October 2009 Archives
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America's Next Top Model takes blackface to a whole new level
By Alden E. Habacon
Not sure how to feel about this. My whole creative career has been devoted to fostering the end-of-pure-race. And I've said publicly that the "colour" of the future is beige. But in this episode of Tyra Bank's America's Next Top Model, I was really unsure what to think. In this episode, the contestants are challenged to be hapa. You heard right, pretend to mixed-race, other than their own.
Thank you, Meghan Carlson, Staff Writer of BuddyTV for stating:
Well, this is awkward. I honestly don't know if Tyra is trying to celebrate Hawaiian culture and mixed race people, or if this is just a hack way to get controversial publicity following French Vogue's recent blackface spread which certainly got people talking... and lashing back. Whatever the case, it makes me a bit uncomfortable, and even though this sort of broad-stroked, insensitive stunt doesn't surprise me (coming from Tyra, after all), I can see why some people --whether mixed race or not--might be offended by the aestheticizing and stereotyping of so many ethnicities.
All the following excerpts are from the recap on seacoastonline.com:
[Tyra] and Jay Manuel took the girls to a sugar cane field.People of other cultures came to the fields to get jobs, they said, and then some of those workers got together and had babies of two different races.
OK, stop. There's a lot of history here. Often slaves worked in fields, and the resulting mixed-race baby-making was forced (not by the labourers). Perhaps the sugar cane fields was a little inappropriate.
"Hapa" means half in Hawaiian, Tyra said, and the most famous "Hapa" is ... Barack Obama.Posted by Alden | October 29, 2009 | Comments (0)
VIFF 2009 | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
By VIFF Correspondent Pennylane ShenThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Canada/UK, 2009, 122min
DIR Terry Gilliam
Massive lines spanned the streets of downtown Vancouver as eager viewers waited in anticipation for Terry Gilliam's newest film. Those who follow Gilliam's work know that he is a master of fantasy and visual spectacle and, judging by the previews, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was not going to be the exception.
Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Queen To Play
By VIFF Correspondent Sigal SamuelQueen to Play
France, 2009, 101min
DIR Caroline Bottaro
In this frothy French flick, director Caroline Bottaro introduces us to the game of chess like we've never seen it before: as empowering, titillating, and downright kinky.
At the beginning of the film, we met Helene (Sandrine Bonnaire), a self-effacing and downtrodden cleaning lady who works to support her husband and daughter on the island of Corsica. One morning, Hélène witnesses a couple engaged in a steamy game of chess-as-foreplay. The gaze of the camera lingers on the female chess player (Jennifer Beals) who dazzles Helene with her teeming sexuality.
Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Extraordinary Stories
By VIFF Correspondent Sigal SamuelExtraordinary Stories
Argentina, 2008, 250min
DIR Mariano Llinas
"Extraordinary" is an understatement. This film is crazy, cruel, and deeply original; it's excruciating and exhilarating all at the same time. True 'cinematic terrorism' - but in the very best of ways.
Posted by Christina J. | October 28, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Lebanon
By ViFF Correspondent Sigal SamuelLebanon
Israel, 2009, 92min
DIR Samuel Maoz
June 1982. The first Lebanon War. From inside a dank and dirty tank, four young Israeli soldiers set out to reconnoiter a town in "enemy" territory. As you accompany them on a mission which becomes increasingly absurd in its futility, this film puts you through the emotional wringer. You feel like you are right there in the tank with these four soldiers, experiencing the physical and psychological trauma of war. That intense trauma engulfs you for 92 minutes - uninterrupted save for a hilarious five-minute comedic interlude wherein one soldier recounts the story of an embarrassing eleventh-grade hard-on.
Posted by Christina J. | October 28, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Mammoth
By ViFF Correspondent Pennylane ShenMammoth
Sweden/Denmark/Germany, 2009, 135min
DIR: Lukas Moodyson
We open with Leo (Gael Garcia Bernal), Ellen (Michelle Williams) and their eight-year-old daughter Jackie (Sophie Nyweide) jostling playfully around in their posh New York apartment. Cut to a regular day: Ellen is a committed surgeon pushing late hours and Leo is the head of a thriving internet-gaming website. Although the couple is in a loving relationship, Ellen and Leo are both heavily involved in their successful careers and neither parent spends much time at home with their daughter.
Posted by Christina J. | October 28, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | An Education
By VIFF Correspondent Pennylane ShenAn Education
UK, 2008, 95mins
DIR: Lone Scherfig
Concert cellist and distinguished prep school student Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is on her way to achieving her goal of attending Oxford University. She is relatively content with her modest life in the quiet suburbs of 1960's London until she meets the older, charming and seemingly affluent David (Peter Sarsgaard). Suddenly swept away into a life of glamorous nightclubs, expensive clothes and weekend getaways, time with David resembles Jenny's Parisian fantasy. A self-proclaimed Francophile, Jenny takes quickly to her new lifestyle, abandoning everything she once believed to have worth - in particular her hard-earned education. With any indulgence there are consequences and Jenny's situation is no exception.
Posted by Christina J. | October 28, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIWF 2009: The Tightrope & Building Blocks
By Jocelyn Gan
This year's Vancouver International Writer's Festival is bound to thrill literary fans with the array of authors and events that are lined up. There are two events that I'm quite excited about and urge you to check them out. They are Event 37 The Tightrope and Event 42 Building Blocks, Starting Blocks!
The Tightrope features three authors that do not restrain themselves to conventional approaches in fiction writing. BC author Michael Turner, Marie-Claire Blais and Leon Rooke challenge the fundamentals of writing fiction, where they have pushed the fictional envelope to exuberant limits. Tickets for this event will be available for purchase at the door an hour before the event starts.
Host: Aislinn Hunter
Friday October 23, 2009
10 - 11:30 am
Granville Island Stage
$16 / $8 for student groups
Building Blocks, Starting Blocks is an insider's look at how some of Canada's most established literary writers assemble essential elements of fiction in creative works of written art. Joseph Boyden, Shandi Mitchell, Cordelia Strube and Ian Weir talk about their beginnings, the struggles they have had to deal with, the moment when everything fell in place, and all the things in between. Tickets for this event will be available for purchase at the door an hour before the event starts.
Host: Merilyn Simonds
Friday October 23, 2009
1 - 2:30 pm
Granville Island Stage
$16 / $8 for student groups
Tags: Events, Literature
A Family Fugue & An Almost Fatal Attraction at the VIWF 2009!
By Sara Chang
The VIWF 2009 is once again packed with loads of exciting events and authors. Three of my hot picks which must be checked out are Event 39 Family Fugue, Event 50 Almost Fatal Attraction and Event 51 Dig Deep (click here for my earlier review)!
Family Fugue presents us with three accomplished novelists' literary take and expertise on the complicated web and history of family relationships across generations. In Ashok Mathur's fourth novel, A Little Distillery in Nowgong, the point of view is that of an unborn child's. The story begins in the year 1899 and traces three generations as they travel through central India to the United Kingdom and North America, attempting to discover the past and future. Michael Crummey's new novel Galore, whilst rich in myth and poetry, also manages to capture the voice of the common people. The story is situated in remote Newfoundland, which serves as the home of two families' secrets, quarrels and alliances across two centuries. Our third author Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer's novel The Nettle Spinner, speaks of a family tragedy comprising three generations in Northern Ontario.
This central, popular theme of grand-scale and generational family dramas and sagas will be dwelved further into in this event which I know you wouldn't want to miss!
Host: Anne Giardini
Friday, October 23, 2009
10 - 11:30 am
Performance Works
$16 / $8 for student groups
Please buy tickets online at Vancouver Tix.
