95 AND 6 TO GO

Kimi Takesue / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2016 / Documentary, Family / 85 mins

In this extraordinary personal documentary, recent widower Tom Takesue shares his Honolulu home with visiting granddaughter Kimi, who happens to be working on a screenplay. In pensive, casual conversations about her script, Tom and Kimi co-create not only a film but trace a charming family history.

Preceded by: WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

ABU

Arshad Khan / Asian American Panorama / Canada / 2017 / Documentary, LGBT / 80 mins

Pakistani Canadian filmmaker Arshad Khan lays bare his struggle reconciling his sexual identity with his father, a devout Muslim. Combining family home video, animation, Bollywood clips, and new footage, ABU recounts a family history across two countries and a personal journey from victim to activist.

Preceded by: THE FBI BLEW UP MY ICE SKATES

CARDINAL X

Angie Wang / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2017 / Comedy, Drama / 99 mins

Don’t mess with Angie. That’s Angie, the working-class college student now working between class cooking MDMA for the rich kids on campus. And that’s Angie Wang, director of CARDINAL X, the baddest, hardest-churning, hardest-partying ‘80s Asian American romp on tradition, model minority myths, and your daddy’s immigrant dreams you’ll ever see.

COLUMBUS

kogonada / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2017 / Drama / 104 mins

Columbus, Indiana is a wonderland of modernist architecture, but for local Casey (Haley Lu Richardson) it is lovely but insufficient, and for outsider Jin (John Cho) it has a resplendent hollowness no doubt colored by his professor father, who has just fallen into a coma there. Director Kogonada frames the city as a sublime portal for unexpected human connections.

THE FEELS

Jenée LaMarque / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2017 / Comedy, LGBT, Romance / 90 mins

Constance Wu stars in this hilarious romp about a lesbian couple’s bacherlorette weekend, when one of the fiancées admits to having never had an orgasm. Talking about sex can be fun, awkward, painful, and liberating, and THE FEELS delivers on all that plus more: an ensemble cast that captures the joyous spontaneity of friendship.

FERMENTED

Jonathan Cianfrani / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2017 / Documentary, Food / 67 mins

Chef Edward Lee takes us on an international journey to speak with chefs and enthusiasts committed to the centuries-old technique of fermentation. From cheese and beer, to kimchi and soy sauce, we behold the patience, diligence, and knowledge it takes to produce some of our most familiar delights.

Preceded by: SHUEI-DO MANJU SHOP

FINDING KUKAN

Robin Lung / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2016 / Documentary, Historical / 75 mins

In 1941, Hawaii-born Chinese American Li Ling-Ai helped make the film Kukan. But despite the film’s best documentary short Oscar, Li fell into obscurity, never getting the due credit that went to her white male collaborator. In FINDING KUKAN, director Robin Lung digs into the archive to locate the film and affirm a pioneer of Asian American cinema.

I AM ANOTHER YOU

Nanfu Wang / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2017 / Documentary / 82 mins

A Chinese filmmaker becomes fascinated by a young Florida man homeless by choice. What starts off as an ethnography of street life leads Wang across the U.S. to the family that hasn’t seen the man in years, and into the personal demons and disaffection that comes with self-determination. An edge-of-your-seat allegory worthy of Serial.

ISLAND SOLDIER

Nathan Fitch / Asian American Panorama / Afghanistan, Federated States of Micronesia, USA / 2017 / Documentary / 85 mins

6,000 miles from America is Kosrae, a Micronesian island that has become a “recruiter’s paradise” for young men looking to leave behind their fishing boats for armored tanks. ISLAND SOLDIER takes us from the Pacific Islands to Afghanistan and even San Diego, revealing the heartache of a community and its weary ties with the United States.

LAND WITHOUT PEOPLE

Mooyoung Kim / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2017 / Documentary, Experimental / 43 mins

In 2009, an influential Koreatown church purchased an affordable housing complex merely to evict the tenants and build a parking lot for its churchgoers. A look at the entanglement of church, capitalism, and class, this introspective hybrid documentary follows an immigrant community as it tries to gain clarity on its future.

