Asian American Film Lab 2012 Holiday Fundraising Gala

On Dec. 15th, the Asian American Film Lab has its Holiday Fundraising Gala. The Film Lab is a 501(c) non profit committed to increasing diversity in film and in all media. Sponsors included Asian CineVision, The Korea Society, MyJennyBook, Veatery, Ollies, The Mill, Baked by Melissa, Mayday radio, and more. The funds raised at this gala all went to diversity outreach and programming in the entertainment industry. A number of sponsors and participants gave away free prizes during the raffle, to those who had winning tickets. Asian CineVision gave away a free gold pass to the Asian American Film Festival in 2013. Michael Cinquino provided a free two hour professional photo session. The Korean Society gave away free membership. A pack of 10 free seminars at Actors Connection in New York were given away. A number of films with Asian or Asian American writers, directors, producers, or stars were distributed during the raffle. Clairvoyant and life coach Julia Morgantini did free readings. This event also included live musical performances. Students from Pratt Institute performed Chinese classical music. The highlight of the musical performances though, was Jeff Ting of Mayday Radio. Ting’s music and songwriting have recently gotten him acclaim from the Huffington Post.

The Agent to star Holly T, Lovari Lovari

The Agent, my first feature film, is under development. Its inspired by real life con artist Melanie Mills, among other similar entertainment con artists who have made the news. The Agent stars fabulous actress/singer Holly T as outrageous con artist Alice Jones, and Lovari as police officer Ted. Justin Samuels wrote it and is directing. Keep viewing my blogs for updates. The Agent is both SAG and WGA.

ASIAN AMERICAN FILM LAB TO HOST “HEARTS SUSPENDED”

Contact: Jennifer Betit Yen, President
Asian American Film Lab
jennifer@film-lab.com

Perry Tsao, Director
Industry Spotlight Program
perry@film-lab.org
“Hearts Suspended” 201-682-8480

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ASIAN AMERICAN FILM LAB TO HOST “HEARTS SUSPENDED” SCREENING AND WRITER/DIRECTOR Q&A

New York, NY – September 25, 2012 – The Asian American Film Lab (AsAmFilmLab) is pleased to announce that it will be hosting a special screening of the award-winning documentary, “Hearts Suspended,” followed by a Q&A session with writer/director,Meghna Damani, and domestic violence victims’ advocate Maneesha Kelkar. The event will take place October 25, 2012, at 6pm in New York City and will be open to the public, although RSVPs to Industry Spotlight program director will be required for admittance. AsAmFilmLab President, Jennifer Betit Yen, and Industry Spotlight Officer and Director, Perry Tsao, will be moderating the event. The discussion will explore how film can be used as a vehicle to effectuate social change.

RSVP to IndustrySpotlight@film-lab.org.

About “Hearts Suspended”

“Hearts Suspended,” is a short autobiographical documentary that brings to light the troubled world of thousands of immigrant women in the United States on dependent spouse (H4) visas. Educated and once financially independent, these women, are in the country legally but are denied the ability to work, resulting in loneliness, depression,identity crisis, strained marital relations and, in extreme cases, exploitation and abuse.“Hearts Suspended” has traveled festivals and universities around the world, aired on National Television in India, featured on NPR’s “Here and Now” show, POV’s “To The Contrary,” CUNY Television, and the Washington Post.1 This exposure, combined with social media outreach, has given an impetus to this once unspoken issue and more affected women are speaking up in the South Asian community. The issue also affects a large number of women from China, Southeast Asia and some parts of Europe. For more details, please visit www.Facebook.com/AAFilmLab (https://www.facebook.com/events/255171294573650/).

About Asian American Film Lab

The Asian American Film Lab (AsAmFilmLab) began as collaborative of New Yorkbased filmmakers whose goals are to hone their craft and to share their knowledge, experience and resources. The membership has grown to comprise entertainment professionals of all types, artists and other talented individuals who all share the common goal of creating great film and promoting filmmakers of color and promoting and supporting gender and ethnic diversity in film and television, with an emphasis on the visibility of Asian American stories and characters in film and television. AsAmFilmLab’s programming includes screenwriting workshops, table reads, screenings and seminars with industry professionals, social networking events, and filmmaking competitions including the annual 72 Hour Film Shootout. This annual competition, hosted by Asian CineVision and the Asian American International Film Festival, has inspired hundreds of filmmakers by helping nascent talent take brave steps towards a filmmaking career. 2012 judges included Russell Simmons, Marci Phillips, Teddy Zee, Eric Lin, Brian Yang, James Kyson, and Michelle Krusiec.