Almost Fatal Attraction promises us the exploration of passion, risk-taking and intense obsessions, all bundled into one unique event! The dark and natural desires of human nature will be presented by four established authors - Chelsea Cain, Lisa Foad, Joan London and Colin McAdam. They will use various literary expressions to examine the tremulous line separating adoration and ownership, excitement and danger. So, why do the sordid consequences of untethered lust, uninhibited passion and reckless independence fail to keep us at bay anyway? Attend this thrilling event to find out!
Host: Denise Ryan
Saturday, October 24, 2009
10:30 am - 12 noon
Performance Works
$16
Please buy tickets online at Vancouver Tix.
Tags: Events, Literature
Bollywood Film Star Rahul Bose in Vancouver: FREE SHOW!
By Sara Chang
Bridgecoolplanet.ca events proudly presents the famous Bollywood film star RAHUL BOSE in Vancouver for one night only! And this event is free! Dubbed the "Sean Penn of Asian cinema" by Maxim magazine for his social activism and his preference for Indian art-house films, Mr. Bose is a former Indian national team rugby player. He will be speaking about the impacts of climate change in India & holding a public discussion.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22nd 2009 @ 6:00 PM
Bollywood Banquet Hall | #201 - 8166, 128th Street, Surrey B.C.
Free Event
For tickets, please contact:
Pardeep Sahota - 604 596 7722 (ext 117) or
Email: pardeep.sahota@pics.bc.ca
Tags: Bollywood, Climate, Environment, Events, India, People, Vancouver
Oliberté | This Is the Real Africa
By Jocelyn Gan
Google Search reveals that there are over 2,630,000 hits when the words 'African charities' are searched. 2,630,000 hits! So much charity work is dedicated to making Africa a better place for its citizens. Whether it be through combating poverty, setting up wells for clean water, charity for the children of Africa, improving living conditions, or building schools, the list goes on and on. Many, if not most, of these charities rely on donations and volunteer work from people like you and me, and in most cases I'll send in money every now and then because, well, it's the right thing to do. I play my small part to make the world a better place. But after that my act of charity is long forgotten, I re-enter life and consume myself with school, work, family, and friends. Am I still a charitable person? Yes. Did I really, authentically care about the cause that I was donating to? Um......yes? Maybe a little?
I truly believe that it is through all these charities dedicated to Africa that the country's situation has vastly improved over time. However, unless you are part of the charity's organization, for the most part people like you and me tend to forgot that these charities do exist. When the company called Oliberté was brought to my attention, I immediately thought to myself that this is a fantastic way to put Africa on the map of peoples' minds. So what is Oliberté? Its an ethical urban footwear company that makes its shoes in Africa using the natural materials from the country. The company is based out of Oakville, Ontario, but Africa is the site of where their manufacturing takes place.
So why does Oliberté matter? And more importantly why should you buy their shoes?
- Footwear is first to be made from natural rubber in Liberia
- Premium leather is light, natural and from Ethiopia
- Ensure farmers, factory workers and suppliers are paid fairly and treated responsibly
- Work in partnership with factories to improve our environmental footprint
- Support local training and communities in every country where we work
Tags: Commentary, Design, Environment, Fashion
Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License
By Phil Yu, Originally Posted on Angry Asian ManI found this article from Phil Yu's Angry Asian Man and didn't quite know what to think. There's a guy, a justice of the peace, who says that he refuses to give out marriage licenses to interracial couples. Believe it or not, this man lives in New Orleans, in America. Evidently no place, not even the United States, is completely devoid of bigotry. Sad, but it's the cold, hard, ridiculous truth. Being in Canada, I live in a fairly liberal country and I wonder if anyone in a position of power could get away with crap like this. Is there really any excuse for being a straight-up racist?
This isn't really Asian American-related, but I wanted to share it because it clearly illustrates the the ignorant, racist attitudes that still exist today in the United States of America...
In New Orleans, a justice of the peace says he refuses to issue a marriage licenses to interracial couples, apparently out of the concern for any children the couple might have.
Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long. Um, not that your experience is worth a damn, but that really isn't your call to make:
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 19, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Race
Making Staircases More Fun to Use | Volkswagen's Theory of Fun
By Elmer Cagape, Originally Published on Living in Hong KongI found this post from a blogger in Hong Kong. Elmer Cagape's blog Living in Hong Kong is all about what it's like to live in the hustle and bustle of a "city that never sleeps" and contains other intriguing tid bits that you can read up on by visiting his site. For now, I'd like to share this cute little blog about Volkswagen's initiative to "Step Your Way to Health," with the help of some musical inspiration.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 19, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: International, Technology
Fresh Media Event | Saturday, October 24, 2009
By Schema Mag in Collaboration with Fresh MediaFor all you people who will be in Vancouver on Saturday, October 24, check out the Fresh Media event happening at the brand new W2 Community Media Arts Centre at 112 East Hastings from 12:00pm-6:30pm.
Fresh Media is an initiative powered by media innovators, technologists, artists, citizens and the online community as a way to celebrate, educate and re-imagine journalism and media. This event is the first of its kind and showcases how artists, media makers and everyday people are re-inventing media and finding new ways to be innovative and creative in this age of participation.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 19, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Events
Phil Yu in review at iWriteAboutMe.com | Vancouver
By Claudia Ho
iWriteAboutMe.com is a monthly series of web writing workshops and speakers that features some of the most pioneering, innovative and ethnic cool voices on the Internet. Visit iWriteAboutMe.com for more info
The team at Schema Magazine would like to extend a big thank you to all of you who came out on September 23, to our first ever iWriteAboutMe.com web writing workshop, which featured blog superstar Phil Yu, aka. Angry Asian Man. It was a great success because of your presence and participation!
For those of you who were not able to make it out, don't worry, I'll fill you in right now.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 22, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Asian Men, Ethnic Cool, Events, Media
VIFF 2009 | The One Man Village
By VIFF Correspondent Gloria WongThe One Man Village
Lebanon, 2008, 86min
DIR: Simon El Habre
The One Man Village tells the story of the small but unfortunately located Lebanese village of Ain al-Halazoun. Filmmaker Simon El Habre follows his farmer uncle Semaan over the course of one year. Being geographically in the middle of several larger villages, many of the residents of Ain al-Halazoun were displaced by the 15-year civil war and most have built lives elsewhere. But Semaan actually came back to the village of his birth after the war to build a simpler life for himself - one where he could own cows. Semaan introduces his cows to the camera by name, outlining their personalities. He chops wood for the stove.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 16, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Cow
By VIFF Correspondent Gloria WongCow
China, 2009, 105min
DIR: Guan Hu
While VIFF's Dragons & Tigers series is no stranger to films from China, this is a rarity. Usually VIFF's Chinese films are independents, which are officially illegal in China but able to travel far and wide to eager audiences around the world. Cow, on the other hand, was made by the Changchun Film Group, China's largest film studio, and fully supported by the State. Being a story about WWII, one might expect thinly-veiled propaganda; instead, Cow is an oddly touching, slickly produced, black-as-night historical comedy.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 16, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Shameless
By VIFF Correspondent Gloria WongShameless
Czech Republic, 2008, 88min
DIR: Jan Hrebejk
The latest from celebrated Czech director Jan Hrebejk is a breezy relationship comedy brimming with the director's trademark blend of humanistic warmth and precise irony. Oskar is married to radio host Zuzana, but he's bored. He does what many people who have fallen out of love do: he's decided something about his wife that he probably once found charming - in this case, her rather magnificent nose - is the reason he can't love her anymore. It's now all he can see when he looks at her.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 16, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Sweet Crude
By VIFF Correspondent Fabiola CarlettiSweet Crude
USA, 2009, 93 min
DIR: Sandy Cioffi
After the Canadian premiere of Sweet Crude, the audience sat still and silent. As the closing credits ran to a Rolling Stone's classic "Sympathy for the Devil," the Seattle-based film crew disclosed the large amount of oil they had used during the making of the documentary. The clash was apparent to the director, Sandy Cioffi.
