Hollywood

February 26, 2013

What?!! An Asian American male star in a Hollywood movie that isn't a Kung Fu film? 

Justin Chon ("Twilight"), steps into the spotlight as the lead character in the comedy 21 and Over, opening in theaters nationwide March 1.

Chon, 31, was born in Garden Grove in Orange County, California, and was raised in Irvine, California. He attended business school at the University of Southern California. At age 20, Chon began taking acting lessons, inspired by growing up watching his father in black and white films. His father is a former child actor from South Korea.

AsianConnections' Suzanne Joe Kai chatted with Justin about his new role, 
breaking stereotypes, and what's next in his fast-rising career.  (For the full interview transcript click on the blue headline link above.) 

Justin: Hey Suzanne, thank you.

Suzanne: You’re right from Orange County, California!

Justin: Yeah, Irvine. Yeah, born and raised. I was born in Garden Grove Hospital.

Suzanne: Can you describe your role in your new film 21 and Over coming out in theaters March 1, 2013?

Justin: Yeah. I play a character named Jeff Chang. It's his 21st birthday and my two friends come up to celebrate with me but I have a medical school interview the next day. They convinced me to have one beer and obviously that beer turns into absolute chaos. My character's just an average kid. He's actually not that...

Enter to Win a Trip for 2 Couples to the famed New Orleans Jazz Festival and your own set of the cult classic "Imitation of Life" just released by Universal Studios Home Video.

Considered one of the most acclaimed films of its time, Universal Studios Home Video is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the timeless classic by featuring both the original 1934 and 1959 versions on one disc.

A favorite of many, this is the first time ever that you can own the original 1934 version.

"Imitation of Life" - brought to life the reality of racial misogyny and the hidden conflicts that for many in America during this era, the ability to pass as white presented the opportunity for a better life. Timeless and still relevant today, Universal's "Urban Suite" DVD set is being introduced to a whole new generation.

Enter to Win exciting prizes, including a vacation for two to the 35th
Annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

TO ENTER:

Entry can be done online or by mail. To learn more visit:
http://www.thebigballoon.net/uuspromo.jpg or for Spanish visit
http://www.thebigballoon.net/uuspromocion.jpg. Entries must be postmarked
by March 5 and received by March 15.
Winners will be announced April 5, 2004.
Complete sweepstakes rules are available by request at
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. document.getElementById('cloak1840484f60488a3fc6380c5b2b8f64be').innerHTML = ''; var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' +...

March 30, 2013

San Francisco

Updates - CAAMFest winners announced:

DEAD DAD is the winner of the Comcast Narrative Competition.

SEEKING ASIAN FEMALE is the winner of the Documentary Conpetition.

Aggie Ebrahii Bazaz received the Loni Ding Award

The Emerging Filmmaker Award recipient is Ernesto Foronda of SUNSET STORIES.

CAAM (The Center for Asian American Media) offers programs all year round.

Visit CAAM's website at CAAMedia.org, and support its mission by becoming a member. 

March 17, 2013

San Francisco

CAAMFest is in full swing! 

The Center for Asian American Media has launched CAAMFest, an exciting new festival March 14-24, 2013. Formerly called the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the 31st annual event not only has a brand new name CAAMFest, and a brand new website CAAMFEST.com, the festival has branched out into food, music and digital media. 

As CAAM's Executive Director Stephen Gong says, CAAMFest aims to present a world-class festival of Asian and Asian American film, music, food and digital media.

Judging from what I saw in the first few days, CAAMFest's ambitious plans have succeeded. 

I counted at least 100 films and events representing more than twenty countries, held in ten venues mostly in San Francisco, with some events and film screenings at the Oakland Museum of California and Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive Theater.

There's still time to take in a screening or an event.

Click here to...

Charlotte Sometimes director Eric Byler Reviews Robot Stories

Winner of over 23 film festival awards, Robot Stories is science fiction from the heart, four stories in which utterly human characters struggle to connect in a world of robot babies and android office workers.

The stories include: My Robot Baby , in which a couple (Tamlyn Tomita and James Saito) must care for a robot baby before adopting a human child; The Robot Fixer , in which a mother (Wai Ching Ho, Best Actress, St. Louis Int'l Film Festival and Puchon Int'l Fantastic Film Festival ) tries to connect with her dying son by completing his toy robot collection; Machine Love , in which an office worker android (Greg Pak) learns that he, too, needs love; and Clay , in which an old sculptor (Sab Shimono) must choose between natural death and digital immortality.

Awards include the Special Jury Award for Emotional Truth from the Florida Film Festival ; Best Feature Film
from the Rhode Island Int'l Film Festival , the Sci Fi London Film Festival , the DC APA Film Festival , and the F Korean American Media Arts Festival ; and Audience Awards from the Fantastisk Film Festival in Sweden , the Boston Fantastic Film Festival and the Michigan Film Festival .

Charlotte Sometimes director Eric Byler Reviews Robot Stories

In film school we are warned against anthology films, the wisdom being that three or more separate segments are unlikely to add up to a cohesive whole. If cohesion is an indisputable criteria, Greg Paks...

Astronaut Leroy Chiao's Postcards from Space

Aboard the Station, the Expedition 10 crew, Commander and NASA Station Science Officer Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov, are beginning a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station that will include two spacewalks and preparations for the return of Space Shuttle flights. Expedition 10 is scheduled to return to Earth on April 25, 2005.

Chiao and Sharipov will have light duty for the next three days as they rest after completing a busy handover period. For the past week, they have been learning about Station operations from Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mike Fincke, the two men who called the ship home since April. Padalka and Fincke briefed Chiao and Sharipov on day-to-day operations and gave them hands-on opportunities at Station maintenance: Sharipov joined Padalka in completing repairs to the Elektron oxygen-generating system, and Chiao helped Fincke with the maintenance on the U.S. spacesuits. During his time aboard, Shargin completed a program of scientific experiments.

Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mike Fincke returned to Earth today, after traveling more than 78 million miles aboard the International Space Station.

Returning with them was Russian Space Forces Test Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin, who had spent eight days aboard the orbiting complex conducting research.

After a flawless descent by the ISS Soyuz 8 spacecraft, Padalka, Fincke and...