8 Asians

UPDATE: Congrats to the winner! “alicewong” will be seeing the movie this weekend at Landmark’s Shattuck! Also, filmmaker Will Tiao will speak with audiences for Q&As on Friday, February 26, at AMC Cupertino Square 16 in Cupertino at 1:40 showtimes, and at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley at 7:05 showtime (following the Shattuck Q&A will be an informal “meet-and-greet” at Lot 68 Lounge at same location.)

Formosa Betrayed has been on my radar for years and as I was driving to a screening of this film last week, I was afraid that I’d built up so many expectations in my mind that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it.

A few months ago, I met up with Will Tiao and Adam Kane in Formosa Films’ Hollywood offices on the eve of my own trip to Taiwan. At that time, Formosa Betrayed had just been picked up for distribution by Screen Media Films. We discussed how Formosa Betrayed is not a documentary and how the filmmakers were trying to create a great narrative story with the true untold history of Taiwan as a backdrop. Bravo to the filmmakers for telling an important story that has been silenced for too long. Although the characters are fictionalized, I was impressed by the accuracy regarding many of the historical events mentioned in the film.

After the screening, I met a couple of ladies who had questions about Taiwanese history. The movie sparked a wonderful conversation between us — one of the ladies was of Taiwanese descent, but said that her family never talked about “this stuff” because her parents sat on opposite sides when it came to Taiwanese politics. I encouraged her to use events she saw in the movie as a springboard for her to have conversations with her parents — not about politics, but about her family history and how historical events shaped them.

Although much of the storyline is through the eyes of a American (white) FBI agent played by James Van Der Beek, the hero(es) of the movie are Taiwanese. I often hear Asian Americans complain that they don’t see their stories being told on the silver screen. Kudos to Will Tiao for taking the bull by the horns to write, fundraise for, and produce the story he wanted to tell.

My conversation with Will & Adam was in the back of my mind as I headed to Asia; without even seeing the film, it had already inspired me to ask questions and learn more about my family history in Taiwan. Many of the things depicted in the movie were things that people were not allowed to talk about in Taiwan for decades. I am grateful Taiwan is now a democracy and that people can be free to ask questions about subjects that had previously been unmentionable.

I plan to see the movie again during opening weekend– this time with my Mom and other friends. Will you see this?

To make it easier for some Bay Area folks: 8Asians is doing a ticket giveaway!

TICKET GIVEAWAY FOR BERKELEY OPENING!
Courtesy of Landmark Theatres, 8Asians is giving away a free pair of tickets for Opening weekend (2/26, 2/27, 2/28) in Berkeley (Landmark’s Shattuck Theatre)

All you have to do is to leave a comment with why you want to see this film and one lucky winner will be selected to go!

(Contest will be closed at 12 noon on Thursday, 2/25/2010)

Selected engagement information is located after the jump. [Updated screening schedule]
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Last week, former Sunnyvale, CA mayor and current city council member Otto Lee celebrated his safe return from Iraq with a wonderful welcome back party of over 300 guests. Numerous Asian American public officials came out that evening, including California State Controller John Chiang, State Assembly Member Ted Lieu, State Assembly Member Paul Fong, Cupertino Vice Mayor Gilbert Wong, Campbell Mayor Evan Low, former Mountain View mayor and city council member Margaret Abe-Koga, Palo Alto city council member Yiaway Yeh and many more.

Lee ensured that the event commemorated more than his return. Other attendees included many other veterans and military support groups who spoke about their missions, such as Gold Star Moms (an organization for mothers of fallen soldiers) and Blue Star Moms (mothers of current soldiers serving in conflicts). Hearing about their sacrifices reminded us not only what those in our armed services sacrifice for our country, but what their families sacrifice as well.

The highlight of the evening was Lee’s heartfelt gratitude for all the support that he and his family received while away in Iraq. He shared an overview of his experience in Iraq, along with some photos. Most heartwarming was Lee thanking his mother for her ongoing support with flowers, while tears flowed down her face. Commander Otto Lee, thank you for you and your family’s sacrifice. Welcome back!

