English
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IT AIN’T NECESSARILY SO
Masa Fox / Asian American Panorama / Japan, USA / 2015 / Documentary, Music / 34 mins
A budding Japanese jazz singer and her biracial vocal instructor struggle to agree on the proper way to sing Gershwin’s “I Loves You Porgy.” Directed by and starring Masa Fox, this crafty medium-length film mines humor out of the awkwardness of performing culture across borders.Preceded by: BORN WITH IT
IT AIN’T NECESSARILY SO
UltraStar Mission Valley
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 4:00 pm Buy Tickets
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KAPOOR & SONS
Shakun Batra / Asia Pop! / India / 2016 / Comedy, Drama / 132 mins
Estranged brothers set jealousy and resentment aside when they move back home after grandpa’s heart attack. But it just wouldn’t be the Kapoor family without secrets and lies. KAPOOR & SONS is a festive, doggedly emotional celebration of family working through misunderstanding and meeting each other where they least expect.KAPOOR & SONS
UltraStar Mission Valley
Saturday, November 5, 2016 7:55 pmKAPOOR & SONS
UltraStar Mission Valley
Monday, November 7, 2016 5:20 pm
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THE LAST PRINCESS
Hur Jin-ho / Asia Pop! / South Korea / 2016 / Drama, History, Romance / 127 mins
At age 13, Princess Deok-hye of Korea was sent to Japan where she was given a colonial education, but where she also befriended Korean independence fighters. Son Ye-jin shines in the role of a lifetime, portraying nationalism as an emotional wellspring in the face of turbulent historical change.THE LAST PRINCESS
UltraStar Mission Valley
Saturday, November 5, 2016 5:15 pmTHE LAST PRINCESS
UltraStar Mission Valley
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 5:45 pm
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LE MOULIN
Huang Ya-Li / Discoveries / Taiwan / 2015 / Documentary, Experimental, History / 162 mins
A collage of photography, poetry, film, and painting, this bold and unusual work brings to life the cadence and ruminations of a generation of artists in 1930s Taiwan as they drew from surrealism to make sense of their peculiar positions as literati under Japanese colonization.LE MOULIN
UCSD Calit2 Atkinson Hall Auditorium
Sunday, November 6, 2016 4:40 pm
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LIFE AFTER LIFE
Zhang Hanyi / Discoveries / China / 2016 / Drama, Experimental / 80 mins
Nothing seems strange anymore in the desiccated Shaanxi hinterlands, not even the fact that a young boy has been possessed by the ghost of his mother who returns home to move a tree. The painterly LIFE AFTER LIFE watches with a bemused, distant eye, casting grim clouds over a haunted landscape.LIFE AFTER LIFE
Digital Gym Cinema
Monday, November 7, 2016 6:05 pm
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MAVERICK
Cheng Wen-tang / Asia Pop! / Taiwan / 2015 / Drama, Noir / 114 mins
A rookie cop has the nerve to flaunt his integrity, tipping the equilibrium of his squadron and threatening its connections with an underworld that is also its lifeline. As it crawls through the rancorous corruption of the police force, MAVERICK spares no one in its portrayal of souring righteousness.MAVERICK
UCSD Calit2 Atkinson Hall Auditorium
Saturday, November 5, 2016 2:55 pm
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THE MERMAID
Stephen Chow / Masters / China, Hong Kong / 2016 / Comedy, Fantasy, Romance / 94 mins
When big business develops on a seaside wildlife refuge, the merpeople will revolt. Specifically, they will send their most beautiful mermaid to seduce, then assassinate, the playboy tycoon behind it all. Director Stephen Chow (Shaolin Soccer) does it again, skewering chicken, tentacles, and billionaires with harpoon-in-gut hilarity.THE MERMAID
UltraStar Mission Valley
Friday, November 4, 2016 6:15 pmTHE MERMAID
UltraStar Mission Valley
Saturday, November 5, 2016 12:35 pm
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MIFUNE: THE LAST SAMURAI
Steven Okazaki / Special Presentations / Japan, USA / 2016 / Documentary / 80 mins
Actor, legend, and longtime Akira Kurosawa collaborator Toshiro Mifune is perhaps Japanese cinema’s best-known international star. Oscar-winning director Steven Okazaki pays tribute to Mifune’s craft and legacy in this documentary, as much a portrait of an artist as it is a history of one of Japan’s major contributions to world cinema: the samurai film.Closing Night: MIFUNE: THE LAST SAMURAI
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sherwood Auditorium
Friday, November 11, 2016 7:00 pm
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THE MOHICAN COMES HOME
Shuichi Okita / Asia Pop! / Japan / 2016 / Comedy, Drama / 125 mins
Sensing little future in his death metal band, Eikichi reluctantly chooses the next best things: his fiancée, the child they’re about to have, and the family he hasn’t seen in seven years. With droopy goofiness and heartfelt observations on everyday life, this tragicomedy finds smiles in the awkward exchanges of family.THE MOHICAN COMES HOME
UltraStar Mission Valley
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 7:55 pmTHE MOHICAN COMES HOME
UltraStar Mission Valley
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 6:20 pm
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OLD STONE
Johnny Ma / Discoveries / Canada, China / 2016 / Drama, Noir / 80 mins
When cab driver Lao Shi accidentally injures a motorcyclist on the road, he decides to obey Chinese law and pay for the victim's hospital bills. But his good intentions only invite a wave of stress, deceit, and madness. Compassion is a costly emotion in Johnny Ma's unflinching noir debut.OLD STONE
