A few week's back, Oliver Wang named his "Starting Six" for the Asian American cinema blog Chasing Chan. Basically, they're six films he'd recommend to any newcomer to Asian American cinema, as part of an "Asian American film canon." How many have you seen?
After choosing his own six, he reached out to a few friends and colleagues to get their suggestions for the starting six Asian American films you need to see. It's a pretty interesting assemblage of folks, including Renee Tajima-Pena, co-director of Who Killed Vincent Chin?; Brian Hu of Asia Pacific Arts; experimental filmmaker/professor Valerie Soe... and me.
I have to admit, this wasn't an easy list to put together. I thought of three immediately, then agonized over what films should round out the second half. I think my picks are fairly conventional. I ultimately went with with films that are easily accessible and would be a good starting point for any Asian American cinema newbie -- the whole point of this list.
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