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THE MOST EMBLEMATIC ASIAN AMERICAN FILM LEGEND ANNA MAY WONG HONORED

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 extraordinary life and silver screen work of Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American actress to achieve international stardom, will be celebrated and honored at the 22nd San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), unspooling 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) 865-1588 or visit www.naatanet.org/festival on the internet.

As the centennial of her birth nears, the influence of Anna May Wong on American popular culture and consciousness is only growing in significance. Three new biographies are being published, major retrospectives of her films have been screened in New York and Los Angeles, and two documentary films tracing her career are in the works. Even though Wong was an outspoken critic of Hollywood's treatment of Asian women, many of her roles were formative in establishing on-screen stereotypes of the Asian female (think Lotus Flower in THE TOLL OF THE SEA). The fame of actress Lucy Liu has invited comparisons with Ms. Wong and fueled renewed debates over racial stereotypes, gender roles and the responsibility of an actress to both her conscience and community.

Born on January 3, 1905 in Los Angeles, Anna May Wong was "a long-time Californian," as both sets of grandparents had arrived in California by 1855. At the age of 17, Anna May Wong starred in the racy THE TOLL OF THE SEA (1922). After appearing in Douglas Fairbanksą THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1924), Wong endured a length of minor "exotic Chinatown" films such as A TRIP TO CHINATOWN (1926) and MR. WU (1927). In frustration, she went to Europe to seek better career opportunities—where she made the remarkable PICCADILLY (1929). Anna May Wong's celebrity was now international, and her striking appearance and clothes made her image ubiquitous in the press. She returned to the U.S. in 1930, hoping to capitalize on her increased fame—and growing notoriety, as her sexual orientation became a matter of great speculation. Rumors grew of liaisons with numerous Hollywood notables, including Marlene Dietrich, her co-star in SHANGHAI EXPRESS (1932), the film for which she is most famous. Unfortunately, from this high point, Anna May Wong's star began to falter. She lost out on her personal dream role, that of Olan in the film version of Pearl Buck's THE GOOD EARTH (1937) and it was primarily B-picture work after that until her death in 1961.

In tribute to her amazing screen work the Festival will screen four films, THE TOLL OF THE SEA, SHANGHAI EXPRESS, DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI and PICCADILLY. Almost unprecedented for a silent film, E. A. Dupont's recently restored PICCADILLY contains numerous musical numbers, dance sequences and a rhythmic sense of camera movement that demand an engaging original musical score, which will, of course, be provided by the Bay Area's own Jon Jang. In PICCADILLY, screening at the glamorous Castro Theatre, Wong—with some real zest—portrays Shosho, the Chinese scullery maid at a posh London nightclub who overnight becomes the toast of the town—and the object of desire for all around her.

Chester M. Franklin's 1922 Technicolor marvel THE TOLL OF THE SEA has Wong playing a beautiful Chinese girl seduced and abandoned by her Caucasian lover, a ship wrecked American. Josef von Sternberg's SHANGHAI EXPRESS has Anna May Wong working as a mysterious courtesan, opposite Marlene Dietrich's hooker-on-the prowl, aboard a Chinese train. Next, Wong is a good girl trying to crack an immigrant smuggling ring with some help from dashing Philip Ahn in Robert Florey's crime caper DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI.

Also on the bill is the panel discussion "Dangerous To Know: The Career And Legacy Of Anna May Wong," moderated by B. Ruby Rich, cultural critic and author of Chick Flicks: Theories and Memories of the Feminist Film Movement. Scheduled panelists include Karen Leong, author of the forthcoming The China Mystique: Pearl S. Buck, Anna May Wong, Mayling Soong Chiang, and the Transformation of American Orientalism; Graham Russell Gao Hodges, author of Anna May Wong: From Laundryman's Daughter to Hollywood Legend; Nancy Kwan, actress in THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG and FLOWER DRUM SONG; and Jacqueline Kim, actress in CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES and BROKEDOWN PALACE.

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.