"Obviously I'm part of the problem," said Cioffi during the subsequent Q&A period. "We're all Frankenstein and, at this point, we need to sort this mess out together."
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 16, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | That Evening Sun
By VIFF Correspondent Anne CasselmanThat Evening Sun
USA, 2009, 115min
DIR: Scott Teems
That Evening Sun opens with scenes from geriatric purgatory at a nursing home in Tennessee. It is not difficult to cheer on 80-year old Abner Meecham (Hal Holbrook, in a pitch-perfect performance) when he walks out the door, bow-legged and sure-footed, without a backward glance. Any elation that we may feel about his escape swiftly ends when he arrives at his homestead to find it rented to a mean-looking white trash sonofabitch called Lonzo Choate (played by Ray McKinnon) and his wife and daughter. Add insult to injury, Meecham's son gave them a lease-to-buy option. Abner moves into the tenant cottage next door to the main house and wages war against Choate.
Schema Magazine's coverage of VIFF 2009 is sponsored by the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
Posted by Christina J. | October 16, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Cooking History
By VIFF Correspondent Gloria WongCooking History
Czech Republic/Austria/Slovakia, 2009, 88min
DIR: Peter Kerekes
Winner, Special Jury Award, Hot Docs 2009
Peter Kerekes' inventive new documentary is ostensibly about military chefs. Spanning most of the twentieth century and numerous European countries, it becomes clear early on that Cooking History intends to provide a lens through which to view conflicts of the twentieth century. The film also gives a clear-eyed meditation on war, complete with heavy-handed (but amusing) animal slaughter and sausage-making analogies. Not unlike our endless pursuit of food, it seems that no matter how much we fight, there's always another war around the corner waiting to start. The film begins and ends in modern-day Chechnya, where years of conflict between Chechen nationalism and Russian imperialism have resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. But interviews with surviving bakers, cooks and tasters of wars going back to WWII demonstrate that history has a way of repeating even its most brutal mistakes, that war may be an intractable part of civilization.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 16, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Written By (Joi Sun Ho)
By VIFF Correspondent Fabiola CarlettiWritten By (Joi Sun Ho)
Hong Kong, 2009, 86 mins
DIR: Ka-Fai Wai, Charles Heung, Raymond Lei
In this multi-layered melodrama, a young family is torn apart by a brutal car accident.
Tony, the father, is the only one killed. Although his wife and two children survive, their lives are forever ruptured. His daughter Melody is blinded, his wife Mandy is haunted by his death, and his son Oscar quietly fades into the background.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 16, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | At the End of Daybreak
By VIFF Correspondent Jordana MahAt the End of Daybreak
Malaysia/Hong Kong/South Korea, 2009, 94min
DIR: Ho Yuhang
Hailing from Malaysia, director Ho Yuhang and stars Tsui Tin-yau, Jane Ng Meng-hui and Kara Hui, bring us a tale of love and life gone horribly wrong. The story begins and ends with young Tuck Chai, a working-class 23-year-old who lives with his alcoholic mother, and his 15-year-old girlfriend Ying. While Tuck works, Ying wanders through her days at school with glassy-eyed stillness, escaping from class and, later, bullying girls on the back of Tuck`s motor-bike. The lives of these young lovers' are thrown upside-down when their relationship is discovered by Ying`s parents, who threaten prosecution and demand retribution. Tuck`s fiercely protective mother tries her best to protect him, but Ying`s parents are out for blood and, as his options narrow, Tuck becomes more and more desperate. Ying is no help to Tuck either; she shuts him out from her life with little sympathy or care. Even as Tuck pleads with Ying, saying he could go to prison, Ying only stares blankly, driving Tuck further into to madness.
Schema Magazine's coverage of VIFF 2009 is sponsored by the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
Posted by Christina J. | October 16, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Cooking with Stella
By VIFF Correspondent Fabiola CarlettiCooking with Stella
Canada, 2009, 104 mins
DIR: Dilip Mehta
Stella has a whole wall of family portraits, but none include actual relatives.
The savvy servant keeps house for employees of the Canadian High Commission, cooking her way into diplomats' hearts and photos and living with them in a luxurious New Delhi home.
But the charming and trusted live-in worker has been guarding a few secrets throughout her years of service. The devout Catholic sees herself as a modern-day Robin Hood: stealing from her rich employers and generously providing for the poor--specifically, herself.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 16, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | The Happiest Girl In The World
By VIFF Correspondent Jordana MahThe Happiest Girl In The World
Romania/Netherlands,2009,99min
DIR: Radu Jude
Life is tough for young Delia. Even though she had just won a free car from a juice company, she will never get to drive it as her parents wish to sell it off. All for the good of the family of course. Before the car can be sold, however, the family must get through a day of filming a commercial showing Delia driving off with her prize.
Posted by Christina J. | October 16, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Night and Fog
By VIFF Correspondent Pennylane ShenNight and Fog
Hong Kong, 2009l, 117min
DIR: Ann Hui
Following her award-winning film The Way We Are, Ann Hui captures domestic violence in all its brutality in her latest film Night and Fog. Investing in well-known screen stars Simon Yam and Zhang Jingchu this time proves successful as their performances are outstanding. Hui's compelling storytelling techniques and powerful images do not go unnoted; however the film is not without the sensationalistic qualities Chinese cinema has long been criticized for.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 16, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Karaoke
By VIFF Correspondent Pennylane ShenKaraoke
Malaysia, 2009, 74min
DIR: Chris Chong (Chong Chan Fui)
Former resident-Canadian director Chris Chong Chan Fui returns to his Malaysian roots with his feature-length film directorial debut, Karaoke.
The highly-anticipated film opens with voice-over conversations heard amidst a bustling karaoke bar. The server is Betik (Zahiril Adzim), a recent graduate returning home from Kuala Lumpur to his small village in the Malaysian countryside. His mother is the recently widowed owner of the modest establishment, which she runs with Betik's uncle. Determined to help his mother by taking over the family business, Betik settles into the life he always assumed he'd have. He even pursues a recent love interest, Anisah, and all seems to be going well until Betik's expectations and aspirations begin to deteriorate.
Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | McDull Kung Fu Kindergarten
By VIFF Correspondent Jordana MahMcDull Kung Fu Kindergarten
Hong Kong/Japan/China, 2009, 77min
DIR: Brian Tse
Why are cute animals just so irresistible? In this animated film about a kind-hearted but dumb piglet from Hong Kong, we see the power of the cute pig. McDull works hard to be smart and get A grades for his typically Cantonese mom, Mrs. Mak. McDull gets his wish of achieving good grades by foregoing his favourite - "chicken on fire" - but both he and his mother eventually agree that this is too big a sacrifice to make. Seeking a change from the crowded Hong Kong streets, Mrs. Mak moves herself and McDull to the beautiful city of Wuhan. In order to toughen up McDull's sweet nature, Mrs. Mak dumps her son in a renowned Tai Chi Kung Fu school, headed by Master and the mysterious Brother Panda. Though at first McDull pines for his mother (and TV), he soon makes new friends and headway into his training. All is well until a national competition of martial arts schools is announced and the school's pride is on the line. Will McDull be able to save the day, or will he bungle up once again?
