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Karate-Robo Zaborgar by director Noboru Iguchi “Japan’s scientists, politicians and businessmen are in grave danger. The evil secret society Sigma, led by the nefarious Dr. Akunomiya and aided by Miss Borg, a beautiful man-hating cyborg, has been stealing their DNA and using it to build a giant cybernetic robot. The only man who can stop them is secret agent Daimon, who rides a motorcycle that also happens to be a robot with mad karate skills. Welcome to the world of Karate-Robo Zaborgar!” Directed by Japanese cult director Noboru Iguchi, this over-the-top update of a tokusatsu TV show from the ’70s is sheer madness, delivered with the power of Zaborgar’s patented “Flying Dragon Triple Kicks.” Sat., June 18, 10:30 p.m., Downtown Independent Tue., June 21, 10:30 p.m., Regal 11 Now in its 17th year, Film Independent’s Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by Los Angeles Times, showcases the best of American and international cinema. The 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival takes place June 16-26, 2011 in downtown Los Angeles. The Festival screens more than 200 features, shorts, documentaries and music videos from more than 40 countries. The Festival connects the movie-loving public to critically acclaimed filmmakers, film industry professionals, and emerging talent in the heart of Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world. For passes, tickets and full Festival details, please call 1.866.FilmFest or visit www.LAFilmFest.com
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May 1, 2011 Poetry @ The Gene Siskel Film Center – Chicago   Poetry is the quietly devastating, humanistic new film from South Korean director Lee Chang-dong. Mija (played by veteran actress Yun Jung-hee), is a grandmother on the cusp of memory loss. After enrolling in a community center poetry class, this elegant and proper sixty-ish woman who is struggling to raise her teenage grandson on her own, is faced with the discovery of a heinous family crime. Finding strength and purpose through her new creative process, she allows herself to understand and escape the shame and pain she endures. Coming out of retirement to take the role of Mija, Yun’s performance is mesmerizingly rich and emotionally complex and carries this visually unadorned film. Not being a newcomer to the festival circuit, Lee’s other feature films are Green Fish (1996), Peppermint Candy (2000), Oasis (2002) (winner of the Best Director and Best New Actress awards at the Venice International Film Festival) and Secret Sunshine (2007) (winner of the Best Actress award at the Cannes International Film Festival), and in its world premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, Poetry won Best Screenplay.  What I really appreciate about this film compared to the recent wave of Korean films that has hit our shores this year – The Man From Nowhere (Lee Jeong-beom), I Saw The Devil (Kim Jee-woon), and The Housemaid (Im Sang-soo) is the way the crime was handle visually. Although it’s key and central to the story, it’s never seen, but only talked about. In all these other films, they actually show the intense and graphic nature of the crimes and almost glorify and exploit the violence and sexual content. Granted it works visually with these other films for mood, tone and shock value, but Lee’s chooses to focus on the reactions and how it affects not the people who actually committed the crime, but their families who are left to deal with the aftermath. These other films are all outstanding and visually amazing, but I felt that they are not fully representative of Korean cinema and was glad to see less eye candy and more focused storytelling that is  what had really brought Korean cinema to the forefront of the International festival scene of the early 2000’s.  Poetry does not have a scheduled U.S. DVD release date, but is theatrically playing stateside thru June ,it’s A Kino International release. Check it out at your local art house if you can, it’s on my top five list for this year. [youtube]fo2dfY317-k[/youtube].
