Highlights from the 42nd Hawai’i International Film Festival’s Virtual Program

November 25, 2022November 26, 2022 Lauren Lola

For the third consecutive year of its 42-year run, the Hawai’i International Film Festival has a large selection of films available to view virtually. With titles ranging from Hawaii, the mainland, the overall Asia-Pacific region, and other parts of the world, there are so many for viewers to watch from the comfort of home, each of which expressing voices and stories of all kinds.

Conventions, Movies, Theatre2 Comments

Mixed Asian Media Fest Returns with Virtual and In-Person Programming

August 17, 2022August 18, 2022 Lauren Lola

New York City/San Francisco/Los Angeles: Mixed Asian Media proudly presents their second annual Mixed Asian Media Fest (MAM Fest) September 14-18.

Movies, Sci Fi

See the Haunting Trailer for Kogonada’s New Film, ‘After Yang’

February 1, 2022February 1, 2022 Keith Chow

After making a splash at the Cannes Film Festival last summer, After Yang is finally being released to mass audiences next month. The film — starring Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, and Haley Lu Richardson — is director Kogonada’s follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut, Columbus.

Movies, Recaps, Reviews1 Comment

Sundance Highlights Speculative Storytelling From Southeast Asia

January 31, 2022January 31, 2022 Lauren Lola

The 2022 Sundance Film Festival has come to a close, following 11 days of presenting in-depth films and conversations from all over the world, for an audience that was originally supposed to be a hybrid one. While there was so much in store in terms of new works, a major takeaway yours truly got from attendance is that there are quite a few speculative works arising from Southeast Asia, and Sundance made the world premieres possible for two of them: Ham Tran’s Maika and Martika Ramirez Escobar’s Leonor Will Never Die.

Art, Conventions

Mixed Asian Media Presents First Annual Mixed Asian Media Fest!

September 7, 2021September 8, 2021 Laura Sirikul

Mixed Asian Media (MAM), formerly known as Hapa Mag, have announced their inaugural festival to celebrate mixed Asian and Pacific Islanders and their creative art forms — including film, theatre, art, dance, and many more! Partnering with Leviathan Lab and CRUX XR, the virtual celebration will take place on the platform Bizzabo.

Interview, Movies, Streaming, Theatre1 Comment

Paolo Montalban on Memories of ‘Cinderella’ and the Making of a Filipino American Musical

February 26, 2021May 15, 2021 Lauren Lola

The 1997 version of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella has been available to stream on Disney+ for two weeks already, and for Paolo Montalban, he is thrilled. The actor, who played Prince Christopher in the film, found out about its upcoming release on the streaming platform from his agent, about a week before it was officially announced to the public.

Continue reading “Paolo Montalban on Memories of ‘Cinderella’ and the Making of a Filipino American Musical”

Interview, Movies

A Conversation with Toronto Black Film Festival Creator Fabienne Colas

February 23, 2021November 5, 2021 Jamal Michel

On January 19, the ninth annual Toronto Black Film Festival (TBFF), presented by TD Bank in collaboration with Global News, announced the official online program and events lineup running February 10-21, 2021. Created by the Fabienne Colas Foundation, TBFF returned for an impactful ninth edition, which amplifies more black voices through a record number of 154 films from 25 countries and various special events.

Movies, Reviews1 Comment

‘They Call Me Babu’ Visualizes an Untold Story

February 17, 2021May 12, 2022 Elvie Mae Parian

The archival documentary filmmaking style is able to take us to times long past that can’t necessarily be recreated with the same sensitivity and grace through mere recreation — as opposed to just seeing footage of the actual subject matter in question. Unlike casting an actor to portray someone else’s experience or reinterpreting events through animation, using archival footage helps to see the real faces that once lived in spaces that no longer exist, to actual haunting, horrifying scenes of war in places where peace now exists. This synthesizes both the preservation of both art and history, because beyond just pinning names to a person on a list, archival footage can help better visualize untold stories and those who lived through them.

Movies, Reviews, Streaming

NOC Sundance Review: ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’

February 1, 2021August 18, 2021 Valerie Complex

While the details of Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Jesus Christ are debated, Judas goes down in history as one of the most infamous traitors — all over 30 pieces of silver. Maybe Judas didn’t like the fact that the people hailed Christ as a “Messiah” — a title the FBI used as code names for Black radical liberators in the 1960s to the late 1970s. One such “Messiah” is the young Black Panther activist and Chicago native Fred Hampton, mercilessly killed thanks to Black a panther Party (BPP) infiltrator and informant William O’Neal, FBI Agent Roy Mitchell, and J. Edgar Hoover.