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 16, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Kamui
By VIFF Correspondent Jordana MahKamui
Japan, 2009, 120min
DIR: Sai Yoichi
Based upon the Japanese manga Kamui Gaiden, the film Kamui follows the story of the fugitive ninja Kamui. Born as an outcast in his village in 17th century Japan, Kamui escapes the abuses of hierarchial society by joining a ninja clan as a young boy. There he learns all the deadly arts of the ninja, including their ruthlessness in hunting down those who decide to leave the ninja life. Kamui experiences this ruthlessness fourteen years later when he decides he has had enough of killing and makes a break for freedom. Leaving the ninja life is not easy though and he is pursued across the countryside, surviving by thievery and trusting no one. After a narrow escape from his hunters, Kamui washes up on the shore of a beautifully remote island, where he is rescued by jovial fisherman Hanbei. Kamui is welcomed by all in the village including Hanbei's family - except for Hanbei's wife Oshika. Does she have reason to distrust Kamui, or does she herself have a secret to keep? Can Kamui ever find freedom and learn to trust in others?
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 16, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
Ninja Assassin | Strong Asian characters with mainstream sex appeal at VIFF!
By Alden E. Habacon
I'm all for undoing the martial arts Asian stereotype, but I have to admit that I left this film saying, "I think I want to be a ninja." For Halloween anyway (and maybe Powell Street Festival too). In the classic style of director James McTeigue (Speed Racer, V for Vendetta) and Producers Andy and Larry Wachowski (who brought us The Matrix), Ninja Assassin's opening sequence sets the tone for "you're going to love this" if you get turned on by a combination of sophisticated martial arts and a level of gore that should really only be seen in manga-animation. The enthusiastic applause that followed the intro was reminiscent of the audience's response to the opening sequence of The Matrix some ten years ago. For this reason I'm so happy I opted to skip the advance media screening and share this experience with a the general public.
There truly was a sense that the Wachowski brothers and James McTeigue were trying to take the martial arts genre up a notch. According to McTeigue,
"The Matrix changed the way people watched movies. Every now and again you get an epochal film that changes the way you view cinema and I've been lucky enough to be exposed to that ... we've basically worked with the same people for 10 years now and you're always trying to take it to the next level." (vancouver.24hrs.ca)
From the film, it's clear that the "next level" is being set by Asian cinema. Ninja Assassin is not that gory when compared to the Japanese film Blood: The Last Vampire, released in May 2009 (Japan) and possibly the most anticipated film of the summer in Asia. Keeping true to the manga-animated film of the same name, bodies are cut in half and blood spews in the same exaggerated convention of Japanese animation.
Posted by Alden | October 15, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Asian American
VIFF 2009 | Like You Know It All
By VIFF Correspondent Jordana MahLike You Know It All
South Korea, 2009, 126min
DIR: Hong Sang-Soo
In this tale directed by Korean director Hong Sang-Soo, we follow art-house film director Ku Kyung-Nam as he travels to judge a local film festival, but this festival is far from the peaceful trip Ku envisions. There's the porn star turned legitimate actor, the hot-shot young director who used to be Ku`s protege, and the outspoken festival director who has her own bad fate in store, thanks to Ku.
Posted by Christina J. | October 15, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: film
VIFF 2009 | Yang Yang
By VIFF Correspondent Jordana MahYang Yang
Taiwan, 2009, 112min
DIR: Cheng Yu-chieh
Teenage years are difficult for everyone, but for young Yang Yang, life seems even more treacherous. The film opens with the joyous wedding of Yang Yang`s mother to best friend Xiao-Ru's father. Unfortunately, the familial bliss and simplicity of childhood soon falls aside. Young Yang Yang`s life becomes extremely complicated when Xiao-Ru`s boyfriend Shawn begins to fall for Yang Yang.
Posted by Christina J. | October 15, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
It's 2009, And A Black Barbie Is Finally "So In Style"
By Diana Nguyen & Jennifer Wang, Originally posted on DisgrasianWe just can't get enough of the Disgrasian girls. Here is another opinionated, humorously sarcastic and highly entertaining post about the new "So In Style" line of Black Barbies. It is certainly a big step for Mattel to finally manufacture a Black Barbie, however their efforts to tap into the minority market seems to be met with more criticism than applause. I don't think it takes a genius to make the connection between the current African American President to Mattel's timely decision to launch a Black Doll line. And of course, making a truly authentic and accurate portrayal of a Black girl or woman sans stereotypes would be a little too risky for the company. Thus, while the inception of the Black Barbie is cool in some ways, it doesn't appear to be monumental by any means.
Just 50 years after the launch of Barbie, 42 years after the introduction of Colored Francie, 41 years after the birth of Christie, and 6 months after a trampy-ass tattooed Barbie, Mattel has finally launched a Black Barbie that isn't just their skinny white doll with darker skin, or part of a collectibles set.
"Color is so IN!"
Oh, Bravo. BRAVO. How expedient. How relevant.
Can't wait to see the "Yellow Annie" series in thirty years. Should be real cause for celebrasian.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 15, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Race
Marge Simpson in Playboy
By Claudia HoDisclaimer: The images below may appear graphic depending on your sensitivity to sexualizing cartoons. Also, this doesn't really have anything to do with ethnicity or being ethnic cool, but I just really wanted to share!
The Simpsons have chosen a very unique way of celebrating their 20th anniversary. Featured on the cover of Playboy's November 2009 issue is none other than Mrs. Marge Simpson.
Marge Simpson posing for Playboy. Wow. The notion is perplexing and I can't figure out if this is a good thing or a bad thing. However, some devout Christians are having a field day over the matter, saying that Marge was supposed to be the "cartoon matriarch of The Simpsons**" and thus, there are some people who are mortally shocked at the character's unabashed nudity.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 19, 2009 | Comments (0)
VIFF 2009 | Toad's Oil (Gama No Abura)
By VIFF Correspondent Fabiola CarlettiToad's Oil (Gama No Abura)
Japan, 2008, 131 mins
DIR: Yakusho Koji
Yazawa Takuro just lost 3 million dollars, and he's laughing hysterically.
This is where we meet our dominating protagonist - an eccentric stock-market day trader who repeatedly hollers "show me the money" and shoots BB guns around his palatial estates. Right away we see the difference between the quirky Yazawa and his smiling but relatively quiet son, Takuya.
Everything changes with the accident.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 13, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Pop Star On Ice
By VIFF Correspondent Pennylane ShenPop Star on Ice
USA, 2009, 85min
DIR: David Barba, James Pellerito
Pop Star on Ice follows the rise of 25 year old American figure skater Johnny Weir, from his small town Pennsylvanian beginnings to his current position as an Olympic competitor.
Although it is shot like any other standard documentary, the film's subject matter, Johnny Weir, is anything but. Specifically chronically Johnny's career between 2006 and 2008, the filmmakers James Pellerito and David Barba are mindful about giving an equal amount of attention to Johnny's professional career as his personal life, which is often far more provocative.
Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | It Might Get Loud
By VIFF Correspondent Desiree LealIt Might Get Loud
USA, 2008, 97min
DIR: Davis Guggenheim
It Might Get Loud is a rich and inspiring journey into the world of real Guitar Heroes - and one of the most popular musical instruments in the world. From the elegant effects-driven sound of The Edge, to the raunchy intensity of Jack White's blues-inspired riffs and the bold, sophisticated playfulness of Jimmy Page, this film takes us on a tour through the histories of these great musicians as they 'talk shop' and delve into their own personal love affairs with the electric guitar.
Tags: Film
Lady Smackdown On SF Bus
By Diana Nguyen & Jennifer Wang, Originally posted on DisgrasianThanks to our friends at Disgrasian, we have a glimpse of what went down on a San Francisco bus in Chinatown last week Wednesday...and the video posted of the incident is catching on like wildfire. There's nothing you can really say or feel after watching the video other than accept the fact that it is a ridiculous and kind of unnecessary display of emotions. Watch out, it gets catty.
