Though I will be using the more personal "I" form (since it is a blog), I will attempt to remain objective as I have in the past--call it going back to my roots... KNOW JUSTICE, KNOW PEACE was the first hour and a half of shorts that kicked off the festival. ILLEGAL (directed by Andrew Oh) continues a trend that I have noticed in film and the arts. Violence, brutality, torture, and "stark" reality are filtering down from battlefields to our screens. Don't get me wrong--violence has always been a staple of American culture. But there is a meanness that is not aimless anymore. How can war mentality NOT affect us?
Without giving away too much of the story, ILLEGAL is about a couple trying to achieve the American dream. Hiring an illegal sets Daniel and Jessica on a path they didn't plan on going. A scene in the film looked so much like the way we are now handling our prisoners. OFFICER TSUKAMOTO (directed by Ling Liu) is a documentary about how ambiguous life really is. The unsolved murder of one of the first Asian American police officers in America, it makes us question what is right and wrong--how should minorities behave in a multicultural society?
And then, there was a music video--not the usual MTV kind. IRAQ-TIMZ (directed by Ron Najor) is a politically charged song that asks the difficult questions some people are asking. As the director, who was in attendance during the premiere, said: "It's not that I am wrong and you are right--but rather, why are we not seeing all sides of the war? Why is media coverage so one-sided?" Indeed... UNDERPASS (directed by Rain Breaw) was another morally ambiguous short. A Cambodian Khmer Rouge survivor turns an illegal immigrant in to the authorities. He moonlights as a grafitti painter in San Diego in the early 90s.
On the other side of the spectrum, LOST AND FOUND (directed by Tam Tran) is the touching story of an undocumented girl from the Phillipines. When she turns 18, adulthood brings bewildering questions into her life--questions that most of us don't have to deal with on a daily basis. The last short film in the collection, PILGRIMAGE (directed by Tadashi Nakamura), is the story about a topic that is now being discussed very openly--the concentration camps we set up for Japanese-Americans during WWII. Yes, it happened here. Yes, it is relevant in our climate of fear post 9/11.
Obviously, FINISHING THE GAME (directed by Justin Lin) was going to be the big draw for opening night--it was, after all, the designated Opening Night Film (not to mention the fact that MC Hammer attended the screening as he is in the cast). However, for my money, BOLINAO 52 (directed by Duc Nguyen) should have had that honor. A hard-hitting film about the Vietnamese boat people--in this case, a 110 people fled from Vietnam in 1988. Only 52 survived the journey. This the ultimate reality show. This film showed what mental and physical endurance really means. When there is nothing left but hope and a strong belief in faith--when food and water are at stake.
Survival is the main theme in this compelling drama. It is such a raw and emotional story that production values don't matter, but they were still good. "Making it to America" was all that these poor people wanted. But, the U.S.S. Dubuque didn't consider this human cargo worthy of respecting International Naval laws. The captain was more fixated on going to war.As a result, during the 37 days at sea, the refugees ran out of food and water. Their boat's engine stopped working. At some point, they had to resort to cannibalism in order to survive. "Did it taste good?" was the question they were asked of their ordeal.
And yet, it is also a story of forgiveness. As it was quoted in the movie, "Healing is not to hang on to our wounds but to move on gracefully." The captain was court-martialed. Incredibly, the refugees asked for him to be pardoned. Everyone should have to watch this film about the enduring human spirit--how ordinary people become heroes in their own way.
And here are the promised links...
The specific articles are:
San Diego Film Festival--Third and Fourth Days
San Diego Film Festival 2007--The Second Day
Looking for Gems in all the Right Places
2007 San Diego Latino Film Festival: Wrapup
2007 San Diego Latino Film Festival: Midweek
"SRV" Films on the Menu
2007 San Diego Latino Film Festival
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