AsiaLENS

Since 2008 AEMS has been curating the ongoing documentary and independent film series AsiaLENS at the Spurlock Museum in Urbana. Each film is accompanied by a local or visiting expert who leads the audience in a post-screening discussion. All screenings are free and open to the public.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings of Spring 2025

AsiaLENS - GETSEA Simulcast Film Screening: "Hot Stuff"
Mar 31, 2025, 4:00 pm
108 Coble Hall (801 S. Wright Street)

Hot Stuff is an AIFIS film award winning documentary and part of a trio of Indonesian films that delve into energy policies in Indonesia, corporate ties to those policies, and their detrimental effects on local environments and populations.

Director Dandhy Laksono and Producer Cypri Dale joined GETSEA live from the University of Michigan’s Center for Southeast Asia Studies as 20 universities from across North America connect via Zoom to watch Hot Stuff simultaneously, followed by a discussion about the film, energy policy in Indonesia, and the new Prabowo Subianto administration’s response to local grassroots movements in the country.

(Dandhy Laksono | 2024 | Indonesia | 82 minutes | Indonesian with English subtitles)

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AsiaLENS | "Cirque du Cambodia"

Apr 2, 2025, 6:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

Cirque du Cambodia follows the journey of two youths who live out every child's fantasy - to run away from home and join the circus. But not just any circus - they dream of taking the stage with Cirque du Soleil, the largest theatrical company in the world. Their home, a rural village in the ancient, faraway Kingdom of Cambodia, makes their quest even more extraordinary.

A post-screening discussion and Q&A was held with filmmaker Joel Gerhson.

(Joel Gershon | 2020 | United States | 86 minutes | Central Khmer, English, French with English subtitles)

Co-Sponsor by Spurlock Museum of World Cultures

AsiaLENS Film Screenings of Fall 2024

AsiaLENS – "Yellow Jazz, Black Music" (Film Screening & Virtual Discussion w/ Filmmaker Marketus Presswood)

Sep 25, 2024, 6:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

In the 1920's and 1930's, African American musicians in Shanghai became crucial to define that era. This documentary is about a story of "the half has never been told," that is the history of jazz as experienced by African American and Chinese musicians in China from past to present. This film traces the story of some of the important historical figures past and present that shaped part of the Chinese music scene, featuring musicians Jasmine Chen and Theo Croke. A virtual discussion with the filmmaker, Marketus Presswood was held after the screening.

(Marketus Presswood | 2023 | USA/China | Documentary)

Co-sponsored by Center for African Studies, Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures, and Spurlock Museum of World Cultures

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AsiaLENS – "Breaking the Cycle" (Simulcast Film Screening & Virtual Discussion w/ Filmmakers Aekaphong Saransate & Thanakrit Duangmaneeporn)

Oct 1, 2024, 5:00 pm
108 Coble Hall (801 S Wright St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

Breaking the Cycle captures the political awakening in Thailand after the rise and fall of Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a young politician seeking to end the country’s recurring cycle of military coups. The film explores the 2019 Thai general election, which marked the end of five years of full military rule and ushered in a new wave of young politicians who challenged authoritarian norms and inspired a once-in-a-generation youth movement.

This special screening is part of a GETSEA simulcast, with the film shown simultaneously at nineteen (19) universities across North America. A virtual post-screening discussion was held with filmmakers Aekaphong Saransate and Thanakrit Duangmaneeporn via Zoom.

(Aekaphong Saransate & Thanakrit Duangmaneeporn | 2023 | Thailand | Documentary)

Presented in partnership with the Graduate Education and Training in Southeast Asia (GETSEA).
For full details and participating institutions, visit: https://get-sea.org/events/getsea-simulcast-film-screenings

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AsiaLENS – "Padauk: Myanmar Spring" (Film Screening & Discussion w/ CEAPS Director Matt Winters)

Oct 23, 2024, 6:00 pm
Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

Padauk: Myanmar Spring takes the viewer to the streets of Myanmar during the heady days following the February 2021 military coup. Through Nant, a young, first-time protestor, we meet three human rights activists whose lives have been turned upside down by the coup. The film captures the resilience and courage of those rising up to demand democracy and justice in the face of violent repression. The screening was followed by a discussion led by Matt Winters, Director of the Center for East Asian & Pacific Studies (CEAPS).

(Jeanne Hallacy and Rares Michael Ghilezan | 2022 | Myanmar/USA | Documentary)

Co-sponsored by the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies and the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures

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AsiaLENS – "1923 Kanto Massacre" (U.S. Premiere Screening & Discussion w/ Dr. Jinhee Lee)

Nov 13, 2024, 6:00 pm
Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 marked a moment of unprecedented material destruction and cultural rupture in modern Japan. As the earthquake and ensuing fire devastated Tokyo and surrounding areas, fear and misinformation gave rise to a violent massacre of Koreans and other marginalized groups. 1923 Kanto Massacre reconstructs the course of this orchestrated violence and explores how this dark chapter of history has been obscured and suppressed for a century. The documentary sheds light on the "forbidden truth" that still haunts the descendants of victims and survivors.

The screening was introduced by Dr. Jinhee Lee, UIUC alum, Creative Producer of the film, and Professor of History and Chair of Asian Studies at Eastern Illinois University. A post-screening discussion and Q&A was moderated by Dr. Matt Winters, Director of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies (CEAPS).

Co-sponsored by the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, and the Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures

AsiaLENS Film Screenings of Fall 2023

AsiaLENS – "Above and Below the Ground" (Simulcast Film Screening & Virtual Discussion w/ Director Emily Hong & Producer Maggie Lemere)

Oct 16, 2023, 5:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

Above and Below the Ground depicts the Indigenous women activists and punk rock pastors leading Myanmar’s first country-wide environmental movement. When the Myanmar army and a Chinese corporate giant force Indigenous Kachin people off their ancestral land to build the massive Myitsone Dam, grandmother Lu Ra stands her ground. We see her struggle to save the sacred confluence and build a movement, mentoring young female law student Hkawn Mai. A Kachin punk rock band made of pastors, BLAST, also takes action, transforming their love songs into protest anthems. The film follows these individuals through their journey of activism, from their underground beginnings during Myanmar’s military junta rule, to supposed “democratic” reforms and a sudden military coup. During such periods of fledgling democracy and dictatorship–in Myanmar and globally–the film asks how ordinary people can use the power of music, community organizing, and women’s leadership to challenge authoritarianism.

The in-person anchor screening and discussion was held at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with Director Emily Hong and Producer Maggie Lemere. Twenty additional universities, including UIUC, participated simultaneously and joined the discussion via Zoom.

(Emily Hong | 2023 | Myanmar/USA | Documentary)

A production of Rhiza Collective in association with Ethnocine Collective.

Directed by Emily Hong;

Produced by Maggie Lemere, Ja Nang Tsen, and Emily Hong.

Presented in partnership with the Graduate Education and Training in Southeast Asia (GETSEA).

For more information and full list of sponsors and participating institutions, visit: http://bit.ly/GETSEASimulcast

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AsiaLENS – Try Harder! (Film Screening & Discussion w/ Director Debbie Lum & Subject Ian Wang)

Nov 3, 2023, 6:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

At San Francisco’s top-ranked public high school, Lowell High, the seniors are stressed out. In this majority Asian American student body, they know they’re seen as “robots” or “AP machines” by college admissions officers. Try Harder! reveals the intense pressures of the American college admissions process, exploring how race, class, and stereotypes intersect to shape students’ experiences and aspirations. With humor and heart, Director Debbie Lum follows a group of students through this rite of passage, spotlighting their dreams and challenges as part of the most diverse generation in U.S. history.

Alongside its wide release from Sundance to public television, the film’s Impact Campaign centers student voices in conversations on mental health, educational equity, and visibility of AAPI stories in college admissions discourse.

Following the screening, there was a post-film discussion with Director/Producer Debbie Lum and film subject Ian Wang, moderated by David Chih, Director of the Asian American Cultural Center.

(Debbie Lum | 2022 | USA | 85 min | Documentary)

Co-sponsored by the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, Asian American Cultural Center, Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, Humanities Research Institute, Ebert Center for Film Studies, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, and the Yellow Peril Redux Project at UIUC.

Note: The film includes a health class scene discussing sex and contains some cursing. Viewer discretion advised for young children.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings of Spring 2023

AsiaLENS - “CHOSEN” (Film Screening & Discussion w/ Filmmaker Joseph Juhn)
Feb 14, 2023, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

With only two Korean Americans elected to U.S. Congress since 1903, five Korean Americans run for U.S. Congress in 2020. CHOSEN offers a glimpse within the campaigns of these candidates with vastly diverse backgrounds and competing political views including David Kim, the only underdog with limited resources vying to be the first gay Korean American representative. An award winning lawyer turned filmmaker, Joseph Juhn has a passion for telling diasporic narratives. His second feature documentary “CHOSEN” had its World Premiere at the Jeonju International Film Festival in May 2022. The complex dynamics of Korean American communities represented in the film will be further explored in our post screening discussion with the filmmaker.

(Joseph Juhn | 2022 | USA | 89 minutes)

Co-sponsored by Spurlock Museum of World Cultures.

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AsiaLENS - “Alternative Facts: The lies of Executive Order 9066” (Film Screening & Discussion)
Mar 7, 2023, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*In-person event and post-screening discussion with Nikkeijin Illinois curator Jason Finkelman.

This documentary film sheds light on the people and politics that influenced the signing of the infamous Executive Order 9066 which authorized the mass incarceration of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans, and exposes the lies used to justify the decision and the cover-up that went all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

In today’s unsettling climate of fear, "fake news" and targeting of immigrant and religious communities this story is a cautionary tale about democracy in the United States and the dire consequences of allowing politics and misguided rhetoric drive decisions about public policy.

(Jon Osaki | 2019 | USA | 65 minutes)

Co-sponsored by Spurlock Museum of World Cultures.

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AsiaLENS - “Far East Deep South” (Film Screening & Discussion w/ Filmmaker Baldwin Chiu)
Apr 11, 2023 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

This award winning film exploring the seldom-told history of Chinese immigrants living in the American South during the late 1800s to mid-1900s presents a very personal and unique perspective on immigration, race and American identity.

When a Chinese-American man from California, travels to Mississippi to visit the grave of his father who abandoned him as a baby, he and his family stumble upon surprising revelations that change their lives. Along the way, they meet a diverse group of local residents and historians, who shed light on the racially complex history of Chinese immigrants in the segregated South. Their emotional journey leads them to discover how deep their roots run in America but how the Chinese Exclusion Act separated their family for generations.

(Larissa Lam and Baldwin Chiu | 2019 | USA | 76 minutes)

Co-sponsored by Spurlock Museum of World Cultures.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2022

AsiaLENS - BAATO (Film Screening + Discussion)
Sep 13, 2022, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to public

Baato tells the story of a young village family on an annual migration along the route of a coming transnational highway. Partially complete, the highway project will transform this roadless Himalayan valley permanently and open up a direct transport route between Nepal and China –bringing new challenges, new opportunities, and ultimately a new way of being to those who live along its path. The documentary is a visual feast that glimpses the effects of development and globalization from the perspective of those affected most directly –it is a journey through the heart of a changing Nepal.

(Lucas Millard, Kate Stryker | 2020 | Nepal, USA | 81 minutes)

Co-sponsored by Spurlock Museum of World Cultures.

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AsiaLENS - “Jimmy In Saigon” (Screening + Discussion w/ Filmmaker)
Oct 11, 2022, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to public

Jimmy in Saigon is a feature documentary by Los Angeles-based filmmaker Peter McDowell and executive producer Dan Savage. Originally from Illinois, Peter chronicles the story of Jim, his eldest brother, and a Vietnam War veteran. In 1972, when Jim was 24 and Peter was only 5, Jim died under mysterious circumstances while living as a civilian in Saigon.

