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MORE THAN 120 FILMS AND VIDEOS

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

With more than 121 films and videos the 22nd San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) unspools March 4-11 at the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres and the Castro Theatre in San Francisco and at 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.

This year's Festival kicks off with a bang when acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou's sumptuous martial arts epic HERO screens. With cinematography by Christopher Doyle (CHUNGKING EXPRESS/SFIAAFF 1995), choreography from Ching Siu-Tung (CHINESE GHOST STORY), and the A-list of Chinese actors (Jet Li, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, and Zhang Ziyi), HERO unspools the fictionalized action tale of the first emperor of China's attempts at unifying his country. The party continues afterwards with a gala reception at the Asian Art Museum.

After eight days of screenings, seminars and parties, it may be time for film-lovers to take a load off their feet, and what better person to do that with than the queen of shoes, Imelda Marcos. Ramona S. Diaz' (SPIRITS RISING/SFIAAFF 1996) IMELDA, a blend of archival footage, home movies, state propaganda and interviews with Ms. Marcos herself, is a shoe-in to close the Festival. Following the film will be a closing night gala at the San Francisco War Memorial Building.

Legendary Chinese American actress Anna May Wong is a silver screen superstar whose legacy is now being celebrated as new generations rediscover her works. As the world's first Asian American movie star, her work on film was often applauded, yet she was just as frequently criticized for her stereotyped roles. The Festival offers a retrospective of some of her greatest performances, including Spotlight screenings of THE TOLL OF THE SEA (1922), SHANGHAI EXPRESS (1932) and DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI (1937). But the retrospective highlight will definitely be the Centerpiece Presentation of E.A. Dupont's silent classic PICCADILLY (1929), screening along with an original score performed live by acclaimed pianist Jon Jang. The Anna May Wong tribute also includes a panel discussion with actresses, academics and critics who will assess—from personal and professional perspectives—the career and legacy of Anna May Wong.

Always a highlight of the Festival is the Special Presentation screenings. This year's slate offers the latest from Japan's Kiyoshi Kurosawa, BRIGHT FUTURE, and Bhutan's Khyentse Norbu, TRAVELLERS AND MAGICIANS. With BRIGHT FUTURE, Kurosawa leaves behind his atmospheric chillers and offers a character study of alienated Japanese youth. In TRAVELLERS AND MAGICIANS, Tibetan Buddhist lama and filmmaker Norbu (THE CUP) offers a chaming road movie set in the remote Himalayan kingdom.

This year's Festival proffers a powerful plate of premieres, world and otherwise. On the bill are the world premieres of two documentaries: Cheuk Kwan¹s CHINESE RESTAURANTS: SONG OF THE EXILE, an exploration of these family-run businesses in some rather unexpected locales—Israel, South Africa, and Turkey; and Sapana Sakya and Ramyata Limbu's DAUGHTERS OF EVEREST, a look at the first Sherpa women to scale that daunting summit.

North American premieres include Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul's genre-fusing musical, THE ADVENTURE OF IRON PUSSY; and Jon Sen's made-for-Brit-TV soap opera, starring Parminder Nagra (BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM/SFIAAFF 2003), about South Asian immigrants in Britain, SECOND GENERATION. Slated U.S. premieres are Korean filmmaker Choi Hyun-jung's landmark look at intersexuality BEING NORMAL, and Chinese filmmaker Lou Ye's dramatic period piece, PURPLE BUTTERFLY, starring Zhang Ziyi (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON).

The Festival travels to the rarely seen and lofty heights of the Himalayas. In addition to the Special Presentation screening of Khyentse Norbu's TRAVELLERS AND MAGICIANS and the world premiere of Sapana Sakya and Ramyata Limbu's DAUGHTERS OF EVEREST, the Fest screens Werner Herzog's WHEEL OF TIME, an account of one of the largest and most complex Buddhist rituals that takes place in the Indian Himalayas; and Johan Kramer's THE OTHER FINAL, a documentary about the 2002 match between the world's two worst soccer teams—from the sunny Caribbean, Montserrat and from the cool Himalayas, Bhutan.

Offering a menu of movies about cooking, the Festival serves up three films for foodies: Shih-Ching Tsou and Sean Baker's TAKE OUT, Li Ying's DREAM CUISINE, as well as the world premiere of Cheuk Kwan's CHINESE RESTAURANTS: SONG OF THE EXILE. DREAM CUISINE presents a loving look at septuagenarian restaurateurs in Japan. TAKE OUT creates a CHAN IS MISSING-like mix of documentary-style realism and suspenseful storytelling to paint a stark picture of life behind the counter of a NYC Chinese take-out restaurant.

Feature-length fictional works from Asian American filmmakers continue to be a vital part of the Festival. Works included are Nisha Ganatra's COSMOPOLITAN, Victor Vu's (FIRECRACKER/SFIAFF 2000) FIRST MORNING, Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK's FLAVORS, Nathan Kurosawa's THE RIDE, Gina Kim's INVISIBLE LIGHT and Ching C. Ip's SEE YOU OFF THE EDGE OF TOWN. COSMOPOLITAN is the lighthearted tale of an Indian immigrant in America trying to reinvent his life. FIRST MORNING unfolds the struggles of a Vietnamese family attempting to come to grips with the war and their experiences in it. FLAVORS, the opening night film in San Jose, is a delightful romantic comedy centered around young Indian American IT workers. A hot surfing superstar travels back in time to meet the real life father of surfing, Duke Kahanamoku, in THE RIDE. INVISIBLE LIGHT beautifully captures the soul rendering process of two women as they struggle to come to terms with the truth about their lives. SEE YOU OFF THE TO EDGE OF TOWN spins a road movie gone bad for a family of Hong Kong tourists whose car breaks down in the American desert.

Always popular with Bay area audiences are documentaries. In addition to BEING NORMAL, WHEEL OF TIME, CHINESE RESTAURANTS: SONG OF THE EXILE, DAUGHTERS OF EVEREST, DREAM CUISINE, IMELDA, and THE OTHER FINAL, the Festival showcases a strong selection of non-fiction works. Featured are Jason DaSilva's LEST WE FORGET, an examination of America's treatment of Japanese Americans during WW2 and our current treatment of Muslim, Arab and South Asian Americans; Anne Marie Fleming's THE MAGICAL LIFE OF LONG TACK SAM, a rediscovery of her once famous great-grandfather, a celebrated Vaudeville magician and acrobat; James Hou's MASTERS OF THE PILLOW, a glance at the making of an Asian American skin flick, Noriaki Tsuchimoto's ON THE ROAD: A DOCUMENT, a rarely seen traffic safety film made by the great postwar Japanese documentary filmmaker; Jari Osborne's SLEEPING TIGERS: THE ASAHI BASEBALL STORY, a look at the hugely popular Japanese Canadian baseball team and their untimely demise; and a special sneak screening of Rithy Panh's S21: THE KHMER ROUGE KILLING MACHINE, a horrifying look at a notorious Cambodian death camp.

Exploring the links between moving images and music through live performance and video projection, the always anticipated "Directions In Sound" returns for its fifth year. This revolutionary celebration of the Asian American music underground—wrapped into three incredible evenings—presents a stellar line-up of the latest and greatest from the worlds of hip hop, rock and punk with live shows from Polysics, Clarendon Hills, Dengue Fever and Fuse One and videos from Dan the Automator, Kid Koala, and The Skyflakes.

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.