Our friend Oliver Wang, who runs the Asian American cinema blog Chasing Chan (among many other endeavors), has put together a list of his Starting Six -- basically, six films that he'd recommend to any newcomer of Asian American cinema, as part of an "Asian American film canon." His six:
1. Chan Is Missing, dir. Wayne Wang, 1982.
2. Eat a Bowl of Tea, dir. Wayne Wang, 1989.
3. Terminal U.S.A., dir. Jon Moritsugu, 1993
4. Better Luck Tomorrow, dir. Justin Lin, 2002.
5. Cavite, dir. Neill Dela Llana & Ian Gamazon, 2005
6. In Between Days, dir. So Yong Kim
Be sure to read his annotations. It's not supposed to be a definitive list, but a useful starting point. And with more and more Asian Amerian films gaining distribution, and sources like Netflix making it easier to access all kinds of titles, there are now plenty of ways for people everywhere to experience Asian American cinema.
Oliver's asked me to submit my own Six, which I'm looking forward to doing. I'm still formulating the list in my head, but it definitely includes a few of the one's he's already named. He's also asking for your input -- what's your Starting Six? Send your suggestions to oliverwang AT gmail.com.
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