Presented as an annual collaboration with the Foundation for Asian American Independent Media and now celebrating its 26th year, the Asian American Showcase, hosted at the Gene Siskel Film Center, provides a platform for new work by established and emerging Asian American filmmakers.
Here is the schedule:
FRIDAY, MAY 19, 8:00PM
BAD AXE
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2022, dir. David Siev
USA, 100 min.
In English / Format: Digital
BAD AXE captures a close-knit Asian American family living in Trump’s rural Michigan during the 2020 pandemic as they fight to keep their local restaurant and American dream alive. With rising racial tensions, the family must unite and use their voices as they reckon with backlash from a divided community, white supremacists, and intergenerational trauma from Cambodia’s Killing Fields.
Director David Siev scheduled to attend.
SATURDAY, MAY 20, 1:00PM
SHORTS: GENERATIONS
2021–22, dirs. various
USA, India 110 min. In English and Vietnamese, Urdu, and Mandarin with English subtitles / Format: Digital
Examining the wide range of intergenerational interactions within the Asian American community, these seven shorts demonstrate the ways we show love, honor and document our past, and engage in cross-cultural miscommunications–as well as the resulting remorse and self-reproach. Program: NǍI NAI & WÀI PÓ (2022, dir. Sean Wang, 17 min.), MISSILE (2022, dir. Christopher Hwisu Kim, 11 min.), IN LIVING MEMORY (2022, dir. Quyên Nguyen-Le, 11 min.), THE RETURN (2021, dir. Hena Asraf, 18 min.), LUNCHBOX (2022, dir. Anne Hu, 17 min.), DEAR CORKY (pictured, 2022, dir. Curtis Chin, 18 min.), and CLOSING DYNASTY (2022, dir. Lloyd Lee Choi, 18 min.).
SATURDAY, MAY 20, 3:30PM
NAM JUNE PAIK: MOON IS THE OLDEST TV
2023, dir. Amanda Kim
USA, 107 min In English, German, and Korean with English subtitles / Format: Digital
Nam June Paik, the father of video art, coined the phrase “the electronic superhighway” long before the internet existed. The Korean-born Paik (1932-2006) was a pillar of the avant-garde art scene and transformed modern image-making with his sculptures, films, and performances. A classical composer, subversive trickster, and pioneer of experimental “interventions,” Paik’s influences ranged from traditional Korean dance to Buddhism, space travel, and beyond. Narrated by Steven Yeun (MINARI), Amanda Kim uses archival footage and clips from Paik’s work to recount his collaborations and fascinations with David Bowie, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Allen Ginsberg, Merce Cunningham, and his mentor and friend John Cage. Preceded by SINCERELY MINÉ OKUBO (2022, dir. Yuka Murakami, 15 min.).
SATURDAY, MAY 20, 8:00PM
WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN?
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1987, dirs. Christine Choy, Renee Tajima-Peña
USA, 82 min. In English and Mandarin with English subtitles / Format: Digital
In Detroit in the summer of 1982, two white autoworkers beat Vincent Chin, a young Chinese American, to death after mistakenly thinking he was Japanese and blaming him for the city’s unemployment, due to the rise in the Japanese automotive industry. Despite confessions and pleas of guilty for manslaughter, the men never served time in prison. This gripping, Academy Award-nominated film relentlessly probes the implications of the murder for the families of those involved and for the American justice system. Restored by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive and The Film Foundation, in association with the Museum of Chinese in America. Restoration funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, with additional support provided by Todd Phillips. Co-presented by DOC Chicago.
Co-director Renee Tajima-Peña scheduled to attend.