UltraStar Mission Valley
Sunday, November 6, 2016 3:45 pm
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OUR LOVE STORY
Lee Hyun-ju / Discoveries / South Korea / 2016 / Drama, LGBT, Romance / 99 mins
Art student Yoon-ju is inexperienced in relationships until she meets an alluring girl at a junkyard, and later at a convenience store, and then pivotally, in her apartment. OUR LOVE STORY captures beautifully that bursting feeling of never wanting to be apart, as well as Yoon-ju’s bittersweet discovery of what can come next.OUR LOVE STORY
UltraStar Mission Valley
Friday, November 4, 2016 8:15 pm
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OVER THE FENCE
Nobuhiro Yamashita / Masters / Japan / 2016 / Drama, Romance / 112 mins
After his divorce, Shiraiwa (Joe Odagiri) limps back to his hometown, where he signs up for carpentry school, plays softball to pass the time, and ends up meeting a hostess (Yu Aoi) with as deep a thirst for connection, but about as much baggage, and as he does.OVER THE FENCE
UltraStar Mission Valley
Sunday, November 6, 2016 7:30 pmOVER THE FENCE
UltraStar Mission Valley
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 4:10 pm
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PAMILYA ORDINARYO
Eduardo Roy, Jr. / Discoveries / Philippines / 2016 / Drama / 107 mins
New baby in tow, teenage parents Jane and Aries slash the streets, swiping cell phones and valuables from passerby to feed their love and their addictions. But when their most precious possession is stolen, they're plunged even deeper into the reality of the city.PAMILYA ORDINARYO
UltraStar Mission Valley
Friday, November 4, 2016 7:00 pmPAMILYA ORDINARYO
UltraStar Mission Valley
Monday, November 7, 2016 8:55 pm
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RUN-OFF
Kim Jong-hyun / Asia Pop! / South Korea / 2016 / Comedy, Drama, Sports / 126 mins
A short-track racer, a figure skater, and a random collection of other athletes who definitely don’t play hockey insist on becoming South Korea’s national women’s hockey team. To convince the sports bureau of their worth, all they have to do is win bronze in a tournament that only has four teams.RUN-OFF
UltraStar Mission Valley
Sunday, November 6, 2016 7:55 pmRUN-OFF
La Paloma Theatre
Saturday, November 12, 2016 5:30 pm
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A SIMPLE GOODBYE
Degena Yun / Discoveries / China / 2015 / Drama / 100 mins
After dropping out of school in London, Shanshan reluctantly returns home to Beijing when her father, a former luminary of the Mongolian film industry, falls ill. A quietly astonishing portrait of family and youth seeking emotional connection, A SIMPLE GOODBYE unmasks its characters’ fears and capacities for feeling with a tender, striking beauty.A SIMPLE GOODBYE
UltraStar Mission Valley
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 5:45 pm
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SONITA
Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami / Asia Pop! / Germany, Iran, Switzerland / 2015 / Documentary / 90 mins
An Afghan teen living in Iran, Sonita’s the popular kid in school, but her parents want to cut her childhood short by marrying her off. But Sonita has plans of her own: becoming a rapper who speaks out against the oppression of women.SONITA
UltraStar Mission Valley
Monday, November 7, 2016 6:35 pm
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SORI: VOICE FROM THE HEART
Lee Ho-jae / Asia Pop! / South Korea / 2016 / Drama, Science Fiction / 117 mins
A father who has been searching for a missing daughter gets a renewed sense of hope when he discovers that the robot he found on the beach has a knack for locating people and data. Part E.T., part R2-D2, Sori is a wondrous sci-fi creation, bringing life to a most unusual and touching buddy comedy.SORI: VOICE FROM THE HEART
UltraStar Mission Valley
Saturday, November 5, 2016 1:00 pmSORI: VOICE FROM THE HEART
La Paloma Theatre
Saturday, November 12, 2016 1:00 pm
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SPA NIGHT
Andrew Ahn / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2016 / Drama, LGBT / 93 mins
To support his working-class parents, a young Korean American takes a job at a Koreatown spa where family cultural rituals cross paths with an underground gay scene. Andrew Ahn’s award-winning first feature dramatizes the quietly escalating exhilaration of self-discovery, while honestly and meticulously heeding the careful obligations of family.SPA NIGHT
UltraStar Mission Valley
Sunday, November 6, 2016 3:25 pm Buy Tickets
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TA’ANG
Wang Bing / Masters / China, France / 2016 / Documentary / 147 mins
Civil war in Myanmar has forced the Ta'ang people to journey across the border into China's Yunnan Province. The singular, epic documentarian Wang Bing follows the refugees, mostly women and children, as they trek the mountainous forest terrain by day and gather by the campfire at night.TA’ANG
Digital Gym Cinema
Monday, November 7, 2016 7:50 pm
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TASTE OF CHERRY
Abbas Kiarostami / Special Presentations / Iran / 1997 / Drama, Experimental / 99 mins
The late poet, photographer, and filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami achieved immortality with TASTE OF CHERRY, one of the most humane expressions of empathy ever captured on film, from the plight of a cab driver seeking a stranger to assist in his suicide, to the film’s transcendent finale. Shown in 35mm.TASTE OF CHERRY
Museum of Photographic Arts
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 7:00 pm
