16th Annual Asian American Showcase

Filipino American director Gamazon (CAVITE, FREUD’S 2ND LAW) takes his exploration of the psychology of violation to new heights in this dark revenge tale in which a young woman holds an older man hostage in a remote woodland cabin. A cruel cat-and-mouse game of vicious taunts and prolonged game-like torture ensues, but first assumptions about the rights and wrongs of the situation are soon dashed as the full story comes together in all its shocking bits and pieces. In Vietnamese with English subtitles. HDCAM video. (BS)

Award-winning filmmaker Stephane Gauger (OWL AND THE SPARROW, VIETNAM OVERTURES) is back with a new feature focusing on the proliferation of hip hop culture in Vietnam. The vibrant, eclectic style of Saigon street kids is at the center of this story of two girls: Mai, a naïve country girl schooled in traditional ribbon-dancing; and Kim, an urban-bred, street-smart member of a hip hop crew. Differences dissolve in the face of big-city challenges when Mai flunks an audition to the dance academy and joins the hip-hoppers preparing for their do-or-die face-off with Hanoi’s North Killaz hip hop crew. In Vietnamese with English subtitles. HDCAM video. (BS)

Following the Saturday screening, Rasaka Theatre Company will present a 10-minute tribute to Bollywood.
http://www.rasakatheatre.org/

Following the Thursday screening, A-Squared Theatre Workshop presents the 10-minute performance, "Dubbing Down".
http://www.a-stw.org/

One of Chicago’s most notorious murder cases of recent years is dissected as a tragic tale of immigrant ambition, family dysfunction, and pathological bonding, as the American dream ends in 100-year prison terms for the Korean American brother and sister who carried out the crime. Eager to shed her longtime fiancé and business partner Robert O’Dubaine in 1993, Catherine Suh supplied her 19-year-old brother Andrew with a gun and convinced him to ambush the victim in his own garage. THE HOUSE OF SUH includes astonishing interviews with Andrew from prison as the intricate history of the co-dependent relationship of the siblings unravels. HDCAM video. (BS)

“Walk like a man” signifies anything but a song lyric in this hilariously entertaining film based on director Lee’s live standup comedy performance. Frustrated by what she perceives as male privilege, and by the incessant attempts of her traditional parents to marry her off at the ripe age of 39, Helie becomes Harry, to spend six months living as a man. She cuts her hair, learns to strut like a guy, and masters adjusting her “package” of rolled-up tube socks. But life in the male world isn’t a dream come true; in fact, much to her surprise, Lee’s misadventures lead her to a new respect for the travails of the opposite sex. Beta SP video. (BS)

Following the Friday screening, A-Squared Theatre Workshop presents the 10-minute performance Dubbing Down.
http://www.a-stw.org/

REDRESS REMIX tackles controversy head-on, looking at the widely diverging reactions of Canadian Chinese to prime minister Stephen Harper’s 1996 official apology for racist legislation dating back to the 19th century, which was meant to limit or exclude Chinese immigration to Canada. Filmmaker Chan employs animation and original music, along with interviews, to explore the shameful and largely hidden legacy of the Canadian Head Tax of 1885, and the Exclusion Act or 1923. Beta SP video.

RED DUST is an exposé on the deadly price paid by female factory workers who suffer from cadmium poisoning resulting from their jobs in a Chinese battery factory. In Mandarin with English subtitles. Mini-DV video. (BS)

The work of Filipino American filmmakers from around the U.S. is featured in this program showcasing the best shorts from seven years of the Chicago Filipino American Film Festival. Beta SP video. (BS)