This passenger-documented video of two ladies getting hostile (like, downright violent) over an apparent seat-hogging situation on San Francisco's MUNI bus in Chinatown is starting to make the Internet rounds. In response, YouTube commenters have quickly taken sides and naturally erupted into a hot, ignorant racial debate (One woman is black; One is Asian--prepare for the worst).
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 12, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags:
ROCK OF ASIAN: PumaShock
By Diana Nguyen & Jennifer Wang, Originally posted on DisgrasianThrough their elaborate sources, the girls from Disgrasian, Diana Nguyen and Jennifer Wang, discovered an amazing (and very unique) vocal artist. Meet PumaShock (aka Natalie White). She is a black American based in San Francisco who, over the years, had become enamoured with Korean dramas, K-Pop and...video games too?! Yes, Natalie White takes interest in many things and she is also incredibly talented - particularly at singing. White sings Korean songs in Korean and posts her videos online. She has become a sensation on youtube and is now invading the Korean entertainment industry. Read on!
Our friend Joyce recently introduced us to the vocal stylings of her girl, PumaShock (aka Natalie White), and we're becoming a bit obsessed.
Cuz here's the thing. Ms. White has got a voice like butter, million-dollar smile, freaking gorgeous face, swimsuit model body, longstanding devotion to video games (photo above is an homage--can you place it?), deeeeeep affinity for Korean dramas and K-pop... and seems like an all-around, super fun, super nice chick. Are all of these sweet-ass qualities together in one pretty package a common find? Hell no. Is PumaShock, then basically DISGRASIAN's wet dream? Oh, yes.
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 10, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Ethnic Cool, Music, People
VIFF 2009 | Where Are You
By VIFF Correspondent Desiree LealWhere Are You
Japan, 2009, 104min
DIR: Kobayashi Masahiro
If it was the filmmaker's wish to inflict the same sense of helplessness and desperation on his audience that is experienced by his protagonist Ryo, he succeeded. Where Are You is a film that makes you feel trapped as scene after painful scene unfolds in the same steady slow manner as we witness the unraveling of Ryo's life.
Long, drawn out shots of stark solitary moments highlight the psychological space of a boy as he loses everything and goes in search of the one thing he might still have left--the father who abandoned the family long ago. The real search, however, is for Ryo himself. Who will he be now that he has no one to guide him and his dreams are shattered? As Ryo is pushed further into a life of crime, going against his own nature, we see a society that flatly and un-compassionately continues to make demands of him that are unreasonable and unfair with no regard for his desperate situation. This begs the question, who are the real criminals? Hard to watch, but beautifully shot Where Are You is a quiet indictment of a society that demands responsibility without taking any.
Upcoming Screenings:
Tues. Oct. 13, 2:10pm, Empire Granville
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 9, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Afghan Star
By VIFF Correspondent Daniel GuillemetteAfghan Star
Afghanistan/UK, 2008, 88min
DIR: Havana Marking
A documentary about a contest of singers in Afghanistan, Afghan Star is one of the best feature length documentaries of the year. It starts with a pure moment, a young boy singing unaccompanied by anything except his own ardor. After his performance, he explains that the value of music is lifting us from sorrow.
From there, the film turns to following four contestants on the show "Afghan Star", including two out of the three women that applied out of 5 000 applicants. The music is transformed by vanity, rebellion, spectacle, and vote seeking, which makes the text of the show not much different from Canadian Idol. But in an Afghanistan of civil war and violent factions, where music itself has been banned, every preening performance possesses a gravitas that would be impossible elsewhere.
The film sheds light on the sometimes violent political tensions within the country by not seeking them out. Instead, the political encroaches on the music: a contestant is threatened with death after dancing and revealing her hair on stage; another is threatened simply for being on the show; and Taliban fighters vote for their favourite singers with their cell-phones. The depth of the issues is revealed in how a simple pop show becomes distorted by politics.
The film is also extremely intimate - both with its subjects and with Afghanistan itself. Scene-setting shots of cities or rural towns are not detached, exoticised depictions of the locale. Documentaries often shorthand a foreign locale by focusing on what is visually unique, like farmers herding sheep through a rubble strewn road. This film goes further and talks to the farmers. And it turns out they would have voted for Rafi.
Upcoming Screenings:
Thur. Oct. 15, 9:15pm, Empire Granville
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 8, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Mother
By VIFF Correspondent Pennylane ShenMother
South Korea, 2009, 128min
DIR: Bong Joon-ho
South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's fourth feature film Mother captures the director's unique portrayal of human relationships, a distinct characteristic of his films that audiences are slowly coming to expect.
Hye-ja is known as the modest ginseng merchant in her small South Korean town. She is also known as the overprotective mother of Do-joon, a developmentally delayed 27-year-old boy. Feeling suffocated by his mother, Do-joon repeatedly gets himself trouble. His antics and illness take their toll on his mother, who, in addition to selling ginseng, works illegally as an acupuncturist to keep the family afloat. Nonetheless the two are desperately dependant on one another in a way that introduces Oedipal overtones. When Do-joon is accused of murdering a local girl, however, Hye-ja's unconditional dedication is truly tested.
Willing to go to unthinkable lengths to clear her son's name, Hye-ja's character echoes the paternal pathos seen in The Host and the struggles of human complexes from Tokyo! The film is also not without what is becoming director Bong Joon-ho's signature critique of political manipulation and governmental disregard of those outside the norm.
Mother is a masterful work, straddling the line between mystery thriller and expressive drama. It delves deep into the realm of dark, incestuous complexities, portraying familial relationships as endearing and disturbing, hilarious and sad.
Upcoming Screenings:
Mon. Oct. 12, 1:20pm, Empire Granville
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 8, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
By VIFF Correspondent Pennylane ShenFor the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
USA, 2009, 81min
DIR: Gerald Peary
The first of its kind, For the Love of Movies chronicles American film criticism from its humble beginnings to its position today as a major influence on how films are received. Several critics who have become household names are interviewed including Roger Ebert, A.O. Scott, Lisa Schwarzbaum, J. Hoberman and Harry Knowles.
Gerald Peary opens with a nostalgic look early films' awe-inspiring abilities. Critics reminisce about the "good old days" while charming vaudevillian piano plays in the background. Significant players are recognized and their contributions to the history of American film criticism commended, from Manny Farber's poetic voice to James Agee's bridging of high- and low-brow media; and once again with Bosley Crowther's air of politics to Molly Haskell's contribution to feminist criticism. Schools of thought begin to emerge in the early 80's, as the audience is introduced to Andrew Sarris' advocation of the auteur theory and Pauline Kael's rejection of it.
For the Love of Movies delivers an informative look into how film criticism provided an outlet for individual voice and unique styles of writing that flirted with poetry and prose. Finally, the film recognizes how, like so many other practices of its kind, film criticism has also fallen rival to the emergence a new digital era and the DIY generation.
Upcoming Screenings:
Sat. Oct. 10, 6:45pm, Pacific Cinematheque
Sun. Oct. 11, 3:45pm, Vancity Theatre
Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Defamation
By Jordana MahDefamation
Israel/Austria/USA/Denmark, 2008, 93min
DIR Yoav Shamir
Just what does it mean to be anti-Semitic? Is anti-Semitism still as urgent, and wide-spread a problem around the world as it once was? These are among the many questions Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir seeks to answer in this documentary. The topic is, to say the least, sensitive - can anyone argue that anti-Semitism is blown out of proportion without being accused of racism? Shamir analyzes the situation in a manner that is both startling and enlightening to anyone unfamiliar with the subject. The film opens with an interview with Shamir's own Jewish grandmother as she expresses views that would have political correctness fanatics frothing at the mouth, but we learn that it is a common, however diluted, viewpoint of many as the film progresses.