Preceded by: YI

MAINELAND

Miao Wang / Asian American Panorama / China, USA / 2017 / Documentary / 89 mins

Every year, an eclectic group of fresh-faced teenagers from China end up in Fryeburg, Maine for boarding school. Spanning three years of culture shock and school dances, this documentary captures a Chinese generation adapting to the global demands of the modern era, and a storied American institution adjusting to the new faces of its campus.

MY ENEMY, MY BROTHER

Ann Shin / Asian American Panorama / Canada / 2017 / Documentary / 85 mins

Former enemies of the Iran-Iraq War are now best of friends living in Vancouver. Decades after they left their homelands, they return – one for family, the other for love. An astonishing true story of shared fates and life-long promises, MY ENEMY, MY BROTHER finds abounding humanity in the empathy of war's survivors.

OUT OF STATE

Ciara Lacy / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2017 / Documentary / 79 mins

Due to overcrowding in the islands, Hawaii has been shipping its prisoners to a for-profit detention center in Arizona. But in this exile community, and against the coldness of the prison industrial complex, the inmates embrace their native identity and forge a Hawaiian “home” across oceans of sadness and displacement.

Preceded by: MOTHER’S DAY

LIVE PODCAST PANEL 1: SATURDAY SCHOOL

Asian American Panorama / Panel / 60 mins

Where are the Asian American films for kids? Join Saturday School podcasters Ada Tseng and Brian Hu as they're joined by special guest Lee Ann Kim to discuss Mulan, Moana, and more!

LIVE PODCAST PANEL 2: FRESH CREATIVES

Asian American Panorama / Panel / 60 mins

Fresh Creatives is a podcast about creating new stories! Join hosts Marvin Yueh, Jess Ju, and Stand Up Man director Aram Collier as they create fresh story ideas from scratch with your help.

LIVE PODCAST PANEL 3: THEY CALL US BRUCE

Asian American Panorama / Panel / 60 mins

Two pioneers of Asian American journalism Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.

THE PROBLEM WITH APU

Michael Melamedoff / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2017 / Comedy, Documentary / 49 mins

South Asian American comedian Hari Kondabolu confronts his long-standing “nemesis” Apu Nahasapeemapetilon – better known as the Indian convenience store owner on The Simpsons.

REEL VOICES

Asian American Panorama / 120 mins

Eleven high school students from San Diego create documentaries based on subjects in their own lives.

In This Program: GROWING UP HIP HOP, BELOW THE SURFACE, WHAT DOES GAY LOOK LIKE?, PERCEPTIONS, ANDROGYNE, A(MEXI)CAN, IRENE, BLACK HAIR MAGIC, TELEWOMEN, HOME AWAY FROM PHTEAH, PLAN A PLAN B

SHORTS: BEST OF ASIAN ANIMATION

Asian American Panorama / 85 mins

Memories of childhood and visions of the timeless come to life through diverse animation styles in this series of shorts from Japan, Taiwan, India, and the United States.

In This Program: ELECTRIC CHARM, TRAVELLING THROUGH BRUSH AND INK, SCENT OF GERANIUM, WHAT A PEACEFUL DAY, TOUGH, THIS MIGHT NOT MAKE SENSE NOW, BUT DON’T WORRY, IT WILL., OPAL WALTZ, I FEEL NAKED, RRRRRAAAAAMMMMM, PANDA, SEMBLANCE, THE ART OF APING, NEGATIVE SPACE, MAGNITUDE RITUALS, ELSEWHERE, WHITE TUNNEL, CRUSHED IN SPACE, TINY LISA

SHORTS: CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

Asian American Panorama / 106 mins

Whether empowering, expressive, long-lost, or ghostly, some voices demand to be heard.

In This Program: ON THE ORIGIN OF FEAR, DISTANCE, FLIP THE RECORD, JAZZ ABROAD, SINGLE MOTHER ONLY DAUGHTER, MY EYES ADORE YOU, SLEEPING WITH THE DEVIL, VIBRATION