The LuLu Sessions
[screened at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2011]

In her 2011 doc, filmmaker Casper Wong chronicles her complicated relationship with prominent cancer researcher, Dr. Louise Nutter. The two had kept a deliberately long-distance friendship, hoping not burning each other out. This changes when poetic irony intervenes, and Louise is stricken by cancer, the disease she worked tirelessly to combat.

A film like this is begging to be done wrong. Tragic themes, like death and estrangement, are so well-worn into the doc landscape it takes a surprising amount of will to make them interesting — or even distinguishable from one another. It’s difficult to say in what measures the film owes its strength to an intuitive first time filmmaker, a dedication to candidly documenting these two lives, or the personality of the eponymous subject, but I’m going to lean toward crediting the third the most.

Louise Nutter seemed like a person that would irritate me in real life. However, her overflowing extroversion and over the top exuberance consistently deliver the perfect counterpoint to a topic that threatens to drag any story into numbing sentimentality. She alone may be responsible for making this movie interesting. Her expertise and unique relationship with the malady in her professional life denied her the uncertainty of a layman, and so what would be a shocking barrage of unanticipated horrors to most became a sparring match with a familiar opponent.

An independent musical comedy. Directed by Chil Kong and written by Kong, Erin Quill, and Ryun Yu.

Official Film Site

The Mikado Project Trailer


FROM THEIR WEBSITE:
The Mikado Project is a musical comedy (based on the stage performance written by Ken Narasaki and Doris Baizley and adapted for film by Chil Kong) of a struggling Asian American theater company that, in a desperate publicity stunt to save their company, decides to produce a modern reconstruction of Gilbert and Sullivan’s, The Mikado, to stir controversy and jolt ticket sales.

The Mikado, one of the most beloved comedy operas by legendary collaborators, Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert, first opened on stage in 1885 in London. The story was set in Japan (considered an exotic land to the British during that era) which allowed Gilbert & Sullivan to satirize British politics. However, by doing so, Asians around the world and Asian Americans today have found this opera hard to embrace—making the notion of Asian American actors performing The Mikado controversial and palatable only through a comedic reconstruction.

A comedy / romance set in Taiwan. Written and directed by Arvin Chen.

Au Revoir Taipei Trailer


SYNOPSIS:
Kai, a brokenhearted young man from Taipei, yearns to be with his girlfriend, who’s left for Paris. He spends his days working at his parents’ noodle restaurant and his nights trying to learn French at the local bookstore, where he meets Susie, a sweet but lonely girl who works there. Afraid of losing his girlfriend, and in need of money to get to Paris, he accepts a dubious offer from a local gangster to deliver a mysterious package to Paris. It’s the beginning of a wild night for Kai, at the end of which he realizes that leaving both Susie and Taipei will only take him further away from true love.

An independent drama / road movie. Written and directed by Abraham Lim.

Official Film Site

God Is D_ad Trailer


FROM THEIR WEBSITE:
Tim, a comic book store clerk puts an advertisement in the newspaper looking for travel buddies to share an RV with him headed for Chicago. Together with his reluctant best friend and the three misfits that respond to the ad, they take to the road. Tim’s final destination is a fantasy/comic book convention where he will unveil his new game world in the hopes of winning the trophy for best original game world.

When they find themselves lost in the backroads of the Midwest, Tim entertains them with the story of his dark exotic world. But soon their journey becomes an adventure itself, with each telling of his story seeming to nudge fantasy into reality. Soon the travelers own personal demons and desires pull them all into a dark world of their own. To find their way out they willl have to abandon their individual ideas of who and what they are and come together to make a choice.

An independent drama set in the Philippines. Written and directed by Gerry Balasta.

Official Film Site

The Mountain Thief Trailer


FROM THEIR WEBSITE:
In a world of monstrous mountains of trash, Julio and his son confront their ultimate fight for survival as they seek refuge and redemption from war and hunger. Together, they navigate territorial rivalries and intense desperation among scavengers, surviving–and finding love–despite horrific living conditions. Julio, involved in a murder incident, must prove his innocence to avoid his family’s banishment and ultimate starvation.

A story of triumph over unusual circumstances, The Mountain Thief reveals the unimaginable realities of people living in extreme poverty, and what happens when their tenuous hold on hope and survival is threatened.

A family drama / coming-of-age story written and directed by Leena Pendharkar.

Official Film Site

Raspberry Magic Trailer

FROM THEIR WEBSITE:
Raspberry Magic is a coming-of-age story about an 11-year-old girl who believes she must win the science fair in order to bring her father back after he runs out on the family. She blames herself for her parents’ problems, and takes charge when her mother falls into a deep depression.

Set behind the backdrop of a beautiful Pacific Northwest forest, Monica’s experiment uses touch therapy to help raspberries grow faster. She asks, is it nature or nurture that can truly help a being grow? Does it even matter? Through her ups and downs with her family, she learns that it’s a complex question, and the answer isn’t so simple.

An independent romantic comedy directed by Quentin Lee and written by Koji Sakai. Stars Karin Anna Chung, Archie Kao and Randall Park.

Official Film Site

The People I’ve Slept With Trailer


STOLEN SYNOPSIS:
Angela Yang (Karin Anna Cheung) loves sex. She loves it so much she needs to make baseball cards of her lovers to help her remember where she’s been. She doesn’t think twice about her lifestyle until she finds out that she’s pregnant.

Her gay best friend, Gabriel Lugo (Wilson Cruz), tells her to “take care of it,” but her conservative sister, Juliet (Lynn Chen), persuades Angela to get married to the baby’s father and lead a “normal” life like her.

Angela listens to her sister, chooses to keep the baby, and goes on a quest to find the identity of the father by any means necessary. She revisits her recent sexual conquests most likely to have impregnated her: 5-Second-Guy, Mystery Man, Nice-But-Boring-Guy, Mr. Howe, and BFF. She finds creative ways to obtain each of their DNA samples in the hope of identifying the dad and ultimately marrying him.

During the search, she gets to know one of the possible fathers, Jefferson Lee aka Mystery Man (Archie Kao), and quickly realizes that he can give her the fairytale she wants. As they grow closer, each discovers they both have secrets they’re hiding from each other.

While helping Angela on her quest, Gabriel is sorting through his own relationship issue. He’s 30 and been in lots of relationships but never in love. When he finally meets someone that he’s fallen in love with, he’s too scared to admit and sabotages his relationship. Heartbroken, he tries to win back the first guy he’s ever really loved.

Hoping for the best, Angela and Gabriel decide to plan a double wedding. Their philosophy is: if we plan it, the grooms will come. Will they?

Beneath the steamy adventures of The People I’ve Slept With lies the touching story of the importance of defining friendship and family for a modern woman who must find the path to accept herself.