Through over 200 of Jim’s letters, candid interviews with Jim’s friends and family, and filming of the truth-seeking journey that led him across the United States, Vietnam, and France, Peter creates an elegiac work that examines grief, family secrets, war, drug use, sexuality, and healing, amounting to a celebration of a short but powerful life.

Both Peter and Jimmy are Urbana-Champaign natives, and both graduated from University of Illinois High School (Uni High) in Urbana. Peter received his BA in French at the University of Illinois in 1989.

(Peter McDowell | 2022 | 89 minutes)

Co-sponsored by The Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, The Yuen Tze Lo and Sara De Mundo Lo Scholars Studio Fund, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Any content or views expressed in the material showcased are those of the author(s) or creator(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

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AsiaLENS - “Jimmy In Saigon” (Encore Screening)
Oct 16, 2022, 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to public

Jimmy in Saigon is a feature documentary by Los Angeles-based filmmaker Peter McDowell and executive producer Dan Savage. Originally from Illinois, Peter chronicles the story of Jim, his eldest brother, and a Vietnam War veteran. In 1972, when Jim was 24 and Peter was only 5, Jim died under mysterious circumstances while living as a civilian in Saigon.

(Peter McDowell | 2022 | 89 minutes)

Co-sponsored by The Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, The Yuen Tze Lo and Sara De Mundo Lo Scholars Studio Fund, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Any content or views expressed in the material showcased are those of the author(s) or creator(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
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AsiaLENS - “Now is the Past – My Father, Java & the Phantom Files” (Film Screening + Discussion)
Nov 15, 2022, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to public

During the Second World War, Japanese film editor Chounosuke Ise made numerous propaganda films in Japanese-occupied Indonesia. Their purpose was to justify Japan’s hegemony in Asia, claiming liberation of these countries from colonialism. Chounosuke Ise’s son, filmmaker Shin-ichi Ise, traces the path taken by his father, who barely spoke about the war or Indonesia, and was seemingly reluctant to discuss what he had done there.

Shin-ichi Ise’s quest takes him to film studios in Jakarta that were built by forced laborers, to eyewitnesses who recall the atrocities committed by the Japanese military police, and to women who fled from rapists. It turns out that the propaganda films—130 of them—are stored at the Dutch National Archive in The Hague. Here, at last, Shin-ichi Ise can watch his father’s propaganda films, on subjects such as Japanese efforts to control malaria and the work of railway laborers. “Why did he make them?” he wonders. And what would he have done in the same situation? History is clearly not finished; now is the past, and the past is now.

(Shinichi Ise | 2021 | Japan | 88 minutes)

Co-sponsored by Spurlock Museum of World Cultures.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2022

AsiaLENS: Americaville/Adam James Smith (In-person screening+conversation with filmmaker)

Feb 8, 2022, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

Americaville is a feature documentary exploring what it means to chase the American dream—on the other side of the world. Set in a surreal, Wild West–themed town nestled in the mountains north of Beijing, the film follows Annie Liu as she flees China’s overpopulated capital in search of happiness, freedom, and meaning. But in her pursuit of an idealized life, Annie discovers that the promises of Americana are often harder to grasp than they appear.

Post-screening conversation was held with filmmaker Adam James Smith.

More info: www.americavillefilm.com

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AsiaLENS: A is for Agustin/Grace Pimentel Simbulan (In-person screening+conversation with filmmaker)

A is for Agustin
A film by Grace Pimentel Simbulan. 2019. 74 minutes.

In-person screening and conversation with filmmaker Grace Pimentel Simbulan.

Tuesday, March 8, 2022 - 7pm

SPURLOCK MUSEUM
600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL

Admission Free
FACE MASKS REQUIRED TO BE WORN

Living in a remote corner of the Philippine islands, Agustin is a tribesman who loves to sing, but never had the opportunity to learn to read or write. When his boss cheats him out of his wages seemingly for the thousandth time, 40-year old Agustin decides to enroll in grade 1. Over the next six years, however, Agustin becomes increasingly torn between two realities – the children’s world in school, and the increasing challenges of the world outside. This film invites audiences to hope and dream with Agustin, and to understand the harsh reality that makes his optimism and the optimism of many Indigenous peoples ultimately so fragile.

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AsiaLENS: Abandoned/Eri Kitada (In-person screening+Online conversation with scholar)

Mar 8, 2022, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

Living in a remote corner of the Philippine islands, Agustin is a tribesman who loves to sing but never had the opportunity to learn to read or write. When his boss cheats him out of his wages once again, 40-year-old Agustin decides to enroll in first grade. Over the next six years, he becomes increasingly torn between the innocence of the children’s world in school and the difficult realities of adult life. The film invites audiences to hope and dream with Agustin, while also revealing the structural challenges that make such optimism especially fragile for Indigenous peoples.

Post-screening discussion was held with filmmaker Grace Pimentel Simbulan.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2021

AsiaLENS: Everyday Is A Holiday/Theresa Loong (Virtual Screening + Online Filmmaker Discussion)

Sep 14, 2021, 4:00 pm
Virtual event – Free and open to the public

About the Movie

Chinese-American filmmaker Theresa Loong creates an intimate portrait of her father, a man fifty years her senior. In this documentary, we explore the bonds of the father-daughter relationship and place themes of growing older, immigration and racism in the context of “living history.” Paul Loong talks of his experiences as a POW in Japan and his subsequent quest to become an American. We discover why, despite much suffering, “Every Day Is a Holiday.”

About the Director

Theresa Loong is an interactive media artist who creates intergenerational storytelling experiences focused on memory, identity, and immigration through the use of film, games and apps. She provided editorial and strategic consulting services to AMC Networks (for shows such as "Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead"), New York Magazine, The New York Times, and Milestone Film. Theresa is an award-winning multimedia director and producer whose work has been exhibited at the SVA, Triennale di Milano and Circulo de Bellas Artes. Theresa was a consulting producer on interactive documentary projects about Afghanistan, the Disability Rights movement, and Joseph Papp. She worked on PBS films “So Very Far from Home,” "Shanghai 1937" and “China Now: To Get Rich Is Glorious.” Theresa lectures at Bloomfield College in the Creative Art and Technology program. She is a graduate of Harvard University, where she studied social anthropology and conducted ethnographic research using film and video, and received her MFA from Hunter College.

In addition to “Every Day Is a Holiday,” Theresa is directing "Game On," a documentary about game design Brenda Romero, and "Bought/Broken," a virtual reality work using collaborative sculpture to share stories about intimate partner violence. She is an Oculus Launch Pad and Flaherty Film Seminar fellow. Theresa received an NEA Arts in Media grant and was an Artist-in-Residence at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island National Monuments. She is chairperson of the board of directors of The FilmShop.

Post-screening discussion was held with filmmaker Theresa Loong on September 14, 2021.

(Theresa Loong | 2013 | USA | 56 min | English | Documentary)

Co-sponsored by the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures

Supported by the U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center (NRC) program

Watch the trailer (Password: EDIAH)

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AsiaLENS: Jeronimo/Joseph Juhn (Virtual Screening + Online Filmmaker Discussion)

Oct 12, 2021, 4:00 pm
Virtual event – Free and open to the public

About the Movie
Born in 1926 to Korean indentured servant parents in Cuba, Jeronimo Lim becomes the first Korean to enroll in university in the same school and year as Fidel Castro. Jeronimo joins the Cuban revolution and later becomes a Vice Minister in the Castro government, crossing paths with Fidel and Che Guevara. However, after being disillusioned with the unfulfilled promises of communism, and after visiting his homeland, Korea, in 1995, Jeronimo becomes a changed man and dedicates the remaining years reconnecting to his Korean roots and singlehandedly rebuilding the Korean community in Cuba.

About the Director
Joseph is an award-winning lawyer-turned-filmmaker with a passion for diasporic narrative. His first feature documentary, "JERONIMO", which is about a Korean Cuban revolutionary, drew over 20,000 audiences when it opened in theaters in Korea. Moreover, the film was selected at 17 film festivals around the world, winning several awards on the way.

Prior to working on “JERONIMO” full-time, Joseph was an in-house counsel at the Manhattan-based South Korean government agency (KOTRA) for 4 years where he advised Korean companies and entrepreneurs on US intellectual property and startup law. Here, his job revolved primarily around soft IP law, assisting companies draft business strategies around their IP assets while implementing mechanisms to avoid potential IP disputes with US counterparts.

Passionate about causes pertinent to the Korean American community, Joseph also served on the steering committee of KSE (Korean Startups & Entrepreneurs), a non-profit with an aim to empower entrepreneurs of Korean descent in the US.

(Joseph Juhn. 2019. Cuba / South Korea / United States/ 93 minutes.)

Co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures

Supported by the U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center (NRC) program

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AsiaLENS: Denise Ho – Becoming the Song/ Sue Williams (Virtual Screening + Online Filmmaker Discussion)

Nov 9, 2021, 4:00 pm
Virtual screening available Nov 5–12
Free and open to the public

“Denise Ho – Becoming the Song” profiles the openly gay Hong Kong singer and human rights activist Denise Ho. Drawing on years of unprecedented access, the film chronicles her transformation from commercial Cantopop star to courageous political figure. As an artist who has risked her career to support Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, Ho’s journey offers insight into identity, freedom, and the power of voice.

Post-screening discussion was held with filmmaker Sue Williams.

(Sue Williams | 2020 | USA | 83 min | English/Cantonese | Documentary)

Link: https://vimeo.com/636646570
Password: KLWest39!

Co-sponsored by the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures
Supported by the U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center (NRC) program

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2021

AsiaLENS – Edo Avant Garde (Online Film Screening & Discussion)

Online Viewing: Feb 19, 2021, 5:00 pm – Feb 26, 2021, 5:00 pm
Online Filmmaker Discussion: Feb 23, 2021, 4:00 pm

Edo Avant Garde reveals the untold story of how Japanese artists during the Edo era (1603–1868) pioneered key elements of what would later become known as modern art—abstraction, minimalism, surrealism, and even three-dimensional illusion. With brilliant cinematography by Academy Award-winner Kasamatsu Norimichi, the film showcases masterworks in gold-leaf folding screens and other formats held in prestigious collections across Japan and the United States.

Director Linda Hoaglund, known for her extensive work translating and subtitling Japanese films, documents a vibrant and original tradition often overlooked in art history. This visually stunning documentary opens a new conversation about Japan’s global artistic influence. Post-screening discussion was held online with director Linda Hoaglund.

Resources:
Edo Avant Garde website
Edo Avant Garde Education Modules

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AsiaLENS – Finding Yingying (Online Film Screening & Discussion)

Online Viewing: Apr 2, 2021, 5:00 pm – Apr 9, 2021, 5:00 pm
Online Filmmaker Discussion: Apr 6, 2021, 5:00 pm

Winner of multiple documentary awards, Finding Yingying is a deeply emotional and gripping film that follows the disappearance of Chinese international student Yingying Zhang from the University of Illinois in 2017. Director Jiayan Shi brings viewers inside the experience of Yingying’s family as they search for answers and justice in a foreign country.

Through personal diary entries and unprecedented access, the film humanizes Yingying beyond the headlines, while exploring the challenges international students and immigrant families face in times of crisis. Shi’s sensitive storytelling reflects universal themes of grief, hope, and resilience.

Post-screening discussion was held online with director Jiayan Shi.

Resources:
Finding Yingying Website

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2020

AsiaLENS – Norman Mineta and His Legacy: An American Story (Online Film Screening & Discussion)

Online Viewing: Oct 23, 2020, 5:00 pm – Oct 30, 2020, 5:00 pm
Online Filmmaker Discussion: Oct 27, 2020, 4:00 pm

Norman Mineta and His Legacy: An American Story* is a film about injustice, redemption, and a burning desire for all people to be treated equally. The documentary follows Norman Mineta’s journey from his childhood incarceration in a U.S. concentration camp during World War II to his unprecedented career in public service.

