Festival founder Lee Ann Kim picks must-see flicks for San Diego Asian Film Fest
October 15th, 2009 by Scott Marks
The San Diego Asian Film Festival kicks off its 10th year tonight. I asked Lee Ann Kim, the founder and director of the San Diego Asian Film Festival (www.sdaff.org), to single out five must-see movies from the 200 films that are screening at this year’s fest.
“Can I cheat?” she asked while scrambling for a schedule of the festival, which runs October 15 - 29 at UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas at Hazard Center.
Cheat away, Lee Ann. Just make sure you give us your choice picks.
Here they are:
Antoine Houang is the star and subject of Laura Bari’s documentary “Antoine”
1. “The first one that comes to mind is ‘Antoine’ (Oct. 18 at 4:15 p.m. & Oct. 19 at 5:20 p.m.). I have never seen a documentary like this in my life. It’s about a blind, five-year-old Vietnamese boy living in Montreal who speaks French. While the film is a documentary, it is based on his imaginary life and alter ego as a detective. The movie begins with Antoine opening the window to let light in as he sits before a Braille typewriter. It is so lovely because by the end of the movie you forget that he’s blind and see just how able he is. Never once does it talk about his parents or his Asian ethnicity. It’s all about allowing him to be a child.
2. This year there is a special emphasis on cancer awareness. Last year we lost George Lin, our festival programmer, and we are showing a couple of movies that play along that theme. ‘Be Sure to Share’ (Oct. 15 at 9:30 p.m. & Oct. 18 at 7:20 p.m.) is a film that took four months of calling and emailing Japan in order for us to secure. It’s by Shion Sono, who is known for doing really extreme films in Japan (‘Suicide Club,’ ‘Hazard’). It’s a meditative film about a crotchety old Japanese guy who is possibly dying of cancer. His son visits him every day and finds out that he, too, has terminal cancer. It’s a fascinating look at how Asian culture looks at disease and how we keep secrets from each other. The film is dedicated to the director’s father, who died of cancer.
A scene from Oliver Paulus’ “Tandoori Love”
3. ‘Tandoori Love’ (Oct. 18 at 2:20 p.m. & Oct. 22 at 6:55 p.m.) is a Bollywood film set in the Swiss Alps. Where else are you going to see that? I think people are going to flip over it.
4. ‘Whatever It Takes’ (Oct. 18 at 2:45 p.m. & Oct. 25 at 1 p.m.) is a documentary about this bullish Asian American principal in the Bronx. Principal Edward Tom is starting a charter school in one of the most difficult school systems in the country with the most difficult kids. It follows him through the first full year of trying to get the school off the ground. You rarely get to see an Asian American man in a situation like that. Culturally we are raised to be members of the tribe and never the chief.
A scene from Kang Hyeong-Cheol’s “Scandal Makers”
5. The Korean film ‘Scandal Makers’ (Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.) is hilarious. It stars Cha Tae-hyun, the same actor who starred in ‘My Sassy Girl.’ If you want a movie with a lot of laughs, this is the one to go to.”
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This article originally appeared on SDNN.com.
Tags: Antoine documentary, Be Sure to Share, George Lin, Hazard Center, lee ann kim, san diego asian film festival, Scandal Makers, sdaff, SDNN, Tandoori Love, UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas, Whatever It TakesShare: 
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RED CLIFF!
*smaller voice.
Even though it is the International Cut!