SUNDAY, MAY 21, 1:00PM
WISDOM GONE WILD
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2022, dir. Rea Tajiri
USA, 84 min. In English / Format: Digital
In this moving reflection on history, stories, and family, filmmaker Rea Tajiri documents her mother Rose Tajiri Noda’s life as a person living with dementia, over a 15-year span. As her memories shift and slip away, and Rose’s reality, dreams, and history intertwine, Tajiri gains wisdom through listening and learning to connect with her mother through art, music, and their time together. WISDOM GONE WILD is a poignant meditation on mothers and daughters and a tender exploration of caregiving, mortality, and grief.
Director Rea Tajiri scheduled to attend.
MONDAY, MAY 22, 6:00PM
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS: CHICAGO!
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2019–22, dirs. various
USA, 101 min. In English, Central Khmer, and Cantonese with English subtitles / Format: Digital
These documentary short films highlight the diversity of the fastest-growing demographic in Chicago and showcase the local Asian American community’s history, political mobility, love for food, and cross-generational soul-searching. Program: NISEI CUBS FAN (2019, dir. Renee Tajima-Peña, 11 min.), OUR CHINATOWN: ADA TONG (2022, dir. Curtis Chin, 11 min), 寄托 – JÌTUO – SUSTENANCE (2022, dir. Maya Wanner, 10 min.), THE THINGS I HAVEN’T TOLD YOU YET (pictured, 2022, dir. Maya Wanner, 15 min.), CAMBODIAN FUTURES (2022, dir. Dustin Nakao-Haider, 17 min.), and NO PLACE LIKE KASAMA (2021, dir. Kerri Pang, 37 min.).
Directors Maya Wanner and Kerri Pang scheduled to attend.
TUESDAY, MAY 23, 6:00PM
FILIPINO AMERICAN SHORTS: A TRIBUTE TO JONATHAN LAXAMANA
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2011–23, dirs. various
USA, Canada, 107 min. In English and Tagalog with English subtitles / Format: Digital
The seven shorts in this program showcase the talent of Filipino American filmmakers and the stories told through their unique lens. This program is curated to commemorate and honor the life of Asian American Showcase colleague Johnathan Laxamana and his work within the Filipino Community and the Chicago Filipino American Film Festival. Program: BLEACHED (2011, dir. Jess dela Merced, 15 min.), PHONY (2020, dir. Jess dela Merced, 9 min.), LONELY AFTERNOON (2020, dir. Kyle Credo, 14 min.), WHITE LADY (2020, dir. Marc Yungco, 7 min.), PARTY FAVORS (2023, dir. Yasmine Gomez, 12 min.), WHEN YOU LEFT ME ON THAT BOULEVARD (pictured, 2022, dir. Kayla Abuda Galang, 13 min.), and NO PLACE LIKE KASAMA (2021, dir. Kerri Pang, 37 min.).
Director Kerri Pang scheduled to attend.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 8:00PM
BLURRING THE COLOR LINE
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2022, dir. Crystal Kwok
USA, 77 min.
In English / Format: Digital
“What did it mean to grow up Chinese in a Black and white space?” Director Crystal Kwok unpacks her family’s history as grocery store owners in a predominantly Black community in Augusta, Georgia during the Jim Crow era, exploring how two seemingly different communities share a connective history that illuminates the roots of racism in America. BLURRING THE COLOR LINES weaves personal narratives with community histories to disrupt racial narratives and bridge divides.
Director Crystal Kwok scheduled to attend.
THURSDAY, MAY 25, 8:00PM
WAITING FOR THE LIGHT TO CHANGE + FILMMAKER Q&A BUTTON
2023, dir. Linh Tran
USA, 89 min In English / Format: Digital
Two high school best friends reunite for a week-long getaway at a Michigan lake house after years apart. As the week rolls on, and with little to do in early spring in the small lakeside town, they start to realize that their once-solid friendship is now on fragile ground, as both are growing into their 20-something selves. Local filmmaker Linh Tran (MFA DePaul University) won the Slamdance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Film for her stunning debut film.
Director Linh Tran and producer James Choi scheduled to attend.
For more information visit: siskelfilmcenter.org/asianamerican
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