Mineta became one of the most influential Asian American political leaders in U.S. history, serving for 20 years in Congress and later as a Cabinet Secretary under both Democratic and Republican presidents—Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. A staunch advocate for social justice and bipartisan cooperation, Mineta’s legacy continues to inspire as a model of principled leadership and civic responsibility. Post-screening discussion was held online with the filmmakers.

(Dianne Fukami & Debra Nakatomi | 2018 | USA | 60 min | English | Documentary)

Resources:
Mineta Legacy Project
What Does It Mean To Be An American?

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AsiaLENS – Hiroshima Nagasaki Download (Online Film Screening & Discussion)

Online Viewing: Nov 6, 2020, 5:00 pm – Nov 13, 2020, 5:00 pm
Online Filmmaker Discussion: Nov 10, 2020, 4:00 pm

In his first feature documentary, visual artist and filmmaker Shinpei Takeda embarks on a powerful North American road trip to document the testimonies of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Accompanied by a former high school friend, Takeda travels from Vancouver, Canada to the U.S.–Mexico border in the spring of 2009. The resulting stories are deeply personal, emotional, and transformative, offering haunting reminders of how past trauma reverberates through generations—seventy-five years after the devastating bombings. Post-screening discussion was held online with the filmmaker.

Resources:
Shinpei Takeda Website
Memory Undertow

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2020

AsiaLENS – "The Man Who Built Cambodia"

Feb 11, 2020, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

This film explores the life of Vann Molyvann, a visionary architect whose work symbolized a new national identity for Cambodia after gaining independence. At the heart of a cultural renaissance, Molyvann developed a bold architectural style known as New Khmer Architecture, blending modernist ideals with traditional design. As the country changed through war, regime shifts, and modernization, Molyvann returned in the 1990s only to find his contributions increasingly marginalized, with many of his buildings neglected or demolished. This poignant documentary traces both his personal story and Cambodia’s turbulent modern history.

(Christopher Rompré & Haig Balian | 2015 | Cambodia | 37 min | Documentary)

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AsiaLENS – "Day of the Western Sunrise" (Film Screening & Discussion w/ Jason Finkelman & Michael Koerner)

Mar 10, 2020, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

Day of the Western Sunrise is an animated, Japanese-language documentary about the crew of the tuna trawler Daigo Fukuryu Maru, or The Lucky Dragon No. 5. On March 1, 1954, the fishermen aboard the Lucky Dragon survived Castle Bravo, the largest thermonuclear explosion ever detonated by the United States. The film recounts how their lives were forever altered by this event and explores the enduring human and environmental consequences of nuclear weapons testing.

A post-screening discussion followed with Jason Finkelman (Asian Educational Media Service) and Michael Koerner (Lecturer, Department of Chemistry).

Distributed by Daliborka Films

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AsiaLENS – "Americaville" (Film Screening & Discussion w/ Director Adam James Smith)

Apr 14, 2020, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

Hidden among the mountains north of Beijing, a replica of the Wyoming town of Jackson Hole promises to deliver the American dream to its several thousand Chinese residents. In Americaville, Annie Liu escapes China’s increasingly uninhabitable capital city to pursue happiness, freedom, romance, and spiritual fulfillment in Jackson Hole—only to find the American idyll harder to attain than what was promised to her. This feature documentary explores the cultural paradox of longing for a dream that may not translate across borders. Following the screening, there was a discussion with filmmaker Adam James Smith.

(Adam James Smith | 2020 | China/USA | 80 min | Documentary)

Resources:
View a trailer of the film here.
Americaville website

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2019

AsiaLENS – "Remittance" (Film Screening & Discussion w/ Heather M. Gifford)

Sep 10, 2019, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

Remittance is a realistic portrayal of low-wage migrant workers in Singapore, shot on location with a cast including actual domestic workers. The film follows Marie, a foreign domestic worker from the Philippines, and immerses viewers in her joys, hopes, and challenges. Through Marie’s emotional and economic journey, the film explores the global dynamics of labor commodification and the sacrifices made by women exported from poor countries to serve wealthier nations.

A post-screening discussion was led by Heather M. Gifford, Predoc Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of Illinois.

Resources:
View a trailer of the film at the Remittance website
Distributed by Outcast Films.

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AsiaLENS – "Lovesick" (Film Screening & Discussion w/ Sulagna Chakraborty & Mara Thacker)

Oct 8, 2019, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

In India, how do you find love if you're HIV-positive? Lovesick follows Dr. Suniti Solomon, who discovered India's first case of HIV in 1986, and later began matchmaking her HIV-positive patients. Shot over eight years, the film interweaves Dr. Solomon’s personal and professional journeys with those of her patients, offering a compassionate and hopeful exploration of love, stigma, and resilience.

A discussion followed with Sulagna Chakraborty, PhD student in Ecology, Evolution & Conservation Biology, and Mara Thacker, South Asian Studies & Global Popular Culture Librarian.

Resources:
Lovesick website
Distributed by Women Make Movies.

Co-sponsored by the International and Area Studies Library

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AsiaLENS – "Drokpa: Nomads of Tibet" (Film Screening & Discussion w/ Mark Frank & Hilary Brady Morris)

Nov 12, 2019, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public (Presented as part of International Week)

Set in the high plateau of eastern Tibet, Drokpa offers an intimate portrait of a nomadic family facing rapid environmental degradation and sociopolitical pressure. With Asia’s major rivers sourcing from these grasslands, their disappearance has far-reaching consequences. The film reveals how once-lush landscapes are turning into deserts, threatening an ancient way of life on the brink of irreversible change.

A post-screening discussion featured Mark Frank, PhD in East Asian Languages and Cultures, and Hilary Brady Morris, PhD candidate in Musicology at the University of Illinois.

Resources:
Drokpa: Nomads of Tibet website
Distributed by Collective Eye Films.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2019

AsiaLENS – The Silk Road of Pop (Film Screening & Discussion w/ Liwei Zhang)

Feb 12, 2019, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

The Silk Road of Pop offers a vibrant portrait of the Uyghur pop music scene in China’s Xinjiang region. Through hip-hop crews, rock stars, and traditional musicians, the film captures the energy and identity of Uyghur youth. As they navigate life under increasing repression, music becomes a form of cultural resistance and self-expression in a society striving to silence them. Post-screening discussion was held with Liwei Zhang, Department of Political Science, Jilin University (China) and VASP Scholar at UIUC.

Distributed by Smoke Signal Projects

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AsiaLENS – The Song Collector (Film Screening & Discussion w/ Stefan P. Fiol)

Mar 12, 2019, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

Set in the remote Himalayas of Ladakh, The Song Collector follows Morup Namgyal, a legendary folk artist determined to preserve his culture’s disappearing musical traditions. As development accelerates, the film examines the tensions between modernization and cultural heritage, presenting a Buddhist-inspired vision for balancing the two.

Post-screening discussion was held with Stefan P. Fiol, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology, College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati.

Resources:
View a trailer of the film here.
The Song Collector website

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AsiaLENS – Finding KUKAN (Film Screening & Discussion)

Apr 9, 2019, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

KUKAN was the first American feature documentary to win an Academy Award in 1942—and then it was lost. Finding KUKAN follows filmmaker Robin Lung’s investigation into the film’s history and its two unsung creators: Chinese American playwright Li Ling-Ai and cameraman Rey Scott. Her journey brings to light a forgotten legacy and the overlooked role of Asian American pioneers in wartime storytelling.

Resources:
View a trailer of the film here.
Finding KUKAN website
Distributed by New Day Films.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2018

AsiaLENS – Forgive – Don’t Forget (Film Screening & Discussion)

Sep 13, 2018, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

During Japan's surrender at the end of World War II, numerous swords were confiscated by American officers. To better understand the past and build a bridge between cultures in the present, a filmmaker attempts to return one of these surrendered swords to its original owner. Post-screening discussion was held with one of the filmmakers.

Resources:
Distributed by Gravitas Ventures.

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AsiaLENS – Art in Smog (Film Screening & Discussion)

Oct 11, 2018, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

Vivid art merges with intimate interviews to evoke the human pursuit of meaning. This film illustrates the rise of China over 25 years as experienced by international artists Su Xinping and Xia Xiaowan, painter and antiques expert Mushi, fearless curator Cui Cancan, and painter Chen Hui. The pursuit of art takes them from quiet lives in the 1990s to the extremes of the 2000s, as documented in footage shot in 1991 and 2016. Post-screening discussion was held with filmmaker Lydia Chen.

AsiaLENS – Mrs. B., A North Korean Woman (Film Screening & Discussion)

Nov 8, 2018, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

In 2003, Mrs. B. left her husband and two sons behind in North Korea and was sold into marriage. A decade later, she's running a robust trafficking business from a small farm in northern China. This film is a closely observed verité portrait of a world-weary woman who finds herself between countries, worlds, and families. The result is a powerful look at the mundane realities of life for both trafficker and trafficked, overturning clichéd notions about a mysterious trade.

Resources:
View a trailer of the film here.
Distributed by Icarus Films.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2018

AsiaLENS – Paths of the Soul (Film Screening & Discussion)

Feb 13, 2018, 3:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

Filmmaker Zhang Yang blurs the border between fictional drama and documentary in following a group of Tibetan villagers who leave their families and homes in the small village of Nyima to make a Buddhist "bowing pilgrimage"—laying their bodies flat on the ground after every few steps—along the 1,200-mile road to Lhasa, the holy capital of Tibet. Though united in their remarkable devotion, each of the travelers embarks on this near impossible journey for very personal reasons. Stunningly photographed over the course of an entire year, with non-professional actors and no script, *Paths of the Soul* is a mesmerizing study of faith.

Resources:
View a trailer of the film here.
Distributed by Icarus Films.

Reviews:
New York Times

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AsiaLENS – Guangzhou Dream Factory (Film Screening & Discussion)

Mar 13, 2018, 3:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

Immigration, globalization, Chinese factories and African dreams... *Guangzhou Dream Factory* weaves stories of Africans chasing alluring, yet elusive 'Made in China' dreams into a compelling critique of our 21st-century global economy that offers fresh perspective on China and African development. Post-screening discussion was held online with producer Erica Marcus.

Resources:
View a trailer of the film here.
Guangzhou Dream Factory Facebook Page.

Interviews:
Center for Asian American Media

Reviews:
Africa Is A Country (blog)

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AsiaLENS – Drawing the Tiger (Film Screening & Discussion)

Apr 10, 2018, 3:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)
*Free and open to the public

Shot over seven years, *Drawing the Tiger* takes a sweeping view of one Nepalese family's daily struggle to survive off of subsistence farming. When their bright daughter receives a scholarship to study in Kathmandu, the family's prospects suddenly improve by leaps and bounds overnight—but will the weight of their expectations crush her?

Resources:
Distributed by Women Make Movies.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2017

AsiaLENS – People Are The Sky (Film Screening & Discussion)

Sep 12, 2017, 3:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

In PEOPLE ARE THE SKY, director Dai Sil Kim-Gibson makes a pilgrimage to her place of birth in North Korea for the first time in nearly 70 years, to explore if it is still home. She seamlessly weaves her own personal story as a native born North Korean, with the fractious history of the North/South division and pinpoints the roots of North Korean’s hatred of the United States, giving Americans a much better understanding of the conflict. A mix of interviews, epic images and graceful musings, PEOPLE ARE THE SKY offers some of the best political and social history of the relations between North and South Korea, and also a contemplative exploration of the meaning of home.

Dai Sil Kim-Gibson is an independent filmmaker/writer, known for championing the compelling but neglected issues of human rights. Her films have been screened at international film festivals and broadcasted on PBS and Sundance Channel. Formerly professor of religion at Mount Holyoke College with a Ph.D. in religion from Boston University, she has also authored many articles and books, including Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women, Looking for Don: A Meditation, and Korean Sky.

Post-screening discussion was held with filmmaker Dai Sil Kim-Gibson.

Resources:
View a trailer of the film here.
Distributed by Women Make Movies.

