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2017 SDAFF Spring Showcase

All Films & Events

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    ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL

    Steve James / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2016 / documentary / 88 mins
    After the 2008 financial crisis, the federal government brought criminal charges against only one bank: a family business in New York’s Chinatown. Little did the DA know that Chinatown protects itself, and that the Sung Family was driven by the honor and mission of its founder and his three unyielding and extraordinary daughters.
    ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Monday, April 24, 2017 3:50 pm

    ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Tuesday, April 25, 2017 7:45 pm

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    THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI

    Linda Hattendorf / Right to Resist: From 9066 to 2017 / USA / 2006 / documentary / 74 mins
    Artist Jimmy Mirikitani spent WWII in Tule Lake, an indeterminate number of years on the streets of New York City, and the post-9/11 months finding renewed purpose and opportunity. That’s when he befriended filmmaker Linda Hattendorf, who asked questions about Jimmy’s art, his family, and his relationship to a country that turned its back on him.

    Preceded by: AFGHAN, TADAIMA

    THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, April 23, 2017 7:25 pm

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    ENEMY ALIEN

    Konrad Aderer / Right to Resist: From 9066 to 2017 / USA / 2011 / documentary / 82 mins
    After 9/11, human rights activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti was one amongst thousands of Muslim immigrants imprisoned in detention centers by the US government. Unwilling to accept that he was a suspect because of his beliefs, Farouk organized a hunger strike and became a symbol of resistance against Homeland Security’s racialized dragnet targeting brown-skinned Americans.

    Preceded by: SPEAKING OUT!

    ENEMY ALIEN

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, April 23, 2017 4:50 pm

  4. GOOK

    Justin Chon / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2017 / comedy, drama / 94 mins
    On April 29, 1992, Eli will get a black eye and “gook” scribbled on the hood of his car, accumulated reminders that he’s not wanted in the neighborhood where he owns a shoe store. In that store, on this day, with the Rodney King verdict playing on TV, he and others in the community are going to confront the pain festering on both sides of the graffiti.
    GOOK

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Thursday, April 27, 2017 7:00 pm

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    AN INSIGNIFICANT MAN

    Khushboo Ranka, Vinay Shukla / Discoveries / India / 2016 / documentary / 96 mins
    With utility scams and widespread political corruption plaguing the two major parties in India, activist Arvind Kejriwal opted to become a third option that is truly populist and independent. But as one commentator asked, can an idealist really succeed as a politician? AN INSIGNIFICANT MAN is an engrossing record of the mechanisms of social change and the fortitude needed to enact it.
    AN INSIGNIFICANT MAN

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Monday, April 24, 2017 5:50 pm

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    THE LONG EXCUSE

    Miwa Nishikawa / Masters / Japan / 2016 / drama / 124 mins
    Celebrity writer Sachio Kinugasa was with another woman the moment his wife of 20 years died in a bus accident. The media circus surrounding the accident brings Sachio to the attention of the heartbroken Yoichi, whose wife also died. An unlikely friendship develops, with Sachio finding himself drawn to this sad sack, and to taking care of Yoichi’s two children.
    THE LONG EXCUSE

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Friday, April 21, 2017 5:20 pm

  7. MYSTERY KUNG FU THEATER

    Asia Pop! / martial arts
    We could tell you what it is, but then we'd have to make sure they are the last words you ever hear again.
    MYSTERY KUNG FU THEATER

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Tuesday, April 25, 2017 9:40 pm

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    THE NET

    Kim Ki-duk / Masters / South Korea / 2016 / drama, thriller / 114 mins
    A North Korean fisherman drifts into Southern waters when his engine breaks down. Absurd and harrowing, the ensuing face-off between innocent and his interrogators reveals the human cost of sovereignty and the lengths that one man will go to provide for and return to his family.
    THE NET

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, April 22, 2017 8:10 pm

  9. OF CIVIL WRONGS AND RIGHTS: THE FRED KOREMATSU STORY

    Eric Paul Fournier / Right to Resist: From 9066 to 2017 / USA / 2000 / documentary / 60 mins
    In 1942, Fred Korematsu refused to show up to the camps. Over the next 40 years, he took his case to the highest courts in the land, seeking an acknowledgment from the government of what he and thousands of other Japanese Americans knew: that their constitutional rights were violated the moment they were rounded up.