The film follows a variety of characters in Israel, the US and Europe, including Abe Foxman, head of the powerful American Anti-Defamation League, who travels the world spreading the "good word" while, incidentally, raising massive funds for the ADL. Shamir also documents a group of Israeli high school students travelling to Auschwitz, who believe passionately that everyone in the world hates them and is anti-Semitic. The teens are highly conscious of the supposed international hatred directed to them. In one scene two Israeli teen girls attempt to chat with three elderly Polish men; the men speak in Polish about how strange the girls' language is and the girls, thinking the elderly men are calling them "bitches", gasp in outrage and run away. In another scene, two teens confess they are too afraid to leave their hotel rooms at night for fear of being attacked. It is scenes like these that give chilling insight into a culture that Shamir claims is too preoccupied with the hulking memory of the Holocaust and with martyrdom in general. He doesn't spare Jews outside Israel though; Shamir also sets his gaze on the zealousness of the Anti-Defamation League and their right-wing political agenda to smother any and all criticism of Israel. Is the ADL really a champion of the oppressed, Shamir asks, or simply a group of politically correct, ill-informed zealots made up of secular Jews trying to claim back their Jewish identity?
Defamation is expertly filmed, certainly controversial, and definitely thought-provoking. It asks hard questions that many will not feel comfortable answering, let alone contemplating. But Shamir presents a logical and objective analysis that should open a discussion that needs to be had. Highly recommended.
Thur. Oct. 1, 1:50pm, Empire Granville
Sun. Oct. 4, 9:15pm, Ridge
Mon. Oct. 5, 9:45pm, Empire Granville
Tags:
VIFF 2009 | Air Doll (Japan)
By gloria wongAir Doll
Japan, 2009, 116min
DIR Kore-eda Hirokazu
In the latest film from one of Japan's greatest working filmmakers Kore-eda Hirokazu, Hideo is a lonely middle-aged waiter living in a depressing Tokyo apartment. His only company, indeed it seems his only relationship, is with Nozomi, an inflatable sex doll. But Hideo doesn't just use Nozomi just for sex. He talks to her about his day, bathes her, has dinner with her, and kisses her goodbye in the morning. For Hideo, Nozomi is the ideal girlfriend - she is pretty, she dresses up kinky outfits, she doesn't have emotional needs, and she even comes with a convenient removeable vagina. She is perfect, until Hideo leaves for work on day and Nozomi comes to life in the apartment, having grown a 'heart' (perhaps a soul) for no reason in particular. Inevitably in this sort of story, Nozomi ventures out of the house, eager to learn about the world and find beautiful things. She discovers that she can pass as human and gets a job at the local video store. There she meets Junichi and discovers a connection that is mutual, unlike her one-sided relationship with Hideo. He doesn't even blink when she starts to deflate in front of him after accidentally piercing herself at work. Still, she returns to Hideo's at the end of every day, shuts herself off emotionally and dutifully plays the role she was made for until he passes out.
While the director's trademarks - great performances, compact poetic metaphors, obsessively detailed cinematography - and a few of his most persistent themes - fragility, loneliness, survival - are all on display, there is something that doesn't quite work. Based on a short manga by Yoshiie Goda, Air Doll feels slight - which is especially disappointing when one considers Kore-eda's history of taking whisps of ideas and turning them into brillant films (the plots of Nobody Knows, After Life, and Maborosi could all be told in a single haiku). Though there are many lovely moments throughout this challenging film, Air Doll feels, well, empty inside.
Sat. Oct. 3, 9:45pm, Empire Granville
Sun. Oct. 4, 4:00pm, Empire Granville
Schema Magazine's coverage of VIFF 2009 is sponsored by the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
Posted by Alden | October 7, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags:
Candlelight Conservation Dinner | Oct 28, 2009
By Claudia Ho
Being born and raised in Vancouver, I have developed an addiction to eating out, because it gives me an opportunity to try new delectable cuisines from exotic parts of the world. It's one of the things I love about food in general. It's like there's nothing so joyous, so timely and so effective in bringing a diverse group of people to a resounding harmony like an incredibly good plate of food.
That said, it brings me equivocal joy to tell all you food-loving Vancouverites and visitors to Vancouver about Candlelight Conservation Dinner. Sponsored by Tourism Vancouver and BC Hydro Power Smart, over 30 of Vancouver's restaurants will be participating for one day in a power-save initiative, dimming their lights and offering us foodies a delicious opportunity to dine with friends and family...at an affordable price AND raise awareness about being energy conscious.
Mark the date Wednesday, October 28, 2009 and make your reservations sooner rather than later to take advantage of some hot meal deals like 2 for 1 Entrees and Complimentary Appetizer/Dessert!
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 6, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Food
Vancouverites unite to help typhoon victims | October 6, 2009
By Alden E. Habacon
The photos of victims caked in mud, having lost their homes and possibly loved ones,inspire an unspeakable grief. They evoke the very essence of hopelessness. But, despite the ravages of Typhoon Ondoy on the northern part of the Philippines -- a storm that has flooded the majority of the capital of Manila, claimed upwards of 200 lives and resulted in countless more missing -- all hope is not lost. At least not for a group of local Filipino-Canadians who are rallying to help those much, much worse off than they can even imagine. So launches a special edition of Salamat (the Filipino word for Thank You), a night usually reserved to celebrate Filipino Independence Day every June.
Please join these helping hands at a night that will feature the best of Filipino culture, even as Mother Nature threatens the homeland where it began. Some of the city's premiere DJs and performers, including Hedspin, Bles'sed, Kidd, Tropic, Relik, Pluskratch and SVS Style, will entertain while Filipino cuisine will be served, Filipino art will be showcased and the spirit of the Filipino people will be on genuine display. In addition to a minimum donation at the door of $10, a silent auction will also be held to raise funds. Non-monetary donations, such as clothing and blankets, will be collected as well. These items will be shipped to the Philippines in"Balikbayan boxes" thanks to the generous support of Manila Cargo.
Tuesday October 6th, 2009 | 6pm-Late
@ BOX STUDIOS 1622 Franklin Street, Vancouver, BC
Minimum donation: $10
Presented in part by Lorie Corcuera (Enspire Foundation) & Sammie Jo Productions.
For more information visit the Facebook Event Page.
BACKGROUND: On Sept. 26, 2009, Typhoon Ondoy brought a month's worth of rainfall to Metro Manila and nearby areas in just a few hours, causing severe flooding that resulted in the loss of many lives and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. The organizers of Salamat will donate as close to 100 per cent of their proceeds as possible to the Enspire Foundation, an organization that, among other things, builds houses and provides educational opportunities to those less fortunate living in the Philippines. To learn more and to donate, please feel free to visit www.enspire-foundation.org.
More:
CBC.ca | Georgia Straight | CBC News will also do a live broadcast for their 11pm news evening show tomorrow, October 6, 2009 between 11PM and 11:30 PM | ABS-CBN (The Filipino Channel - Channel 186) will also attend and tape our event between 6PM and 8PM.
Tags: Events
VIFF 2009 | We Live in Public
By VIFF Correspondent Daniel GuillemetteWe Live in Public
USA, 2008, 90min
DIR: Ondi Timmoner
While watching director Ondi Timoner's third documentary We Live in Public, I was surprised that I could get through it without a headache. It's a jittery film about excess and it emulates what it depicts. Culled from 5,000 hours of footage collected over 10 years of shooting on video tape, film, digital cameras, security tapes, and camera phones, the movie struggles hard to get as much in as possible - with split screens, fast cuts, and one soundtracked song following another. A few years ago, I wouldn't have been able to watch straight through such a film, but I've clearly grown more comfortable with the twitchy world it portrays.