Movies, Reviews1 Comment

‘Waikiki’ Doesn’t Pull Any Punches about the Realities of Tourist Hot Spot

November 27, 2020November 28, 2020 Lauren Lola

The Hawai’i International Film Festival is capping off its 40^th rendition with Christopher Kahunahana’s feature film debut, Waikiki. The story follows a woman, Kea (Danielle Zalopany), as she works multiple jobs in order to break away from her abusive relationship and get herself a place to call home. When she accidentally hits a homeless man, Wo (Peter Shinkoda), with the van she’s living out of and later finds her van missing altogether, the two sporadically travel and connect with each other, all the while Kea confronts the traumas of her past.

Continue reading “‘Waikiki’ Doesn’t Pull Any Punches about the Realities of Tourist Hot Spot”

Movies, Reviews1 Comment

‘Water Like Fire’ Explores Life and Loss in Contradictory, Unexpected Ways

November 25, 2020November 24, 2020 Lauren Lola

Water Like Fire is another film part of the lineup for the 40^th Hawai’i International Film Festival. Directed by Mitchel Viernes, Chanel (Taiana Tully) navigates her days working at a local restaurant, while surfing in her spare time. With both her parents gone, her only remaining family member is Caleb (Randall Galius); her brother who’s fighting a drug addiction. No matter how strained their relationship is, nothing keeps Chanel from being by Caleb’s side, after he winds up in the hospital from a hit-and-run. Continue reading “‘Water Like Fire’ Explores Life and Loss in Contradictory, Unexpected Ways”

Movies, Reviews

‘Story Game’ Navigates Celebration of Storytelling Through Odd Plot Choices

November 9, 2020November 9, 2020 Lauren Lola

The Hawai’i International Film Festival is marking their 40th year with a 25-day virtual program. Of the wide variety of stories coming from Hawaii and beyond, Jason K. Lau’s Story Game stands out as a film about just that: storytelling.

College friends James (Alberto Rosende), Chika (Lyrica Okano), and Nicole (Greer Grammer) go camping in Hawaii when they decide to challenge each other to telling the best story possible. With the guide of an app called Story Game, each friend must telling a supernatural story set in Japan, featuring a character with green eyes. Each friend goes at it as they attempt to one up one another, as their narratives come to life.

Continue reading “‘Story Game’ Navigates Celebration of Storytelling Through Odd Plot Choices”

DC Comics, Podcasts

The Middle Geeks Episode 18: DC’s Arabian Sights Festival and DC’s MENA Heroes

October 25, 2020August 27, 2021 Swara Salih

This month we’re discussing films we watched as part of Washington DC’s Arabian Sights Film festival. With films from Palestine, Lebanon, Tunisia, and more, this festival conveys the array of work being done by MENA filmmakers and we are so excited to share our thoughts with all of you! But before that, we discuss the exciting news of DC/Warner Brothers casting Iranian-American actress Sarah Shahi for Black Adam, the not-so-exciting news of Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins teaming up for a Cleopatra film, and a continuation of our discussion of “cancel culture” regarding a certain Chris (he’s a rich white cis-het man, he’ll be fine y’all). Enjoy listening!

Comics, Movies, Reviews, Streaming1 Comment

Lumpia Brings Everyone Together: A Review of ‘Lumpia With A Vengeance: Prelude #1’

October 23, 2020May 15, 2021 Patrick Strange

Lumpia brings everyone together.

Movies, Reviews

Fantasia Film Fest 2020 Review: ‘The Columnist’

September 16, 2020January 28, 2021 Valerie Complex

I’ve had my many run-ins with cyberbullying. The thought has, and will probably continue to cross my mind, that if I ever met some of these bullies I’m going to give them a piece of my mind. Avo Van Aart’s new film The Columnist takes that sentiment to a whole different level. Actress Katja Herbers stars as an author, former columnist, and homicidal maniac that uses murder to cure writer’s block. This absurdist black comedy goes deep into the psyche of a woman who is tired — tired of patriarchy and tired of cyberbullying.

