If you had told me I would have been eating dinuguan in a backyard full of Filipino-Texan artists, aunties, and families during SXSW this year, I would have prayed you were right. It was a dream-made-reality by a generous invitation from Kayla Galang, a filmmaker with not only rich ties to the Filipino American community […]
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 as well as the thrill of breaking barriers we barely had words for. There will always be a cultural gulf […]
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 by following a woman jogging. “I know my happiness is in my own hands. Let’s make our way to better […]
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 overbearing, it reminded me of my own teenage years. The way that Eram tried to teach Hala in her native […]
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 foreign. Unless you’ve lived in various cities across the US, it’s hard to know that others just like you exist […]