Asian and Asian American cinema in 2022 was decidedly uncategorical. As monoliths crumble and new ways of being Asian in the diaspora are revealed on screen, audiences this year were treated to intimate personal stories ...
At first glance, director Hsieh Pei-ju’s Heavy Craving seems to suggest a drama centered around food–that much can be presumed by the film’s hunger-inducing title. But that pretense suddenly drops as the movie starts off ...
The last time that I truly felt represented on-screen was when I watched Minhal Baig’s Hala. When Hala (Geraldine Viswanathan) fights back against her mother, Eram (Purbi Joshi), for being too protective, restrictive, and often ...
To someone like me, an Asian American who knows little more than his little suburb in Los Angeles County, the idea of Asian Americans existing outside of the San Gabriel Valley bubble can be admittedly ...
normal. is the most realistic film that I’ve seen during my time at LAAPFF. There’s almost a cinéma vérité-type of reality to the film—where even the most smallest conversations have painfully real awkward flourishes in ...
In the Land of Lost Angels plunges you into a world of black and white. It’s quite the bold move for director Bishrel Mashbat—especially when it comes to winning over modern audiences who are used ...
Staycation opens on a handjob. Or was it a blowjob? Rest assured that it probably doesn’t matter which it was, since by the end of the film millenial couple Luke (Anthony Ma) and Peggy (Grace ...
How many life problems can be solved through the music of Bruce Springsteen? As Gurinder Chadha‘s joyous film Blinded by the Light might suggest, the answer is, quite frankly, all of them. The film follows ...
There’s no doubt that Doris Yeung‘s The Ugly Model is a documentary that tackles a difficult subject matter, but it seems to have lost its way somewhere between its conception and its execution. Doubling as ...
Justin Chon‘s third feature film Ms. Purple is a film that gives an unflinchingly real portrayal of a young woman stuck within familial turmoil. Tiffany Chu gives a stunning performance in her breakthrough role as ...