Formosa Betrayed is a feature film set in the 1980’s about FBI Agent Jake Kelly’s investigation of the brutal murder of a Taiwanese-American professor on U.S. soil. With the help of his partner Tom Braxton and a sharp Chicago police detective, Agent Kelly discovers that the murderers have fled to Taiwan. Inspired by real events, the film follows the intertwining and complicated story of the Taiwanese and the United States governments, as well as Taiwan’s emergence as a country once ruled under marshal law but now thriving with democracy.

After making the rounds at several film festivals, Formosa Betrayed was picked up last fall for theatrical release by Screen Media Films and will premiere in select cities during the weekend of February 28th (For those of you who know something about Taiwan, “2/28″ is historically significant.)

The annual Lunar New Year celebration organized by local Bay Area Taiwanese American organization featured a special panel discussion about Formosa Betrayed, with director Adam Kane (whose TV credits include Heroes, Pushing Daisies, Mercy), actor Tzi Ma (Rush Hour, 24), actor, writer & producer Will Tiao, actors Henry Chu and Adam Wang, and associate producer Evita Huang. Lead actor, James Van Der Beek of Dawson’s Creek fame was on the East Coast for press interviews and was unable to attend. Ho Chie Tsai, founder of TaiwaneseAmerican.org, moderated the discussion before opening it up to general Q&A.

I first learned of the film when Will Tiao was looking for investors in the film a few years back. Since then, Will raised over $5 million+ dollars in “shares” of $25,000 chunks as he literally traveled across the United States and Taiwan to raise money to finance the film, even before a script was written or any actors or directors were attached to the film. As Will stated, if you want to tell stories that others are unaware or unwilling to finance, you have to do it yourself, just as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck did with Good Will Hunting.

Actor Tzi Ma said he has never met a more cohesive and committed Asian ethnic group as he has with Taiwanese Americans, which personally doesn’t surprise me. When an ethnic group and country like Taiwan are marginalized by China and — through China’s efforts — the world community, there is a certain survivalist mentality instilled in the community.

Henry and Adam are fairly new actors cutting their teeth in Hollywood and are happy to have real speaking roles in a major film production – one of the cast members was selected during an open casting call in Chicago. Evita, a recent college graduate, was amazed at the opportunity to be deeply involved with the production and promotion of the film, given that most of her fellow peers are still working on the production assistant level.

There were a few controversial topics regarding the narrative of Formosa Betrayed, including the complaint over featuring a lead white male actor in a film about Taiwanese history. Will Taio and the other writer/producers decided to move forward with James Van Der Beek to make the film more appealing to a mass audience that extended past the Taiwanese or Asian American community, much like how the character of Sydney Schanberg provided important context about Cambodia and Dith Pran in The Killing Fields. In this case, James Van Der Beek’s character would be able to introduce facts and background information in the plot to the audience. Before directing this film, director Adam Kane admitted that he didn’t know much about Taiwan or had ever traveled there.

Another controversy was the location of the actual production, parts of which were filmed in Bangkok rather than Taiwan. Will and Adam decided this for many reasons, including maintaining the film’s setting in the 1980s, which was hard to find in Taiwan since not too many places in Taipei resemble Taiwan in the 1980s due its rapid modernization. Secondly, Bangkok boasts a better film industry infrastructure over Taipei, and shooting the film in Taiwan would require them to  ship equipment there. Thirdly, they feared that the sensitive nature of this political thriller would have been too costly to film in Taipei and cause their production shut down for whatever reason. (The ruling party for most of Taiwan’s rule since the 1940’s has been the KMT, which regained rule in 2008). I also believe a major reason was purely financial: it has to cost less to shoot a film in Bangkok than Taipei. With all the different location and limited budget, it’ll be interesting to see if one can tell if the film was shot in Bangkok instead of Taipei.