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Filmmaker Jennifer Phang (photo: Shameel Arafin) JENNIFER PHANG blew people away at Sundance with her 2008 feature debut HALF-LIFE, and was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film.  (If you haven’t seen the film, it is now streaming on Netflix. For you New Yorkers it will be at the Anthology Film Archive May 11 ). She’s also a really good friend of mine, but we feigned some professional distance for the following interview in which we talked about production vs. promotion, the Tokyo International Film Festival, and her new projects LOOK FOR WATER and CRAZY BEATS STRONG EVERY TIME (directed by Moon Molson). ***** ‪me: ‬ ‪So, I first met you at SFIAAFF where HALF-LIFE had somewhat of a “coming home” screening in 2009, ‬but you guys had already been all over the world with the film by that point. Which part of a filmmaker’s life do you enjoy more?  the long process of putting a movie together, or the (sometimes) even longer process of getting it out there and engaging an audience? ‪Jennifer Phang: ‬ ‪I think the great thing about filmmaking is that you rarely have time to get bored of any part of the process. Each step relieves us from the last step.  But I think I’m most happy in the creation phase.   Working with other talents and being able to marvel at their creativity is something that can feel really “pure.”  And I think everyone wants to feel that as much as possible in their lives. I think we’re all searching for the freedom to be creative and honest about our perspectives and visions.  How about you?‬ ‪me: ‬ ‪It’s hard to say.   Whenever I’m promoting a film, I get really impatient to get back to the creative work.‬  But whenever I’m shooting or editing, I just can’t wait to get to the end. ‪JP: ‬ ‪Well maybe your impatience is what makes you so prolific ‬… me: Just purely out of curiosity, what was your experience at the Tokyo International Film Festival like? ‪JP: ‬ ‪Tokyo International was pretty much the most glamorous festival I played at.  Where to begin… I got to meet my childhood idol director Nikita Mikhalkov who directed “Burnt by the Sun.”  I praised him and he gave me a cheek kiss of appreciation. Also sat down for drinks with Jon Voight.‬ ‪me: ‬ ‪Haha!  Of “Anaconda” fame?  Nice!‬ ‪JP: ‬ ‪Very nice. He did an impression of Toshiro Mifune in SEVEN SAMURAI at one of the receptions.  ‬ me: Whoa… JP: Yeah…right? I also got to talk a lot with Cesar Charlone (DP of CITY OF GOD) who was a fan of the HALF-LIFE, thank goodness. ‪me: ‬ ‪Wow, not exactly lightweights.  I’m impressed.  If I was in the same room as either of those guys I would sip my Diet Coke, and mind my business.‬  I’m a coward. ‪JP:‬ ‪No, you’d find a way to charm the pants off of them. Overall the...
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Eugene, OR– The DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon opened on April 29th for the sixth edition, and Goh Nakamura and I are attending to show “Surrogate Valentine.” It’s my third time attending the festival, and it’s fun visiting with old friends and making some new ones. I’ve also been able to catch up on some movies! The Centerpiece screening this year was “The House of Suh,” a gripping documentary produced and directed by Iris Shim. The film tells the story of Andrew Suh, who is currently serving a 100 year sentence for murdering his sister’s fiancee in a much publicized case that scandalized Chicago in the mid 1990′s. Through extraordinary interviews with Andrew, his relatives, and even the brother of victim Robert O’Dubaine, Shim deconstructs the crime and explores the fractured family relationships that may have shaped Andrews eventual transformation into a murderer. Andrew’s sister Catherine Suh does not appear on camera but haunts every frame of the film. The method by which she convinced her brother to murder Robert O’Dubaine is not revealed until the final third of the film, and I wouldn’t dare talk about it here…but I was struck by the fact that Andrew Suh still seems convinced that his sister would never lie to him. I was also very moved and fascinated by the appearance of Kevin Koron, the victim’s brother. The director mentioned in the Q & A that Koron’s participation in the film was understandably met with great resistance by the rest of the victim’s family, but his personal testimony is crucial to establishing who Robert O’Dubaine was. The portrait that emerges, while secondary to the film’s overall focus on the Suh family, is sad and undeniably moving. “The House of Suh” has been acquired by MSNBC FIlms and will be broadcast later this year in a truncated 44-minute version. See the 90 minute version if possible, but the story is worth watching in any available format. \”The House of Suh\” Trailer
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