Struggling to find fulfillment in relationships, Sarah (Mara Measor) discovers that forgiveness is key to true love.
Sarah has just moved to New York City to pursue her love of filmmaking when she meets the man of her dreams. Charming, handsome, and wealthy, Reece (Erik McKay) becomes her world. As their love story unfolds, Sarah is taken on a journey of heartbreak and forgiveness, exploring her relationships both past and present. In the end, she emerges with newfound strength to inspire others when they need it most.
Most Americans are immigrants or descendants of immigrants with a rich cultural history. But what happens to oneʼs cultural identity when they are several generations removed from their roots? Searching for Roots in Canton (2012) grapples with this issue by following a Chinese American, Nathan Fong, and a Chinese-African American, Alana Woods Chan, with their mentor, Al Cheng from San Francisco, CA to Canton (Guangdong Province), China to search for their ancestral homes. Why did their families leave China to be in the U.S. in the first place? What did they did they do when they got to America? How did they survive?
Before going to their ancestral villages, they get to know the culture and environment of Guangzhou City (the province capital) by touring the local sites. They visit the Guangdong Chinese Overseas Museum, which teaches them about the hardships that Chinese overseas had to go through, especially those who immigrated to America through Angel Island (the “Ellis Island” of the Pacific). They also visit an ancestral worship hall and folk art museum, The Chen Clan Academy.
They discover a history of Chinese American heritage that they never knew. After getting acclimated to China, they travel outside the big city of Guangzhou to rural areas, to the land of the famous watchtower diaolous, where their ancestral villages are located in the towns of Kaiping and Enping. After meeting family members and paying worship to their ancestors, both travelers open themselves emotionally to the viewers as they find healing and catharsis upon realizations of why they are driven to search for their roots. Although they never lived or visited these places before, they begin to find their environments to be strangely familiar. They take off their ʻtouristʼ hats and reveal a more intimate personal side as they stand where their ancestors once stood. Nathan finds peace and closure over the loss of his grandfather who passed away suddenly when he was a young boy. Alana releases feelings of guilt and shame about her racial identity which were repressed since childhood. They both gain a clearer perspective of what it means to be Chinese as well as American.
From the filmmakers of “Last Train Home” and “Up the Yangtze” comes the new documentary “China Heavyweight”. In central China, a Master coach recruits poor rural teenagers and turns them into Western-style boxing champions. Through hard work and discipline, these boys and girls come of age, trained in the art of boxing and the game of life. They are filled with Olympic dreams, hoping to become China’s next amateur heroes. The top students face dramatic choices as they graduate – should they fight for the collective good or for themselves? A metaphor for the choices everyone in the New China faces now.
This film was an official selection to the 2012 Sundance film Festival and the 2012 Hotdocs films festival.
The film Keye Luke is about to his the festival circuit. Spreading the message behind Asian American history, roots and predecessors, Keye Luke tells about one of the very first pioneers in motion pictures. He was most known for his role as the original/first Kato in the 1940s Green Hornet, the “Number One Son” in the Charlie Chan films, Detective James Lee Wong in Phantom of Chinatown (1940) and many more films. This 1940’s biopic features many up and coming Asian American actors and their friends.
More about Keye Luke
The film stars Feodor Chin (Baby, Golden Boy, Spice It Up!) as Keye Luke, Archie Kao (CSI, Snow Flower and The Secret Fan, The People I’ve Slept With) as Edwin Luke, his brother, Kelvin Han Yee (Hawaii Five-0, Entourage, Milk, Nash Bridges, Wedding Palace) as Lee Luke, his father, and, in order of appearance: Jolene Kim (24, Grey’s Anatomy) as Suzanna Kim, Britt Prentice (LMFAO’s “Sorry for Party Rocking” Music Video, Wizards of Waverly Place, Charmed) as Warner Oland, Burl Moseley (24, The Defenders, Mike & Molly, Brothers & Sisters, Monk) as Mantan Moreland, Becky Wu (Desperate Housewives, Greek, General Hospital, All My Children, K-Town Cowboys) as Florence Ung, Hedy Wong (Chinatown Squad, Watcher, Bang Bang) as Frances Chan, Robert Factor (L.A. Law, Pill Bottle Angels, Pleasures) as Sidney Toler, Jennifer Chang (Parenthood, NCIS:LA, Medium, Spice It Up!) as Iris Wong, James Huang (Lost, Rizzoli & Isles, Law & Order: LA, Eagle Eye, Skyline) as Victor Sen Yung, Elaine Kao (Bridesmaids, NCIS: LA, Cold Case, 24, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Marianne Quon, David Huynh (Bang Bang, Baby, Without A Trace, Cold Case) as Benson Fong, Chris Cusano (Chinatown Squad, The Apartment) as Gordon Jones/Britt Reid/The Green Hornet, Cyndee San Luis (The Newsroom, He’s Mine Not Yours, I Think My Facebook Friend Is Dead, The Case) as Lenore “Casey” Case, Elizabeth Sandy (Parks & Recreation, The Young and The Restless, The Scenesters) as Ethel Davis Luke, Mei Melancon (The L Word, X-Men: The Last Stand, Irreversi, Pathology, Rush Hour 2) as Lotus Long, Jessika Van (Bang Bang, The Boondocks, A.N.T. Farm, Without A Trace, Cold Case) as Victoria Horne/Nabura, Jennifer Field (Robot Chicken, K-Town Reality Show, K-Town Cowboys) as Dr. Raymond, Narisa Suzuki (The Myth of the American Sleepover, Rideshare, Ecstasy of Gold) as Takahari, Chadd Stoops (Surrogate Valentine, Daylight Savings) as Secret Agent X-9/Lloyd Bridges and Ina-Alice Kopp (Klimt, Departed Heroes) as Jan Wiley.
