Monday, 5/12/97 Variety of unusual works featured in Asian
festival Award-winning movies showcase talent from both sides of
Pacific
By Dayna Michaelsen Daily Bruin Contributor With a cast of both
real-life transsexuals, transvestites and accomplished actors,
"Bugis Street" shows a side of life that many might never see.
Billed as "Campy, kitchy and erotic," "Bugis Street" is just one of
many films being showcased at this year’s Los Angeles Asian Pacific
Film and Video Festival, which opens May 15. "Bugis Street" is the
story of a young girl’s coming-of-age in a very unique environment.
Arriving innocent and naive from a rural village, 16-year-old Lien
(played by Hiep Thi Le) soon finds herself working as a maid in a
hotel that caters to the drag queens, transsexuals and
transvestites who work at the famous tourist spot. Shocked at
first, Lien soon overcomes her reservations and befriends the
residents. The audience accompanies Lien as she learns about love,
hate, sex, friendship and acceptance from a colorful group of
teachers. Hiep Thi Le recently starred in Oliver Stone’s "Heaven
and Earth." Before attending an "open call" audition for "Heaven
and Earth," Le had never heard of director Oliver Stone. In fact,
Le says, "I only went (to the audition) because my sister wanted to
go." After being cast as the lead in "Heaven and Earth" and amidst
the production of the film, Le graduated from the University of
California, Davis with a Bachelor of Science in Physiology. "Bugis
Street" is the most recent film from director Yon Fan who has made
such films as "Promising Miss Bowie" and "Last Romance." Born in
1947 in the Peoples Republic of China, Fan spent his childhood in
Taiwan and Hong Kong. He traveled through the United States and
Europe studying advanced cinema and stills photography before
returning to Hong Kong in 1974. Yon Fan began making films in 1984
after receiving recognition as a fashion and portrait photographer.
This year marks the 12th anniversary of the Los Angeles Asian
Pacific Film Festival. Running from May 15 through May 22, during
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the festival celebrates and
promotes Asian Pacific American and Asian cinema. Visual
Communications, the nation’s oldest Asian Pacific media arts
center, presents this year’s festival, which will feature nearly 80
film and video productions by Asian producers throughout the world.
Also featured will be works by several independent Asian American
filmmakers. Among the films to be presented at this year’s festival
is "My America … Or Honk If You Love Buddha," which will make its
Los Angeles benefit premiere on May 15 at the Directors Guild of
America Theater. Winner of the 1997 Sundance Film Festival’s
Cinematography award for Documentary, "My America …Or Honk If You
Love Buddha" is billed as a "coming-of-age story for Asian
Americans set amidst a new subculture of rappers, refugees,
debutantes and freedom fighters." It is told through the eyes of
producer-writer-director Renee Tajima-Pena, who was nominated for
an Academy Award as producer-director of "Who Killed Vincent Chin?"
Based on Tajima-Pena’s travels in the 1960s and 70s, the movie
takes a look at the changing views and roles of Asian Americans in
an American culture involved in "the politics of race." Other
feature-length works scheduled for this year’s festival are Chris
Chen Lee’s "Yellow," Michael Idemoto and Eric Nakamura’s "Sunsets,"
and Reat Tajiri’s "Strawberry Fields." Among the short films
screened will be Academy-award winner Jessica Yu’s "Better Late,"
the story of an elderly man who plans to propose to his beloved
with the help of his sister and record collection. The festival
ends on May 22 with a screening of "Temptress Moon," a Miramax film
and the latest work from Academy-award nominated Chen Kaige
("Farewell My Concubine"). Reuniting Leslie Cheung and Gong Li,
"Temptress Moon" tells the story of the Pang family, whose younger
members are forced to choose a new head of the family after the
death of Old Master Pang. This year’s festival will also feature
the first Asian American Independent Feature Workshop, which will
be held at the James E. West Alumni Center on Saturday, May 17.
UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center, along with Visual
Communications, will be presenting the workshop which is sponsored
by the National Asian American Telecommunications Association.
According to Visual Communications, "This workshop will provide a
select group of emerging Asian Pacific American Filmmakers an
opportunity to meet with industry professionals, distributors, and
producers to help their artists get their works on the silver
screen." The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film and Video Festival will
run from May 15 through May 22. For more information, call (213)
680-3004. DE/Center Communications "Bugis Street," a film by Yon
Fan, heads off the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film and Video
Festival. DE/Center Communications "Bugis Street" stars Hiep Thi
Le, (l).