9th Annual Boston Asian American Film Festival October 19-22

The 9th annual Boston Asian American Film Festival runs from October 19th to the 22rd. Three Four films in this year's festival have Japanese American themes. I'm very excited that Japanese American filmmaker Konrad Aderer is returning to Boston for the New England premiere of Resistance at Tule Lake, this year's Centerpiece Film. The last time he was in Boston was five years ago when his first documentary, Enemy Alien, was co-presented by BAAFF at the 2012 Boston Palestine Film Festival. Check out the other films here.

Family Matters [Shorts]

Friday, October 20, 2017, 7:00pm (tickets) 
Bright Family Screening Room @ The Paramount Center, 559 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111
Followed by Q&A with Daniel K. Isaac, Actor (According to My Mother), Craig Nisperos, Director (Distance), Alfonso Bui, Director, Lee Nguyen (NGUYENing - The Lee Nguyen Story).
Co-presented by Network of South Asian Professionals of Boston, BOSFilipinos, Queer Asian Pacific-Islander Alliance. 

It Is What It Is
2016 | 8 mins | Documentary| Japanese-Iranian
Directed by Cyrus Yoshi Tabar

It is What it Is Filmmaker Cyrus Yoshi Tabar, a first-generation Iranian-Japanese-American, has a photo of his grandparents holding him as an infant. The photo captures his first and last encounter with them. Seeking to understand the fracture in his family, Cyrus embarks on a journey into the dark and nebulous corners of family history. Fragmented and cloudy images of his family speckle his investigation as he talks to his aunt and sister, but discovers that a family’s narrative isn’t linear  and that truth’s elusive.

Life & Liberty: Resilience & Righteousness [Shorts]

Saturday, October 21, 2017, 3:15pm (tickets) 
Bright Family Screening Room @ The Paramount Center, 559 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111
Followed by Q&A with various filmmakers.
Co-presented by BOSFilipinos & the New England Chapter of the Japanese American Citizen League.

Dorothy Takahashi, a Japanese American dancer born in 1917, performed under the stage name Dorothy Toy with her partner Paul Wing. During WWII, her family was incarcerated at Topaz. Dorothy escaped incarceration by going to New York with Paul. She was believed by many to be Chinese but gossip columnists outed her as Japanese, costing her film roles. Dancing Through Life tells her story.
NBC News: Dorothy Toy, the ‘Chinese Ginger Rogers,’ Found Stardom Amid World War II

Dancing Through Life: The Dorothy Toy Story
2016 | 26 mins | Documentary | Japanese-American
Directed by Rick Quan

99 year old Dorothy Toy Fong is a living dance legend. She began as a child after a vaudeville theater manager noticed her dancing in front of her parent's restaurant. During the 1930's, 40's and 50's, she teamed up with Paul Wing and would eventually become the most famous Asian American dance duo in this country's history. Known for dancing on her toes, she developed a unique, athletic style of performing. Toy and Wing were pioneers, performing on Broadway and in Hollywood films. They were also the first Asian Americans to dance at the London Palladium.​  

The Orange Story is one of five short narrative films in the Hidden Histories: The Story and Legacy of Japanese American WWII Incarceration program, although only The Orange Story is being screened at BAAFF. One of the other films, Tadaima, was shown at last year's Japan Film Festival in Boston. Tadaima can be viewed on Vimeo.

The Orange Story
2016 | 18 mins | Narrative | Japanese-American
Directed by Erika Street Hopman

Koji Oshima is the proud owner of a small corner grocery store, but he must now abandon everything and report to an assembly center. His belongings, his business – everything must be sold or left behind, except what he can carry in one large duffel bag.

Up against a wall, Koji receives only one low-ball offer for his store, which he has no choice but to accept. The lone bright spot during this turmoil is the friendship Koji develops with a precocious nine-year-old girl. On the day of his departure, however, Koji is saddened to learn that even this friendship has been tainted by the larger forces of fear and wartime hysteria.

Resistance at Tule Lake 

Saturday, October 21, 2017, 6:30pm (tickets)
Bright Family Screening Room @ The Paramount Center, 559 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111
Followed by Q&A with director Konrad Aderer.

This is director Konrad Aderer's second feature length documentary about the Japanese American incarceration. Although Konrad's family was incarcerated at other camps, he told me that he chose Tule Lake as the subject of his film because he said he's always been interested in the Japanese and Japanese Americans who resisted.

2017 | 80 mins | Documentary | Japanese-American
Directed by Konrad Aderer

RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE tells the long-suppressed story of 12,000 Japanese Americans who dared to resist the U.S. government's program of mass incarceration during World War II. Branded as 'disloyals' and re-imprisoned at Tule Lake Segregation Center, they continued to protest in the face of militarized violence, and thousands renounced their U.S. citizenship. Giving voice to experiences that have been marginalized for over 70 years, this documentary challenges the nationalist, one-sided ideal of wartime 'loyalty'.

See trailers for 14 films in this year's festival:

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Edit History

• 10/17/17 10:59pm: Added It Is What It Is. Not sure How I missed it!