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Perry Chen interviews Lee Ann Kim, San Diego Asian Film Festival Director

Published on: 15th October, 2009

Perry Chen’s Interview of Lee Ann Kim, San Diego Asian Film Festival Executive Director

October 10, 2009

Perry: Thank you, Lee Ann, for inviting me to see the movies and interview the filmmakers at the festival.

Lee Ann: Oh, I think that would be lovely.

Perry: What inspired you to create the San Diego Asian Film Festival?

Lee Ann: I grew up in Chicago where there were not a lot of Asian Americans in my community, and I grew up during a time when there were not a lot of Asian people in the movies or TV either. So I always felt very different. As went to high school and college, I stareted to notice there were more Asian Americans that starred in films, that are even about Asian Americans. They were speaking English and living in the United States. I felt very connected, because I felt being represented for the first time in a fair and accurate way.

So that is part of my motivation to start the Asian Film Festival, to showcase different ways of life. People might look different. But I want to bring everyone to a place where they can learn about each other.

Perry: That’s great. How have Asian Films and Asian American Films changed in the past 10 years?

Lee Ann: That’s a great question. Asian films from overseas have become very sophisticated, especially films from Korea. Korean film industry has become very sophisticated. You will see Korean films at big international film festivals such as Cannes, Toronto. Korean films do very very well there.

Here in the U.S., we are seeing more of Asian American films because technology allows more people to make films with less money. However we still need help to get them seen. That’s why film festivals are very important.

Perry: Tell me some of your favorite movies at the festival.

Lee Ann: We have a LOT of movies! For films appropriate for the family, you and I, we both LOVE “My Beijing Birthday.” We think it’s a lot of fun. I love the director Howie Snyder. His Chinese is amazing!

Perry: How did he get his Chinese so fluent? Did he study Chinese for many years?

Lee Ann: I imagine so. I think he must have studied M andarin for a long time. It sounds from the film that he worked there for many years. So he not only studied, but lived in China. If you go to China, there are a lot of non-Chinese who speak Chinese fluently. It’s kind of cool when you see it, right?

One film I think you will love is called “Antoine.” Antoine is about a 5 year old Vietnamese boy who lives in Canada. Because he lives in Montreal, his first language is actually French. So the whole movie is in French with English subtitle. Antonie is a blind boy who goes to school with non-blind children. They treat him just the same. It’s a beautiful story about how he tries to live his life just like the others. Aren’t you excited to see something like that?

Perry: Yeh!

Lee Ann: It’s fun to see a Vietnamese boy speaking French.

Perry: What can you share with us about this year’s film line-up?

Lee Ann: There are many other films that children and adults can both enjoy. One other film called “Speaking in Tongues” is great also. This film is about a bilingual school in San Francisco. It profiles children who are learning Mandarin as their first language in an American school, and children who are learning Spanish in the school. Because they say when you speak more languages you are smarter because it taps into a different part of your brain. That’s another good film that the families can enjoy.
One more film called “Tale of Mari & Three Puppies” is based on a true story in Japan 12 years ago where there was a terrible earthquake. Did you enjoy that movie? It’s a little sad. There was a nice ending. The girl got reunited again with her puppies.

Perry: Yes, I saw that too and enjoyed it. Thank you so much and look forward to seeing you at the festival and gala dinner.

Lee Ann: We look forward to having you there! People can find out about our festival at www.sdaff.org. The festival will be held at the UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas, off 165 Frairs Road with lots of free parking.

Perry: Thank, Lee Ann. I look forward to meeting the directors too!

Lee Ann: I think they are excited to meet you as well!

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Perry Chen has been invited to attend the San Diego Asian Film Festival opening night screening of “Children of Invention” on Oct 15, 7 pm at the Ultrastar Mission Valley Theater, where he will interview director Tze Chun. Perry will also be interviewing Howie Snyder, director of the wonderfully touching documentary “My Beijing Birthday” on Oct 23 following the 4 pm free screening (tickets are required). Perry will also be recognized at the Oct 17 festival Gala Dinner event.

Watch San Diego 10 news coverage of SDAFF tonight.

Ticket info: www.sdaff.org

Perry Chen is a 9-year-old columnist, movie critic, and radio show host of “Perry Previews the Movies” on www.wsRadio.com . His movie reviews have been published on “We Chinese,” “La Jolla Light,” “Del Mar Times,” “Carmel Valley Leader,” “Solana Beach Sun,” “Rancho Santa Fe Record,” “Del Mar Village Voice,” “Carmel Valley News,” and “Rancho Santa Fe Review.”

Perry has been featured on CBS Evening News, Fox, KUSI TV, San Diego Magazine, San Diego Family Magazine, San Diego News Network, The China Press, World Journal, San Diego International Children’s Film Festival, etc. He is in 4th grade at the Torrey Hills Elementary School in San Diego.

Read his reviews and updates on www.perryspreviews.com

Listen to his radio show on www.wsRadio.com/perry

(Perry’s review of “Children of Invention” & “My Beijing Birthday” are available now, click link above)