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The revival of a 42-year-old documentary on the fictional Chinese detective Charlie Chan has reignited the controversy surrounding that character specifically and, more generally, the portrayal of Asian-Americans in Hollywood.

The documentary, “The Great Charlie Chan,” made in 1968, was all but forgotten. But Harvey Chertok, who was vice president for advertising, promotion and publicity at Warner Brothers-Seven Arts when it was created, said he discovered it recently while cleaning out old files. The New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the group that organizes the New York Emmy Awards, held a screening in February and another is scheduled at the National Arts Club in Manhattan on March 16.

A book, “Quotations From Charlie Chan,” was published as a companion to the documentary. It contains many of the kitschy sayings the character used when talking to his “No. 1 Son.”

For many activists, Charlie Chan remains a symbol of Hollywood’s failur...

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Recommended films and events at the 28th San Francisco International Asian American Film festival:

"Today's Special" (Opening Night film): Aasif Mandvi based his script, co-written with Jonathan Bines, on his one-man show "Sakina's Restaurant," and it's quite a pleasing fable on its own terms. Mandvi ("The Daily Show") is Samir, a sous chef at a fancy Manhattan eating place, whose father, the owner of a rundown Indian restaurant, is laid up after a heart attack. Samir has to take over but doesn't know how to cook Indian food. Enter the strange cab driver (a delightful Naseeruddin Shah) who changes everyone's lives. 7 p.m. Thursday, Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., San Francisco.

Spotlight on Freida Lee Mock: The Oscar-winning filmmaker appears in person to present her two latest films, the pleasant "Sing China!" (1:30 p.m. Saturday at the...

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The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) will present a special focus on Filipino and Filipino American media-making this year at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) which takes place from March 11 to 21, 2010. Through retrospectives, new films and a CAAM-produced mobile game, this year’s Festival offers a vital look at the Filipino community.

In the Festival’s 28 years, dozens of pioneering Filipino filmmakers have presented works at SFIAAFF, including Raymond Red, Ramona Diaz, Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Marlon Fuentes and Brillante Mendoza. 2010 marks nine years since the groundbreaking Filipino American narrative features The Flipside (directed by Rod Pulido) and The Debut (Gene Cajayon) opened and closed the Festival. That special year also brought into focus the achievements of Filipino American filmmakers who had paved the way for Pulido and Cajayon, and set the course for many filmmakers to come.

This year the Festival presents a wide-ranging ...

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A theater that had almost disappeared is about to get a high-profile boost to its revival: La Jolla Playhouse will announce today that San Diego Asian American Repertory Theater has been named the Playhouse’s third resident theater company.

The yearlong residency gives the previously nomadic company access to rehearsal and performance spaces and other resources. “That’s why the residency is such a gift to us, and why we’re so grateful,” said SDAART president Elise Kim Prosser, noting that affording theater rental has been a challenge.

The 15-year-old SDAART, led by Prosser and vice president Peter Cirino (both SDSU professors), had been dormant for three years before its 2007 revival. At the Playhouse, the company will stage Julia Cho’s “BFE” in August, and a short-play festival called “Innerviews” in May 2011.

Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley, who created the program, had seen and admired SDAART’s 2008 production of “The Joy Luck Club.” He said the compa...

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Twelve Indian or India related films will form part of “28th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival” (SFIAAFF) to be held from March 11 to 21.

It will include: Today’s Special (David Kaplan), Love Aaj Kal (Imtiaz Ali), Cooking With Stella (Dilip Mehta), Diana (Aleem Khan), Scene 32 (Shambhavi Kaul), Talentime (Yasmin Ahmad), and Flying (Kirthi Nath). In addition, following Indian or India related shorts will participate: Narmeen (Dipti Gogna), Clap Clap (Tanuj Chopra), Anjali (Maya Anand), Kavi (Gregg Helvey), and A Day’s Work (Rajeev Dassani).

The SFIAAFF, presented by Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) every March, is said to be the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films, annually presenting approximately 120 works in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose in California since 1982. Chi-hui Yang is Festival Director while Stephen Gong is CAAM Executive Director.

Berlin International Film Festival

BERLIN—The Berlin International Film Festival, which ended last week, is one of Europe's leading venues for all that's new in the film world. But this year—its 60th anniversary—the big winners were movies set in Asia, from its Western reaches in the Turkish forests of Anatolia to a village in World War II Japan.

The Golden Bear, the festival's top prize, went to "Bal" ("Honey"), the last of director Semih Kaplanoglu's trilogy set in rural Turkey. "Tuan Yuan" ("Apart Together"), a Chinese film about aging lovers caught in the China-Taiwan divide, received a Silver Bear for best screenplay, and Shinobu Terajima, the star of the Japanese wartime drama "Caterpillar," won the Silver Bear for best actress.

Meanwhile, over in the festival's Generation section, emphasizing films for young audien...

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By Al Alexander
GateHouse News Service
Posted Feb 26, 2010 @ 11:21 AM

If timing is everything, Tze Chun reaps a bonanza with his first feature, “Children of Invention,” an opportune tale of two Chinese-American tykes swept into the vortex of a perfect storm of foreclosures, joblessness and Ponzi schemes.

With subtle nods to Truffaut’s “The 400 Blows,” Chun puts you hauntingly inside the heads of kids too young to understand why they’ve lost their home, father and childhood to an economic system that rewards the crooks and punishes the innocent.

While their schoolmates frolic without a care, Raymond (10-year-old Michael Chen) and Tina (8-year-old Crystal Chiu) are forced to survive on a steady diet of Ramen noodles while their frazzled mother, Elaine (Cindy Cheung), a recent divorcee, naively chases get-rich-quick schemes.

Tze proves a master at dep...

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Korean American John Park, who made it to the round of 24 on American Idol, gave his first live performance on the Fox show today!

His song choice, God Bless the Child by Billie Holiday, was attacked by the judges, but he revealed that it held personal significance to him.

The 28th Annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), which showcases the best Asian and Asian American films from around the globe takes place March 11-21, 2010 in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose. 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Festival’s presenting organization the Center for Asian America Media (CAAM). SFIAAFF is the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films, annually presenting approximately 120 works featuring thrilling films from the United States, Philippines, Japan, Thailand, China, and more.

Film screenings, filmmaker tributes, and panel discussions take place at the Castro Theatre, Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, Clay Theatre, and VIZ Cinema in San Francisco, Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, and the Camera 12 Cinemas in San Jose. Tickets go on sale beginning February 11 for CAAM members and February 1...

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Radio hits like ‘Girls on the Dance Floor,’ have propelled the rap group into the spotlight.

By Nalea J. Ko, Reporter
Published February 19, 2010

It is hard to forget the astronaut helmets and monkey suit that are part of the Far East Movement’s stage act. To make sure that people remember the music, the four Asian Pacific American musicians said they network with fans directly online, sometimes feverously typing backstage before a performance.

Networking with their community of fans was critical to the performers success early on, when they occasionally performed to audiences of about 15 people. There were more people on stage than in the crowd, they said.

On their recent world tour, the Far East Movement, or FM, performed to thousands. In Brazil, over 1,000 concertgoers danced to FM’s beats, vibrating the foundation of the packed airplane hangar. It’s a stark difference f...

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