Horror, Movies

A Howlin’ Virtual Time at the 2020 HorrorHound Festival

September 15, 2020September 16, 2020 Edward Hong

We’re back with another horror film festival that’s coming to a monitor near you (which shouldn’t be pretty far as we continue the #PandemicLife), this time with the folks at HorrorHound, one of the most popular horror/genre conventions & film festival dual combos in the United States! And yes, once again, our Make A Wish short film starring Josephine Chang and yours truly will be playing at this festival. But first, an official press release statement from HorrorHound itself so you can know the full extent of how in-depth this event will go as it is not a typical film festival:

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Movies, Reviews

Fantasia Film Fest 2020 Review: ‘Come True’

September 15, 2020February 18, 2021 Valerie Complex

I participated in a sleep study six years ago. It was a claustrophobic experience. All sorts of tubes and wires hooked onto my body to determine the source of my night terrors. Well, turns out the problem was poor sleep due to anemia (of which I had no idea night terrors were a symptom). While finding the solution to my problem was simple (it came in the form taking iron pills), the lead character in Anthony Scott Burns’ new sci-fi horror film Come True, doesn’t have it so easy.

Movies, Reviews

Fantasia Fest 2020 Film Review: ‘Undergods’

September 14, 2020January 28, 2021 Valerie Complex

Capitalism kills in the new Chino Moya apocalyptic film Undergods. In Moya’s universe, men and women are equally terrible because capitalism itself breeds greed, dishonesty, and hierarchy. It’s a war of the haves and the have-nots, and those at the bottom of the food chain will have their retribution. In 2020, class warfare rules the day and strict examinations of our society are needed, but from this film you’ll gain no insight. It can’t be called an anthology because that would require cohesion. This is all about spectatorship. The viewer must watch things happen to people with no real plot line to direct them to a conclusion.

Continue reading “Fantasia Fest 2020 Film Review: ‘Undergods’”

Horror, Movies

A Bloody Virtual Good Time at the 2020 Horrible Imaginings Film Festival

August 28, 2020September 6, 2020 Edward Hong

With the pandemic still very much interwoven into our lives, so has it affected film festivals around the world as they had to adapt quickly and either convert their screenings to drive-in theaters or go completely virtual. And for folks like myself and my fellow NOC writing & real life partner, Josephine Chang, our timing couldn’t be any worse as our short film Make A Wish started its festival circuit run right when the U.S. shutdowns occurred in March (or at least it did for us Californian folks at that time).

But we’ve been very fortunate to be accepted by so many wonderful genre/horror film festivals that took a chance with our fun little project. And along the way, one in particular stood out and it is here that I want to bring a special spotlight to a horror film festival that’s coming up virtually on September 1 and running till September 7th (available only for the West Coast and South West United States areas as it is geolocked). That festival is the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival which is located in Santa Ana, California.

Movies, Podcasts

Southern Fried Asian: ‘Far East Deep South’

June 3, 2020June 1, 2020 Southern Fried Asian

On June 5, the Oxford Film Festival will host the virtual world premiere of the documentary feature, Far East Deep South, a film about a Chinese American family discovering its unexpected history in Mississippi. Before its premiere, the filmmakers, Larissa Lam and Baldwin Chiu, sit down for this month’s episode of Southern Fried Asian.

Continue reading “Southern Fried Asian: ‘Far East Deep South’”

DC Comics, Movies, Reviews1 Comment

NOC Review: Wait ‘Til They Get a Load of This ‘Joker’

August 31, 2019September 27, 2019 Mike Manalo

Hey NOCs! My camera is on the fritz so until I get things fixed, I’ll be going back to written reviews for a bit, starting with our review of Joker, which debuts today at the 76th Venice International Film Festival. Minor spoilers ahead!

Continue reading “NOC Review: Wait ‘Til They Get a Load of This ‘Joker’”

Movies, Reviews

LAAPFF Review: Charming ‘Blinded by the Light!’ is a True Film for Every POC

May 13, 2019September 8, 2019 Mike Manalo

The 35th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival has come and gone, and among one of the gems The Nerds of Color had the privilege of watching was Gurinder Chadha’s (Bend it Like Beckham) latest film, Blinded by the Light. The film is inspired by British journalist, Sarfraz Manzoor’s real-life story of growing up as part of a conservative Pakistani family in a racist 1980s England. It chronicles how Manzoor, called “Javed” in the film rose above the challenges of growing up during that era through his discovery of Bruce Springsteen’s music.

Continue reading “LAAPFF Review: Charming ‘Blinded by the Light!’ is a True Film for Every POC”

Conventions, Movies

Groovy Times at the 2018 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

May 2, 2018May 3, 2018 Edward Hong

May is now upon us and for those of us in Los Angeles, that means the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is here!

Starting tomorrow, from May 3rd to May 12th, a whole community of Asian American artists and creatives in the entertainment industry will gather together and showcase their work throughout multiple venues from the Director’s Guild of America to the Aratani Theatre. Now in its 34th year, this festival sports a rather groovy intro. Check it out in the video below:

Continue reading “Groovy Times at the 2018 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival”