Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The Agent to star Holly T, Lovari Lovari
ASIAN AMERICAN FILM LAB TO HOST “HEARTS SUSPENDED”
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
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Review: My Girl Does E, and She Won't Have Sex With Me!!!!
Friday, July 6, 2012
The Mystery of Sage and His Banishment from Occupy Wall Street
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.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Supreme Court Strikes Down Parts of Anti Immigration Law
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Belvedere Guest House's Upcoming Fire Island Events
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.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
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
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