Meeting new people can make anyone a little nervous. Asian CineVision is here to help! We're launching the 33rd Asian American International Film Festival and your new romance all in one event. Up for speed dating? Here is your chance to enjoy the happy hour specials at Forbidden City, meet your cinema soulmate (or a really good movie buddy) and win festival tickets for that first real date.
If you happen to be a pair of film aficionados, then the sparks of romance will already be flying. Register if you're seeking a fling with the ultimate lovers: film and culture.
Pre-registration is required. Limited spaces available.
If you thought the Anti-China evil professor video's didn't anger enough people or Asian Americans, then the Republicans will repeat the same crime again, except this time using an Asian girl.
Amid spring-loaded babies and Ferris Bueller flash-backs, there was one Super Bowl ad that had few people laughing. While it ran only in Michigan, U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra’s campaign ad featuring an Asian woman speaking broken English is being criticized around the country today.
In the ad, Hoekstra, a former U.S. House Representative, dubs his Democratic Senate rival Debbie Stabenow “Debbie Spend It Now” for supporting policies that cause American jobs and investments to be outsourced to China.
Ed Lee’s inauguration Sunday morning marked a historic moment for San Francisco, which now has its first-ever elected Chinese American mayor. But unlike when he was first appointed a year ago by then-outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom, yesterday’s ceremony saw an affable Lee downplaying his background in the Chinese community, instead emphasizing his role as an innovator for the city as a whole.
Thousands gathered to witness the swearing-in, administered by former San Francisco Mayor and now United States Senator Dianne Feinstein. The ceremony began at 11a.m. after an hour of dance and musical performances. Introduced by former Mayor Willie Brown, Lee, the 43rd mayor of San Francisco, was joined by his wife, Anita, and two daughters, Brianna and Tania.
As the 2012 presidential election approaches, it has been difficult for me to listen to the political scapegoating of Muslims and those perceived to be Muslims. A decade ago, as an attorney at the Department of Justice, I worked with colleagues in the civil rights division to address the unprecedented backlash in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. We investigated complaints of brutal hate crimes in neighborhoods, vandalism at places of worship, bullying at schools, and discrimination in the workplace aimed primarily at those who traced their origins to South Asia and the Middle East, or those who practiced Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism.
More Asian Pacific Americans hold public office in the United States than at any other time in U.S. history, a sign of the community's growing engagement with the political process, according to a newly released political almanac published by UCLA's Asian American Studies Center.
The 14th edition of the National Asian Pacific American Political Almanac, first published in 1976, contains information on all 3,000 current elected and appointed officials. It also analyzes political trends and makes electoral projections of the nation's 17 million Asian Pacific Americans.
"The National Asian Pacific American Political Almanac is an invaluable guide to the historically large and diverse number of Asian American and Pacific Islander politicians and voters influencing the nation's political landscape," said David K. Yoo, director of the Asian American Studies Center and a professor of Asian American studies at UCLA.
Written by UCLA professor emeritus Don Nakanishi and Santa Clara University professor James Lai, two leading political scientists who specialize in Asian American politics, the almanac spotlights individuals who hold municipal, state and national office.
First Asian American Serial Killer Movie Begins Fundraising Drive on New Crowd-Funding Site USA Projects
Los Angeles, CA. December 1, 2011 – The filmmakers responsible for independent hit, The People I've Slept With, are joining together again to make Chink, the first Asian American serial killer movie. It is the directorial debut of Stanley Yung, the film is written by Koji Steven Sakai and produced by Stanley, Koji, and Quentin Lee. The film stars Jason Tobin (Better Luck Tomorrow and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift) and Eugenia Yuan (Memoirs of a Geisha and The Eye 2).
They are hoping to raise at least ten thousand dollars to cover production expenses on USA Projects, created by United States Artists to expand its mission of investing in America’s finest artists. They plan on beginning production in the spring of 2012.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Jeff Adachi says he grew up hearing the stories of his Japanese-American family's internment during World War II.
"They lost everything. But they taught me not to be bitter, to get an education and to stand up for what's right," Adachi, San Francisco's public defender, writes on the website devoted to his campaign for the city's mayor.
He's one of six Asian-Americans candidates who are drawing on their life stories of immigration, discrimination and empowerment as they try to become the first Asian-American elected mayor in the city's history.
San Francisco already has an Asian-American mayor in Ed Lee, who was appointed in January. But the Nov. 8 election is being seen as an historic moment in a city that has the largest percentage of Asian-Americans in the continental United States and boasts the nation's oldest Chinatown.
While the candidates are from diverse Asian backgrounds and differ on policy, all agree that the community's time has come.
WCCO's James Schugel is in the doghouse with the Asian American Journalists Association, which is demanding an apology for his idiotic report last week that local dogs were being sold for human consumption in New York City's Chinatown.
Asian Americans endure far more bullying at US schools than members of other ethnic groups, with teenagers of the community three times as likely to face taunts on the Internet, new data shows.
Policymakers see a range of reasons for the harassment, including language barriers faced by some Asian American students and a spike in racial abuse following the September 11, 2001 attacks against children perceived as Muslim.
“This data is absolutely unacceptable and it must change. Our children have to be able to go to school free of fear,” US Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Friday during a forum at the Center for American Progress think-tank.
The research, to be released on Saturday, found that 54 percent of Asian American teenagers said they were bullied in the classroom, sharply above the 31.3 percent of whites who reported being picked on.
Mr. Hyphen offers a unique opportunity for the Asian Americans to come together to celebrate and highlight five outstanding API men who are serving their community and devoted to a cause. Our contestants will be showcasing their skills and charisma in three rounds: Talent, Sleepwear and Q&A to see who will walk away with the coveted title of Mr. Hyphen and $1,000 for the nonprofit of his choice. Hosted by artist/comedian D'Lo, Mr. Hyphen's judging panel includes HuffingtonPost's Wajahat Ali, SF Supervisor Jane Kim, Ms. GAPA 2011 Maveric Vu (a.k.a. Lychee Minnelli) and Hyphen's own Lanlian Szeto.
Date and Time: Saturday, November 5, 2011 from 7pm-10pm Venue: Brava Theater Center Address: 2789 24th St., San Francisco, CA 94110 Tickets: $20-$25
A Glimpse of our ANBM Source Press going backstage at the AAIFF festival, they got to meet some of the Festival seeing and short film directors. Enjoying the event and working experience the lively atmosphere.
A Special thanks to Amy Guo and Shuchun and another unamed contributor for the fantastic media coverage on the event. Also a special thanks to Juliana Wang, the marketing manager for AAIFF looked after our crew.
Movies Reviewed: Love Comes, 72 Hour Shootout, A Day Less Ordinary, The Lulu Sessions, Saigon Electric, Quattro Hong Kong, Cuny Shorts, Never Stop Believing, Love Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and the Wedding Palace.
The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders announces the launch of its “What’s Your Story?” video challenge. The challenge aims to explore the personal stories of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) across the country who have impacted their community through their dreams, experiences, and dedication to a cause.
Our stories define who we are.
Tell us how your unique experiences have shaped who you are today. Are you a passionate advocate of green and health initiatives for nail salons? Have you made a difference in your community through work with immigrant integration programs? Are you part of a movement that paves the way for AAPIs in the arts? Respond to our launch video below with a video under 3-minutes about your own experience and community leadership. You may also submit an essay under 1,000 words to address these questions.
Be sure to check this film out! the film Wedding Palace wins Best Feature & Best Cinematography at Cine Gear Expo! Written by Christine Yoon.
Starring Jean Yoon and Stephen Park, Charles Kim plays the "Professor Uncle"
Reviews by Scott Eriksson
"Christine Yoo has written and directed a film that is masterful in the way it moves from comedy to romance by blending the two seamlessly. That's the good news...the bad news is that by virtue of the fact that it is a film with an Asian cast and a few subtitles thrown in, it will probably not receive the wide release and the sold out American audiences it deserves. Although it is a film about Korean culture and traditions of parents whose son is a Korean-American raised in a very different world than his immigrant parents, the comedy is ultimately about generational differences among family members, something everyone can understand. While every good film starts with a great script, without the right director and cast it can't succeed.
Surviving the Independent films Landscape: A conversation with Mimi Taksue.
Museum of Chinese in America | August 14, 2011 | 5:00PM
Waiting for that call to get your dream project off the ground? Wondering how to continue to make film and maintain a sustainable lifestyle as an independent filmmaker? Emerging director Kimi Takesue is the recipient of numerous awards. Her commissioned works include WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME? (Rotterdam International Film Festival) and THAT WHICH ONCE WAS (ITVS).
Kimi Takesue is the recipient of a 2005 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in Filmmaking, as well as a 2005 New York Foundation for the Arts in Film. Her award-winning films E=NYC2, SUMMER OF THE SERPENT, HEAVEN'S CROSSROAD, ROSEWATER AND BOUND have been televised in the U.S. and screened at over 200 film festivals and museums.
As Yao makes exits from the American Basketball association, most of us would have already seen some of the
signs surrounding his injuries, though most of us would have hoped he would return to see him take the Rockets to the finals.
It was unfortunately that he had to end his career and move on to something else. Nonetheless, he has already made history.
"The NBA can survive without Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets can survive without Yao Ming, but we cannot survive without Yao Ming," read a comment on a Chinese Twitter-like tribute page that received 1.5 million entries within hours."
An article recently appeared in the news that struck a few cords with me that didn't quite represent the true Asian American perspective.
The article begins by introducing Asian-American as 18 percent of the Harvard University enrollment, 24 percent at Stanford University, and a whopping 46 percent at the University of California-Berkeley. Academic pedigrees like that typically vault graduates into the upper echelon of the U.S. workforce.
But a national study released Thursday by the Center for Work-Life Policy says that Asian-Americans — 5 percent of the U.S. population and the nation's fastest-growing minority by percentage — hold less than 2 percent of top corporate jobs.
According to "Researchers" supported by Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Pfizer and Time Warner:
On July 29, 2011, Asia Pacific Arts online magazine is hosting “A Celebration of Asian American Soul” at the Far Bar Lounge in Little Tokyo -- featuring performances by special guest singer Judith Hill (from Michael Jackson’s This is It), and singer/songwriter Dawen. DJ O-Dub will be spinning sets around the musical acts.
The Asia Pacific Arts fundraiser is co-hosted by InVenture, a non-profit organization that supports women entrepreneurs in developing countries to help them lift their communities out of poverty.
This will be a celebration of the spirit of creation and entrepreneurship, from Asia to the United States. By harnessing the soul of those whose music touches the hearts of their audiences -- Judith Hill with her sultry blues and Dawen with his awakening jams -- both organizations hope to inspire the community to empower themselves and support each other.
Not so long ago, the phrase “New York’s Chinatown” meant one thing: a district in Lower Manhattan near Canal Street. Now it could refer to as many as six heavily Chinese enclaves.
Koreatown was well known as a commercial zone in Midtown Manhattan, but now parts of Flushing, Queens, where tens of thousands of Koreans have moved, feel like suburban Seoul. The city has spawned neighborhoods with nicknames like Little Bangladesh, Little Pakistan, Little Manila and Little Tokyo.
Asians, a group more commonly associated with the West Coast, are surging in New York, where they have long been eclipsed in the city’s kaleidoscopic racial and ethnic mix. For the first time, according to census figures released in the spring, their numbers have topped one million — nearly 1 in 8 New Yorkers — which is more than the Asian population in the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles combined.
That's right people, the Asian American International film festival is coming soon and the last event turned out to be a success. This year's films will begin screening in August.
Be sure to checkout their schedule with the film titles and screen times becasue the list is huge. Please check out their website for the most up to date information
The Newsweek headline catches my eye: "Asian Identity Crisis, A young Asian American author defends his assimilation -- and draws fire from activists." Eric Liu's new book is something I will have to read, although I am not sure how much of it I will like.