Reviews:
Asian In New York
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AsiaLENS – The Apology (Film Screening & Discussion)

Oct 10, 2017, 3:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

The Apology follows the personal journeys of three former "comfort women" who were among the 200,000 girls and young women kidnapped and forced into military sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. After seventy years of living in silence and shame about their experiences of institutionalized rape and sexual slavery, Grandma Gil in South Korea, Grandma Cao in China, and Grandma Adela in the Philippines give first-hand accounts of the truth. They are seeking an apology and the hope that this horrific chapter of history not be forgotten.

Post-screening discussion was led by Dr. Jinhee J. Lee (Associate Professor of History, Eastern Illinois University), with filmmaker Tiffany Hsiung joining online.

Introduction by Jason Finkelman, Asian Educational Media Service.
Distributed by Icarus Films.

Resources:
View a trailer of the film here.
Distributed by Icarus Films.

Reviews:
Point of View Magazine
The Globe and Mail
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AsiaLENS – This Island Is Ours (Film Screening & Discussion)
Nov 14, 2017, 3:00 pm
Spurlock Museum (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

The territorial dispute between Japan and Korea over the ownership of the Dokdo/Takeshima islets is not limited to state-to-state relations. In both countries, there are citizens' groups actively engaged in protesting, lobbying, and educating the public. This Island Is Ours follows a Korean kindergarten caretaker with a background in student activism and a recently widowed Japanese housewife as they campaign tirelessly for the sovereignty of the tiny islets that are currently controlled by Korea but also claimed by Japan. This film offers rare insight into the life of two activists on opposite sides by presenting their parallel experiences from a neutral point of view.

This documentary is the result of a collaboration between Seoul-based filmmaker Nils Clauss and Wellington-based Alexander Bukh, a scholar of international relations in Northeast Asia.

Post-screening discussion was held online with filmmaker Alexander Bukh.

Introduction by Jason Finkelman, Asian Educational Media Service.

Resources:
View a trailer of the film here.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2017

AsiaLENS – Punch (Film Screening & Discussion)
Feb 14, 2017, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

Punch is a coming-of-age film set in an impoverished Seoul neighborhood. One of Korea’s most popular films of 2011, it follows the life of a high school student who is more talented at fighting than at studying. His homeroom teacher seems to enjoy tormenting him. His disabled father struggles to support him. He doesn’t know anything about his mother, but discovers that she isn’t even Korean. The movie succeeds through its interesting and sympathetic portrayals of a diverse set of characters.

Post-screening discussion was held by AEMS (Asian Educational Media Service).

Presented as part of South Korean Millennials: Coming of Age in the Twenty-first Century, co-sponsored by Indiana University

Resources:

View a trailer of the film here.

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AsiaLENS – Playing With Fire: Women Actors of Afghanistan (Film Screening & Discussion)

Mar 14, 2017, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

Banned under Taliban rule (1994-2001), Afghan theater is experiencing a comeback with many women at the forefront. Filmmaker Anneta Papathanassiou exposes pervasive erosions of Afghan women’s rights. Her timely, eye-opening documentary perfectly captures art’s transformative power and the dangers these courageous women face to do the work they love.

Introduction and post-screening discussion was held by Katayoun H. Salmasi, critic/playwright/director, former vice president of the Iran Theatre Critics Association, and advisor, Iranian Cultural Alliance at UIUC.

Resources:
Distributed by Women Make Movies.

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AsiaLENS – Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll (Film Screening & Discussion)

Apr 11, 2017, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

Through the eyes, words and songs of its popular music stars of the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, this feature length documentary examines and unravels Cambodia’s tragic past, culminating in the genocidal Khmer Rouge’s dismantling of the society and murder of 2,000,000 of its citizens. Combining interviews of the surviving musicians themselves with never-before-seen archival material and rare songs, the film tracks the twist and turns of Cambodian music as it morphs into rock and roll, blossoms, and is nearly destroyed along with the rest of the country.

Introduction and post-screening discussion was held online with LinDa Saphan, Ph.D., Associate Producer of the film and Assistant Professor of Sociology, College of Mount Saint Vincent.

Resources:
Film Website: dtifcambodia.com.

Reviews:
A list of interviews can be found here.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2016

AsiaLENS – My Life in China (Film Screening & Discussion)

Sep 20, 2016, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

This personal film takes viewers on a journey to rural China where an emotional revelation takes place. A story of migration is passed down from father to son, retracing the precarious steps risked in search for a better life. Was the risk worth it? What if he had never left? What was ultimately achieved by immigrating?

Introduction and post-screening discussion was held with director Kenneth Eng. A special lunchtime conversation with the director was also held earlier in the day at the Asian American Cultural Center’s Food for Thought program.

Co-sponsored by the Asian American Cultural Center

Resources:
Distributed by My Life In China, LLC.: mylifeinchina.org
View a trailer of the film here.
View comments by Kenneth Eng here.

Reviews:
Unseen Films
Boston Globe
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AsiaLENS – Threads: The Art and Life of Surayia Rahman (Film Screening & Discussion)

Oct 18, 2016, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

A self-trained and passionate artist, Surayia Rahman is an unconventional Bengali woman who frees herself, other women and families from poverty and social hardships, by guiding hundreds of underprivileged women in Bangladesh to create masterworks of exquisitely hand-embroidered art that has been gifted to dignitaries and admired in collections throughout the world.

Pre-screening introduction was delivered by co-producer Leonard Hill, presented by the Spurlock Museum Guild Lecture and Performance Series. Post-screening discussion was led by Professor Madhu Viswanathan (Gies College of Business). A lunchtime session with Leonard Hill was also hosted earlier that day at the Asian American Cultural Center’s Food for Thought program.

Resources:
Distributed by Kantha Productions LLC.: kanthathreads.com

Reviews:
The Indian Express

Co-sponsored by the "Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and U.S. Department of Education Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language program, Spurlock Museum, University Library, and Asian American Cultural Center
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AsiaLENS – All Eyes and Ears (Film Screening & Discussion)

Nov 15, 2016, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

A timely exploration into the complex links between the U.S. and China, this documentary evokes the personal and the international with its accent on diplomacy, activism and individual experience. Interspersed with remarks from journalists and experts, All Eyes and Ears interweaves the stories of U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, his adopted Chinese daughter, Gracie Mei, and blind legal advocate Chen Guangcheng as they find purpose, identity and resolve amid the two nations’ evolving relationship. This film adroitly illuminates the delicate, intersecting layers of history, ideology and politics at play behind current diplomatic maneuvers.

Resources:
Film Website: alleyesandears.org
Distributed by Outcast Films: outcast-films.com

Reviews:
New York Times

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2016

AsiaLENS – Tales of the Waria (Film Screening & Discussion)

Feb 9, 2016, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

Indonesia is home to the world’s largest Muslim population. It is also home to a community of transgendered individuals known as warias, biological men who live openly as women. In this eye-opening PBS documentary, four warias search for romance and intimacy. Along the way, they encounter unique obstacles that force them to make extraordinary sacrifices to keep the ones they love.

Introduction and post-screening discussion was led by Leslie Marrow, Director of the LGBT Resource Center, Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations, UI.

Winner: Best Documentary Award – San Diego Asian Film Festival

Resources:
For more information visit the film website.

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AsiaLENS – I Am (Film Screening & Discussion)

Mar 8, 2016, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

After eleven years, an Indian lesbian filmmaker chronicles the journey home to finally confront the loss of her mother whom she never came out to. By meeting parents of other gay and lesbian Indians, she pieces together the fabric of what family truly means, in a landscape where being gay was, until recently, a criminal and punishable offense.

Winner: Best Documentary Feature – Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival

Reviews:
Richmond Times

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AsiaLENS – My Fair Wedding (Film Screening & Discussion)

Apr 12, 2016, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

In this intimate and candid film, we follow Gwang-Soo and Dave as they plan their gala wedding, the first same-sex marriage performed in South Korea. Held openly to the public at Kwangtong Bridge, this landmark wedding is not free from gay marriage opponents making their displeasure heard before and during the grooms’ special day. A light-hearted love story with strong undertones about marriage equality, My Fair Wedding offers a first-hand account on overcoming adversity and how a milestone event goes beyond just one couple.

Introduction and post-screening discussion was led by Robert Cagle, Ph.D., Department of Cinema and Media Studies, University Library, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Resources:
For more information visit the distributors website.

Reviews:
Screendaily

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2015

AsiaLENS – Cotton Road (Film Screening & Discussion)

Sep 8, 2015, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

Americans consume nearly 20 billion new items of clothing each year. Yet few of us know how our clothes are made, much less who produces them. Cotton Road follows the commodity of cotton from South Carolina farms to Chinese factories to illuminate the work and industrial processes in the global supply chain.

Introduction and post-screening discussion was led by Joy Yang Jiao, Ph.D. Candidate, Institute of Communication Research, College of Media, UI.

Winner: Fork in the Road Award – GreenTopia Film Festival 2015

Resources:
For more information visit the film website.
View a trailer of the film here.

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AsiaLENS – Agrarian Utopia (Film Screening & Discussion)

Oct 13, 2015, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

Facing seizure of their own lands, two families found themselves farming together on the same field, hoping to get through just another rice-farming season like every year. But no matter how much the world is evolving, how much the country is going through economic, political and social changes, they still cannot grasp that ideology of happiness.

Introduction and post-screening discussion was led by Matthew S. Winters, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, UI.

Reviews:
New York Times

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AsiaLENS – Bitter Seeds (Film Screening & Discussion)

Nov 10, 2015, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

Bitter Seeds examines the epidemic of suicides among India’s cotton farmers who are deeply in debt after switching to genetically modified seeds.

Introduction and post-screening discussion was led by Rini Bhattacharya Mehta, Assistant Professor, Program for Comparative and World Literature, UI.

Resources:
Visit Teddy Bear Films for information on the filmmaker and production.
Educational Distribution by Bullfrog Films.
Co-production of ITVS.

Reviews:
Filmmaker Magazine

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2015

AsiaLENS – Embrace (Film Screening & Discussion)

Feb 10, 2015, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

Through the narratives of a father and a son, two tantric yogis of two generations, this film illustrates both the transcendental and inter-sentient dimensions of Tibetan sacred sites and of their ecological significance. It documents a ritualized relationship of people and the place of their dwelling and natural surroundings.

Introduction and post-screening discussion was facilitated by Dr. Alexander Mayer, Associate Professor, Religion and East Asian Languages and Culture.

Resources:
For more information or to purchase, visit the Director's blog.
View the trailer on Vimeo.

Reviews:
Asian Educational Media Service

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AsiaLENS – Buddhism after the Tsunami: The Souls of Zen 3/11 Japan Special

Mar 10, 2015, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

This documentary film follows Buddhist priests through the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that killed nearly 20,000 people in Japan in March 2011. Buddhism After the Tsunami presents perspectives on the important roles Buddhism played in the care of those lost and bereaved in the aftermath of 3/11.

Introduction and post-screening discussion was led by Brian Ruppert, Associate Professor, Religion and East Asian Languages and Culture.

Resources:
Stay up-to-date on Souls of Zen's Facebook.

Reviews:
Asian Educational Media Service

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AsiaLENS – Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard (Film Screening & Discussion)

Apr 14, 2015, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum (600 S Gregory St, Urbana, IL 61801)

Pictures drawn by Hiroshima school children, living in the aftermath of the atomic bomb, are discovered deep inside a church in Washington, DC. A gift of thanks for supplies donated in 1947, these beautiful, surprisingly happy pictures are restored in 2009 and taken back to Hiroshima for a special exhibit attended by the surviving artists who drew them. This is a film about hope in the face of horror, the power of reconciliation and the unwavering optimism of children.

Introduction and discussion was led by Robert Tierney, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Comparative and World Literatures, and Hiromi Matsushita, Buddhist Priest and former personnel manager, USB Tokyo.

Resources:
Visit the film webpage for information on purchasing, film blog, and an image gallery of art featured in the film.

Reviews:
Asian Educational Media Service

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2014

AsiaLENS – Hafu: The Mixed-Race Experience in Japan
Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Hafu – the Mixed-Race Experience in Japan is a journey of discovery into the complex multicultural experience of mixed-race Japanese in modern day Japan. The film follows the lives of five Hafus – the Japanese term for people who are half Japanese – as they explore what it means to be multiracial and multicultural in a nation that once proudly proclaimed itself to be mono-ethnic. For some of these Hafus, Japan is the only home they know. For others, living in Japan is an entirely new experience. And still others find themselves caught between two different worlds.

Post-screening discussion was held with Dr. Robert Tierney (Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures and Comparative and World Literatures) and Dr. Roderick Wilson (Assistant Professor, History and East Asian Languages and Cultures).

(Megumi Nishikura & Lara Perez Takagi | 2013 | Japan | 87 minutes | Japanese and English with English subtitles)

Resources:
Distributed by Megumi Nishikura

Reviews:
The Wall Street Journal
The Japan Times

Filmmaker Interview:
For a sound recording of an interview with Nishikura, click here.

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AsiaLENS – Somewhere Between
Tuesday, October 14, 2014 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Of the roughly 80,000 girls who have been adopted from China since 1989, a decade after China implemented its One Child Policy, the film intimately follows four teenagers: Haley, Jenna, Anna and Fang. These four wise-beyond-their-years yet typical American Teens reveal a heartbreaking sense of self-awareness as they attempt to answer the uniquely human question, "Who am I?" Issues of belonging, race and gender are brought to life through these articulate subjects, who approach life with honesty and open hearts.

Introduction was led by Mai-Lin Poon (Assistant Director, Asian American Cultural Center) and post-screening discussion with Gehui Zhang (Doctoral Candidate, Department of Sociology).

(Linda Goldstein Knowlton | 2012 | USA | 88 minutes | English)

Resources:
Distributed by Long Shot Factory.
Film website
Trailer

Reviews:
LA Times
Variety

Director's Statement:
Read the director's statement on the film website.

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AsiaLENS – Honor and Sacrifice
Tuesday, November 11, 2014 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Honor and Sacrifice tells the complex story of a Japanese immigrant family ripped apart by WWII. The Matsumoto family included five sons; two who fought for the Americans and three who fought for the Japanese. The eldest, Hiroshi (Roy), became a hero, fighting against the Japanese with Merrill's Marauders, an American guerrilla unit in Burma. He was born near Los Angeles, educated in Japan, and became a hero when he used his Japanese language skills and military training to save his surrounded, starving battalion deep in the Burmese jungle. At the same time his parents and sisters were living in their family’s ancestral home, Hiroshima. The story is told by Roy's daughter Karen as she discovers her father's work in military intelligence, kept secret for 50 years.

Introduction and discussion were led by Louis G. Perez (Professor of History, Illinois State University).

(Don Sellers & Lucy Ostrander | 2013 | USA | 28 minutes | English)

Resources:
Distributed by Stourwater Pictures.

Reviews:
Asian Educational Media Service

Filmmaker Interview:
Seattle's KUOW interview with Don Sellers and Karen Matsumoto available here.

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AsiaLENS – He Defied the Tide of Time

Tuesday, November 11, 2014 -7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

This documentary preserves the voices of WWII witnesses who recount the heroic actions of Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat who saved 6,000 Jewish refugees by issuing them transit visas in Lithuania during 1940. It is a tribute to his courage and humanity, remembered before these witnesses fade from history.

Introduction and discussion were led by Louis G. Perez (Professor of History, Illinois State University).

Resources:
Distributed by Bilderall Emmrich KB (Stockholm, Sweden: susanne.emmrich@bahnhof.se)

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2014

AsiaLENS – Mulberry Child
Tuesday, February 11, 2014 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Published in 2009, Jian Ping’s memoir Mulberry Child tells the history of the Mao’s Cultural Revolution through personal stories principally written for her American-raised daughter to understand the struggles and sacrifices her family made in order to survive persecution faced in China. In the 2011 film by Susan Morgan Cooper, reenacted personal history and stock footage are combined to retrace the Cultural Revolution and its devastating effects on Jian Ping’s family, while current-day footage of mother and daughter in the United States illustrate a tenuous relationship resulting from their cultural divide.

Post-screening discussion was held with Jian Ping and Lisa Xia.

Special AsiaLENS programming was in conjunction with this screening:

12:00 pm – Lisa Xia talk at Food for Thought, Asian American Cultural Center, 1210 West Nevada Street, Urbana, IL
3:00 pm – Jian Ping and Lisa Xia discussion: Mulberry Child: Bridging a Cultural Divide from Memoir to Film, Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium

(Susan Morgan Cooper | 2011 | USA | 85 minutes | English)

Resources:
Distributed by American Dream Pictures
Film website: Mulberry Child
Mulberry Child Trailer

Reviews:
Roger Ebert
New York Times

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AsiaLENS – High Tech, Low Life
Tuesday, March 11, 2014 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

High Tech, Low Life follows two of China’s first citizen–reporters as they document the underside of the country’s rapid economic development. A search for truth and fame inspires young vegetable seller "Zola" to report on censored news stories from the cities, while retired businessman "Tiger Temple" makes sense of the past by chronicling the struggles of rural villagers. Land grabs, pollution, rising poverty, local corruption and the growing willingness of ordinary people to speak out are grist for these two bloggers who navigate China’s evolving censorship regulations and challenge the boundaries of free speech.

Introduction and discussion were led by Yimin Wang (Associate Director, Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, UI)

This event was a collaboration with POV, the award-winning independent non-fiction film series on PBS.

(Stephen Maing | 2012 | China | 87 minutes | Mandarin with English subtitles)

Resources:
Distributed by POV
High Tech, Low Life Trailer

Reviews:
New York Times
Variety

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AsiaLENS – The Revolutionary
Tuesday, April 8, 2014 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

During China's Cultural Revolution, one of the most destructive and least understood political upheavals of the 20th century, Chairman Mao's call to "make revolution" was answered by tens of millions of Chinese and one American. The Revolutionary is a feature-length documentary about the Maoist Era and Sidney Rittenberg, an American who assumed an unprecedented role for a foreigner in Chinese politics. In those catastrophic times, Mao's last stand to hold on to power and to his political legacy, Rittenberg's personal relationship with China's leaders brought him both prominence and a long stay in Beijing's Prison No. 1. It should be noted that these events of the Maoist Era have all but been removed from the PRC's official history, a reflection of what one contemporary Chinese writer has called "China's historical amnesia".

Irv Drasnin is a producer, writer, interviewer, and narrator of the Stourwater Pictures 2012 release THE REVOLUTIONARY, which features the story of Sidney Rittenburg, the only American citizen to be admitted to the Chinese Communist Party under Mao’s rule. Irv's career in documentary filmmaking and broadcast journalism includes thirty-five years at CBS News and Public Television with extensive experience in China. His thirty documentaries include MISUNDERSTANDING CHINA (1972), SHANGHAI (1974), LOOKING FOR MAO (1983), and CHINA AFTER TIANANMEN (1992). Among his many awards for outstanding documentary film are the DuPont-Columbia Award (twice), the Director’s Guild, the Writer’s Guild (twice), the American Film and Video Festival (twice) and Christopher awards (twice). Mr. Drasnin holds a Master’s degree from Harvard in East Asian Studies with a specialization in China and taught the documentary film program at Stanford (1980-82). He also was a founding member of The China Council of the Asia Society and its co-chairman (1981-83).

Introduction and post-screening discussion were led by Irv Drasnin (Co-producer, writer, interviewer, and narrator of The Revolutionary)

Special programming was held in conjunction with this screening:

Lecture and discussion with Irv Drasnin, Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (Wednesday, April 9, 2014 – 4:00 pm)

(Irv Drasnin, Lucy Ostrander & Don Sellers | 2012 | USA | 92 minutes | English)

Resources:
Distributed by Stourwater Pictures
Filmmaker website: The Revolutionary
The Revolutionary Trailer

Reviews:
New York Times
Asian Educational Media Service

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Spring 2014 AsiaLENS programming is co-sponsored by Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, Asian American Cultural Center, East Asian Languages and Cultures, School of Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics, Media and Cinema Studies, and Department of English.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2013

AsiaLENS – Beijing Besieged By Waste
Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Award-winning photographer Wang Jiu-liang traveled to more than 500 landfills to fearlessly document Beijing’s monumental problem of waste spawned by a burgeoning population, booming industry, and insatiable urban growth. In Beijing Besieged By Waste, Wang’s poignant observational visits reveal the decimation of once-essential rivers and farmlands in the backdrop of gleaming high-speed trains, stadiums, and skyscrapers; the sinister cyclical pattern of construction's consumption and garbage; and the daily lives of scavengers who live and work in the dumps at their own risk.

Post-screening discussion was held with Karin Chien, President & Founder of dGenerate Films.

(Wang Jiu-liang | 2011 | China | 72 minutes | Mandarin with English subtitles)

Resources:
Distributed by Icarus Films

Reviews:
Asian Educational Media Service
Senses of Cinema

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AsiaLENS – Tokyo Waka: A City Poem
Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Tokyo Waka presents a lyrical portrait of the complex and compelling patterns of life found within a world city by focusing on its huge and surprising population of more than 20,000 crows. Through interviews of a wide variety of Tokyo residents including a tofu seller, a homeless woman, a Buddhist priest, conceptual artists, and a gardener, this film not only reveals the uneasy relationship between humans and wildlife cohabiting in an urban environment, but also provides an episodic and discursive poem about life and culture in modern Japan.

Introduction and discussion were led by Elizabeth Oyler (Director, Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, UI)

(John Haptas & Kristine Samuelson | 2012 | USA | 63 minutes | Japanese with English subtitles)

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AsiaLENS – A Perfect Soldier
Tuesday, November 12, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

As an orphaned child in Cambodia in the mid-seventies, Aki Ra was soon groomed to be an instrument of war by the Khmer Rouge, a regime that killed nearly two million Cambodians. In his adult life, Aki Ra has worked to combat the violence in which he once took part by removing what he can of the six million landmines that still mar Cambodia’s countryside. Aki Ra’s efforts to eradicate landmines and address—in a makeshift roadside museum—the horrible remnants of war, led to the establishment of the Cambodian Landmine Museum and School and his recognition as one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes in 2010. A Perfect Soldier is an inspiring documentary about the power of one man to create change in society.

Post-screening discussion was held with Judy Ledgerwood (Director, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University)

(John Severson | 2011 | Cambodia | 56 minutes | Khmer with English subtitles)

Resources:
Distributed by Cinema Guild
Filmmaker website: A Perfect Soldier
Website for The Cambodia Landmine Museum and School

Reviews:
Educational Media Reviews Online
Reel Chicago

Articles About Aki Ra:
CNN

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2013

AsiaLENS – Seoul Train
Tuesday, February 12, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Encore Screening:
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Urbana Free Library, 210 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL

Through the combination of vérité footage, personal stories and interviews, Seoul Train is a riveting exposé into the life and death of North Koreans who attempt escape from their homeland and China via a secretive “underground railroad.” In this film we meet the activists on the front line, learn of the risks they take for their refugees and for themselves, and see firsthand the toll their work takes on them. We also hear from the Chinese Government, who articulates its country’s claims as to why the North Koreans are not refugees; from the UNHCR as to why it has failed to save even one North Korean refugee; from Sen. Sam Brownback, who has publicly challenged both the PRC and UNHCR; and from other experts (academics and NGOs) on the crisis at hand.

Introduction and discussion were led by Dohye Kim (PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology, UI).

(Jim Butterworth, Aaron Lubarsky & Lisa Sleeth | 2005 | USA | 54 minutes | Korean, Mandarin, English, and Polish with English subtitles)

Resources:
Official website: http://www.seoultrain.com/
Contains a complete information on the film and production, history of the crisis, a trailer, and how to purchase.

