No, I’m not kidding you. Aside from the heavy cultural significance of the word, the leaders of this protest also cite that giving the bar with such a name would help support sexual harassment, mental illness, and a negative economic impact with its indirect support for the sex trade and/or pornography. Oh yeah, and don’t forget that rapist in the area who was targeting Asian women. Wait, what? These are all related?

I hate to be the one to say this, but I can’t help think these folks are overreacting in this situation, and wrongly defining the history of Japanese geisha. They were dancing and musical entertainers, and nowhere did violence and overt sexuality come to play in their formal occupation. No, geishas aren’t prostitutes. Maybe some of them were but hey, it’s the oldest job in the world.  If anything, they should be focusing their outrage on two Asian American businessmen with a tired and unoriginal idea for a new bar, or at least ask why someone would want to go to a Geisha bar in the heart of Chinatown. Wrong culture, people.

Also, what does the NorCal rapist have to do with this? Did he have a geisha fetish or something and this bar is his one chance to finally hang out in the open? I don’t see the connection.

It’s good to see politically active Asian Americans keeping an eye out for their community but I’m finding it hard to support a group who base their protests on a narrow, sensational definition of a single word, especially when it directly affects two men bringing more business to Chinatown.

PS. And I will say that I used to live down the street from the Geisha House in Hollywood; while I disliked the name, never once did I experience a down turn in the civic quality of life. All of that was caused by the Hummer driving douchebags who would congregate in the neighborhood.

(h/t: spamfriedrice)

When was the last time you saw a trailer and you were overwhelmed with the urge to see that movie? Ever since I watched the trailer to Ocean of Pearls, I’ve been feeling that way. Bummed because I missed this movie at the 2008 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival where it received the Grand Jury Award and Audience Award for Narrative Feature, this movie can now be seen theatrically in limited markets. (See screening schedule). Lucky Bay Area folks can see this film at Landmark’s Bridge Theater in SF from August 21 – August 27, 2009.

A film which explores issues of identity which many Asian Americans can relate to, “Amrit Singh is of two worlds, but belongs to neither. A turban-wearing Sikh, he has lived his life in North America out of sorts and out of place, cast adrift at an uneasy crossroads between East and West. But when he is offered a prestigious position as a transplant surgeon in a Detroit hospital, the young doctor sees it as a opportunity to start fresh. He struggles to be the man he believes he is and at the same time the person he wants to be. His ambitious pursuit of success, however eventually leads to tragedy and it is only in defining his singular identity that he finds peace.”

Ocean of Pearls is based on the real-life experiences of director Sarab Singh Neelam, a physician based in the Detroit area (see this awesome interview and story done by Metromode). Written by the award-winning screenwriter V. Prasad, the film stars Omid Abtahi, Heather McComb, Navi Rawat, KT Thangavelu, and Rena Owen and speaks to the universal challenge of how people (not only Sikhs) must balance romance, family, ethics and spirituality in today’s complex world.

From the director, Sarab Singh Neelam

s a practicing Sikh living in the United States, I have undertaken this effort to reach out broadly to various communities after the events of 9/11. This tragedy has led to hate crimes – especially against Sikhs. It is extremely important to note, however, that this film and its characters are fictitious, though loosely based on my own experiences and observations. This film is not intended to be a definitive depiction of Sikhs or Sikhism. It is one characters journey to find inner peace.

“Ocean of Pearls” opens on Friday, August 21, at Landmark’s Bridge Theatre in San Francisco. (Updated Screening Schedule)

Bay Area folks, lucky you… 8Asians is doing another ticket giveaway!

TICKET GIVEAWAY FOR SAN FRANCISCO OPENING!
Courtesy of Landmark Theatres, 8Asians is giving away a free pair of tickets for Opening Weekend 8/21-8/23 in SF (Landmark’s Bridge Theatre))!

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

(Contest will be closed at 11:59pm Pacific Time on Thursday night, 8/20)

Moye and I recently watched “Paper Heart,” which was a charming blend of documentary and fiction in film making. China’s most noted contemporary filmmaker, Jia Zhang-ke uses a similar technique in “24 City” (二十四城記 / Er shi si cheng ji), by fusing documentary and fiction to tell a tale of the transformation of the China of the past 50 years into the new, hypercapitalist China.

Shot in disorientingly vivid high-def video, “24 City” chronicles the dramatic closing of a State‐owned munitions factory and its conversion into luxury high‐rise apartments. Given the name Factory 420 as an internal military security code, the Chengdu Engine Group was founded in 1958 to produce aviation engines, and saw years of prosperous activity. Now abandoned, the factory was sold for millions to real‐estate developers, it is being transformed into an emblem of market economy: an apartment complex called 24 City.

As the buildings are demolished around them and their past is wiped away, former workers (some played by themselves, others by actors, including Joan Chen as Gu Minhua “Xiao Hua” / 小花) reminisce about the vanished world where they lived and worked. Meanwhile, a materialistic younger generation jettisons their parents’ traditions to pursue wealth and consumer happiness.

From the director, Jia Zhang-Ke (賈樟柯)

This film is made up of interviews with five workers, who share their real-life experiences with us, and of fictional monologues by three women. I decided to integrate documentary and fiction in this parallel flow because this seemed to me the best way of representing the last half-century of Chinese history. As far as I’m concerned, History is always a blend of facts and imagination.

The stories of these characters, both real and fictional, center on a state-owned factory which supplies the Air Force and other sectors of the military. The factory was founded 60 years ago, and was moved to Chengdu City 50 years ago. It has weathered all of the successive political movements under communist government. I’m not interested in chronicling this history as such, but rather in seeing how a century of experiments with Socialism has impacted on the fate of Chinese people. To understand the complexity of the social changes, we need to listen to the direct and in-depth testimonies of the people who have lived through them.

Presented by Cinema Guild, “24 City” opens on Friday, July 31, at Landmark’s Lumiere Theatre in San Francisco, and Landmark’s Shattuck Cinema in Berkeley. Also opens August 21at Camera Cinemas in San Jose. (Updated Screening Schedule)

Bay Area folks, lucky you… 8Asians is doing another ticket giveaway!

TICKET GIVEAWAY FOR SAN FRANCISCO OPENING!
Courtesy of Landmark Theatres, 8Asians is giving away a free pair of tickets for Opening Night 7/31 in SF (Landmark’s Lumiere Theatre) or Berkeley (Landmark’s Shattuck Theatre)!

All you have to do is to leave a comment with your preferred location and one lucky winner will be selected to go!

(Contest will be closed at 11:59pm Pacific Time on Thursday night, 7/30)

Ever since my cousin in the Bay Area added this guy to her Facebook, I’ve been watching and paying attention. And if you happen to be close, wedding and portrait photographer Junshien has got to be worth every penny in my opinion.

So far, every single photograph that he’s posted on his blog is done in such a way that I just sigh and wish that it didn’t cost so much to fly a great photographer out to do a wedding. Or actually, any sort of photograph.

I guess you could say that I’ve fallen hard for his photographs. They all seem to speak the romance between two people, but with vibrant colors and amazing crispness and clarity. Each one tells a story about those that are in love. At least the wedding and engagement sessions do. The rest are the type of things you’d expect to see on the cover of Rolling Stones or some magazine where you just wish you had an inkling of the picture taking talent that he has.

In the end, it’s all about right time, and right place. And I think that if you went with this photographer, he seems to always have a knack for capturing that particular moment.

Did I mention the vibrant colors? No? See, I’m just in awe.