By the time I heard about the PBS airing of The Slanted Screen, a doc about Asian & Asian American men in film & TV, I had missed about half of it. What I saw was good, interesting & hopeful. Also it was fun to see some Asian-American indie filmmakers on the program; Gene "The Debut" (awesome theatrical self-distribution success story) Cajayon & Eric Byler.
Here is a description of the program, from this PBS page:
"THE SLANTED SCREEN
From silent film star Sessue Hayakawa to Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Jeff Adachi’s film explores the portrayals of Asian men in American cinema and television, chronicling the experiences of actors who have had to struggle against ethnic stereotyping and limiting roles. Through a parade of 50 film clips spanning a century, the film presents a critical examination of Hollywood’s image-making machine. The program includes interviews with actors Mako, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, James Shigeta, Dustin Nguyen, Phillip Rhee, Will Yun Lee, Tzi Ma and Jason Scott Lee; comedian Bobby Lee; producer Terence Chang; casting director Heidi Levitt; writer Frank Chin; and directors Gene Cajayon, Justin Lin and Eric Byler and features a new song performed by the San Francisco rock-punk band Say Bok Gwai. Presenter: Center for Asian American Media."
The doc can be purchased here & at several other places.
It would have been cool to see Greg Araki, Jon Moritsugu & Greg Pak on that program.
- Sujewa
Here is a description of the program, from this PBS page:
"THE SLANTED SCREEN
From silent film star Sessue Hayakawa to Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Jeff Adachi’s film explores the portrayals of Asian men in American cinema and television, chronicling the experiences of actors who have had to struggle against ethnic stereotyping and limiting roles. Through a parade of 50 film clips spanning a century, the film presents a critical examination of Hollywood’s image-making machine. The program includes interviews with actors Mako, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, James Shigeta, Dustin Nguyen, Phillip Rhee, Will Yun Lee, Tzi Ma and Jason Scott Lee; comedian Bobby Lee; producer Terence Chang; casting director Heidi Levitt; writer Frank Chin; and directors Gene Cajayon, Justin Lin and Eric Byler and features a new song performed by the San Francisco rock-punk band Say Bok Gwai. Presenter: Center for Asian American Media."
The doc can be purchased here & at several other places.
It would have been cool to see Greg Araki, Jon Moritsugu & Greg Pak on that program.
- Sujewa