Reviews:
New York Times
Wall Street Journal

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AsiaLENS – Bön: Mustang to Menri
Tuesday, March 12, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Encore Screening:
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Urbana Free Library, 210 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL

The preservation of Tibetan Bön culture is portrayed in this beautiful documentary interweaving daily life of the Menri Monastery in Northern India, rebuilt by the 33rd Abbot of Menri after the old monastery in Tibet was destroyed, and the story of Geshe Sonam Gurung, who journeyed as a young boy from the ancient kingdom of Mustang, Nepal to study at Menri and who has now returned home to share his teachings.

Bön: Mustang to Menri illustrates the interconnectedness of education, commitment to service and spiritual dedication. It communicates Bön's story and unique place in history while illuminating how and why the work that monks do is important to the modern world. It is a universal message, one that reveals how inspired individuals can overcome challenges and adversity in order to have a positive impact on the world while giving back to the people, places and traditions that nurtured them.

Introduction and discussion were led by Alexander L. Mayer (Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures and Religious Studies, UI).

(Tad Fettig | 2011 | USA | 60 minutes | English)

Resources:
Official website: Documentary Educational Resources
Contains a synopsis of the film, a preview, and purchasing information.

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AsiaLENS – Witnesses to a Secret War
Tuesday, April 9, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Encore Screening:
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Urbana Free Library, 210 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL

With first-hand accounts by CIA-supported Hmong soldiers who fought, survived, and fled Laos when the Communists took over in 1975, along with personal stories of Hmong refugees residing in the United States, Witnesses to a Secret Warbrings greater awareness to a relatively unknown piece of American history.

In the film we meet members of families who were among the first to immigrate to the US, such as Minnesota State Representative Cy Thao whose artwork revisits the struggle of his people, and refugee advocate KaYing Yang who works in Thailand to help Hmong refugees remaining there after 30 years. Through their voices, and those of other witnesses compelled to understand their past, a story of betrayal, loss and survival unfolds.

Introduction and discussion were led by May Kao Xiong (Curriculum & Instruction, College of Education).

(Deborah Dickson | 2009 | USA | 56 minutes | English and Hmong)

Resources:
Offical Website: Witnesses to a Secret War
Contains a trailer, filmmaker and character bios, press reviews, news and purchasing information.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2012

AsiaLENS – A Grandpa From Brazil
Tuesday, September 11, 2012 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Encore Screening:
Thursday, September 20, 2012 - 7:00 pm
Urbana Free Library, 210 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL
Discussion was led by Renato F. L. Azevedo, M.S.

A Grandpa from Brazil focuses on the journey of Ken’ichi Konno, a 92-year-old Japanese man who immigrated to Brazil in 1931. In telling Ken’ichi’s story, the film illustrates the history of Japanese emigration to Brazil through personal reflections brought to mind while visiting landmark sites of his youth. During Ken’ichi’s trip back to Japan he visits friends from Brazil who are members of the current tide of “reverse” immigrants: Brazilians of Japanese descent who have moved to Japan in recent years to fill job vacancies created by that nation’s labor shortages. This touching documentary reveals the challenges these new immigrants face.

Introduction was led by Renato F. L. Azevedo, M.S. (Graduate Assistant - Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, UI) and online post-screening discussion by filmmaker Nanako Kurihara.

(Nanako Kurihara | 2008/2011 | Japan/Brazil | 60 minutes | Japanese and Portuguese with English subtitles)

Resources:
Official website: http://nanakokurihara.com
Contains a synopsis of the film and purchasing information.

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AsiaLENS – When China Met Africa
Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Encore Screening:
Thursday, October 25, 2012 - 7:00 pm
Urbana Free Library, 210 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL

As an expanding global power, China has encouraged its corporations and entrepreneurs over the past decade to look to Africa for investment opportunities. This has accelerated China's engagement throughout the African continent in securing resources and raw materials for their booming economy.

This relationship between China and Africa is examined in the documentary When China Met Africa by focusing on three individuals: a successful Chinese farm owner who has just bought his fourth farm in Africa; a Chinese project manager working to upgrade Zambia’s longest road; and Zambia’s Trade Minister, who is on his way to China in search of investment capital. Meanwhile, in Beijing, 48 African heads of state converge for a historic summit hosted by China’s president Hu Jintao.

Discussion was led by Parfait Gasana, M.S. candidate in Economics, UI and member of the African Students Organization.

(Marc Francis & Nick Francis | 2011 | UK/China/Zambia | 75 minutes | Chinese with English subtitles)

Co-sponsored by the Center for African Studies, UI

Resources:
Official website: When China Met Africa
Contains a synopsis of the film, trailer, and director information.
The film can be purchased at Bullfrog Films.

Reviews:
The Guardian
Asian Educational Media Service

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AsiaLENS – Pinoy Sunday
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Encore Screening:
Sunday, November 18, 2012 - 3:00 pm
Champaign Public Library (200 W. Green Street, Champaign, IL)

In the award-winning, independent film Pinoy Sunday, director Wi Ding Ho tells the story of two Filipino migrant workers and their journey across Taipei. When factory workers Manuel and Dado find an abandoned couch on the sidewalk it begins a day of misadventures and chance encounters as they attempt to carry their prize back to their cramped dormitory. In the course of their travels they meet a cast of characters representative of the various means of life in an industrializing city, as well as find moments of respite during which they reminisce about the homeland they have left behind for new opportunities. Wi Ding Ho deftly puts a light touch on a story about the difficult realities of overseas foreign workers in Taipei.

Discussion was led by Constancio Arnaldo, PhD candidate in Anthropology, UI.

(Wi Ding Ho | 2009 | Taiwan/Philippines | 100 minutes | Tagalog, Taiwanese, Mandarin, and English with English subtitles)

Reviews:
Taipei Times

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2012

AsiaLENS – Follow Your Heart: China’s New Youth Movement
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Encore Screening:
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 - 7:00 pm
Urbana Free Library (210 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL)
Discussion was led by Carlos Hernandez (President, Urbana-Champaign Hip Hop Congress).

As China’s modern society changes from communism to consumerism, a new urban youth movement has emerged with a greater sense of freedom and optimism unknown in their parent’s generation. By highlighting successful and independent artists from China’s national Hip-Hop scene, Duncan Jepson’s film Follow Your Heart illustrates how this globally connected generation of Chinese youth has embraced technology, art, and consumer culture to express individuality in ways that clash with both traditional and modern Chinese values.

Discussion was led by Rayvon Fouché (Associate Professor, History, UI).

(Duncan Jepson | 2007 | China | 89 minutes | Mandarin and English with English subtitles)

Resources:
Official website: Third World Newsreel
Contains a synopsis of the film, trailer, and purchasing information.

Reviews:
Educational Media Reviews

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AsiaLENS – The Red Chapel
Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Encore Screening:
Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - 7:00 pm
Champaign Public Library (200 W. Green Street, Champaign, IL)

Danish journalist, television host and author Mads Brügger led Jacob and Simon, two adoptees from North Korea, on a cultural exchange visit to the land of their birth under the guise of a comedic theatre troupe called “The Red Chapel.” This edgy documentary chronicles the absurd encounters between the North Korean hosts and the company members who are now confronting their biological roots, all while preparing to perform a comedy variety show in an absolute surveillance society.

Discussion was led by Youngji Jeon (Doctoral Student, Department of Theatre, UI).

(Mads Brügger | 2009 | Denmark/North Korea | 88 minutes | Danish and English with English subtitles)

Resources:
The film can be purchased at Kino International.

Reviews:
The Hollywood Review

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AsiaLENS – ANPO: Art x War
Tuesday, April 3, 2012 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Encore Screening:
Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - 7:00 pm
Urbana Free Library (210 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL)

Signed in 1960 amidst public resentment that erupted in massive popular demonstrations, ANPO refers to the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, which permits the continued presence of numerous U.S. military bases in Japan today. ANPO: Art x War reveals the story of resistance to these U.S. military bases through the lens of Japanese artists, by way of interviews and a collage of their extraordinary large-scale paintings, drawings, photographs, anime, and films, some of which have long been hidden from public view.

Introduction was led by Jason Finkelman (Asian Educational Media Service) and online post-screening discussion by filmmaker Linda Hoaglund.

(Linda Hoaglund | 2010 | Japan | 89 minutes | Japanese with English subtitles)

Resources:
Offical Website: ANPO: Art x War
Contains a trailer, filmmaker and artist bios, press reviews, and news.
ANPO: Art x War is distributed by New Day Films.

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2011

AsiaLENS – Though I Am Gone
Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Encore Screening:
Thursday, September 8, 2011 - 7:00 pm
Champaign Public Library (200 W. Green Street, Champaign, IL)
Discussion was led by Mei-Hsuan Chiang (PhD Student, East Asian Languages and Cultures, UI).

Pioneering filmmaker Hu Jie uncovers the tragic story of a teacher beaten to death by her students during the Cultural Revolution. In 1966, the Cultural Revolution exploded throughout China, as Mao’s Red Guards persecuted suspected Rightists. Bian Zhongyun, the vice principal of a prestigious school in Beijing, was beaten to death by her own students, becoming one of the first victims of the revolutionary violence that would engulf the entire nation.

In Though I Am Gone, Hu draws upon photographs taken by Bian’s husband, Wang Jingyao, whose impulse to document his wife’s death makes him a spiritual forebear to Hu’s fearless work. Hu also incorporates vivid accounts from surviving witnesses and archival footage to depict the deadly madness of the era. The result is “a profoundly moving memorial to the victims of Mao’s senseless political violence” (Dan Edwards, Real Time Arts).

Discussion was led by Gary G. Xu (Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures, UI).

(Hu Jie | 2007 | China | 68 minutes | Mandarin with English subtitles)

Resources:
Official website: dGenerate Films
Contains a synopsis of the film, filmmaker bio, reviews, and purchasing information.

Reviews:
China Digital Times

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AsiaLENS – Bhutan: Taking the Middle Path to Happiness
Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Encore Screening:
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - 7:00 pm
Urbana Free Library (210 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL)

Bhutan – Taking the Middle Path to Happiness is an Emmy Award-winning documentary on the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan and its development policy of “Gross National Happiness.”

Imagine a country where the peoples’ happiness is the guiding principle of government. Imagine a people who see all life as sacred, a land with abundant renewable energy, a nation committed to preserving nature and its culture. Imagine a country where the government’s goal is “Gross National Happiness.” Where is this Shangri-La? Bhutan.

But can a place like Bhutan really exist? Can such ideals be realized? Can this small, geographically isolated country tucked away in the Himalayas truly protect its environment and culture as they open their doors to the West?

Discussions were led by Alexander L. Mayer (Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures and Religious Studies, UI).

(Tom Vendetti | 2007 | USA/Bhutan | 56 minutes | English)

Resources:
View Trailer on YouTube

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AsiaLENS – Who Killed Chea Vichea?
Thursday, November 3, 2011 - 7:00 pm
Champaign Public Library (200 W. Green Street, Champaign, IL)

Encore Screening:
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

In 1999, Cambodian garment workers demanding decent wages and working conditions found their leader in Chea Vichea. As president of Cambodia’s free trade union, he stood with them despite beatings and death threats…until a sunny morning in 2004. As Vichea read the paper at a sidewalk newsstand, three bullets silenced him forever.

Director Bradley Cox shot Who Killed Chea Vichea? over five years, covering events as they happened and tracking down witnesses in a country where knowing too much can cost you your life. Who Killed Chea Vichea? is a highly charged murder mystery, a political thriller, and a documentary like no other.

Discussion was led by Matthew S. Winters (Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, UI).

(Bradley Cox | 2009 | Cambodia/USA | 56 minutes | English and Khmer with subtitles)

Resources:
Offical Website: Loud Mouth Films
Contains a trailer, backstory, filmmaker bios, press reviews, and blog.

