In Focus: Asian-American Film
This week at FACETS, we’re taking a deep dive into the world of Asian-American film and its media representation with our first In Focus event. Check out our virtual screenings and get your free ticket to join us live online Wednesday, April 21 at 7pm for the first In Focus panel discussion engaging filmmakers and the film community through moderated discussions on various film related topics.
In this first In Focus discussion, our panel consists of Chicago based documentarian Jenny Shi, Award-winning, multidimensional, Chicago-based artist Mia Park, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Assistant Professor Maryam Kashani and Michael Phillips The Chicago Tribune’s film critic since 2006, the panel will be moderated by FACETS Film Program Director, Charles Coleman.
This time around, Asian-American film is In Focus and the panel will be discussing the dilemma of Asian-Americans who want to be adequately portrayed through film, along with the recent rise in popularity of Asian-American cinema thanks to films like The Farewell and Crazy Rich Asians.
To enhance your viewing of the In Focus live panel and virtual screenings, Charles Coleman has curated a watchlist of some of the most interesting and influential Asian-American films of the past few decades. While there has been a very recent emergence of Asian-American films in the popular consciousness, films by Asian-American directors have a long and rich history that deserves the utmost of praise. Below you will find ten vastly different, moving films that explore aspects of what it means to be Asian in America.
You will see family, you will see love, you will see crime, and you will see hardship. While the stories below vary in many ways, there are strings that tie them together–the search for identity, the difficulties of fitting in in the society that we have created, the idea of fortune, and luck, and the reinterpretation and reclamation of long held Asian and Asian-American stereotypes.
Minding the Gap
Directed by Bing Liu
The Academy Award nominated debut feature from Rockford documentarian, Bing Liu, Minding the Gap follows the story of three young skateboarders from Illinois. It is a dive into the filmmakers own past, as he is one of the three skateboarders highlighted in the film, and an analysis of trauma, friendship, and toxic masculinity.
This incredibly poetic and deeply personal film was more than a decade in the making. Minding the Gap offers an wholly unique viewing experience that blends traditional documentary filmmaking with video journals of sorts, as Bing Liu’s family and personal troubles seep into the lives of the other subjects.
Watch Minding the Gap now on Hulu
In the Family
Directed by Patrick Wang
The directorial debut of Patrick Wang explores the goings on of an unconventional family, in an unconventional situation. Joey (played by director Patrick Wang) lives with his partner Cody and works as a contractor, as the two live together and work together to try and raise Chip, Cody’s son from his previous marriage. After an unexpected, horrific accident, Cody dies leaving Joey alone to care for Chip and work to maintain their relationship after a series of legal issues leaves Chip in the care of Cody’s sister.
In the Family is an intense and personal exploration of what family means, as Joey navigates the unknown waters of single-parenting and custody battles. The film also explores the goodness of humanity and the kindness of strangers as Joey meets many characters along the way who aid him in his troubling time.
Rent In the Family now on Amazon Prime.
Columbus
Directed by Kogonada
Another directorial debut on this list, this time from video-essayist and auteur filmmaker Kogonada. Columbus follows the story of Jin Lee, the son of a renowned architect who finds himself stranded in the town of Columbus, Indiana, after his aging father is hospitalized. Here, he meets a young architecture enthusiast and librarian, and the film follows their relationship as it grows and develops.
This film takes an interesting approach to location, with the film being heavily focused on the city of Columbus and the architecture therein. The city is essentially a character, with the architecture and buildings looming beautifully in the background of most shots of the film. Looking not only at the beauty of buildings and the history of a city, Columbus also looks at the ways that different people view the city, from people who have spent their whole lives there, to outsiders, to just people passing through.
Watch Columbus now on Kanopy.
Lucky Grandma
Directed by Sasie Sealy
This darkly comedic story set in New York’s Chinatown follows the story of “Grandma,” a chain-smoking old woman who enjoys a bit of gambling. After a string of bad luck, Grandma goes all in at a casino and finds herself on the wrong side of luck, and in the middle of a gang war. From there she meets quirky, and unlikely friends as she fends off the gang dead set on taking back what she has won.
Lucky Grandma is an exploration of the most unlikely friendships that arise in the unlikeliest of times and a look into luck, chance, and randomness. The best part? It’s all tied up in a darkly snappy, stylish, delightfully comedic bow.
Rent Lucky Grandma now on YouTube.
The Half of It
Directed by Alice Wu
Alice Wu’s long awaited return to filmmaking after underrated queer romcom, Saving Face (2004) is a retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac that focuses on outcast and essay writer, Ellie Chu, as she struggles with living in the jail that is her small town. Faced with bullying, apathy, and financial issues with her family, she does everything she can to make ends meet and get to a place of peace within herself.