In "The Accidental Asian: Notes from a Native Speaker," Liu takes readers on a journey through his life in a series of loosely connected essays. They run from remembrances about his youth and his late father, to explaining why he married a white woman, to his unabashed assimilation into the white world.
The Newsweek story already made me apprehensive about the book. Then, in the first few essays Liu talks about his "honorary white status." I cringe. He seems to have a naïve belief that race doesn't matter. But I read on.
Let me begin by firstly admit to my personal skepticism of any mainstream movie that attempts to portray Asian people positively, in particular Hollywood movies.
We are about to see an upcoming release titled 'Snow Flower', an adaptation to the original story. We have been informed that this is not a rehash of the old pain known as 'Joy Luck club', perhaps the Asian Americans may feel relieved.
However this has yet to be confirmed as the question still poses as to whether this movie be end up as another Hollywood-ized packaged disappointment for the Asian audience.
The big question, will this movie differ to it's evil predecessor 'Joy Luck Club' film, as we had already known to draw criticism from many Asian Americans, as a fabrication of Chinese culture to entertain the masses.
All thanks (but no thanks) to Tan and her "Joy Luck club" co-writers, our Asian American youths could only ever grow up misguided by false representations of identity.
About 160 people are expected to attend a free citizenship workshop Saturday organized by a team of Asian American organization officials who hope to make new voters in Orange County.
The Asian Pacific American Legal Center and other Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations plan to hold three simultaneous workshops in the county to help people take the first steps of applying for U.S. citizenship.
Considered as an “A list celebrity” in the world of law, Jeannie Suk recently became the first Asian American woman to receive tenure at Harvard Law School. At a young age, Suk was already passionate about becoming a lawyer. Her passion to become a lawyer was intrigued by the idea of arguing cases in front of a jury.
Suk was born in Seoul, Korea. When her father was given the opportunity to attend a medical training program in the U.S., her family immigrated here. Suk commented, “I’ve never totally understood how one undertakes the momentous decision to start a life in a new country.” Fortunately for Suk’s family, her family did not immigrant to the U.S. alone. Instead, they came along with her father’s classmates, where they shared a common goal and provided support for each other – forming a community. Now, Suk’s father is a physician and owns his own private practice; her mother manages the business in Flushing, New York.
Jeff Yang writes another great article in contrast to the latest Asian stereotyped sellout piece 'Hangover 2' and in this article he touches on the economics of Asian Americans and their appraoch to the mainstream movie industry. The challenges are clearly there, no doubt Asian Americans are full of talent in the entertainment industry, we have notable directors, actors and actresses . Asian Americans are also more than capable of setting up their own alternative media sources but is that just enough?
STRENGTHEN AND UNITE COMMUNITIES WITH CIVICS EDUCATION AND ENGLISH DEVELOPMENT (SUCCEED) ACT
Washington, D.C. – The Asian American Center for Advancing Justice commends U.S. Representative Mike Honda (D-Ca) for reintroducing the Strengthen and Unite Communities with Civics Education and English Development (SUCCEED) Act. The bill would provide much-needed assistance to populations that are limited English proficient (LEP), allowing these vulnerable community members to learn English, integrate more quickly and fully into American society and maximize their social and economic contributions to our society.
“English language acquisition resources are hugely needed,” said Karen K. Narasaki, president and executive director of AAJC. “More than 12% of Americans, over 37 million, in our country are foreign born, and that close to 55 million Americans speak a language other than English at home.”
LOS ANGELES, CA -- The Asian Pacific American Legal Center, a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, welcomes long-time public interest attorney Doreena Wong as the project director for APALC's Health Access Project
Wong, a long-time civil rights lawyer and expert on health policy and language access issues, spent the prior 11 years as a senior staff attorney at the National Health Law Program (NHeLP), which is a national public interest law firm focused on health care issues. Wong is also a well-known social justice advocate who has helped to found several Asian/Pacific Islander lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights group, including API Equality-LA.
