Arts Briefs
September 29, 2006
EVENT: Taiwan Film Festival
DESCRIPTION: Festival featuring contemporary Taiwanese films with focus on women, gender, sexuality, youth and popular culture. Panel discussions and lectures by directors follow.
DETAILS: Sept. 29 – Oct. 1, UC Berkeley Pacific Film Archive Theater, 2575 Bancroft Way, Berkeley.
CONTACT: http://2006tff.blogspot.com
Cultural Center Showcases Student Art
EVENT: Oakland Asian Cultural Center Student Showcase
DESCRIPTION: First annual showcase with Chinese folk dance, Chinese music and ballet. Wide range of cultural and artistic expression including dance, literature, music and visual arts.
DETAILS: $5, Oct. 1, 2 p.m., Pacific Renaissance Plaza, 388 9th St., Ste. 290, Oakland.
CONTACT: (510) 637-0455, www.oacc.cc
Call for Film Submissions
EVENT: “Seeds of Tolerance” Film Competition
DESCRIPTION: Margaret Cho and M. Night Shyamalan will be part of the judging panel in this competition sponsored by Current TV. Submissions must be three- to five-minute non-fiction videos about tolerance or intolerance. Grand prize is $100,000, and $10,000 for two runner-ups.
DETAILS: Deadline Oct. 2, winning films screened Nov. 16.
CONTACT: www.current.tv/tolerance
South Asian Film Festival
EVENT: 3rd Annual South Asian International Film Festival
DESCRIPTION: Five-day event features full-length films, shorts and documentaries in a variety of genres, with a retrospective honoring international filmmakers. Screenings include Anwar and Hope and a Little Sugar.
DETAILS: $13-15 per screening, $25-75 opening night, Oct. 4-8, venues throughout New York.
CONTACT: (212) 515-1458, www.saiff.org
Korean Classical And Electronica
EVENT: OngDance Company & wHOOL
DESCRIPTION: Kyoungil Ong, director, choreographer and contemporary Korean dancer, performs new works set to a mix of classical Korean and electronic music.
DETAILS: Free – to $5, Oct. 5, 9 p.m., Asian Art Museum, Samsung Hall &The Galleries, 200 Larkin St., San Francisco.
CONTACT: (415) 581-3500, www.asianart.org
KoreAm Performance Artist Auditions
EVENT: Kollaboration Auditions
DESCRIPTION: Kollaboration, Los Angeles helps Korean American artists make it big. All talent welcome from vocal, dance, classical, hip-hop, spoken word and more. Top auditions chosen to perform and compete in Kollaboration VII, with celebrity judges, live audience and cash prizes.
DETAILS: Oct. 7, Monterey Park.
CONTACT: auditions@kollaboration.org, www.kollaboration.org
Film Scores with Mistrusting View Of U.S.
SEOUL, South Korea — Since opening July 27, the movie The Host (the Korean title Goemul means “monster”) has attracted over 12.3 million moviegoers, a quarter of the country’s population.
The plot is based on an event in 2000 that triggered anti-American sentiment throughout the nation. Albert McFarland, a civilian mortician with the U.S. military, was sentenced to a suspended prison term of six months in 2005 for ordering the dumping of 24 gallons of formaldehyde into the Han River.
The mistrusting view of authorities is a theme throughout the movie.
Venice Film Awards Leave Critics Vexed
A Chinese film has won the top award at the Venice Film Festival.
Still Life, by Jia Zhang-Ke, is about two people looking for their partners as towns are submerged by the giant Three Gorges Dam project in China.
Jia is regarded as an independent director, whose films are often not shown publicly in China because they are made without official permission from the government.
Student Infiltrates China’s Terra-Cotta Army
HONG KONG — Twenty-six-year-old German art student “Pablo,” whose Chinese name is “Ma Lin,” made a dusty brown suit of armor, a tunic and a helmet, and attempted to blend in with the ancient warriors of the terra-cotta army in the Xi’an museum.