“Art Recession,” a documentary about the importance of art education, produced, written, and directed by Ming Lai of Humanist Films (Journey of a Paper Son)
Despite its huge impact, art education is often one of the first programs to be cut, especially when the economy is hard hit. “Art Recession” explores the importance of art education, showing how it teaches us to communicate, develops our critical thinking skills, helps us to learn other subjects, expresses our individualism, enriches our culture, builds our society, and ultimately conveys our humanity. This documentary then offers powerful ways to save it.
The documentary interviews the art world about this timely subject—from visionary artists and respected art curators to inspiring teachers and knowledgable museum educators to involved parents and promising art students. These thought-provoking interviews include Gary Baseman, Gary Blackwell, Michelle Borok, Denise Gray, Jason Holley, Brooke Kent, Monica Magana, Rachel Matos, Karol Heinecken Mora, Eric Nakamura, Paige Oden, Ming Ong, Ralph Opacic, Aaron Smith, Brian Stoebe, Courtney Stoebe, Tiffany Stoebe, Edwin Ushiro, Tianyi Wang, and P. Williams.
Lai was inspired to make “Art Recession” by The Mini Show, a group art exhibition to raise money for the Mini Lai Scholarship Fund, which honors the memory of his sister, Mini Lai, and benefits Art Center College of Design illustration students. The fund is managed by the respected California Community Foundation. Mini Lai is a proud alumna of Art Center’s prestigious illustration program.
Mixed Match is an inspirational, emotional, and evocative feature-length documentary that explores the need to find mixed ethnicity bone marrow and cord blood donors to donate to multiethnic patients suffering from life threatening blood diseases such as leukemia. This live action and animated film is a dramatic journey focusing on the main characters’ struggles to survive against incredible odds.
Directed by Jeff Chiba Stearns, the documentary will lead the viewer through the lives of young patients and families struggling to overcome life-threatening blood diseases. While presenting medical concerns, Mixed Match will be a character-driven documentary that will highlight a number of exceptional, courageous, and inspiring participants. The film will follow recently diagnosed multiethnic patients in search of donors, some of whom must struggle to hold on to hope through countless rounds of excruciating chemotherapy as they spend months searching for a match. A patient who is in remission after a successful stem cell/marrow donation will also be documented. Another patient’s story is told through his surviving family members, as he was not able to find a suitable marrow match and, as a result, ultimately succumbed to his illness. Lastly, the documentary will feature a joyous and heartfelt reunion between a donor and patient after a successful transplant, as the two meet for the very first time.
Mixed Match is an important human story told from the perspective of youth who are forced to discover their identities through their deadly illnesses and how their mixed backgrounds threaten their chance at survival, thus highlighting why in this day and age, knowing our history and cultural heritage still matters.
The documentary addresses the fact that every year over 30,000 people in North America are diagnosed with life threatening blood diseases. For many patients, a bone marrow transplant is their only chance at survival. Currently, in the US, of the 7 million registered bone marrow donors and 100,000 cord blood donors, less than 3% are multiethnic. This statistic, although proportionate to the population of mixed people in the country, poses a substantial challenge to a mixed patient given the endless variety of possible genetic combinations in the registry. Finding a multiethnic marrow match in the public registry has been compared at times to “finding a needle in a haystack” or “winning the lottery.” Therefore, this is a very timely and important issue.