She has also worked at other notable civil rights and public interest organizations, including the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco, the ACLU of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, the National Women's Law Center in Washington, D.C. and a Los Angeles civil rights firm specializing in enforcement of consent decrees in race discrimination cases.
Karin Wang, the Vice-President of Programs & Communications at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), will be honored today as the 2011 Woman of the Year for the 49th Assembly District.
APALC, a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, is the nation’s largest legal and civil rights organization serving Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. Before her current position, Wang directed APALC’s immigrant rights project and helped file a landmark civil rights complaint against Los Angeles County on behalf of limited English speaking welfare recipients, leading to major reforms to the department’s services to immigrants and payment of $1.7 million in back benefits. Wang also ran the first Los Angeles field office of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, enforcing federal civil rights laws across the Southwest and the Pacific.
The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population in California grew significantly during the past decade, according to a preliminary analysis of newly released Census 2010 data conducted by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice.
Remaining among the state’s fastest-growing communities, AAPIs grew from 4,321,585 in 2000 to 5,556,592 in 2010, representing 33.6% growth in the last decade. In comparison, the state’s overall population grew from 33,871,648 in 2000 to 37,253,956 in 2010, representing 10.0% growth.
AAPIs now constitute 15.5% of the state’s population, compared to 12.8% in 2000. “Policymakers, the new Citizens Redistricting Commission, and local redistricting bodies must be accountable to the needs of the state’s substantial Asian American and Pacific Islander population,” stated Stewart Kwoh, president and executive director of APALC.
First Asian American Serial Killer Movie Begins Fundraising Drive on New Crowd-Funding Site USA Projects
SAN FRANCISCO -- Jeff Adachi says he grew up hearing the stories of his Japanese-American family's internment during World War II.
WCCO's James Schugel is in the doghouse with the Asian American Journalists Association, which is demanding an apology for his idiotic report last week that local dogs were being sold for human consumption in New York City's Chinatown.
Asian Americans endure far more bullying at US schools than members of other ethnic groups, with teenagers of the community three times as likely to face taunts on the Internet, new data shows.
Be sure to check this film out! the film Wedding Palace wins Best Feature & Best Cinematography at Cine Gear Expo! Written by Christine Yoon.
An article recently appeared in the news that struck a few cords with me that didn't quite represent the true Asian American perspective.
On July 29, 2011, Asia Pacific Arts online magazine is hosting “A Celebration of Asian American Soul” at the Far Bar Lounge in Little Tokyo -- featuring performances by special guest singer Judith Hill (from Michael Jackson’s This is It), and singer/songwriter Dawen. DJ O-Dub will be spinning sets around the musical acts.
Not so long ago, the phrase “New York’s Chinatown” meant one thing: a district in Lower Manhattan near Canal Street. Now it could refer to as many as six heavily Chinese enclaves.
The Newsweek headline catches my eye: "Asian Identity Crisis, A young Asian American author defends his assimilation -- and draws fire from activists." Eric Liu's new book is something I will have to read, although I am not sure how much of it I will like.
Let me begin by firstly admit to my personal skepticism of any mainstream movie that attempts to portray Asian people positively, in particular Hollywood movies.
About 160 people are expected to attend a free citizenship workshop Saturday organized by a team of Asian American organization officials who hope to make new voters in Orange County.
Considered as an “A list celebrity” in the world of law, Jeannie Suk recently became the first Asian American woman to receive tenure at Harvard Law School. At a young age, Suk was already passionate about becoming a lawyer. Her passion to become a lawyer was intrigued by the idea of arguing cases in front of a jury.
STRENGTHEN AND UNITE COMMUNITIES WITH CIVICS EDUCATION AND ENGLISH DEVELOPMENT (SUCCEED) ACT.jpg)
Karin Wang, the Vice-President of Programs & Communications at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), will be honored today as the 2011 Woman of the Year for the 49th Assembly District. 
The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population in California grew significantly during the past decade, according to a preliminary analysis of newly released Census 2010 data conducted by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice.