New Documentary Revisits the Legend of Linsanity

'38 at the Garden' premieres October 11 on HBO.



I'll always remember the night Jeremy Lin dropped a stunning 38 points on the Lakers at Madison Square Garden. A new documentary short, 38 at the Garden, chronicles the extraordinary ascendance of your favorite Asian American point guard during his landmark 2012 season with the New York Knicks -- the period that affectionately became known as "Linsanity." You know the story. But I'll never get tired of it.

A decade later, Lin's stature as a groundbreaking, cultural icon stands in stark relief to the recent hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. 38 at the Garden recognizes a pivotal moment in time for Lin and celebrates a phenomenon that was bigger than basketball for the world. The film features a candid, new interview with Lin, as well as journalists Lisa Ling and Pablo Torre, comedians Ronny Chieng, Hasan Minhaj and Jenny Yang, and Knicks teammates Tyson Chandler and Iman Shumpert.

Here's the trailer:

Adapt or Die: Navigating the Worlds of Dinh Thai's 'Monday'

An interview with Dinh Thai, writer/director of the HBO award-winning short film.



Writer/director Dinh Thai's film Monday, first place winner of the HBO's inaugural Asian Pacific American Visionaries short film competition, started as a funny idea about a guy who could transform himself into different individuals and adapt his language and behavior, depending on the situation. It eventually evolved into a dramatic short about Kwan (Kevin David Lin), a young hustler who navigates through various Los Angeles cliques while facing racism, danger, and a moral struggle with his illicit occupation.

Monday is currently available for viewing on HBO platforms throughout this month, along with the other winning films, Tiffanie Hsu's Wonderland and Jingyi Shao's Toenail. I recently chatted with Dinh about the origins of Monday, the art of code-switching in film and real life, and one of the major creative influences on his film.

Watch these award-winning HBO shorts at LAAPFF

HBO presents the winners of the Asian Pacific American Visionaries short film competition.



The winners of HBO's first Asian Pacific American Visionaries short film competition will receive their world premiere screenings with an exclusive event at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.

The winning filmmakers are Dinh Thai (first place, Monday), Tiffanie Hsu (second place, Wonderland), Jingyi Shao (third place, Toenail).

Exploring a range of topical issues facing the modern APA experience, the shorts offer a bold and uncompromising look at such controversial subject matter as crime, addiction and family turmoil. A panel discussion with the directors, led by Silicon Valley star Jimmy O. Yang, will immediately follow the screening.

It's happening Friday, April 27 in the Tateuchi Democracy Forum at the Japanese American National Museum. Here are some more details about the screening:

HBO APA Visionaries Short Film Competition

The deadline to enter is November 7.



Attention, filmmakers! HBO invites you to submit your short film to the Asian Pacific American Visionaries Short Film Competition. HBO's first initiative of its kind, the contest seeks to identify new voices in APA cinema and provide emerging director an opportunity to showcase their work.

Here's Jimmy O. Yang of HBO's Silicon Valley with the call for submissions:

Casting Call: HBO's 'East of Main Street'

Latest edition of HBO's Heritage Month documentary series seeks Asian American actors.



Are you a New York-based Asian American actor who is just starting out, studying acting in school or just going out on your first casting calls? Here's a cool documentary project that wants to talk to you.

HBO's East of Main Street, directed by Jonathan Yi, is coming back in 2015. Now in its fifth year, the award-winning annual AAPI Heritage Month series is turning the lens on Asian American actors in the film and television community and examining the unique successes and struggles at various stages in their careers.

The project has cast most of its subjects, but they're still looking or some young actors and are conducting pre-interviews this Saturday, October 18 in New York City. Here's some more information:

The Sadness and Shame of 'Jonah from Tonga'

Guest Post by Alisi Tulua



It is hard to unpack the debilitating sadness and frustration I felt watching the HBO series Jonah from Tonga; so hard that it took me a long time to write this down. I imagine that the same is felt by my fellow Tongan brothers and sisters who have watched the show.

Justin Lin in talks to direct 'True Detective'

Rumor has it, he'll direct the first two episodes of season two



Whaaaaaaat. This oughta be pretty cool. Rumor has it, Fast & Furious director Justin Lin is in talks to direct a couple of episodes of the highly anticipated second season of HBO's True Detective.

Justin Lin Eyed To Direct 'True Detective'

According to Deadline, Justin is talks to direct at least the first two episodes of the critically-acclaimed crime drama's second season. Cary Fukunaga, who directed all eight episodes of season one and won an Emmy for best director for a drama series, is moving on to other feature projects but will remain on as executive producer.

Other details about season two -- mostly unconfirmed -- are pretty slim:

HBO's 'Silicon Valley' is set in the world of tech startups

...so dude, where are all the Asians?



Oh snap! A comedy set in the world of tech startups by Mike Judge, writer/director of Office Space. Count me in. Just watched the trailer for HBO's Silicon Valley, which revolves around quirky characters navigating the high-tech gold rush of Silicon Valley. It's a milieu that's certainly ripe for comedy.

I'm pleased to see one of my favorite comedians Kumail Nanjiani in the cast... but yo, a show set in the Bay Area's tech industry? There should be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more Asians on this show. Check it out:

HBO's East of Main Street: Milestones celebrates life, death and everything in between

For folks who have enjoyed East of Main Street, HBO's documentary series celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, here's the trailer for this year's series, "Milestones," directed by Jonathan Yi. Rather than profiling personalities, celebrities or cute kids, as in previous years, the fourth season gets a glimpse of moments from our community -- life, death, and everything in between. Take a look: