STOP AAPI HATE. SUPPORT AAPI voices.
Visibility and the uplift of AAPI stories in the arts is crucial in the struggle against white supremacist erasure. In solidarity with the AAPI community We are screening a selection of Asian American/Asian films.
A portion of proceeds from the series will support Rising Voices Of Asian American Families, a nonprofit that seeks to increase the civic participation of Asian Americans in Michigan by developing the leadership, organizing, and power-building capacity of Asian American communities.
SWEET BEAN
Sweet Bean is a delicious red bean paste, the sweet heart of the dorayaki pancakes that Sentaro (Masatoshi Nagase) sells from his little bakery to a small but loyal clientele. Absorbed in sad memories and distant thoughts, Sentaro cooks with skill but without enthusiasm. When seventy-six-year-old Tokue (Kirin Kiki) responds to his ad for an assistant and cheerfully offers to work for a ridiculously low wage, Sentaro is skeptical about the eccentric old lady's ability to endure the long hours. But when she shows up early one morning and reveals to him the secret to the perfect sweet bean paste, Sentaro agrees to take her on. With Tokue's new home cooked sweet bean paste recipe, Sentaro's business begins to flourish, but Tokue is afflicted with an illness that, once revealed, drives her into isolation once again.
THOUSAND PIECES OF GOLD
Set in a mining town in the 1880s, Thousand Pieces of Gold is based on the classic novel by Ruthanne Lum McCunn with a screenplay by award-winning filmmaker Anne Makepeace (Tribal Justice). Upon its release in 1990, the film won immediate acclaim for its portrayal of the real-life story of Lalu (Rosalind Chao), a young Chinese woman whose desperately poor parents sell her into slavery. She is trafficked to a nefarious saloonkeeper in Idaho's gold country. Eventually Charlie (Chris Cooper), a man of different ilk, wins her in a poker game and slowly gains her trust. Way ahead of its time, the film resonates even more powerfully today in the era of #MeToo. Nancy Kelly became a victim of prejudice against women directors within the American film industry and was never offered another movie to direct in spite of extraordinary reviews from critics, some of whom compared her talent to that of John Ford.
LADY VENGEANCE
After being wrongfully convicted of kidnapping and murdering a young child, a beautiful young woman (Lee Young-ae) is imprisoned for 13 years and forced to give up her own daughter. While in prison she gains the respect and loyalty of her fellow cellmates, all the while plotting her vendetta on the man responsible(Choi Min-Sik). Upon her release she sets in motion an elaborate plan of retribution, but what she discovers is a truth so horrifying, even revenge doesnt seem punishment enough.
A GREAT WALL
35th Anniversary!
The first American movie shot in China, A GREAT WALL is a delightful comedy that was a "cross-cultural hit" (Los Angeles Times) when released in 1986. When San Francisco computer programmer Leo Fang (co-writer and director Peter Wang) is passed over for a promotion, he calls it quits and moves his family to stay with his sister in Peking. Leo nostalgically searches for the traditional China he left behind, while his son Paul (Kelvin Han Yee) charms his cousins with his seemingly wild Western ways. The culture clash develops in unexpected, hilarious directions, which all come to a head in a climactic ping pong battle.