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Breakthrough
E
Asian film
festival
explodes
stereotypes
"Where's the best place to eat
in Chinatown?"
That's the question tourists ask
Jo most often when they enter his
Asian Student
Coalition
(UMASC),
begins Saturday
and will run
Af
GCOLLAGE
Asian-American Film Series
FEBRUARY
3 7:00 Ourselves
8:00 Chan is Missing
10 7:00 Sewing Woman
7:15 Loose Pages
Bound
8:15 A Great Wall
17 7:00 Made in China
7:30 The Fall of the 1=
Hotel
8:30 Illusory Thoughts
24 7:00 Pieces of a Dream
7:30 So Far From India
8:30 Unfinished
Business
-MARCH
17 7:00 Rex
7:15 Freckled Rice
8:15 The Wash
24 7:00 The Boy Who
Drew Cats
7:05 Inside Chinatown
8:00 Green Jacket
31 7:00 Afterbirth
7:30 Bittersweet
Survival
8:00 Pickles Make Me
Cry
taxi cab. And unfortunately,
Madrian and Cantonese are, for
many people, merely
differentiations in the same
cooking style.
From the opening shot to the
closing credits, director Wayne
Wang's film Chan is Missing
compellingly exposes stereotypes
and suffrages plaguing Chinese
Americans in the first feature-
length film produced by an
entirely Chinese-American cast
and crew. The film, simply stated,
is original in its execution and
compelling in its humanity.
Chan is Missing is one of two
films opening this weekend
during the largest Asian American
film series ever shown in the
Midwest. Collage: An Asian
American Film Series, developed
by the University of Michigan
through April,
bringing twenty- b Donna
one short and
feature length films to the
University.
The selections, including Chan
is Missing, represent some of the
best independent filmmaking of
the past two decades.
Set in San Francisco's
Chinatown and Manilatown, the
film follows the search of two
Chinese American cab drivers, Jo
and son Steve, for a business
partner who disappeared with
$2,000 of their money. During
their pursuit, thte two encounter a
host of vibrant characters who
assist them in coming to terms
with their own identity and place
in American society, as well
helping them discover clues
concerning Chan's whereabouts.
But Chan is Missing unfolds into
more than a humorous and
entertaining detective search.
The film becomes a sophisticated
evaluation of culture, for Jo and
Steve, as well as for the audience,
to dismantle ethnic myths.
"I feel like I'm in the same
mess as Chan Hung," says
humble cab driver and narrator Jo.
"But I'm not even sure what the
mess is."
Through the humane eyes of
Jo, as well as discussions with his
tough prodigal son Steve, the film
captures the tensions between old
and new Chinese American
attitudes.
Not only does Wang depict the
different generational planes
dividing Chinese Americans, but
he describes their political
i
conflicts. The
story itself
revolves around
the murder of a
Chinese-
American man
lad i9aolowho was killed
by another
Chinese American man over
which flag - mainland China's or
Taiwan's - to raise on the
Chinese New Year.
And while infighting may be
one aspect of the problems facing
Chinese American's search for an
identity, Wayne remains clear as
to who the real criminal within
the detective story is.
"You were born here, but they
consider you a foreigner," says
Henry, a chef and political activist
within the Chinatown
community.
"Then we have to do
something," responds Jo. "We
have to fight."
And the film does. Even the
structure of the film itself, with its
bits of untranslated Chinese,
becomes a kind of artistic
conspiracy.
Wang also remarkably subverts
existing Hollywood film
stereotypes of Chinese Americans
through Jo's brief witty allusion to
Charlie Chan and the distortion of
Chinese mysticism.
And according to UMASC's
resource person Victoria
Kuohung, who has worked on
developing the film series since
last winter, reshaping the identity
of Asian Americans is one the
expected outcomes of the event.
"I hope the film series will
shatter the stereotypes people
have of Asian Americans, and
those created in Hollywood
films," Kuohung said.
Kuohung said it is important for
the Asian-American community,
as well as all Americans, to realize
the harmful effects racial
stereotypes perpetuate. As an
example, she pointed to the
derogatory representation of an
Asian character in Sixteen Candles.
But while the films deal with
Asian-American issues, Kuohung
stressed how important these
films are for everyone.
"It not just some kind of Asian
thing," said Kuohung. "The
silence that's forced upon Asian-
Americans is the same that's force
upon Native Americans, as well as
others."
Other established Asian
filmmakers will also be presented
in Collage. Works include veteran
director Christine Choy's
Bittersweet Survival and Loose
Pages Bound. She is perhaps best
know for her award winning
documentary Who Killed Vincent
Chin?. In addition to Choy's films,
So Far From India is a powerful
earlier documentary by Mira Nair,
director of Salaam Bombay!
Filmmakers new to the
profession will also be showcased.
Former Wall Street trader Henry
Luk quit his job and sold his
house to complete Green Jacket,
his first effort. Also a recent
comer, Patrik Chu filmed Illusory
Thoughts, called "visually
stunning" by The Village Voice.
In the past, UMASC has
coordinated a variety of larger
events on campus both with other
student groups and on its own.
These include the Asian-
American Women's Symposium,
readings by Asian-American
authors Lawson Inada and Frank
Chin, and the annual Asian-
American Art Show. The 1988-
1989 Asian American Lecture
Series invited noted personages
such as Tony Award-winning
playwright David Henry Hwang,
film director Christine Choy,
actress Jude Narita, and lawyer
Helen Zia, who worked for the
Vincent Chin case.
The University of Michigan
Asian Student Coalition was
formed during Winter Term 1987
so Asian students could unite in
fighting racism and bring various
topics concerning Asian-
Americans to the attention of the
University community, Detroit
metropolitan areas, and other
college campuses. UMASC serves
not only as a political and
advocacy group but also as a
network linking students from
various ethnic backgrounds and
campuses together. In addition,
UMASC organizes workshops and
discussions which help Asian-
American students better
understand their culture.
licl
I.
Lu an s
- Steay
ndersi e
1
You've heard the rumors. Walking from Central Campus to your Hill
dorm complaining about the Michigan winters, a companion mentions
an underground tunnel system connecting all the University buildings.
Wow, you say to yourself, if there were a tunnel system, maybe my hair
wouldn't freeze every morning on the way to class.
Well, there is a tunnel system beneath the University; it is extensive
and elaborate, but it probably wouldn't save you much time getting to
class. Getting in and out isn't easy, and the tunnels aren't the safest
place for someone in a hurry.
APRIL
7 7:001
9:00
Admission1
Eat a bowl of Tea
to all events free
(continues)
10 WEEKEND..
10
MEOW
February 21990