Ma Lin entered the museum with his uniform packed in a suitcase. Once inside, he quickly changed into the outfit, jumped over a barrier and joined the soldiers.
He blended in so well that security guards had difficulty finding him. Ma Lin was released after getting a lecture from the security officials, after no damage was found.
S. Korea Picks Gay Film for Oscar
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea selected a gay-themed movie that became an unexpected domestic box office hit to put forward as its candidate for the best foreign film category at the U.S. Academy Awards.
King and the Clown, a tale about an effeminate male clown caught between the affections of a despotic king and the love of a fellow performer, is the No. 2 film in all-time ticket sales in South Korea.
The Korean Film Council said it reviewed two other films — The Host, a thriller about a family’s fight against a mutant monster, and Time, by internationally renowned director Kim Ki-duk — and decided to pick King and the Clown because it was believed to have a better chance of winning an Oscar nomination.
Nominated films are scheduled to be announced in January. A Korean film has never been nominated for an Academy Award.
Saying ‘Yeah-Yeah’ To the Yo-Yo
At last year’s Festival of Philippine Arts and culture in San Pedro, Calif., it was the first time that there was formally a yo-yo contest.
Although historians still debate on the origins of the yo-yo, the yo-yo of today is said to have been refined in the Philippines.
The word “yo-yo” was first published in a Filipino dictionary printed in 1860, and is believed to be derived from Tagalog and translates as “come-come.” However, “yo-yo” is not a Tagalog word, so it is possible that the word came from another dialect.
Filipino Pedro Flores helped to popularize the yo-yo in the U.S. and is considered the father of the modern yo-yo.
Jet Li Hopes ‘Fearless’ Deters Potential Suicides
HONG KONG — Jet Li, who noted that a quarter of a million people committed suicide in China in 2003, hopes he and his latest film, Fearless, can help make a difference.
“I would like to spend more of my energy practicing Buddhism and helping younger Chinese people to understand life,” he said. “When people commit suicide, they cause 10 people to suffer. So this is causing millions and millions of people to suffer.”
Fearless is an epic Chinese martial arts movie about spiritual growth and national pride. It’s his first Chinese-language film since Hero in 2002.
Sculpting Earth, Water and Fire
EVENT: Breaking the Mold: earth water fire
DESCRIPTION: Exhibit of ceramic works by San Francisco Chinatown artist Dottie Low. Art pieces symbolizing earth, water and fire are organized into three galleries.
DETAILS: Free, Oct. 7 – Nov. 25, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Chinese Culture Center, 750 Kearny St., 3rd flr., San Francisco.
CONTACT: (415) 986-1822, www.c-c-c.org
Sacramento Sake Festival
EVENT: Northern California Premium Sake Fest
DESCRIPTION: Leading Japanese sake manufacturers offer various samples of premium sake and shochu. Food prepared by local Japanese restaurants.
DETAILS: $55-60, Oct. 12, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Holiday Inn Capitol Plaza, 300 J St., Sacramento.
CONTACT: (913) 373-1111, www.nafdc.com
San Diego Asian Film Festival
The San Diego Asian Film Festival celebrates its seventh year at the Mission Valley UltraStar Cinema at Hazard Center, Oct. 12-19.
During San Diego’s largest pan-Asian cultural event, an estimated 15,000 attendees will experience over 130 short and feature films from over 15 different countries including the U.S., Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Mongolia, Taiwan and the Philippines.
Seven short film programs include the popular all-animation program and Reel Voices, a short documentary showcase of local high school students.
Patrons can also participate in panels, parties, and meet over 100 filmmakers, actors and industry guests. Top films will be awarded during a star-studded Gala Awards Ceremony. Vietnamese American actress Kieu Chinh (M*A*S*H, The Joy Luck Club) will be presented a Lifetime Achievement Award.
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