The Asian American Film Lab is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Membership and all contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. http://www.asianamericanfilmlab

Review: My Girl Does E, and She Won't Have Sex With Me!!!!

This is a hilarious video starring Josh Mitchell. Mitchell raps and sings about his frustrations about being involved with a hot girl whose addiction has completely replaced her sex drive, as she only wants the drug ecstasy, not ecstasy from sex with Mitchell. This is the best video I've seen on YouTube in AGES!

The Mystery of Sage and His Banishment from Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street has apparently kicked Sage out. A number of bizzare allegations have come up. Sage allegedly works for a mysterious wealthy Arab from the Gulf Coast named Hazem Sayed. He is accused of promoting a social media platform that makes it very easy to track users via geolocation. An article on Pastebin has more info.

Now I'm not going to even try to figure out who did what. Its largely irrelevant. If all Sage is accused of is true, quite clearly this points to serious flaws within OWS. Anyone can come off the street and be a member. Unfortunately, if you don't screen people that you want to join your organization or movement, you cannot be surprised when you have problems with the behavior of some people. Occupy Wall Street has fallen apart and nearly entirely disappeared for a number of reasons. I think Sage is just being SCAPEGOATED for the collapse of OWS.

There was no attempt to remove Sage from Occupy for disruptive behaviors last fall. There was an attempt to remove him for fighting at the GA, but that was blocked. He's advocated Vibe for awhile. Now that OWS has poor turn out on the 4th of July, somehow its all Sage's fault?

Arun Gupta spoke to Sage at the national gathering. As Mr. Gupta states:

"It's unfair to blame Sage, who claims he was "born in a mental hospital". Virtually every occupation was beset by the same types, though New York seemed to have a surplus. Nonetheless, one seasoned Occupy organizer, by way of the Middle East, does blame the wayward behavior of a minority for "destroying Occupy as a functioning entity". He claims after the eviction of the Zuccotti Park occupation last November, there would be meetings of up to 300 people groping for a path going forward, but constant disruptions would "suck the energy out of the room".

I was personally there at those meetings. When I made the suggestion that perhaps only certain people proven to be sane be allowed to attend those meetings, I was told that wasn't the occupy way as occupy had to include everyone. Unfortunately, if you include disruptive people, you exclude everyone else who was serious about business. So its not at all the fault of the disruptors, if they did suck the energy out of the room. Its the fault of the rest of occupy for even tolerating them. Its the fault of occupy for not even doing a background check on these people, to ascertain who they really were and what agendas they really might have. And its the fault of occupy for trying to take on the role of mental hospital. OWS wasn't full of licensed psychiatrist, so if there were troubled people in OWS, they should have been referred to social services or mental hospitals. But now, occupy wanted to include everyone, and unfortunately has suffered consequences for it.

With that said, what's done is done. Moving forward, activists would be advised to take what they can learn from the failures of OWS, and not repeat them in future movements.

Supreme Court Strikes Down Parts of Anti Immigration Law

According to the New York Times, Supreme Court found much of Arizona's anti illegal immigrant law unconstitutional. Provisions that would have required people to carry their papers at all time have been struck down. Most parts of the law that conflicted with the federal government were struck down. The only part allowed to stand is that Arizona police are allowed to check the immigration status of those that they detain. They are not allowed to racially profile people, or just assume illegal status by the way someone looks or sounds. Several other states, including Alabama, Georgia, and Utah have anti immigration laws that are also being challenged by the courts.

Belvedere Guest House's Upcoming Fire Island Events

If one goes to Fire Island any time from March to Oct. one might wish to check out Belvedere Guest House, a bay front guest house. Belvedere is a very relaxing, Victorian like guest house complete with a pool, jacuzzi, gym, and wireless interest service for its guests. Weekends continental breakfast is served. Belvedere is a men only, clothing option guest house in the heart of one of fire island's gay communities, Cherry Grove. Its a short distance from the Ferry, and near a number of restaurants and bars. And of course anywhere on fire island is close to the beach. Its a very relaxing, quiet guest house on a very beautiful island. Its the perfect escape from the madness of NYC.

