The 26th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival runs for eleven days starting March 13, 2008. Here is a list of Nikkei-focused films in the festival line-up:
"Against the Grain: An Artist's Survival Guide to Peru"
USA | Peru | Japan | 2008 | 64mins | Documentary Competition
Directed By: Ann Kaneko
preceded by: "7,500 Miles to Redemption"
Documentarist Ann Kaneko shows how the increasingly totalitarian rule of President Alberto Fujimori starting in the early 1990s galvanized Peruvian artists into daring and spectacular art actions that reflect the bloody history of this multicultural nation. With short "7,500 Miles to Redemption" (30m). In Person: Ann Kaneko, Emiko Omori
Screening on Saturday, March 15 at 4:15pm at the Sundance Kabuki 4. $10
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"The Cats of Mirikitani"
USA | 2006 | 74mins | Other Events
Directed By: Linda Hattendorf
Screening to be announced. Please check the website for details.
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"The Killing of a Chinese Cookie"
USA | 2008 | 74mins | Documentary Competition
Directed By: Derek Shimoda
What do Powerball, the planet Mars and sexual innuendos have in common? Filmmaker Derek Shimoda invites us to take a closer look at a little something taken for granted at the end of nearly every Chinese restaurant meal. Who invented the fortune cookie? And most importantly, what does your fortune say? In Person: Derek Shimoda
Screening on Saturday, March 15 at 2pm at the Landmark Clay Theatre and Sunday, March 23 at noon at the Camera Cinemas 12. $10
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Here is a rare public screening of a Japanese film from 1936 featuring a Nisei jazz singer from Sacramento, Betty Inada.
"Whispering Sidewalks"
Japan | 1936 | 84mins | Out of the Vaults
Directed By: Denmei Suzuki
Japanese American singer-dancer Betty Inada stars in Japan’s first jazz musical as an American performer who arrives in Japan for a tour, only to be swindled by scheming managers. Screening for the first time with English subtitles, this rare 1936 film showcases some of the top performers in pre-war Japanese jazz. Preceded by a short presentation about star Betty Inada by musician and historian George Yoshida as well as a live music performance.
Screening on Saturday, March 15 at 3pm at the Castro Theatre. $10