The 2014 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival opened its 30th anniversary season last week to great excitement with George Takei and To Be Takei. The 2014 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival runs from May 01 – May 11 at the Director’s Guild of America (DGA), CGV Cinemas located in Koreatown, the Tateuchi Democracy Forum at NCPD in Little Tokyo, and the historic Art Theatre of Long Beach.
This week the festival continues as 8Asians is the proud Community Co-Presenter of various screenings this year, the first being Jeepney:
The Philippine jeepney has long been considered a symbol of Filipino ingenuity, but in Esy Casey’s film JEEPNEY, the military relic-turned mass transit vehicle represents even more. Handcuffed by regulations and taxation as well as overpricing of fuel from multinational oil corporations, the jeepney is teetering on the brink of extinction. Repressive conditions make it difficult to earn a living wage for the jeepney owners. Known for its distinctive artwork and customizations, the jeepney as an artform also represents a form of expression that is akin to any indigenous artform in the Philippines. Just like other indigenous art, practitioners are dwindling.
JEEPNEY, the film, captures the complexity of the situation through articulate and revealing interviews. From the artisans and crafts people that create the jeepney’s distinct look to the drivers who struggle to make ends meet, Casey uses their personal stories to give an illuminating glimpse into one of the most iconic symbols of the Philippines. Beautifully shot with vivid colors and textures worthy of the jeepney itself, the film, at times, tells the story through the jeepney’s perspective. There are moments when we observe, through the jeepney’s own unique POV, the people and the locations these vehicles service, and how this social ecosystem would be impacted without this affordable means of transportation.
Politics aside, JEEPNEY celebrates the Filipino people’s undying will to express themselves whether voicing out injustice of the government, ecological statements, indigenous rights, or simply expressing individuality through the artwork of the jeepney. There is no better example of this than that of the spangled hot rod predecessor of the sports utility vehicle that has provided cheap transportation as well as individual and national pride. One would find it a much different country if there were no jeepneys roaming the crowded city streets adorned with tassles, chrome horses, pinstripes and hand painted mudguards.
Jeepney screens twice at LAAPFF 2014:
-Monday, May 05 7:00 PM Tateuchi Democracy Forum
-Friday, May 09 5:30 PM Tateuchi Democracy Forum
You can buy tickets using the following discount code: 8Asians
- Excited
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- Angry