Belvedere has several upcoming events this summer. Once a month Daniel Nardicio, in conjunction with Absolute Vodka throws a poolside party at the Belvedere.

Sept. 9th, there's a nude Mr. Belvedere contest at Belvedere. Prizes have yet to be determined.

World War II Ended European Colonialism In Asia

World War II Ended European Colonialism in Asia

World War II ended colonialism in Southeast Asia. This occurred on two fronts. The war in Europe took massive resources from the colonial empires of Western Europe, as they fought the Germans and the Italians. The subsequent devastation that occurred through Europe made them less able and willing to impose their will on the colonies after the war was over. In a Southeast Asian context, the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia completely cut Southeast Asia off from European supplies and administration. Also, the Europeans, who had been seen by some Southeast Asians as unbeatable, were shown clearly not to be invincible as the Japanese overran and occupied Southeast Asia. At times the Japanese trained Southeast Asian ethnic groups, particularly those majority groups such as the Burmans, and also gave them weapons as they wanted the Southeast Asians to fight for the Japanese war effort. This increased the fighting ability of the Southeast Asians. After Japan was defeated, the Europeans could not restore the previous status quo, and nation by nation, were all defeated by Southeast Asian independence movements.

In June 1940, the Nazi forces conquered both Holland and France. Britain itself seemed on the verge of falling. The Japanese saw this as their chance to push forward their expansion in Southeast Asia. At the same time, they wished to block the Germans from taking over the British, German, and French empires in Asia and laying claim to these major resources. The US froze Japanese assets when Japan began to press Vichy France to give its military bases in Indochina to the Japanese.1 This caused relations between the US and Japan to deteriorate further, leading to the events at Pearl Harbor.

Japan's rise to power had major effects on weakening European influences in Asia, even before World War II. In 1905, Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese war, the first defeat of an European nation by an Asian nation in modern times. This increased Japan's prestige in nations such as Vietnam, and inspired Vietnamese.2 Vietnamese students went to Japan to receive educations and military training. Japan announced its Greater East Asia co-Prosperity Sphere in 1940. Essentially, this was the grounds for the new Asian empire that Japan was creating. Member states where to sell raw materials to Japan, and Japanese companies would take care of all the manufacturing.3

A number of Southeast Asians welcomed the Japanese, at least initially. It was, after all, an Asian power expanding and defeating Western interests. And it seemed to follow the Joyoboyo prophecy. In the words Professor Tagliacozzco, “after years of rule by the white race, a yellow race was supposed to come by and take over Java and the other islands. This rule was supposed to be short lived, and would lead to independence for people in the area.” Many Javanese saw the arrival of the Japanese as fulfillment of this prophecy and celebrated their arrival. Other Southeast Asians welcomed this as well. The instructions that the Japanese superintendent-general gave explicitly said, “Although the present Sacred War originated in the self preservation and self defense of empire, its essence is to rally the various peoples of East Asia and plan the construction of a new world order.” Essentially, the Japanese were promising to create a new world order in which Asians would play a prominent role. This was the appeal to many in Southeast Asia, when the Japanese war machine swept away European control. In promoting Asian cultures, the Japanese made permanent changes to Southeast Asia. While they occupied the Philippines, the Japanese promoted use of Tagalog, in official business in the Philippines4 This altered the Philippines and had long lasting effects on the islands. It tied the Philippines more deeply to the rest of Asia, and since this time period, Tagalog has remained an official language of the Philippines

The Japanese, upon their arrival in Southeast Asia, destroyed the colonial power structures in most states. The French were allowed to remain in Vietnam under Japanese direction for awhile, but even they ended up being completely removed from power and imprisoned.5 The Japanese trained groups that the Europeans never allowed to have weapons, such as the Javanese and the Burmans. They also gave nominal independence to Burma, after training an Independence Preparatory Commission, which, as Ba Maw, “would be truly representative of the peoples of Burma and their opinions.” However, the Japanese kept close tabs on the commission, not wishing to give the Burmese a true independence. As they made serious demands of the Burmese, Ba Maw countered with his own demands. The Burmese realized that rule by Japanese could be as oppressive as British rule, and organized anti Japanese resistance movements.6 Not only the Burmese, but also the Philippinos resisted the Japanese militarily with guerilla movements.7

