May 06, 2014 Report from LAAPFF 2014: Star Trek, yakuza, masked rangers, and art
Well, that was fast. After months of screenings, meetings, and preparation, my part at the 30th annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is over just like that.
It was only five nights ago that the L.A. premiere of To Be Takei served as the gala opening. And how cool was that to see George and Brad Takei on the big screen and in attendance supporting the festival. I love the original Star Trek series to begin with, but Jennifer M. Kroot’s documentary about Sulu also touches on the injustice of Japanese American internment, the challenge of Asian American actors, and his activism for gay marriage. And while there is no shortage of serious topics being covered, George and Brad’s bantering, bickering, and affection make it a pleasure to watch. Also appearing are William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Walter Koenig, and Howard Stern.
Through my friend and award-winning filmmaker Jessica Sanders, whose short “George & Brad in Bed” preceded the feature, I was able to sneak into a group photo with Sulu, Uhura, and Brad. Cool! Chekhov, I flagged when he was walking by. I spotted Spock sneaking out during the post-screening Q&A but respected his wishes for privacy. Of course there were indie filmmakers around, and I might have even known one or two of them…
One of my assignments as a programmer was to introduce movies and conduct Q&As if a filmmaker is in attendance.
Friday night’s feature was The Pinkie, the indie/gangster flick from Japan by Lisa Takeba. Of course the super saturated colors looked even better on the big screen than they did in the screener, and the jaw-dropping and often gory action was so much fun to watch with a crowd. There was also Tom Huang’s opener, Unusual Targets, which started off like a Universal Monsters movie and wound up being like a gumshoe detective serial. The genre pieces complemented each other very well, and the Q&A was a lot of fun. Too bad we didn’t have enough time to field questions from the audience.
Too bad there was no one in attendance to represent Blue Bustamante, too. The tribute to Japanese masked rangers includes many scenes pitting heroes in jumpsuits piloting a robot to fight giant rubber monsters, but also also features a heartfelt depiction of an Overseas Filipino Worker away from his loved ones. Very cool, very smart.
The last movie I represented was Rea Tajiri’s documentary about a small town in Upstate New York, Lordville. While the other movies were on the lowbrow side, this one has an arthouse pedigree. Just as I love how the fest gives audiences a chance to see exploitation and genre flicks, it also provides an outlet for high-concept art movies. I wanted to moderate this Q&A because Rea and I have a lot of mutual friends but also to prove that I can handle a movie that’s more academic and artistic than trashy!
There’s still five more days left in the festival, so maybe I’ll take advantage of my programmer pass to see some more movies. And hopefully, I’ll see you there. Support, indie, arthouse, and imported cinema! Check out the schedule at http://laapff.festpro.com/films/.