The movie is in essence a cautionary tale about Josh Harris, one of the original internet tycoons. He is portrayed as an emotionally stunted "charlatan" who is obsessed with web culture and virtual correspondence, and possesses the funds (for a time) to follow that
obsession to extremes. At the fin-de-siecle, he most famously creates "Quiet", an underground bunker in Manhattan, where residents ate, drank, drugged, and shot guns for free, but lived with video cameras everywhere, and were subjected to fascistic interrogations.
After the project is shut down by city officials on January 1st, 2000, Harris begins planning his next project, weliveinpublic.com, where the cameras are trained on him and his girlfriend. On the web and in life, his girlfriend leaves him and he loses most of his assets in the dotcom crash.
Throughout the movie, Harris acknowledges the dangers and stupidity of his projects, but he embraces the fascism and the emotional poverty of virtual connection in pursuit of fame and a public life. He also argues that we all will too. At the Q & A after the screening, Timoner asked how many of us use Facebook. About 90% of the audience had a hand raised. She then asked if she could take a picture of us for the movie's website, but, before we had time to respond, her camera-phone had already clicked.
Winner, Grand Jury Prize, Sundance 2009
Upcoming Screenings:
Fri. Oct. 9, 1:20pm, Granville Theatre
Wed. Oct. 14, 9:30pm, Granville Theatre
Schema Magazine's coverage of VIFF 2009 is sponsored by the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 4, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Antichrist
By VIFF Correspondent Daniel GuillemetteAntichrist
Denmark/Sweden/France/Italy, 2009, 109min
DIR: Lars von Trier
Disturbing! Abysmal! Trash! The New Film by Lars Von Trier.
On opening night of the film festival, tension ran through the crowd as the most disturbing scene in Lars Von Trier's new film Antichrist began to unspool. Fists started to clench, legs were crossed, and, at its height, two powerful reactions were clearly heard - a terrible scream and laughter. Antichrist is a film that provokes little beyond repulsion or humourous disbelief and, in that way, it is a strange and awful failure. To its credit, this fact remains uncertain until about the mid-way mark when a fox bares it's teeth at Willem Dafoe and declares, "Chaos reigns!"
From that nadir of silly, it was lost.
Set in an unrecognizable Washington state (it was filmed in Denmark and Germany), the film can be read as a pounding (also brutal, relentless, and heavy-handed) assault on feminism and American reinvention. At one point Dafoe's character shares some very American-sounding pop psychology: "If you can conceive and believe, you can achieve." But in this film brimming with paranoid anxiety, medieval symbols and superstitions, von Trier of ancient Europe says this isn't so.
Antichrist focuses on the relationship between an unnamed couple, "She" (of vaguely European origins) and her American therapist husband. With the woman mired in medicated and destructive grief after the death of her young son, the couple head to a cabin in the woods called Eden for her rehabilitation. This allows von Trier to regressively re-frame the woman's despair as a force of nature and chaotic energy, alluded to as a fox, a deer, and a zombie crow. She is simply a conduit for nature itself. Her husband's (and the audience's) inability to understand her depth is immaterial; von Trier puts forward the medieval argument that nothing can be done since, at heart, von Trier argues, she is evil. Her evil plays out in awful and ridiculous ways as when she bolts a planer into her husband's leg. The longer he has to drag himself along, the more this becomes a gag prop.
It is a disturbing portrait of a woman because it is so strongly argued. It's as if von Trier is trying to shut down forty years of feminism. Fortunately, feminism has reinvented a lot of the world outside the cinema. Antichrist is all the more ridiculous for not being able to see that. It's scary too.
Thur. Oct. 1, 9:45pm, Granville Theatre
Sat. Oct. 3, 11:00am, Granville Theatre
Schema Magazine's coverage of VIFF 2009 is sponsored by the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 4, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Sun Spots
By VIFF Correspondent Leah YinSun Spots
China, 2009, 112min
DIR: Yang Heng
This year's Vancouver International Film Festival includes 35 features
from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the
Philippines and Thailand, otherwise known as the Dragons and Tigers
series. Among the pioneering film makers being highlighted is Chinese
director Yang Heng, who brings his second feature film Sun Spots to
damp and rainy Vancouver.
A member of the TuJiazu ethnic minority of the region of Xiang Xi in
south central China, Yang was born and raised in the tranquil agrarian
town of Jishou in Hunan province, and later graduated from Hunan
Audiovisual University and the Beijing Film Academy.
As a player in China's emerging digital cinema movement, Yang utilizes
the sharp aesthetic and cool objectivity of digital filmmaking to
emphasize the acute "reality" of China today. Sun Spots depicts the
life of a young gangster named Ah Li who lives aimlessly and lawlessly
in a sleepy town in southern China. The story develops into a love
triangle between Ah Li and a girl in the same town who uses him as a
temporary rebound from a recent breakup but has a hard time making a
final decision about her ex. Yang's razor-sharp, uncomfortably lengthy
scenes are less about telling a story than they are about forcing the
audience to scrutinize the projected film screen like never before.
In terms of theme, stylization and cinematic approach, Sun Spots is an
extension of Betelnut, Yang's stunning 2005 debut. Told through a
sequence of seemingly modernist landscape photographs, audiences must
embrace his filming technique with patience. Yang is a minimalist. His
camera is consistently set on a tripod in establishing shots with no
motion, no panning and no cuts. Much of the viewing experience comes
down to how one takes the time to interpret the details - in the depth
of space, the body language of characters, the little-to-no dialogue
between characters that often leaves unbearably long stretches of
silence, the ambiance of river streams, and the lulling buzz of
distant traffic. From beer bottle labels and plastic sandals in the
foreground, to oral fixations of smokers in the mid ground, to the
industrial forms and fumes in the backdrop, Yang archives with
exquisite composition the minutiae of a vigorously morphing rural and
urban China.
Thur. Oct. 1, 1:30pm, Pacific Cinematheque
Sun. Oct. 4, 6:45pm, Pacific Cinematheque
Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | It Came From Kuchar
By VIFF Correspondent Leah YinIt Came from Kuchar
USA/Canada, 2009, 86min
DIR: Jennifer M. Kroot
Need some inspiration for your next Halloween party? Look no further,
It Came from Kuchar is your direct source for spooky, cheap DIY
solutions. This documentary takes us into the Kuchar brothers' mad
scientist experiments in film making, an approach that emerges purely
out of play, spontaneity and temperamental imagination. Using 8mm film
cameras, the Kuchar brothers created a campy aesthetic all their own,
blending over-the-top characters with outrageous makeup and costumes,
and hand-done DIY special effects.
The NYC underground film scene emerging out of the early 1960's
thrived off the experimental works of the Kuchar brothers alongside
Andy Warhol, Kenneth Anger, and Stan Brakhage. While Warhol nosed out
a tactic of combining art and business, the Kuchar brothers had no
interest in commercializing their creativity and never cared to expand
their shoestring budgets. Their home-brew productions mutated the
glitz and glam sensibilities of Hollywood into cheap and short monster
mash fantasies. With overblown titles like "The Wet Destruction Of The
Atlantic Empire", "Sins of the Fleshapoids", "Lust for Ecstasy" and
"Thundercrack", their 'low-fi' shorts gained a cult following amongst
the fey crowd of gay artistes, bohemians and snotty beatnik thinkers.
Director Jennifer Kroot was both George Kuchar's student at the San
Francisco Art Institute and an actress in his films during the '90's.
While Kroot's documentary style lacks flare, it does a nice job
balancing out the raucousness of the Kuchar brothers' film clips.
Along the way, audiences gains an appreciation for the method in their
madness. The brothers (well, mostly George) spout out enthusiastic
accounts of their DIY filmmaking process and their use of themselves,
friends and family members as actors in almost all of their
productions. Never interviewed together, the one-on-one time with
both George and Mike help contrast the twins' opposite personalities.
George is clearly the quick talker and extravert; brimming with
awkward honesty and earnest affection. Mike, on the other hand, is
anti-social, soft-spoken and has zero on-camera presence. Naturally,
Kroot's doc devotes more of its homage time to George Kuchar's life
than his brother's.
It Came from Kuchar offers a deep look into the Kuchars' inexhaustible
commitment to play through filmmaking. Kroot could have built more
texture around the 60's Underground and the Sexual Revolution that
were both in full swing in America at the time, but she does touch
upon issues around the brothers' sexuality and their use of film as an
outlet for their angst. Overall, this doc is not to be taken too
seriously, much like a Kuchar classic.
Upcoming Screenings:
Thur. Oct. 8, 9:15pm, Pacific Cinematheque
Schema Magazine's coverage of VIFF 2009 is sponsored by the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 4, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | Around the World with Joseph Stiglitz
By VIFF Correspondent Pennylane ShenAround the World with Joseph Stiglitz
France, 2008, 87min
DIR: Jacques Sarasin
Around the World with Joseph Stiglitz is Jacques Sarasin's documentary
about the inherent inequalities and destructive consequences of the
once-promising globalization phenomenon. Taking a particular left-wing
perspective, the film criticizes the corruption and hypocrisy of
trans- and multi-national corporations, global trade, the IMF and the
World Bank. It is no surprise then that the film follows authority on
the subject, Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.
Stiglitz's nostalgic musings around his humble hometown of Gary,
Indiana are inter-spliced with profiles of struggling farmers in
Botswana and Ecuador and exploited workers in industry-dominated
countries like India and China. Poetic still shots of Stiglitz sitting
thoughtfully amidst the dilapidated Gary interiors redeem his
otherwise distracting overacting.
Described, perhaps by the filmmakers, as a "hard-hitting documentary
about the perils of globalization," Around the World with Joseph
Stiglitz is slow-moving and becomes increasingly commonplace. The film
lacks the artistic cohesion and efficacy of its genre contemporaries
(like Life and Debt and T-shirt Travels). Not taking away from the
film's significantly important subject matter, its unfortunate
banality prompts the question, "is this film hitting anyone at all?"
Upcoming screenings:
Wed. Oct. 7, 6:30pm, Granville Theatre
Mon. Oct. 12, 12:20pm, Granville Theatre
Schema Magazine's coverage of VIFF 2009 is sponsored by the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
Posted by Claudia Ho | October 4, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | This Week's Reviews
By Team Schema
As continuation of Schema's annual coverage of Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF), here are this week's most recent film reviews:
The Man Who Bottled Clouds
Brazil, 2008. 105 mins. DIR: Lírio Ferreira
Upcoming screenings: Fri. Oct. 9, 6:45pm, Ridge Theatre | Thur. Oct. 15, 9:15pm, Granville Theatre
Review by Leah Yin
Around the World with Joseph Stiglitz
France, 2008, 87min
DIR: Jacques Sarasin
Upcoming screenings:
Wed. Oct. 7, 6:30pm, Granville Theatre
Mon. Oct. 12, 12:20pm., Granville Theatre
Review by Pennylane Shen
It Came from Kuchar
USA/Canada, 2009, 86min
DIR: Jennifer M. Kroot
Upcoming screenings:
Thur. Oct. 1, 10;45am, Pacific Cinematheque
Thur. Oct. 8, 9:15pm, Pacific Cinematheque
Review by Leah Yin
Sun Spots
China, 2009, 112min
DIR: Yang Heng
Review by Leah Yin
We Live in Public
USA, 2008, 90min
DIR: Ondi Timmoner
*Winner, Grand Jury Prize, Sundance 2009*
Upcoming Screenings:
Fri. Oct. 9, 1:20pm, Granville Theatre | Wed. Oct. 14, 9:30pm, Granville Theatre
Review by Daniel Guillemette
Antichrist
Denmark/Sweden/France/Italy, 2009, 109min
DIR: Lars von Trier
Review by Daniel Guillemette
Stay tuned for more reviews.
Schema Magazine's coverage of VIFF 2009 is sponsored by the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival. November 11-15, 2009
Posted by Alden | October 5, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
VIFF 2009 | The Man Who Bottled Clouds (2008)
By VIFF Correnspondent Leah Yin
The Man Who Bottled Clouds
Brazil, 2008, 105 mins
DIR: Lírio Ferreira
Bold, vibrant and tropical-colored, this music documentary playfully paints a portrait of Brazil's doctor of the Baião, Humberto Teixeira (1915-1979), the man who innovated and popularized Baião, a rhythmic rural folk Northeastern music style that inspired a generation of Latin musicians and impacted the later Bossa Nova movement.
A collaboration between filmmaker Lirio Ferreira and Teixeira's daughter Denise Dummont, The Man Who Bottles Clouds is a kaleidoscopic assemblage of heart-to-heart conversations, live concerts and archival footage featuring a gang of music icons reflecting enthusiastically on Humberto and the music scene of the '30's and '40's. Celebrity and crony close-ups are well balanced with shots of the land and people in their day-to-day, giving viewers an authentic feel for both urban and rural Brazil. Charming and innovative, the film is styled with snippets of 3D effects and animated archival portraits that subtly wink or smile. Yet, in the end, the film bares tenderness at its core. An intimate conversation between mother and daughter quietly reveals deep tension, disappointment and unresolved feelings about loved ones passed.
Like a holiday feast, this delightful documentary offers audiences a full course Brazilian buffet of personal narrative, cultural history and intimate stage performances. Expect the film equivalent of food coma by the end of the show.
Sun. Oct. 4, 11:40am, Granville Theatre
Fri. Oct. 9, 6:45pm, Ridge Theatre
Thur. Oct. 15, 9:15pm, Granville Theatre
Schema Magazine's coverage of VIFF 2009 is sponsored by the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
Posted by Alden | October 4, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Film
Diversity Ad for IKEA Canada (by zig)
By Alden E. Habacon. Originally found in www.stimulantonline.ca
Maybe it's just me, but could this be the first time a black couple has been portrayed in a North American IKEA ad? In the last couple of weeks, television sets in Canada have been sharing in the inside voice of a rather affluent couple in an ad for IKEA, the Swedish-owned international home products retailer. IKEA ads have always been creative, quirky and very memorable. Sometimes even racy (see below)! Ikea ads however are not really known to acknowledge the ethno-cultural diversity of their customers. Perhaps that's about to change.
From Stimulant:
This spot for Ikea Canada by zig utilizes the voice of David Hyde Pierce (a.k.a. Niles Crane from TV's Frasier) to help exude the sense of serenity that some might feel when surrounded by an organized, accident-free home environment. Wait, accident free? As this commercial illustrates, Ikea products like the PAX wardrobe system help to avoid shoe avalanches. That's right. They thought of that.
Watch the ad at stimulantonline.ca
Knowing that everything on TV is intentional, especially in advertising, I wonder if this ad would have been imaginable prior to Barack Obama's administration? Was this meant to appeal to a new public psyche that sees a visibly diverse couple as the quintessential North American consumer? Or has the Toronto-and-Chicago-based idea agency zig recognized the make up of Canada's mainstream? Either way, it's about time!
Posted by Alden | October 6, 2009 | Comments (0)Tags: Advertising, Commentary, TV
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