Join us for a weekend celebrating Asian American stories by Asian American filmmakers! All screenings are free and open to the public. Brought to you by the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
MAINELAND
Fri., Oct. 5 | 7:00 PM | 4070 Vilas Hall
Director: Miao Wang
This gorgeous and thoughtful documentary by the director of Beijing Taxi follows two affluent and cosmopolitan Chinese high schoolers as they adjust to life at a small boarding school in rural Maine. Part of the enormous wave of “parachute students” from China enrolling in U.S. private schools, bubbly, fun-loving Stella and introspective Harry come seeking a Western-style education, escape from the dreaded Chinese college entrance exam, and the promise of a Hollywood-style U.S. high school experience. As the students fuzzy visions of the American dream slowly gain more clarity, they ruminate on their experiences of alienation, culture clash and personal identity, sharing new understandings and poignant discourses on home and country. Screening with the support of the 2018 Asian-American Media Spotlight.
AUGUST AT AKIKO’S
Sat., Oct. 6 | 7:00 PM | 4070 Vilas Hall
After a period of estrangement, a jazz musician returns to his Hawaiian island home and takes up residence at a retreat run by an older Buddhist woman. Trading therapeutic techniques and music, the two develop a spiritual bond. Director Makato Yogi’s debut is “a soul-deep love letter to a state that Hollywood tends to more glibly romanticize…its breezy, benevolent warmth stays with you after its immediate details begin to fade” (Guy Lodge, Variety). Screening with the support of the 2018 Asian-American Media Spotlight.