Asian American Showcase
I remember back in 2003, in the post-undergraduate haze of young adult life, Tim Hugh asked the Asian American Artists Collective to host the Asian American Showcase Closing Show. In my youthful exuberance, my friend and I took the helm, co-wrote, and co-hosted the closing night show to a packed cinema of family, friends, and strangers (many who did become my friends). Quite simply, I was introduced to a vibrant community of Asian American filmmakers, artists, and performers, both local and national, and community that is somewhat dulled in the midwest outside of Chicago. Now it’s 2011 and I will make my annual trip away from the cornfields of Champaign Urbana to the sky scrapers where the Gene Siskel Film Center is nestled. This year’s Chicago Asian American Showcase brings the local and national Asian American community and Asian American inspired artists together to provide to simply showcase their amazing work in a variety of media. Kicking off their film festival circuit are fresh new indie-films like SAIGON ELECTRIC, a narrative about hip hop youth in Vietnam, to life-reflects-art-reflect-life SURROGATE VALENTINE. Local theatre all-stars the Silk Road Theatre Project will be doing a reading of SEVEN and energetic youth from the Multicultural Youth Project will be sharing short films documenting their experiences. While these films and events do not have the star power or big budget of Hollywood films or Broadway events, they provide something so much more with much less: complex and engaging stories and representation about Asian Americans by local and up-and-coming artists, filmmakers, and youth. What you get is your finger on the pulse of the Asian American community; what they (and the community) gets is support and motivation to continue developing their work and their craft for everyone to see. Just like in the past, this Showcase celebrates the people who seek to represent their lives, share their stories, and participate in their community through the media of film, theatre, and visual. So come join us for a delectable selection of Asian American inspired films, events, and performances from April 1 through April 14 at the Gene Siskel Film Center.
Vincent N. Pham is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Communication and teaching assistant in Asian American Studies program at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
