SFIAAFF 2009: Mosque in Morgantown and Forgotten Woman
Smitha Radhakrishnan reports on two of the documentary selections from this year's San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.
SFIAAFF 2009: Project Kashmir
Directors Senain Kheshgi and Geeta V. Patel probe the Kashmiri conflict by turning their cameras on themselves in Project Kashmir.
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Kiyoshi Kurosawa wins for Tokyo Sonata.
April 3, 2009: News from Abroad
Tokyo Sonata wins at Asian Film Awards, Miyazaki unleashes new book, and China and YouTube are... on a break. All this and more in the latest edition of News Bites.
Asian Film Award goes to Tokyo Sonata
This year's Asian Film Awards took place on March 23, 2009. Tokyo Sonata took home the best film prize, Motoki Masahiro from Departures won best actor, while Zhou Xun earned best actress for her performance in Equation of Love and Death. Best director went to Hirokazu Koreeda for his film Still Walking. To see a full list of winners, in addition to Asia Pacific Arts' slideshow from the red carpet and backstage, click here. --Ada Tseng
Freida Pinto cast in Israeli film
Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto was recently cast in an upcoming Woody Allen film, starring alongside actors Sir Anthony Hopkin and Josh Brolin. And now the model/actress has signed on to star in Israeli filmmaker Julian Schnabel’s Miral. The twenty-four-year-old will join the rest of the cast on April 19 to begin filming in the Israel and Palestinian territories. The Miral screenplay (and written by Schnabael) is adapted from Rula Jebreal’s book about Hind Husseini. The film is set during the wake of the 1948 partition of Palestine and creation of the state of Israel and will center on the orphanage Husseini founded. –Kanara Ty
Hayao Miyazaki Publishes Starting Point: 1979-1996 Retrospective Novel
In five hundred pages, drawn from ninety works of texts, talks, lectures, and movie plans, Hayao Miyazaki reveals his philosophy and experience in animation and filmmaking. Creator of such classic animation like My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, and Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki's Starting Point: 1979-1996 (Shuppatsu Ten 1979-1996) details anecdotes during his golden age of production, including the founding of Studio Ghibli in 1985. Starting Point also highlights Miyazaki's lesser known manga works and also his criticisms of the late Tezuka Osamu, who was often called the "god of manga". The English translation of Starting Point: 1979-1996 will be available for pre-order starting July 7th 2009. --LiAnn Ishizuka
Google Offers Free Music in China
Aiming to beat current competitor, Baidu, Google announced that it will offer free music downloads in China from big music industry names like Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group, Universal Music, and the Warner Music Group. The push is also a piracy battle; according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, last year more than 99% of all music files distributed in China were pirated. It's a pretty simple process -- Chinese consumers can search and download music from the Beijing company Top100.cn, and not have to worry that it's illegal. Google states that it's willing to match its Baidu competitors with partnerships with the global music industry, including 140 independent music companies. --LiAnn Ishizuka
Asian pop on the rise in iTunes
This past week, iTunes has been adding to its online store a series of Korean artists available for download. This includes not only popular mainstream groups such as Epik High and Brown Eyed Girls, but also more indie groups as well such as Huckleberry Finn and Sister's Barbershop. Through iTunes older artists will also be made available, such as G.O.D. and Drunken Tiger. The deal was made possible through an agreement between Apple and DFSB Kollective, a Seoul-based creative agency representing the bands. Across the sea, Japan too notes progress into the American market via iTunes with Utada Hikaru's 2nd English album, This is The One. The album launched at 19 on the iTunes music store, the first time ever for a Japanese artist to make the top 100. --Frederick Stiehl
China blocks YouTube
Imagine you're living the good life in Shanghai. One day you can look up an Aamir Khan video on YouTube, and the next day, you find that the website is taking reaaaallly reaaally long to respond. "Network Timeout. The server at youtube.com is taking too long to respond." is the official response, and no reason is given. The government denies any ill will towards YouTube or the internet, even though you remember the last time this happened: March of 2008, when there were riots in Tibet. The only thing left is to bond with other countries who have been suffered temporary YouTube deprivation in the past. Like... Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey. --Ada Tseng
Bae Seul Ki set for big Finale
Korean pop star Bae Seul Ki is set to star in a new global film production, Finale. Bae recently flew to Germany to finalize contract negotiations as well as to shoot promotional trailers for the film. The movie, which takes place during the 2002 World Cup, is the story of a conflict between Si-Yeon (Bae) and Finn (actor to be announced) who belong respectively to the Korean and Italian Mafias. The son of the head of the mafia is killed, purportedly by Finn, and Si-Yeon, the boss's daughter, is sent for vengeance. Through the duration of the soccer game, the two groups of mobsters fight. The film, said to take after Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, features prominent actors from Italy, Korea, as well as German director Rouchdi Guedria, action director Jung Doo-Hong (The Good the Bad the Weird, Taegukgi, Mongol), and music director Jo Yeong-Wook (Oldboy). The film, which has received extensive funding from Hollywood, is to be released in 2010. Through this film, Bae reworks her image, from a beautiful pop icon to a cold-hearted killer covered in blood. It has also been announced that Bae will return to the music scene and is soon to release a new mini-album. --Frederick Stiehl
Kashyap and Abraham together again in Bombay Velvet
Director Anurag Kashyap and actor John Abraham are teaming up again for the film Bombay Velvet. Abraham will take on the lead role portraying a hero to the masses set in the 1960s. Developed over the last four years, the story will be based on real-life events and produced by TV 18. After being heavily criticized for his box-office failure No Smoking, Kashyap will work on improving on the weaknesses in his filmmaking with Bombay Velvet. Kashyap is also currently working on an action film with Kunal Kapoor vehicle Doga – which draws its story from Indian comics. –-Kanara Ty
Singer Lee Soo Young to try television
After the release of her 8th album, Korean Queen of Ballads Lee Soo Young will branch out into acting with a role in a new television drama Six Months. Lee is known for her quick wits and personality, but also her beautiful voice in the music scene. The show itself focuses around actress Han Ji Soo (Kim Ah Joong) and her contract marriage to a postman (Hwang Jung Min). Lee plays the role of another worker at the post office who falls in love with Hwang's character, introduced to her by his sister (Lee Chung Ah). The romantic comedy is scheduled for release on April 29th. --Frederick Stiehl
Date Posted: 4/3/2009