Reviews:
Huffington Post

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AsiaLENS – Wings of Defeat
Thursday, December 8, 2011 - 7:00 pm
Urbana Free Library (210 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL)

Upon learning of her uncle’s secret past as a surviving kamikaze pilot, Japanese American director Risa Morimoto was inspired to interview former kamikaze pilots, now in their 80s, who thoughtfully recall and share their fears, their ambivalence, their patriotism and their guilt as survivors, when thousands of their comrades perished during Japan’s most desperate hour at the end of World War II.

Co-produced by Japanese-born writer Linda Hoaglund, the documentary film Wings of Defeat is a moving, human re-examination of the kamikaze legacy from the perspectives of those who trained for, flew, and survived suicide missions, as well as those Americans who survived such attacks.

Includes scenes and descriptions of historical violence.

(Risa Morimoto | 2007 | USA/Japan | 89 minutes | Japanese and English with subtitles)

Resources:
Official Website: Edgewood Pictures
Contains a synopsis, trailer, filmmaker's statement, press reviews, and blog.

Reviews
The Japan Times
NPR report on kamikaze pilots’ visits to U.S. high schools

Awards
Audience Award, New York Asian American International Film Festival
Special Jury Award, San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2011

AsiaLENS – Last Train Home
Tuesday, February 8, 2011 - 7:00 pm (Rescheduled from Feb. 1st)
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Every spring, China’s cities are plunged into chaos as 130 million migrant workers journey to their home villages for the New Year’s holiday. This mass exodus is the world’s largest human migration—an epic spectacle that reveals a country tragically caught between its rural past and industrial future. Working over several years in classic verité style, Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Lixin Fan (with the producers of Up the Yangtze) travels with one couple who have embarked on this annual trek for almost two decades.

Like so many of China’s rural poor, Zhang Changhua and Chen Suqin left behind their two infant children for grueling factory jobs. Their daughter Qin—now a restless and rebellious teenager—both bitterly resents their absence and longs for her own freedom away from school, much to the utter devastation of her parents. Emotionally engaging and starkly beautiful, Last Train Home’s intimate observation of one fractured family sheds light on the human cost of China’s ascendance as an economic superpower.

Discussion was led by Nancy Jervis (Program Coordinator, Asian Educational Media Service, UI).

(Lixin Fan | 2009 | Canada/China | 85 minutes | Mandarin and Sichuan dialect with English subtitles)

Resources:
Official website: Zeitgeist Films
Contains a synopsis of the film, filmmaker bio, trailer, reviews, and purchasing information.

Reviews:
New York Times
NPR

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AsiaLENS – Dishonored
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

In June 2002, a dispute involving a question of honor between the Mai and Mastois clans in rural Pakistan was judged by a local tribal council. When Mukhtar Mai pleaded on her family's behalf, the local imam consented to her punishment as honor-revenge, and she was brutally gang-raped by four men from the Mastois clan. Although local tradition presumed that Mukhtar would commit suicide because she had been dishonored, this strong-willed peasant woman reported the rape to the local police, and when they refused to do anything, a local journalist published her story, which soon erupted in a national controversy over the oppression of women under Islamic law.

DISHONORED documents the remarkable story of Mukhtar Mai, whose demand for justice received media coverage worldwide, and which over the next few years led to a dramatic series of legal proceedings through Pakistan's lower court system, with successive controversial decisions being appealed, to a final ruling by the nation's Supreme Court, which led to changes in the legal system. Over a period of four years, despite death threats, Mukhtar Mai persisted in her search for justice, and was also instrumental in establishing a Crisis Relief Centre for abused women and a new school where girls as well as boys can be educated, had her autobiography published in 21 languages in 45 different countries, and traveled on behalf of women's rights throughout Europe and at the UN in New York.

DISHONORED features interviews with Mukhtar Mai as well as a variety of human rights and women's rights activists, lawyers, government officials, politicians and journalists, all of which serve to illuminate the widespread abuse of women throughout the region.

“Astounding... takes the viewer through the legal system and cultural system that suppresses women’s rights... Excellent sound, photography and editing... A story of conviction. A story of changing reality. A must see.”

—Educational Media Reviews Online

Discussion was led by Asef Bayat, PhD (Professor, Department of Sociology and Middle East Studies, UI).

(Sigrun Norderval & Gard A. Andreassen | 2007 | Norway/Pakistan | 52 minutes | English and Urdu with subtitles)

Resources:
Official website: Icarus Films
Contains a synopsis of the film and purchasing information.

Reviews:
Educational Media Reviews

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AsiaLENS – The Sweetest Embrace: Return to Afghanistan
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Soorgul was only 10 when he said goodbye to his family in the mountains of northeastern Afghanistan. Crossing into Soviet Tajikistan over the turbulent Amu Darya River, he clutched the sides of a wooden gondola as it slowly it made its way to the other side.

He was supposed to spend a year studying in Tajikistan, but it would take 16 years and a journey to Canada before he could return to his village.

Soorgul was one of many Afghan children sent to Tajikistan during the Soviet occupation of their country. When the Soviet Union collapsed, civil war broke out on both sides of the border and the children were left stranded. He and a few of his schoolmates were able to leave Tajikistan only after many years, when Canada accepted them as refugees.

In The Sweetest Embrace Soorgul and Amir—two of these forgotten boys of Afghanistan—return to their country in search of their families.

We meet Soorgul and Amir in Kabul and join them as they travel north towards the villages where they last saw their families. After an American military accident leads to riots, it becomes too dangerous to carry on in NGO vehicles. They switch to local vans and finally, when rock-strewn roads become completely impassable, finish their journey on foot through some of Afghanistan’s highest mountains.

But when their paths diverge, their futures become filled with unexpected and unpredictable turns as they seek to find resolution in their lives.

The Sweetest Embrace tells an intimate story set against one of the world's most harsh and yet beautiful landscapes, in a land where life has been shaped by war and hardship but where spirit remains resilient.

Discussion was led by Alisha Kirchoff (Associate Director, Russian, East European, Eurasian Center, UI).

(Najeeb Mirza | 2008 | Canada/Afghanistan | 74 minutes | Dari and Tajik with English subtitles)

Resources:
Offical Website: National Film Board of Canada
Contains a synopsis of the film, biographical information on the production team, interview with the director and producer, film clips and purchasing information.

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AsiaLENS – In The Matter of Cha Jung Hee
Tuesday, May 3, 2011 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Her passport said she was Cha Jung Hee. She knew she was not. So began a 40-year deception for a Korean adoptee who came to the US in 1966. Told to keep her true identity a secret from her new American family, this eight-year-old girl quickly forgot she was ever anyone else. But why had her identity been switched? And who was the real Cha Jung Hee? IN THE MATTER OF CHA JUNG HEE is the search to find the answers. It follows acclaimed filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem as she returns to her native Korea to find her “double,” the mysterious girl whose place she took in America. Traversing the landscapes of memory, amnesia and identity, while also uncovering layers of deception in her adoption, this moving and provocative film probes the ethics of international adoptions and reveals the cost of living a lie. Part mystery, part personal odyssey, it raises fundamental questions about who we are…and who we could be but for the hands of fate.

Discussion was led by Nancy Abelmann (Harry E. Preble Professor of Anthropology, UI).

(Deann Borshay Liem | 2010 | USA/South Korea | 62 minutes | English and Korean with subtitles)

Resources:
Official Website: Mu Films
Contains a synopsis of the film, filmmaker's statement, biographical information on the production team, film trailer, adaptee resources, and purchasing information.

Filmmaker Interview:
New America Media

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2010

AsiaLENS – Journey of a Red Fridge
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

As a 17-year-old student living in a small village in Nepal, Hari has supported his education for three years by working as a porter carrying heavy loads through the mountains. Journey of a Red Fridge accompanies Hari on one of his jobs—a four-day trek carrying a large red fridge through Nepal’s stunning mountainous landscape, past lush riverside hot springs, Buddhist temples, and thatched villages. Along the way, Hari’s innermost thoughts are revealed, expressing his fears and hopes for the future. The film also portrays the economic and social conditions that have allowed child labor to make up 25% of the country’s workforce.

Discussion was led by Ritu Saksena (Associate Director, Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, UI).

Supported by the Global Fund for Children, Journey of a Red Fridge is an unforgettable documentary providing an acute portrait of child labor in the developing world.

(Lucian Muntean & Natasa Stankovic | 2007 | Nepal | 52 minutes | Nepali with English subtitles)

Resources:

Distributor: Luman Docs

Journey of a Red Fridge was produced in association with The Global Fund For Children.

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AsiaLENS – 1428
Tuesday, October 5, 2010 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL

Awarded Best Documentary at the 2009 Venice International Film Festival, 1428 is a powerful exploration of the 8.0 earthquake that devastated China’s Sichuan province in 2008, causing 70,000 deaths and 375,000 injuries. Du Haibin documents the aftermath, beginning seven months after the disaster, far beyond the staged portrayals offered by state media. While villagers prepared for the Lunar New Year, government promises for winter shelter faltered, and tourists arrived in droves to buy DVDs of the wreckage and pose for photos amid the ruins.

This haunting documentary highlights the uneasy intersections of disaster, politics, and commerce in contemporary China.

Discussion was led by Kevin Lee (Vice President of Programming and Education, dGenerate Films).

(Du Haibin | 2009 | China | 117 minutes | Mandarin with English subtitles)

Resources:

Official website: dGenerate Films has film descripton, credits, and trailier

* SPECIAL PRESENTATION *

Chinese Cinema from the Fifth Generation to the d-Generation
Tuesday, October 5, 2010, 3:30 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Free and open to the public

Kevin Lee, Vice President of Programming and Education of dGenerate Films, presented a special lecture on contemporary, independent film and filmmakers in China.

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AsiaLENS – Unmistaken Child
Tuesday, November 2, 2010 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Unmistaken Child follows a Tibetan monk’s unforgettable four-year search for the reincarnation of his beloved teacher, Geshe Lama Konchog. A devoted disciple since childhood, Tenzin Zopa is tasked by the Dalai Lama to locate his master’s rebirth. His quest takes him through remote Tibetan villages and breathtaking landscapes—on foot, by mule, and even helicopter—where he performs sacred tests to identify signs of reincarnation.

This beautifully filmed documentary offers a rare, intimate glimpse into Buddhist tradition and the emotional weight of spiritual responsibility.

Discussion was led by Alexander L. Mayer (Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures and Religious Studies, UI).

(Nati Baratz | 2008 | Israel/Nepal/Tibet | 102 minutes | English, Tibetan, Hindi, Nepali with English subtitles)

Resources:

The Official Website for Unmistaken Child includes information about the film, filmmakers, reincarnation, and a trailer.

Distrubution in the US: Oscilloscope Laboratories

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AsiaLENS – Burma VJ
Tuesday, December 7, 2010 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

In Burma VJ, young citizen journalists risk their lives to document the 2007 uprisings in Burma, where Buddhist monks led a massive peaceful protest against a military regime that had ruled for decades. Using smuggled handycams and secret satellite links, these “video journalists” defied state censorship to get the truth out.

Filmmaker Anders Østergaard weaves their raw, smuggled footage into a gripping narrative centered on a 27-year-old reporter named “Joshua.” His voice-over and handheld footage offer a rare look inside a tightly controlled police state, where dissent is brutally suppressed and journalism is an act of revolutionary courage.

Discussion was led by Nancy Benson (Associate Professor, Department of Journalism, College of Media, UI).

(Anders Østergaard | 2008 | Denmark/Burma | 84 minutes | Burmese and English with English subtitles)

Resources:

The official website for Burma VJ has information on the film, the filmmakers, trailers and more.