    Preceded by: LETTERS FROM CAMP

    OF CIVIL WRONGS AND RIGHTS

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, April 23, 2017 1:00 pm

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    POI E: THE STORY OF OUR SONG

    Tearepa Kahi / Asia Pop! / New Zealand / 2016 / comedy, documentary, music / 92 mins
    Fusing Maori tradition and a disco beat, “Poi E” topped the charts in 1984 and went on to becoming New Zealand’s unofficial national anthem. This joyous documentary tells the story of a community that came together to preserve culture and language under the vision of the inspiring soul singer Dalvanius Prime.
    POI E: THE STORY OF OUR SONG

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Thursday, April 20, 2017 7:00 pm

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    RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE

    Konrad Aderer / Right to Resist: From 9066 to 2017 / USA / 2017 / documentary / 79 mins
    Tule Lake is where the troublemakers were held. These were the incarcerees who spat at the government’s loyalty questionnaires, who sought a collective voice against injustice, and who questioned the flag that cast a torturous shadow over their families. This is the untold story of courage, controversy, and anger in a “jail within a jail.”
    RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, April 23, 2017 2:35 pm

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    SHE’S THE BOSS

    Ham Tran / Asia Pop! / Vietnam / 2017 / comedy, romance / 114 mins
    Fiery boss Oanh has one simple rule: no intra-office romances. Little does anybody know that she is violating her own rule herself. Unhinged and free-flying, while still cohering a compelling battle-of-the-sexes across work and home, SHE’S THE BOSS is a splashy showcase for some of Vietnam’s most radiant comedic talents.
    SHE’S THE BOSS

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Friday, April 21, 2017 7:55 pm

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    SOULMATE

    Derek Tsang / Asia Pop! / China, Hong Kong / 2016 / drama, romance / 110 mins
    Qiyue and An Sheng became inseparable in high school, two girls from different walks of life nevertheless finding in each other a reason to plunge optimistically into adulthood. But when Qiyue falls in love with the handsome Jia-ming, so does An Sheng, sending a lifelong friendship into a tailspin.
    SOULMATE

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, April 22, 2017 5:50 pm

    SOULMATE

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Wednesday, April 26, 2017 5:30 pm

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    SUNDAY BEAUTY QUEEN

    Baby Ruth Villarama / Discoveries / Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines / 2016 / documentary / 95 mins
    In Hong Kong, Sunday is the one day a week overseas Filipino workers get to congregate in the streets to commune, crack jokes, celebrate birthdays, and, every now and then, throw beauty pageants. Director Baby Ruth Villarama lovingly captures the details of play and fantasy between the harsh, thankless labor that so often reminds the women of the families they left behind in the Philippines.
    SUNDAY BEAUTY QUEEN

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, April 22, 2017 3:20 pm

    SUNDAY BEAUTY QUEEN

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Monday, April 24, 2017 7:55 pm

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    WINDOW HORSES

    Ann Marie Fleming / Asian American Panorama / Canada / 2016 / animation, comedy / 88 mins
    Young Canadian Rosie Ming may work at a french fry counter, but she yearns for France – specifically, the France of Cousteau and Baudelaire. To Rosie’s chagrin, her self-published book of poems takes her not to Paris but to a poetry festival in Shiraz, where she meets writers from around the world, including those from China and Iran, the two countries that make up her multi-racial heritage.
    WINDOW HORSES

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, April 22, 2017 1:00 pm

  16. YOURSELF AND YOURS

    Hong Sang-soo / Masters / South Korea / 2016 / comedy, drama, romance / 86 mins
    Minjung could be a romantic, a liar, a drunk, a twin, or a mere figment of the male narcissist’s imagination. But tell that to the men in her life, from a boyfriend who can’t tolerate the rumors about her, to the passerby on the street who swear they’ve met her before. As the men cycle through, their insecurities are refracted through Minjung’s prism-like identities, creating a delightful game of misrecognition that make her a classic Hong Sang-soo heroine.
    YOURSELF AND YOURS

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Tuesday, April 25, 2017 5:45 pm

    YOURSELF AND YOURS

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Wednesday, April 26, 2017 7:50 pm