After the Japanese were defeated, nations throughout Southeast Asia made plans for ruling themselves. The Europeans, on the other hand, came back and tried to restore colonial administrations. The Dutch tried and failed to restore their authority in Indonesia. Sukarno and Hatta had declared Indonesia an independent nation on August 17, 1945.8 The Dutch fought the Indonesians and despite their capture of Sukarno and Hatta, various Indonesian factions continued to fight the Dutch. The United States pressured Holland to end the fighting and to accept Indonesian independence, and the Dutch complied.9 After the war the US granted the Philippines Independence. The British tried to resubjugate the Burmese, when this failed they too accepted Burmese Independence.10 As for Vietnam, after World War II, they feared occupation by the Chinese, who were then led by the KMT party. They invited the French back, thinking that they would be easier to negotiate with and ultimately get rid of. The French had no intention of leaving, but after their defeat at the battle of Dienbienphu, they withdrew from Vietnam. Vietnam was divided by Geneva Agreement into North and South Vietnam; the country wasn't completely reuniting until Saigon fell in 1975, uniting all of Vietnam under the government at Hanoi.11

World War II changed a number of things around the world. It made the previous colonial regimes unacceptable not only to Asians, but even to Westerners. An example of this was the US granting the Philippines independence and pressuring Holland to stop fighting in Indonesia. It also demonstrated that the Europeans were far from an invincible force. Not only did the War in Europe result in certain European countries themselves being effectively colonized, the European empires were handed impressive defeats by the Japanese. Subsequently, this inspired the Southeast Asians to prepare to fight the Europeans. After they got additional training and weaponry from the Japanese, various groups in Southeast Asia fought the Westerners and gained additional victories against them. In a twisted sense, the Japanese achieved what they said they wanted to achieve in their propaganda. Western colonial power was broken, and it died out in big part due to their actions.

Bibliography
Owen, Norman G The Emergence of Modern Southeast Asia
Professor Tagliacozzco's Lecture Notes
Maw, Ba Breakthrough in Burma
Benda and Larkin, Japanese Blueprint for Southeast Asia
1 Owen, Norman G The Emergency of Modern Southeast Asia Chapter 18 p.273-274
2 Ibid., p. 337
3 Ibid., p. 303
4 Owen, Norman G The Emergency of Modern Southeast Asia p. 291
5 Professor Tagliacozzco's Lecture Notes
6 Maw, Ba Breakthrough in Burma p. 322-355
7 Owen, Norman G The Emergence of Modern Southeast Asia p. 290-291
8 Ibid., p. 307
9 Ibid., p. 308
10 Ibid., p. 330-332
11 Ibid., p. 344-349

Communism, Anarchism, and other Leftist Ideologies the Enemies of Blacks and Other Non Whites

Communism, anarchism, socialism, and other leftism isms are the enemies of non whites (actually of all human beings). Despite the fact that they claim to be for the poor, the oppressed, and the colonized, they care nothing about them.

Take Occupy Wall Street for example. There are a number of homeless occupiers. The well to do anarchists in occupy, living home with their parents, care nothing for them. They would gladly sacrifice the homeless amongst them if they thought it would advance their anti establishment ideals. And so therefore when occupy had a large amount of money in its general fund, there was no real attempt to help the long term homeless not become homeless. Ridiculous solutions such as short term housing in the churches were put in place.

Look at the nation as a whole. One way poor blacks and hispanics were successfully marginalized was to separate them from society. Give them help in the form of public assistance, put them in housing projects, and psychologically isolate them from the rest of society. Make them self aware that they are poor victims, and then the poor victims will become too psychologically crippled to function outside of ethnic enclaves. This is marginalization. As Wikipedia explains:

"In sociology, marginalisation (British/International), or marginalization (U.S.), is the social process of becoming or being relegated to the fringe of society e.g.; "the marginalization of the underclass", "marginalisation of intellect", etc."

In short, marginalized groups exist at the fringe of society, or they are not even considered to be a part of the society. The leftists organizations and groups exploit marginalized people by telling them they can never be a part of the mainstream, and by giving them certain types of aide to keep them dependent on the left. This can be welfare, or on a smaller level, this can be the church housing,metrocard, and food programs in occupy wall street.

An interesting thing about marginalized groups is a neighborhood full of the marginalized, say poor blacks, is said to be a bad neighborhood. For years places like Harlem, Bedford Stuyvesant, among others, were considered horrible places. But the fact is that they were always very close to business centers in Midtown and Downtown Manhattan, to airports in the NYC region, and to everything else the city has to offer. Whites and Asians began moving into these neighborhoods in large numbers because it was close to their sources of income, and these neighborhoods ceased being bad neighborhoods. So the problem wasn't that the area was actually bad, the problem was the people in the area were cut off from societal participation.

How can marginalized groups break out of being marginalized? One if for people to realize we all have the rights to be where we want to be. Marginalized groups often have extremely low self worth and esteem, and this mentality makes them afraid to operate outside of the so called "community". On an individual level people have to boost their self worth, realize that we're all human, and go for all they want or need. Increased contacts with people who are not living in abject poverty would increase the chances of employment, or of learning the system well enough to be gainfully employed.

Successful non whites in this country, such as the Obamas, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Richard Parsons (former Time Warner CEO), Kenneth Chenault (American Express CEO) all had successful careers precisely because they were not marginalized. The East Asian and Indian students and professionals across college campuses, in medicine, in engineering, etc also aren't marginalized, and therefore they do well in their careers. In short, find ways to bring the marginalized out of the holes they were condemned to, not only do you end their poverty, but you end the jobs of many leftists.

Book Review:Every Time I Check My Messages, Somebody Thinks I'm Dead: A Memoir of Occupy Wall Street

Everytime I Check My Messages, Somebody Thinks I'm Dead is an excellent book written by occupier Daniel Levine. This is the first book by Mr. Levine, a journalism student who graduates this year, in 2012. The book covers what life was really like in Zuccotti Park during the occupation from Sept 2011 through Nov. 2011. Its a very humorous depiction, but educational depiction.. The story is a compilation of Levine's blog entries.

Every Time I Check My Messages covers the various players and participants in occupy wall street. Initially, the originally occupiers tended to be a group of well educated people. They were typically concerned about things such as high student debt and if they would ever be able to pay off their student loans. At this time, the mainstream media had little interest in covering occupy. However, after the Union Square and Brooklyn Bridge incidents, this news spread through the internet like wildfire, bringing in other players to occupy in large numbers. One such player was the number of reporters who came to the park. Levine gives several funny accounts on how we spoke to them. Levine was the info desk person at occupy, so it was his job to educate people on what occupy was. So he was, at least in the minds of some reporters, an undeclared expert. But being an undeclared expert means you attracted some pretty unflattering attention. The agent provocateurs honed on him as well. Apparently they wanted an intelligent person on their side to subvert and dismantle occupy's structures. Levine wasn't interested and politely declined. Along with provocateurs you had undercover NYPD and other undercover agents as well. Apparently they were easy for Levine and other protesters to spot. And of course, there were the disgruntled and just plain crazy. There are plenty of only in New York moments with the things the mad did. Indeed, the crazy provide the comic relief for occupy and probably for the police officers as well. Overall, this book is a refreshing, first person account of what really happened from someone who wasn't at occupy as a reporter, but from someone who lived there. Its intimate view of occupy shows the challenges the movement faced in the past, and faces going forward. Those interested in this book can click on the image of it on this site.

Movie Review: Wrath of the Titans

Wrath of the Titans is a father/son relationship story. Its a sequel to the Clash of the Titans 2010 movie. Throughout the movie, it focuses on relationships between fathers and also between brothers. The first father/son relationship we see is Perseus and his son Helius. Perseus has absolute devotion to his son Helius, particularly after his wife has died. Zeus and his brother Poseidon, brothers who are close to each other, are both absent fathers for their half mortal sons. Chronos, father to Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon, is a hostile father who wants to destroy his sons. Ares hates his father Zeus because he perceives Perseus as Zeus's favorite son. The relationships between these gods change throughout the movie, but the one unchanging this is Perseus's love for his son. The movie itself moved at a good pace, and the action scenes and special effects were good. This is a wonderful movie.