Author Archives: John

About John

I'm a Taiwanese-American and was born & raised in Western Massachusetts, went to college in upstate New York, worked in Connecticut, went to grad school in North Carolina and then moved out to the Bay Area in 1999 and have been living here ever since - love the weather and almost everything about the area (except the high cost of housing...)

CAAMFest 2024: Light of the Setting Sun

Posted on May 21, 2024 by John

Going into this film, I didn’t know much about Light of the Setting Sun except from the CAAMFest program description: “Candid conversations meet photographic scenes, as the details of violence begin to take shape, and we witness how deep the … Continue reading →

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CAAMFest 2024: “Home Court” – The Basketball Journey of Ashley Chea

Posted on May 17, 2024 by John

Director Erica Tanamachi, Producer Jenn Lee Smith, Executive Producer Diane Quon, and Writer/Editor Jean Kawahara Home Court was one of the CAAMFest 2024 films I was most excited to screen: “Ashley Chea is a Cambodian American basketball phenom. Home Court, … Continue reading →

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CAAMFest 2024: Opening Night and Gala with ‘Admissions Granted’

Posted on May 16, 2024 by John

This year’s opening night film was the documentary Admissions Granted: “In the run-up to the landmark Supreme Court case pitting Asian American plaintiffs against Harvard University, controversial legal strategist Edward Blum took direct aim at dismantling affirmative action, energizing activists … Continue reading →

Posted in Discrimination, Education, Local, San Francisco Bay Area | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

SF Film Festival Talk: Filmmaking Bay Area and “Dìdi (弟弟)” – with Sean Wang

Posted on May 11, 2024 by John

One of the things I love about film festivals is that you can learn more about the film or filmmaker, usually during a post-screening Q&A. With the SF Film Festival, they also had talks with the filmmaker separate from the … Continue reading →

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SF Film Festival Opening Night: Sean Wang’s ‘Dìdi (弟弟)’

Posted on May 10, 2024 by John

I had the great honor of meeting filmmaker Sean Wang back in December 2023 screening his documentary short Nai Nai and Wài Pó and again in February 2024 after the short was nominated for an Oscar.  Because of that experience, … Continue reading →

Posted in 8mm Film Review, 8Series, Entertainment, Local, Movies, San Francisco Bay Area | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

SF Film Festival: A Tribute to Joan Chen + “Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl”

Posted on May 6, 2024 by John

I had the honor and pleasure of attending the 2024 San Francisco Film Festival and was excited to see iconic filmmaker Joan Chen being honored at this year’s festival. I most remember her in her roles in The Last Emperor … Continue reading →

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60 Minutes: Meet Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

Posted on April 30, 2024 by John

We have profiled him recently, but we wanted to point out that 60 Minutes did a great profile on Nvidia and its Taiwanese American CEO (and co-founder) Jensen Huang: “Jensen Huang leads Nvidia – a tech company with a skyrocketing … Continue reading →

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‘Invisible Nation’ Sells to Abramorama – Premiering May 31

Posted on April 25, 2024 by John

Last October, I was able to screen the documentary Invisible Nation – which I LOVED – about Taiwan at the Mill Valley Film Festival and at a special screening at Stanford University: “An Intimate Portrait of President Tsai Ing-wen fighting … Continue reading →

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CAAMFest 2024 Returns May 9-19: Shining Light on Asian American Stories

Posted on April 23, 2024 by John

The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) recently announced its fully in-person program for CAAMFest 2024, which will take place May 9-19, 2024 in San Francisco and Oakland. This year’s festival will include over 35 programs that will spotlight film, … Continue reading →

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Pew Research Center: Asian Americans & Changing Partisan Coalitions in a Politically Divided Nation

Posted on April 10, 2024 by John

The Pew Research Center recently published a report, Changing Partisan Coalitions in a Politically Divided Nation, and to no surprise to me, Asians Americans overwhelmingly skew more Democratic than Republican. As the report states: “The balance of partisan association among … Continue reading →

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China’s Breakout Hit ‘YOLO’ Opening Friday, March 8th in North America

Posted on March 8, 2024 by John

Since opening in China on February 10th, YOLO has grossed over $464.2 million at the Chinese box office and has become the highest-grossing film over the Lunar New Year holiday, retaining the #1 spot two weekends in a row. China’s … Continue reading →

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Exclusive Interview with Awkwafina: “Kung Fu Panda 4” Coming March 8th

Posted on March 7, 2024 by John

Awkwafina was in San Francisco recently as “Grand Marshall” for the annual San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade: “A massive crowd showed up to celebrate the Chinese New Year in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Saturday night as Hollywood actress and … Continue reading →

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