SFIAAFF 2007

Tickets are now available for walk-up purchase for the 2007 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. Get 'em while they're still availabe!

I've got mine already. You got yours?

Check out the Web site for a descriptions of this year's films. Some interesting ones to note:

"And Thereafter II" (South Korea/U.S.)
Award-winning filmmaker Hosup Lee continues his exploration into the protracted aftermath of the Korean War with "And Thereafter II," the second in his trilogy of documentaries on Korean military brides.

"Koryo Saram—The Unreliable People" (U.S.)
In 1937, Josef Stalin began a campaign of massive ethnic cleansing, forcibly deporting everyone of Korean origin in Far East Russia to the unsettled steppe country of Central Asia, 3700 miles away. Y. David Chung and Matt Dibble's groundbreaking documentary charts the extraordinary untold history of the Koryo Saram (the Soviet Korean phrase for Korean person), dubbed "The Unreliable People" by Stalin. Through never-before-seen historical footage and emotional personal accounts from the original Koryo Saram, a lost history is pieced together, one that survived Stalin's mandate to eradicate the Korean language and tradition. Whether in Kazakh, Korean or Russian, the film asks questions that all immigrants can relate to: how to hold onto one's traditions, and how to save one's culture from being overwhelmed.

"Made In Korea: A One Way Ticket Seoul-Amsterdam?"
(The Netherlands)
Documentary filmmaker In-Soo Radstake is just like any average Dutchman. He feels close to his parents, likes meat and potatoes and cheers on his favorite sports team. A Korean adoptee, he doesn't feel conflicted about his identity or have any deep stirrings to find his Korean roots. But when he embarks on an innocent journey to find the eight other Korean adoptees who flew on the same plane as him from Korea to Holland over twenty years ago, a domino effect of events will alter his life. He first meets Ungila, and is taken by her knowledge of Korean culture and her personal story of being reunited with her birthmother. She quickly becomes In-Soo's girlfriend, and is instrumental in opening up a world of wounded, pent-up emotions. With her love and support, In-Soo travels back to Korea for the first time and visits his old orphanage. Soon a long-repressed need to find his birthmother bubbles to the surface, and In-Soo is on a desperate quest to reconcile a part of himself that he didn't even know existed.

"Tie a Yellow Ribbon" (U.S.)
New York filmmaker Joy Dietrich, who showcased her short film SURPLUS at SFIAAFF ‘01, returns with a feature-length film on the lives of three Asian American women desperately needing to feel some kind of connection. Jenny Mason, a jagged Korean adoptee, is unable to let go of her family's past, and refuses to let anyone in emotionally. An aspiring photographer, her work’s visceral beauty seems frozen in time, much like her own inner turmoil. Her life intersects with two other Asian American women, Bea and Sandy. Bea, a delicate beauty, is afraid to be alone and doesn't know how to handle the silent expectations placed on her. Sandy, dubbed a "mouse," is a skittish, shy girl who can't seem to find her own voice enough to be respected and noticed. As Bea and Sandy struggle to find love, acceptance and connection, they help Jenny see how she must stop running and face her own damaged past. "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" is a rare view into the very real, emotionally complex interior of a Korean adoptee who needs to reconcile her feelings on race, identity and family, complexes that have nothing to do with a birth-mother search. One of the first feature films to address the abnormally high rates of suicide and depression among Asian American women, this groundbreaking work entices and challenges us to look at the hard, imperfect struggles that Asian American women face on a daily basis.

And some other films from South Korea and Korean filmmakers: "The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well," "In Between Days," "The Power of Kangwon Province," "Turning Gate," "Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors," "Woman Is the Future of Man," and "Woman on the Beach."

And some others I thought sounded interesting: "American Pastime," "New Year Baby," "The Wash," and "Year of the Fish."

Last year I bought the Festival 6 Pack (six films for the price of five), but this year I limited myself to only three films (buying tickets so hubby can go, too, gets very expensive). Sigh. At least a few that I wanted to see are available on NetFlix.

See you at the theater!