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I’ve attended a lot of film festivals over the years. And through Giant Robot magazine, I’ve had the pleasure of introducing features by friends (Harry Kim and David Choe’s Dirty Hands) as well as conducting Q&As afterward (Stephen Chow for CJ7). But Animal Style for FAAIM’s Asian American Showcase was the first program that I’ve ever curated. Yes, it totally ruled. Thanks to connections with the mighty Uprise skate shop, the sold-out slot drew old-school and new-jack skaters from all over Chicago to see Wing Ko’s documentary about the first generation of Second City skaters, which took two decades to complete. Wing shot much of the early footage while attending film school in his hometown before moving to L.A. and working on key skate videos for Girl, the legendary Rodney vs. Daewon series, and the underrated ON Video magazine and then moving on to academic subjects. The Brotherhood: Chicago is Wing’s return not only to skateboarding but his roots, and the three subjects–Jesse Neuhaus, Stevie Dread, Eric Murphy–were in attendance. To help my good friend’s project premiere in the Windy City was very special to me, and warm feelings were everywhere. After a shit-talking-and-loving Q&A, the lobby was packed with Chicago’s hardest-core rippers who didn’t want the afternoon to end.
One of the best things about working on Giant Robot magazine during its 16-year run was providing a showcase for rad work by talented friends. This weekend I get to do it in a different setting–a film festival. With the encouragement of FAAIM director Tim Hugh, I put together Animal Style. The first part collects indie skate videos by Asian Americans, while the second section cherry picks pieces from Asia itself.
Animal Style wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Tad Suzuki and Thy Mai. It was after I sent their first film short to my friend Tim Hugh, who runs FAAIM’s Asian American Showcase in Chicago, that he suggested I curate an entire skate video program. And now their noir-inspired “The Working Man” and hyper-colored “Perfect Time” will kick off the bill on April 14.
Sometime last year, an artful and amazing indie skate short was rejected by the International Skateboard Film Festival. My friends who made it were philosophical, but I was pissed. What was the point of calling for–and charging for–entries to such an event if it was just going to screen industry-backed skate vids (which receive big-budget premieres anyway)?
So I was motivated to hit up my friend Tim, who programs the Asian American Showcase for FAAIM in Chicago. He liked the piece a lot, and suggested that I assemble an entire program of skate videos. I thought about it and realized that I had other friends with works that had not been seen, realized, or shown in the U.S. This was a good opportunity to help get their work out.
After months of correspondence/hounding via email, the lineup has been finalized and the screenings will take place on Saturday, April 14 at the Gene Siskel Center. Tim asked me to summarize the films for festival purposes, and I thought I’d share them with you, too. What do you think? Any chance we’ll meet in Chicago? Got a screen where you’d like to show it? Let me know!
On Sunday night I got to play records at the premiere party for my friends Tad and Thy’s excellent The Working Man skate video. Actually, it was our mutual friend and actual DJ Wing Ko who was initially invited, but he asked me if I wanted to join him. How could I say no? Isn’t it every dude’s dream to play his favorite songs at maximum volume and make a ton of people listen to it?
For my first, last, and most likely only effort as DJ Moway, I played one set of 7″ singles and another with vinyl LPs, EPs and compilations. Unlike Wing, who did some serious mixing, editing, and other tricks, I just played records. Here are the song lists, as well as links to versions that I put up on Spotify and shared via Facebook. Interestingly, each of the online sets can fit snugly on one side of a 90-minute cassette! That’s appropriate since they’re more like mix tapes for sitting around, shooting the shit, and playing dominoes than packing a dance floor.