8Asians is proud to be a community co-presenter of Love Arcadia at the 2015 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF). As a reader of 8Asians, please enjoy a discount to this and other films using the code: 8ASIANS15
Screenings
Monday, April 27 at 7:00 PM (Downtown Independent, DTLA)
Wednesday, April 29 at 9:15 PM (Japanese American National Museum, Little Tokyo)
Happy-go-lucky Jake Chen (Anthony Ma) puts both heart and soul into perfecting his signature blends of sweet, creamy, and chewy goodness at his parents’ modest boba tea shop located in a sleepy corner plaza of sunny and suburban Arcadia, CA in the heart of the “626” (an area code symbolic of the material home of recent highly educated and solidly middle class Chinese immigrants from Taiwan and the Mainland). This influx of high rolling investors and consumers as new additions to the Chinese diaspora in the U.S. and specifically here in the West Coast, plays a central critical role in the plot of this big hearted, Taiwanese American romantic comedy-drama. As home-grown as it comes, director Lawrence Gan and screenwriter Theresa Chiu concoct this affable micro indie as both love letter to celebrate the continued, strong bonds of family and friendship in the contemporary Chinese American community and as a signpost of the burgeoning powerhouse, immigrant community planting roots and asserting economic and cultural influences in CA and the U.S.
Jake’s family business faces extinction when Joanna Lee (Michelle Huang), the precocious, no holds barred, uptight daughter of a Taiwanese real estate developer, steps into his shop to avail herself of wi-fi and simultaneously, sweeps him off his feet by her candor and confidence. Her presence sets off a chain reaction in Jake’s daily life forcing him to question his own direction. Should he go off to college like his peers and/or pursue his dream of becoming a chef? His contented attachment to home and hearth, his kind, supportive BFFs, Louie (Arvin Lee) and Samantha (Lana McKissack), and his little patch in the Shire may not be enough anymore. Can love conquer his Hobbit-like ways and teach him a thing or two about growing up and realizing his full potential?
The sugar rush comes to a head at Louie’s big brother’s wedding, where we get served cake, Shakespearian dramatics of a best man’s speech, and resolutions to long-standing family and community grievances. Transformation, reconciliation, “Arcadian Sunrise,” and maybe, a “Phoenix Surprise” await you. It is truly sweets to the sweet.
Cast & Crew
Executive Producer: Theresa Chiu, Matt Dau, Josh Owen
Producer: Lawrence Gan, Dave Grabarek
Director: Lawrence Gan
Assistant Director: Roxy Shih
Writer: Theresa Chiu
Director of Photography: Daniel Cotroneo
Associate Producer: Arthur Wu
Production Designer: Arthur Wu
Music Composer: Kiran Gupta
Editor: Lawrence Gan
Cast: Garrett Bales, Lee Chen, Lon Fiala, James Gan, Michelle Huang, Clint Jung, George Kerr, Cici Lau, Arvin Lee, Hong Lei, Anthony Ma, Lana McKissack, Richard Ouyang, Bryan Truong, Vladimir Velasco, Dominic Zhai
Costume Designer: Pei-Lynn Juang
Visual Effects: James Brady
Sound: Andy Edelman, John Rhoads