Ellie meets Daniel, a football player who enlists her help with writing letters to his crush, Astor. Things move from there as Ellie realizes that Daniel is going to need help with more than just writing letters. While the story is quite literally something that has been done many times before, Wu’s direction and character development is something so inspired, fresh and easy to fall in love with all over again. While the film follows a typical romantic comedy formula, it has its own voice and message to share that sets it apart from its predecessors and the rest of Netflix’s latest batch of originals.
Watch The Half of It now on Netflix.
The Grace Lee Project
Directed by Grace Lee
This film is an absurd and unique documentary all about Grace Lee. But not just the director Grace Lee, also Grace Lee Boggs, the writer and activist. Oh and also the Grace Lee from KGBM 9 news…and the Grace Lee from your high school. This project is an incredibly interesting documentary project about identity, the self, uniqueness, and what it means to exist in a world where your name is really not your own.
A film concept that, most likely, we have all attempted on our own smaller scale, whether its googling yourself or searching Facebook for your own name, there is something innately human about trying to connect with people who have the same name as you. Perhaps it is a hope to find solidarity in a world where no one fits in, perhaps it’s a way to see what you’re up against in the real world, and how you stack up to everyone else. Either way, this is a wholly unique documentary that is fast paced, self-aware, and a joy to watch.
Watch The Grace Lee Project now on Kanopy.
Better Luck Tomorrow
Directed by Justin Lin
A staple of early 2000’s film from the creator of the Fast and the Furiousfranchise, Better Luck Tomorrow follows a group of overachievers in their final year of high school. As they grow bored with their schooling, and the “senioritis” sets in, a group of straight-A students begin to want more from their life and their youth. They enter a world of petty crimes and excess, a world with quick money, a place where they exist outside the rules, or at least within a bend in them.
Director, Justin Lin, confronts Asian-American stereotypes in the film, rejecting model minority tropes tropes of of the hard-working, overachieving, student or the nerdy, socially awkward kid, and using them to his advantage. He subverts the audiences’ expectations for the film as the characters who fit into these stereotypes search for their own identity and dive into more shady dealings as they leave their previous identities behind and their new lifestyle takes hold.
Rent Better Luck Tomorrow now from FACETS.
Chan is Missing
Directed by Wayne Wang
Widely recognized as the first Asian-American film to gain theatrical release, and critical acclaim outside of the Asian community, this 1982 black and white, mystery and noir film is about two cab drivers turned amateur investigators, who set out after a mysterious man named Chan who has disappeared with the cab driver’s $4000.
This film plays with Asian and Asian-American stereotypes similar to Better Luck Tomorrow, as the film’s title Chan is Missing plays on the long running Charlie Chan series of books, films, and other media. Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese immigrant detective in Honolulu, Hawaii. In Chan is Missing they take this played out and outdated character and they make him the one who is “missing”, this film turns that trope on its head. As the film progresses and the two cab drivers search for Chan, a distorted portrait of Chan emerges, that mirrors the complexities of the original allegories of the character Charlie Chan.
Rent Chan is Missing now from FACETS.
The Motel
Directed by Michael Kang
An adaptation of the novel Waylaid by Ed Lin, this 2005 film won the Humanitas prize at the Sundance International Film Festival. The story follows Ernest Chin, a thirteen year old boy whose life revolves around the goings on at his family-owned hourly-rate motel. Throughout the film we see various shady characters come and go from the motel, with a few of the visitors truly impacting Ernest’s life.
Apart from the motel we see Ernest as he maneuvers through the difficulties of adolescence, from dealing will bullies, to feeling misunderstood, to exploring his sexuality, we are spared no detail in the life of Ernest Chin. This film masterfully explores the most awkward time in all of our lives and frames this awkward phase of transition with an equally awkward setting and supporting characters, depicting a world that is in itself, dealing with its adolescence.
Rent The Motel now from FACETS.
In Between Days
Directed by So Yong Kim
Aimie is a young Korean immigrant in a bleak, cold, snow covered town in North America. The film follows her as she adjusts and adapts to her new home and surroundings, all the while falling in love with her best friend, Tran. The film exposes scenes of heart wrenching loneliness as we are shown more about Aimie, as her relationship with her mother is strained, her father absent, and she struggles to communicate with her best friend.
The film does such a great job of isolating the audience right along with Aimie, but not in a way where it film becomes unrelatable. Rather, the film puts us in her frame of mind effortlessly. In Chicago, this feeling translates so easily, as we know what it is like to walk through a cold, bleak, snow covered street. However, even if you haven’t experienced that, something in this film will most likely strike an emotional chord.
Rent In Between Days now from FACETS
Join us at 7pm Wednesday, April 21 for our live In Focus Panel and watch related virtual screenings of Finding Yingying and Reunification until April 29.
Tyler Meder is an Editorial Assistant Intern at FACETS. He received his B.A. in Communication, Film, and New Media from Carthage College after completing his thesis on shot on video horror films. He has contributed work in video and writing to multiple industries including live theatre, which earned him an honors in Animation and Video Production from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
