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FILMS BY AND ABOUT LESBIANS, GAYS, BISEXUALS AND TRANSGENDERS

22nd SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL, MARCH 4-11, 2004 IN SAN FRANCISCO AND BERKELEY, AND MARCH 19-21, 2004 IN SAN JOSE

The 22nd San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) offers more than 20 films and videos by and about lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders. The Festival unspools March 4-11 at the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres and the Castro Theatre in San Francisco and at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley and March 19-21 at the Camera 3 Cinemas in San Jose. For more information or tickets please telephone (415) 856-1588 or visit www.naatanet.org/festival on the internet.

Thailand's new indie filmmaker laureate Apichatpong Weerasethakul startles the world yet again with his latest outrage and instant camp classic: THE ADVENTURE OF IRON PUSSY, an over-the-top musical western featuring a transvestite secret agent on a James Bond-like undercover mission. A former go-go boy, Iron Pussy is a 7-Eleven clerk by day and a glamorous super-heroine by night, aided by a motorcycle taxi-driving sidekick. The film is based on a series of short videos (the third installment screened at SFIAAFF 2002) by San Francisco Art Institute alumnus—and Iron Pussy himself—Michael Shaowanasai.

A landmark independent documentary about coming to terms with intersexuality, BEING NORMAL is also a very memorable account of a friendship. Korean filmmaker Choi Hyun-jung follows her roommate J, a person born with both male and female sex organs. As J shares experiences and tragedies with Choi, the director turns her camera on herself as well, showcasing her own struggles as well as the ebb and flow of their relationship. Mitra Farahan and Sonbol B.Y.'s short JUST A WOMAN follows a transgendered Iranian woman who only recently had sexual reassignment surgery. JUST A WOMAN screens with BEING NORMAL.

On the shorts front, the Festival offers numerous interesting films. Included is Matthew Abaya's BAMPINAY, in the "My Ninja For Your Nun" program. Also of interest is the "Miss Match" shorts program, a selection of movies that address trying to fit in or just wanting to be out. Included in the program are Cynthia Liu's A. EYE FOR THE WHITE GUY, Angela Cheung's ESME SEEKING, Kevin Choi's GAME BOY; Desireena Almoradie and Christina Quisumbing Ramilo's GREEN STALK, Anocha Mai Suwichakornpong's FULL MOON, Ji Sung Kim's HOW FLUTTERING, Tina Bartolome's I WAS BORN HERE, Susan Choi's STERILIZED CHERRY, Dominique D. de Guzman's REFLECTIONS, Lala Endara's SAUL SEARCHING, and Anne Marie Fleming's BLUE SKIES. The Festival is also pleased to announce a sneak peek trailer of Quentin Lee's (SHOPPING FOR FANGS/SFIAAFF 1997) forthcoming feature ETHAN MAO.

For sheer innuendo, check out the revival screening of Josef von Sternberg's SHANGHAI EXPRESS, part of the Festival's Anna May Wong tribute. When mysterious courtesan Wong bumps into notorious prostitute Marlene Dietrich on a train trip though war-torn China, the two create a dynamic on-screen chemistry. The film did help to ignite real-life rumors of a private romance between the two silver screen stars.

The 22nd San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival is supported in part by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Asian Art Museum, California Arts Council, Community Technology Foundation, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Grants for the Arts, Koret Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, NOON, San Francisco Film and Video Arts Commission, and the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation.

The San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, runs March 4-11, 2004 at the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres, 1881 Post Street, and the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street in San Francisco and at the Pacific Film Archive, 2575 Bancroft Way in Berkeley, and March 19-21 at the Camera 3 Cinemas, Second and Carlos Street in San Jose. For more information, please telephone (415) 865-1588 or visit www.naatanet.org/festival on the internet.