They also answered my own question over the movie’s title and why they picked Formosa Betrayed instead of something along the lines of “Taiwan Betrayed.”  Their response was interesting and logical: Taiwan was given the name Ilha Formosa by the Portuguese, which means “Beautiful Island.” If the name “Taiwan” was used, most audiences who know little to nothing about the country would not care to see such a movie. However, “Formosa” sounds more ambiguous and mysterious, which could intrigue audiences into at least learning more about the film.

After the jump, check out a quick interview with Ho Chie Tsai, founder of TaiwaneseAmerican.org, before the Q&A panel with the panelists before they addressed the crowd. Once the whole panel discussion is available online, I’ll be sure to link to it in the comments.

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Biochemist by day and comedian by night, Boston-based Joe Wong made his second appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman the other night, and to no surprise, was not as nervous as the first time around. Joe had a lot of new material which I had not heard of in his five minute set, which got a nice reception. Joe’s next big gig will be performing for President Obama for the The White House Radio & Television Correspondents dinner in the spring. You can catch him again in San Francisco from April 1st to the 3rd.

Harvard senior and basketball phenom Jeremy Lin has just be named one of the top 11 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award from an original list of 73 – an award given to “the top collegiate male basketball point guard annually spanning across all divisions.” Congratulations to Jeremy!

You can help Jeremy win this award by voting for him at www.cousyaward.com – The player that receives the most fan votes will receive one vote toward the final committee vote. Fan voting will run one month – beginning February 5 and will conclude March 5. Jeremy has got some stiff competition, including nominees from such storied programs as Duke, Michigan State, Villanova and Kentucky.

Jeremy has gotten quite a bit of press lately: This past week, Jeremy was interviewed on NPR. And last week, Sports Illustrated did a story on him and the Harvard men’s basketball team.

I’m no fashionisto — as many people can tell by the way I dress — but I’ve dropped by the store a few times to say “hello.” The Hayes Valley boutique is inviting and showcases a wide selection of clothing and accessories and even gets glowing Yelp reviews! I’m always amazed and impressed by entrepreneurs like Cathy, because I can imagine that it can be particularly challenging to jump-start, maintain, and grow a retail business.

In 2006, Cathy and her business partner, Corina launched Tobi.com, a “1-to-1 shopping” experience with personal stylists you can call, chat, and email with about any questions you may have. Most recently in 2009, to further build upon their fun and personal online shopping experience, Cathy and Corina launched a web video series, aptly branded, Tobi TV.

Make sure to tune in — and check out all the episodes — as Cathy and Corina visit designer showrooms, speak candidly about buying for the season, and what trends they love to share with their customers. Also, a bit of insider information, follow Tobi on Facebook and Twitter to access exclusive giveaways, stylist tips, and more on fashion.

After serving a year in Iraq as a logistics officer helping with the U.S. withdrawal, former mayor, current Sunnyvale council member and Navy reservist Otto Lee returned back to the Bay Area. The last time I saw Otto was back in July when Otto was on leave from Iraq after serving there for six months. As I have mentioned before, I cannot imagine leaving my wife and two young children and spending a year in a war zone; I’ve always been amazed at his wife Sally’s strength when Otto was away. Whenever I had heard of any bombings and causalities of war in Iraq, I always prayed for Otto’s safety.

For those interested in honoring Commander Otto Lee, there is a dinner for him on Friday, February 5th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm:

“Please join Congressmembers Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda, & Zoe Lofgren in welcoming home Commander Otto Lee and sharing our sincere appreciation for his service in Iraq

Dynasty Restaurant
10123 N. Wolfe Rd.
Cupertino, CA 95014

Individual $125
Table: $1,250
Event Co-Host: $2,400

Please RSVP at rsvp@ottolee.org / (415) 850-8628. A portion of your contributions will be donated to USO to benefit our troops and their families.”