Daily Archives: May 11, 2009

Tammy and Victor Jih win Amazing Race 14

On the lush green grass of the King Kamehameha Golf Club, the eight eliminated teams from Amazing Race cheered as sibling lawyers Tammy & Victor Jih ran to the finish line where host Phil Keoghan stood. After three continents, nine countries, and 40,000 miles, Phil declared Tammy & Victor winners of THE AMAZING RACE 14 and the one million dollar prize. On the experience, Victor said, “I just tried to enjoy the race for what it was and just be true to my emotions through the highs and the lows. I just can’t believe that we’re here right now.” Tammy later added, “I don’t think this race changed completely 26 years of Victor and my relationship, but it has helped it progress. When I look back at all the crazy things that I’ve done, I learned that the nerdy little Asian girl who could barely hold up her backpack before can do quite a bit.”

Winner Victor closed with his thoughts on what the experience of the race brought him. He said, “My entire life I always feel like I’ve done what was expected of me and what was the right thing to do. This was my opportunity to do something that everyone thinks is a crazy thing to do. I’ m just so grateful I come out of it feeling like there are no walls or rules in terms of what you have to be.”

Tammy and Victor Jin win Amazing Race

Sita Sings the Blues

Sita Sings the Blues is interesting animated film. It tells the epic Indian tale of Ramayana set to the 1920’s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw. (BTW – it is screening at the 2009 Silk Screen Festival in Pittsburgh.) What’s interesting about the film is that it is FREE. In February 2009, the director made it completely free under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License. You can copy, share, publish, archive, show, sell, broadcast, or remix Sita Sings the Blues. (You can see the full movie below.) The director Nina Paley is trying to distribute the film the same way people distribute free software and have users donate money back to the creator. See the website for details here. (It is definitely interesting to see directors trying out different models to distribute their films. Children of Invention is selling DVDs while the movie is on the film festival circuit.)

Sita Sings the Blues Synopsis

Sita is a Hindu goddess, the leading lady of India’s epic the Ramayana and a dutiful wife who follows her husband Rama on a 14 year exile to a forest, only to be kidnapped by an evil king from Sri Lanka. Despite remaining faithful to her husband, Sita is put through many tests. Nina (the filmmaker Nina Paley herself) is an artist who finds parallels in Sita’s life when her husband – in India on a work project – decides to break up their marriage and dump her via email. Three hilarious Indonesian shadow puppets with Indian accents – linking the popularity of the Ramayana from India all the way to the Far East – narrate both the ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the epic.

In her first feature length film, Paley juxtaposes multiple narrative and visual styles to create a highly entertaining yet moving vision of the Ramayana. Musical numbers choreographed to the 1920’s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw feature a cast of hundreds: flying monkeys, evil monsters, gods, goddesses, warriors, sages, and winged eyeballs. A tale of truth, justice and a woman’s cry for equal treatment. Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as “The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told.”

Sita Sings the Blues – Full Movie

2009 AAA Film Festival at UC Davis

Hey UC Davis readers, the AAA Film Festival started last week, but you still have an opportunity to see great films this week for FREE. (Recently, UC Davis has been busy reppin’ Secret Identities and hosting Wong Fu Productions.) The Asian American Association (AAA) at the University of California at Davis proudly presents its 6th annual Film Festival to be held on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday nights from May 5th-15th, 2009, in the Chemistry 194 building on the UC Davis campus. The Asian American Association Film Festival’s (AAAFF) mission is to promote cultural awareness and empower Asian Americans by presenting the issues and realities of the Asian American community otherwise ignored or stereotyped by mainstream media. Last year over 1,000 community members attended the festival to watch feature films such as Journey from the Fall, New Year Baby, and Dark Matter.

Here’s this year’s schedule:

Week 1

Tuesday, May 5th [Kissing Cousins]

Thursday, May 7th [The Owl and The Sparrow]

Friday, May 8th [Ping Pong Playa]

Week 2

Tuesday, May 12th [Never Forever]

Thursday, May 14th [Option 3]

Friday, May 15th [Sell Out!]

For more details, visit the website here.

2009 AAA Film Festival Trailer

2009 AAA Film Festival Trailer – Treezzz