a likely raise of the mandated minimum wage Lin Dalin never the less is forced to agree to a contract with an American corporation with a razor thin profit. As he argues in court proceedings he could have sold the company but decided instead to keep his workers employed. Compelling the workers to overtime, an accident in the factory, a lawyer promising workers rich rewards if they sue the factory owner, failure to pass an international inspection, an undercover journalist reporting the sweat shop conditions of the factory, and labor unrest create a crisis Lin Dalin cannot overcome. As he puts it “How long will made in China last? If all factories close where will the workers go” His company goes bankrupt because the contract is cancelled by the US corporation. He argues in court proceedings that he could have sold the company but decided instead to keep his workers employed. FACTORY BOSS sheds a new perspective on the turmoil of Chinese economic development in a film that has no winners. The outstanding script and acting by Anlian Yao in the complex role of Lin Dalin has already received several awards. Though the Factory Boss story goes back to 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported in August 2015 that the Ever Force Toys & Electronics factory in Dongguan which supplies the US Mattel Corporation closed down under similar circumstances.
A YOUNG PATRIOT, Hainin Du China, 2015. Premiering in the United States after receiving the Jury Prize at the Hong Kong film festival this documentary tracks the life story of a young Chinese man from the post eighties on. We follow the transformation from being a firm believer in communism parading the streets in old army cloth and a Chinese flag shouting political slogans to a grown up photographer who has turned critical if not cynical of the government, questioning the integrity of officials. Coming from a poor background his family takes out loans to fund his studies, and he follows the patriotic route of becoming a student union leader and working as a volunteer teacher in a remote area. Patriotism stays for the most part a virtue, yet exposure to poverty and the contrast of dogmatism of the university instructors glorifying the government and the conditions he observes sobers his political views. His work as a photographer generates an objective close rapport to actual reality, the way things are rather as they are supposed to be. Publicly he does not dissent overtly, yet privately he voices opposition. His views are reinforced when his home is demolished through an urban renewal project. The stress leads to his grandfather’s death. When filming the destruction from the roof of his home he shouts “You are killing the people” The film closes after the funeral with an image of a white statue of Mao whose head is covered, a symbolic statement about the film. In contrast with past filmmaking, this feature and FACTORY BOSS present critical views of contemporary China without being hampered by censorship.

The 2015 edition of the Asian American International Film Festival provided a stimulating selection of quality productions and a convincing case for the community.

Claus Mueller

filmexchange@gmail.com