Heads up, Chicago film fans. I'm a little late getting this posted, but I wanted to make sure you knew about the 18th Annual Asian American Showcase, presented by the Foundation for Asian American Independent Media. It's a celebration of Asian American cinema and independent film, boasting an exceptionally strong lineup this year, going on right now through May 30 at the Gene Siskel Film Center.
You've still got time to check out films like Seeking Asian Female, The Crumbles, Someone I Used to Know, Sunset Stories and more. Here are some more details about the remaining lineup:
SEEKING ASIAN FEMALEMake some plans to see some movies. For more information about the Asian American Showcase, including the full schedule, film details and tickets, visit the FAAIM website, and follow updates on Facebook.
2012, Debbie Lum, USA, 84 min.
Saturday, May 18, 8:15 pm
Thursday, May 23, 6:15 pm
Chinese American filmmaker Lum sets out to explore her foremost aversion: "yellow fever," the Caucasian fetish for Asian lovers, and becomes drawn into a real-life drama worthy of a soap opera. After scores of online flirtations, Steven, a giddily obsessed 60-year-old, leaps into matrimony with Sandy, a cute 30-year-old from Anhui province, who appears sincerely drawn to him despite his age and lack of means. The bilingual filmmaker is soon thrust into the role of reluctant marriage counselor when lines of communication break down. In English and Mandarin with English subtitles. HDCAM video. (BS)
WHEN I WALK
2013, Jason DaSilva, USA/Canada, 80 min.
Sunday, May 19, 3:00 pm
Monday, May 20, 6:00 pm
In 2006, a family home movie caught filmmaker DaSilva taking an accidental tumble on a sandy beach. In retrospect, the fall was seen as the defining moment in his young life when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 25. Charting the course of his degenerative disease, DaSilva takes his audience on an six-year journey through changes, triumphs, and relationships that is no death march, but a personal tale that wowed them at Sundance this year with the filmmaker's humor, courage, and insight. HDCAM video. (BS) Director Jason DaSilva is tentatively scheduled to be present for audience discussion on Sunday.
THE CRUMBLES
FILMMAKER AKIRA BOCH WILL BE PRESENT DURING THE FRIDAY SCREENING FOR Q&A!
2012, Akira Boch, USA, 75 min.
With Teresa Michelle Lee, Katie Hipol
Friday, May 24, 8:00 pm
Monday, May 27, 3:00 pm
The old let's-put-on-a-show impulse is seen in a new guise in this winningly good-hearted movie about a couple of girl rockers and their dream of starting a band. Irresistibly perky but utterly irresponsible Elisa (Lee) crashes on the couch of best friend Darla (Hipol), the stable one. As roommates they're the odd couple, but as a band, with Darla's secret crush Dante joining up as drummer, they prove to be a match made in heaven. Trouble looms; could choosing the name The Crumbles be a self-fulfilling prophecy? HDCAM video. (BS)
SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW
FILMMAKER NADINE TRUONG AND ACTOR BRIAN YANG WILL BE PRESENT DURING THE SATURDAY SCREENING FOR Q&A!
2013, Nadine Truong, USA, 81 min.
With West Liang, Brian Yang
Saturday, May 25, 8:00 pm
Wednesday, May 29, 6:00 pm
Fresh from a reconsidered suicide attempt, thirty-something Charlie packs up his cat Hemingway and heads for Los Angeles for a reunion with his best friends Luke (Yang of "Hawaii Five-0"), now a heartthrob TV star, and Danny, a rich but nerdy wannabe ladies' man. A boozy boys' night out devolves into something more complex when two young and flirtatious groupies with eyes for Luke join the party. Back at Luke's mansion in the hills, a series of revelations and confessions soon unmask pretensions and lifestyles. HDCAM video. (BS)
XMAS WITHOUT CHINA
2012, Alicia Dwyer, USA, 63 min.
Sunday, May 26, 3:00 pm
Tuesday, May 28, 6:00 pm
Producer Tom Xia challenges the neighboring Jones family in his California suburb to purge every item made in China from their home for the month of December. The scale of the undertaking makes for easy laughs until it dawns on the family of four just how stripped of necessities and amenities their lives will be. Meanwhile, Xia's parents outfit their new American dream home with the ultimate in Chinese products, and clashing ideologies are headed for a showdown. In English and Mandarin with English subtitles. HDCAM video.
SUNSET STORIES
2012, Ernesto Foronda and Silas Howard, USA, 90 min.
With Monique Gabriela Curnen, Sung Kang
Sunday, May 26, 5:15 pm
Thursday, May 30, 6:00 pm
Inspired by such classics as CHUNGKING EXPRESS, AFTER HOURS, and CLEO FROM 5 TO 7, this darkly funny quirky quest set in a succession of colorful Los Angeles neighborhoods plays with the concept of lost and found. May, a Boston nurse charged with delivering a cooler of bone marrow to an L.A. hospital for a transplant, manages to misplace her precious cargo in the flustered moment that she runs into an old boyfriend, handsome rocker JP. The cast also includes Jim Parsons and Zosia Mamet. HDCAM video. (BS)