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2015 San Diego Asian Film Festival

Asian American Panorama

The best of Asian American cinema in all of its colors – from short film programs and animation, to documentaries about the famous and infamous, to feature-length tales of woe and humor.

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    CHANGING SEASON: ON THE MASUMOTO FAMILY FARM

    Jim Choi / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2015 / documentary, family, food, LGBT / 57 mins
    Nothing is forever, and certainly not on the Masumoto family farm. Despite the peach farm’s renown, age and a depleting water table threaten its longevity. Enter Nikko: daughter, hapa, queer, and the personification of the farm’s changing season as well as its enduring spirit.
    CHANGING SEASON: ON THE MASUMOTO FAMILY FARM

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, November 7, 2015 1:00 pm

  2. CRUSH THE SKULL

    Viet Nguyen / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2015 / comedy, horror, thriller / 83 mins
    Chris Dinh and Katie Savoy are in love, but they need fast cash. Luckily, they’re professional thieves. Unluckily, they break into a house with no exit and no cell phone reception and no explanation for the torture pit they discover there. Luckily for us, their hapless misadventures are sheer comic gold.

    Preceded by: THE CUT THROUGH

    CRUSH THE SKULL

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Friday, November 6, 2015 9:05 pm

    CRUSH THE SKULL

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Wednesday, November 11, 2015 8:55 pm

  3. THE CUT THROUGH

    Weldon Powers / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2015 / comedy / 5 mins
    Three adventurous boys find an escape from their miserable existences. Unfortunately, it’s through a crabby neighbor’s backyard.

    Precedes: CRUSH THE SKULL

    Precedes:
    CRUSH THE SKULL

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Friday, November 6, 2015 9:05 pm

    Precedes:
    CRUSH THE SKULL

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Wednesday, November 11, 2015 8:55 pm

  4. DIGITAL PIONEER: BUZZFEED

    Asian American Panorama / Panel / 60 mins
    The website BuzzFeed has become not only one of the most formidable presences on the internet, but also one of the most significant platforms for Asian American artists. We welcome BuzzFeed producers including Eugene Lee Yang to talk about BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, changing demographics, and new opportunities for filmmakers.
    DIGITAL PIONEER: BUZZFEED

    UCSD Calit2 Atkinson Hall Auditorium
    Friday, November 6, 2015 5:00 pm Buy Tickets

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    FEMALE PERVERT

    Jiyoung Lee / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2015 / comedy / 62 mins
    Jiyoung Lee is back and the sleaze is as bemused an awkward as ever! This time we follow Phoebe, designer of video games of unappreciated genius and the lone champion of casual, mundane perversion, as she surveys the manscape while throwing shade at its petty intellectualism. Hilarious, screwy, enchanting.

    Preceded by: WEEKDAY GIRLS

    FEMALE PERVERT

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, November 7, 2015 7:25 pm

  6. GETTING INTIMATE WITH DR. KEN

    Asian American Panorama / Panel / 60 mins
    Join us for a probing, awkwardly intimate conversation with everyone’s favorite doctor-turned-comedian Ken Jeong, star of Community, the Hangover films, and the new ABC sitcom Dr. Ken.
    GETTING INTIMATE WITH DR. KEN

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, November 7, 2015 3:10 pm

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    THE GRIEF OF OTHERS

    Patrick Wang / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2015 / drama / 103 mins
    A death in the family paralyzes but also reveals connections and their consequences, especially upon the unexpected arrival of a visitor. With an exquisite condolence wrapped in loving humor and an active style that envelops and hugs, director Patrick Wang unites characters and audiences in a fertile grief that belongs to all.
    THE GRIEF OF OTHERS

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Tuesday, November 10, 2015 8:40 pm

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    I HAVE SEEN MY LAST BORN

    Samuel Gray Anderson, Lee Isaac Chung / Asian American Panorama / Rwanda, USA / 2015 / documentary / 79 mins
    This affecting documentary follows Rwandan filmmaker Jean Kwezi and his commitment to building a relationship with a teenage daughter he abandoned years ago. With a spirit of openness and responsibility, Jean and the filmmakers emanate hope, regret, and love for family.
    I HAVE SEEN MY LAST BORN

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Tuesday, November 10, 2015 4:00 pm Buy Tickets

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    IT’S ALREADY TOMORROW IN HONG KONG

    Emily Ting / Asian American Panorama / Hong Kong, USA / 2015 / drama, romance / 79 mins
    Real-life couple Jamie Chung and Bryan Greenberg play Americans finding their ways in the streets of Hong Kong – only to find themselves in a precarious web of flirtation. Emily Ting’s debut breezily captures expats’ now-whats and what-ifs in a sparkling Hong Kong.
    IT’S ALREADY TOMORROW IN HONG KONG

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, November 7, 2015 12:45 pm

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    MADE IN JAPAN

    Josh Bishop / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2015 / documentary, musical / 90 mins
    Howdy neighbors! So says Tomi Fujiyama to her friends in the U.S. who are about to discover just what kind of neighbor she is. With cowboy hat and guitar, she’s determined to re-take the Grand Ole Opry stage, where in 1964, she became the country music institution’s first Japanese star.
    CLOSING NIGHT: MADE IN JAPAN

    Museum of Contemporary Art, Sherwood Auditorium
    Friday, November 13, 2015 7:00 pm

  11. MISS INDIA AMERICA

    Ravi Kapoor / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2015 / comedy, family / 93 mins
    Lily is a college-bound valedictorian with a gilded future, so beauty pageants are way below her. But when a case of sass strikes, she finds out what she's not above: some good ol' fashioned competition. Thanks to a wily script and Tiya Sircar’s knockout comedic performance, nobody is safe from Lily's schemes.
    OPENING NIGHT: MISS INDIA AMERICA

    Museum of Contemporary Art, Sherwood Auditorium
    Thursday, November 5, 2015 7:00 pm Buy Tickets

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    MISSING PEOPLE

    David Shapiro / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2015 / documentary / 81 mins
    Decades after her brother’s unsolved murder, Filipino American art gallery director Martina Batan becomes strangely obsessed with the violent work of a black New Orleans artist. A trip to the artist’s hometown sparks questions of cultural appropriation and the dual demons that have brought these worlds together.
    MISSING PEOPLE

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Tuesday, November 10, 2015 6:40 pm

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    OFF THE MENU: ASIAN AMERICA

    Grace Lee / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2015 / documentary, food / 56 mins
    Asians. Taking Pictures. Of food. Add documentarian Grace Lee to that list and you get more than delectable soft-focus close-ups, but also fascinating portraits of Asian Americans and their relationships with the meals they cook, serve, eat, and sell, from Hawaii to Texas to Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
    OFF THE MENU: ASIAN AMERICA

    La Paloma Theatre
    Saturday, November 14, 2015 3:20 pm

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    OPERATION POPCORN

    David Grabias / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2015 / documentary / 81 mins
    After fleeing Laos as refugees, a squadron of military-minded Hmong men in California plot to stage a coup in their estranged homeland with the help of the US government and its AK-47s. Filled with wily characters and pixelated evidence, this is both a documentary about secret wars and an edge-of-your-seat mystery.
    OPERATION POPCORN

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, November 7, 2015 1:35 pm

  15. OUT OF MY HAND

    Takeshi Fukunaga / Asian American Panorama / Liberia, USA / 2015 / drama / 88 mins
    When Cisco and his fellow rubber workers go on strike, it feels both inevitable and insufficient. When he turns instead to driving a cab in New York City, he’s still haunted by the same forces of captivity. Takeshi Fukunaga’s stirring tale of tenacity is an essential portrait of a transnational Liberia.
    OUT OF MY HAND

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, November 8, 2015 3:25 pm

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    RADHE RADHE: RITES OF HOLI

    Prashant Bhargava / Asian American Panorama / India, USA / 2013-2014 / documentary, musical / 35 mins
    The peerless Prashant Bhargava was only 42 when he passed away this May. We pay tribute to him with one of his final works, a short celebration of vitality in spirituality, chaos, color, and dance, and a celebration of spring in collaboration with jazz luminary Vijay Iyer.
    RADHE RADHE: RITES OF HOLI

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Wednesday, November 11, 2015 4:00 pm Buy Tickets

  17. REEL VOICES

    Asian American Panorama / 120 mins
    11 high school students from San Diego create documentaries based on subjects in their own lives.

    In This Program: GENDERATION, LIMITING FACTOR, FROM PILOT TO PHOTOGRAPHER, SAFETY ON, PLAN BEE, 1946-2014, DEPRESSION, OBSESSED, BURRITO BOYZ, DOORS OF CHANGE, OUR RELIGION

    REEL VOICES

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, November 8, 2015 12:00 pm Buy Tickets

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    REUNIFICATION

    Alvin Tsang / Asian American Panorama / Hong Kong, USA / 2015 / documentary / 85 mins
    In the early 1980s, Alvin’s family decided to move from Hong Kong to the United States. His mom and sister went first. But when he and his dad arrived a few years later, Alvin discovered that his family could never be the same again.
    REUNIFICATION

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, November 7, 2015 2:55 pm

    REUNIFICATION

    UCSD Calit2 Atkinson Hall Auditorium
    Monday, November 9, 2015 7:00 pm

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    SEOUL SEARCHING

    Benson Lee / Asian American Panorama / South Korea, USA / 2015 / comedy / 105 mins
    Don’t you forget about 1986, when the Latin Lover collided with the punk and the pastor’s daughter on a Seoul summer camp for overseas Korean youth to discover their roots. And by roots, we mean soju, laughs, and that weird science of young love.
    CENTERPIECE FILM: SEOUL SEARCHING

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, November 8, 2015 6:00 pm

    Seoul Searching

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Thursday, November 12, 2015 5:55 pm

  20. SHORTS: ALL-STARS ONLY

    Asian American Panorama / 72 mins
    It's shirts vs. skins in this feisty set of shorts about the unexpected superstars of music and sports.

    In This Program: SUMO ROAD ~THE MUSICAL~, ALL THE WAY, ALL OF ENGLAND DANCING, FROM TONGA, CHINESE UP THEM EYES LIKE BEYONCE, BRITNEY-HOLICS ANONYMOUS: A SPEAR-ITUAL AWAKENING

    SHORTS: ALL-STARS ONLY

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, November 8, 2015 3:55 pm