Distrubution in the US: Oscilloscope Laboratories

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2010

AsiaLENS – Woman of the Southern Wind

Thursday, January 21, 2010 – 7:00 pm
Studio Theatre, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Urbana, IL

Woman of the Southern Wind is a film about Taiwanese performance artist Mei-O Chen’s creative revival of the endangered nanguan musical tradition. In combining the choreography of the Pear Orchard theater tradition, another endangered but unrelated traditional Chinese art form, Mei-O Chen has created a modern, contemporized style of nanguan. Although the film is essentially a biography, it opens up controversies around the tensions between tradition and innovation.
Discussion was led by Esther Kim Lee (Associate Professor, Department of Theatre, UI).

(Mei-Juin Chen | 2007 | Taiwan | 53 minutes | Taiwanese [Hokklo], Mandarin with English subtitles)

Resources:
Official website: https://www.lotusfilms.org/woman-of-the-southern-wind
Krannert Center: KrannertCenter.com

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AsiaLENS – Up the Yangtze

Tuesday, February 2, 2010 – 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

A luxury cruise boat motors up the Yangtze—navigating the mythic waterway known in China simply as "the river." See it while you can. The Yangtze is about to be transformed by the biggest hydroelectric dam in history. At the river's edge, a young woman says goodbye to her family as the floodwaters rise toward their small homestead.
The Three Gorges Dam—contested symbol of the Chinese economic miracle—provides the epic backdrop for Up the Yangtze, a dramatic feature documentary on life inside the 21st century Chinese dream. Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Yung Chang crafts a moving depiction of peasant life, a powerful narrative of contemporary China, and a disquieting glimpse into a future that awaits us all.
Discussion was led by Nancy Jervis (Program Coordinator, Asian Educational Media Service, UI).

(Yung Chang | 2008 | Canada/China | 93 minutes | Chinese and English with English subtitles)

Resources:

Distributed by Zeitgeistfilms

Review:

Up The Yangtze was reviewed by Darrin Magee in the Fall 2009 online only issue of AEMS News and Reviews (PDF download)

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AsiaLENS – My Daughter the Terrorist

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 – 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

This fascinating documentary is an exceedingly rare, inside look at an organization that most of the world has blacklisted as a terrorist group. Made by the first foreign film crew to be given access to the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) of Sri Lanka, the film offers important insights into the recently re-ignited conflict in Sri Lanka.
Twenty-four-year-olds Dharsika and Puhalchudar have been living and fighting side-by-side for seven years as part of LTTE’s elite force, the Black Tigers. Their story is told through cinema verité footage, newsreel footage, and interviews with the women and Dharsika’s mother. As they discuss their readiness to become suicide bombers and their abiding loyalty to the unnamed “Leader,” the film prompts reflection on the moral complexities of resistance.
Discussion was led by Ritu Saksena (Associate Director, Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, UI).

(Beate Arnestad | 2007 | Sri Lanka/Norway | 58 minutes | Tamil with English subtitles)

Resources:

Visit United States distributor Women Make Movies for information, related links and to purchase the film.

Official website: Snitt Film Production

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AsiaLENS – The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 – 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Filmed over the course of 23 years, The Betrayal follows the Phrasavath family from their CIA alliance in Laos to their immigrant life in Brooklyn. After the U.S. withdrawal, Thavisouk’s father is imprisoned, his family scattered and forced into exile.
This lyrical melding of memoir, cinema verité, and historical inquiry tells a haunting story of cultural dislocation, survival, and the legacy of America's secret wars.
Discussion was led by Fiona I. B. Ngô (Assistant Professor, Asian American Studies, UI).

(Ellen Kuras & Thavisouk Phrasavath | 2008 | USA/Laos | 96 minutes | English and Lao)

Resources:
Film Introduction: http://www.thebetrayalmovie.com

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AsiaLENS – Can’t Go Native?

Tuesday, May 4, 2010 – 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

In 1961, graduate student Keith Brown began ethnographic fieldwork in a small Japanese village. He returns each year, forming enduring personal bonds across generations. Can’t Go Native? is a media portrait of this half-century-long relationship and the evolving dynamics of village life. More than a study in cultural immersion, the film reflects on friendship, memory, and anthropological responsibility in an age of global flux.
Discussion was led by Keith Brown (Professor Emeritus, Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh) and David Plath (Professor Emeritus, Anthropology, UI).

A pre-show performance was presented by Jason Finkelman, composer for the film.

(David Plath | 2010 | USA/Japan | 56 minutes | English)

Resources:

Film Information: https://archive.org/details/CantGoNative2010

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2009

AsiaLENS – Daughters of Wisdom

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 – 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

In the documentary film Daughters of Wisdom, director Bari Pearlman offers viewers an intimate portrait of the Tibetan nuns studying and practicing at the Kala Rongo Monastery.
Located on the remote Eastern Tibetan plateau north of the Himalayas, the Kala Rongo Monastery houses nearly 300 nuns who created for themselves the unique opportunity to receive unprecedented educational and religious training in a land where the socio-economic realities of subsistence farming and nomadic herding have long dictated that educated women are wasted valuable resources.
Discussion was led by Arjia Rinpoche (Director of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center, Bloomington, IN).

(Bari Pearlman | 2007 | USA/Tibet | 68 minutes | Tibetan with English subtitles)

Review:

The Fall 2009 issue of AEMS News and Reviews available online on CEAPS website

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Spring 2009

AsiaLENS – Please Vote for Me

Tuesday, February 3, 2009 – 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Chinese director Weijun Chen explores the question of democracy in China through this account of an experiment in electoral politics in a third-grade classroom in Wuhan, a major city in central China. For the first time, the students elect their own class monitor, who would normally be appointed by the teacher. Chen's film follows the dramatic two-week campaign, from the introduction of the candidates to the final vote.

Please Vote For Me is a thought-provoking look at how these Chinese children, parents, and teachers understand democracy, authority, and power. Earning a Sterling Feature Award at the Silverdocs Documentary Festival in 2007, Please Vote For Me continues to receive enthusiastic accolades outside of China, while within the country the topic is too sensitive for the Chinese government to allow the film to be officially seen.
Discussion was led by Gale Summerfield (Director of the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program, UIUC).

(Weijun Chen | 2007 | China | 55 minutes | Mandarin with English subtitles)

Resources:

Video clip of the film at Why Democracy?

Please Vote for Me on Independent Lens includes downloads and interactive features.

Review:

Please Vote for Me was reviewed by Clayton Dube the Fall 2008 issue of AEMS News and Reviews (PDF download)

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AsiaLENS – Kabul Transit

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 – 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

A street-level exploration of the fractured cityscape of contemporary Kabul, Kabul Transit takes the viewer from a kite-flying spot on a hilltop to a bureaucrat's office, and introduces the people of Kabul—from a fortune teller to a black-market entrepreneur. Presented in a verité style without narration, the voices, sounds, and images of Kabul give us a revealing glimpse of the complex realities of a desperate, yet utterly human city transformed by 30 years of war, on an uncertain road to recovery.
Discussion was led by John Santas (Associate Director, ACES Global Connect).

(David Edwards, Maliha Zulfacar, Gregory Whitmore | 2007 | USA/Afghanistan | 84 minutes | Dari, Pashto, English with English subtitles)

Resources:

Official website http://www.kabultransit.net/ includes trailers, image gallery, and information about the filmmakers.

Film distributor provides a description and a list of awards given to Kabul Transit and reviews at BullfrogFilms.com.

Reviews:

Kabul Transit was reviewed by M. Nazif Shahrani the Fall 2008 issue of AEMS News and Reviews (PDF download).

Kabul Transit was also reviewed by Robert Koehler in Variety Magazine.

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AsiaLENS – The Last Ghost of War

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 – 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Following the legacy of Agent Orange into the 21st century, The Last Ghost Of War reveals the devastating impact of this chemical defoliant on generations living beyond its initial Vietnam War victims. Giving a human face to the medical statistics, the film traces Vietnamese victims' attempts to find reparation through the legal system. Vietnamese victims, their attorneys, scientists, activists, and a military historian take us to this new battlefield where moral responsibility and corporate accountability are debated. What could the law be expected to provide the victims—compensation, punishment, apologies? Who is responsible? Audiences must weigh the evidence and decide.
Discussion was led by Joseph T. Miller (Adjunct Professor, Political Science; Academic Adviser, LAS; and National Coordinator for Vietnam Veterans Against the War).

(Janet Gardner | 2006 | USA/Vietnam | 54 minutes | English and Vietnamese with English subtitles)

Review:

The Last Ghost of War was reviewed by Tom Ginsburg in the Summer 2008 issue of AEMS News and Reviews (PDF download).

AsiaLENS Film Screenings for Fall 2008

AsiaLENS – Golden Venture: A Journey Into America's Immigration Nightmare
Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

A trans-Pacific story launches our series, highlighting an issue that touches nearly everyone’s lives in some way: illegal immigration. Following the legal travails and eventual fates of a group of illegal Chinese immigrants shipwrecked on Long Island in 1993, Golden Venture gives us a window into the constant circulation of Chinese laborers to and from the U.S., showing both the attraction of sojourn in the U.S. and the sacrifice it entails.

Discussion was led by Poshek Fu (Professor of History, Cinema Studies, and East Asian Languages and Cultures, and Director of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, UIUC).

(Peter Cohn | 2006 | USA | 70 minutes | English, Chinese with English subtitles)

Resources
Golden Venture film trailer

Golden Venture study guide

Golden Venture official website

Reviews
Golden Venture was reviewed by Poshek Fu in the Summer 2008 issue of AEMS News and Reviews (PDF download)

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AsiaLENS – The Flute Player
Tuesday, October 21, 2008, 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

Nearly thirty years ago, Pol Pot overtook Cambodia and over one million perished in the Khmer Rouge's brutal "killing fields." Many others were forced into unspeakable acts in order to survive. Arn Chorn-Pond is one of these survivors. Now, after living in the United States for over 20 years, Arn is a musician and activist, traveling the country and giving lectures on human rights. He is also on a mission to reconcile the demons of his past. The Flute Player chronicles his return to Cambodia, where he has begun a master musician project to revive the traditional music that was lost under the Khmer Rouge. A complex and moving film, it reveals the history and tradition lost to Arn's generation. After the devastation of genocide, is healing possible? How can survivors find the means to speak and transcend their pain?

The Spurlock Museum hosted Arn Chorn-Pond for a CAS/MillerComm Lecture/Performance on October 23; he also made appearances before Urbana High School students and U of I students. His visit to Champaign-Urbana was made possible with support from the Illinois Arts Council and the following U of I campus units: the Center for Advanced Studies, LAS Initiative for Global Studies, The School of Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics, and the School of Music.

Discussion was led by Judy Ledgerwood (Associate Professor and Department Chair of Anthropology at Northern Illinois University).

(Jocelyn Glatzer | 2003 | USA/Cambodia | 53 minutes | English, Khmer with English subtitles)

Resources
Cambodian Living Arts, Arn Chorn-Pond's master musician project

The Flute Player web page on PBS's P.O.V. website. Includes extensive background information on Cambodian music and history, Arn Chorn-Pond, the film, and filmmaker Jocelyn Glatzer.

The Flute Player web page on The Center for Asian American Media's website (distributors of the DVD)

"The Flute Player Lesson Plan: Lost Childhoods: Exploring the Consequences of Collective Violence (Part 2),” the second in a three-part study guide created by Facing History and Ourselves, is available for download from either of the above websites.

Scholastic News: The Flute Player - a set of articles on Arn Chorn-Pond, the film The Flute Player, and Cambodia

Reviews
Reviewed by Gavin Douglas in the Fall 2008 issue of AEMS News and Reviews (PDF download).

Awards
Audience Award, Documentary First Film, South by Southwest Film Festival
Emmy Award Nomination for Outstanding Cultural and Artistic Programming

Recognition
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
IFP Los Angeles Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
National PBS Broadcast, POV

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AsiaLENS – Celebrating Children in a World Community
Saturday, December 13, 2008, 10:00 am–4:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium (600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL)

DOWNLOAD FLYER (PDF)

In conjunction with the hands-on exhibit Children Just Like Me, the Spurlock Museum and AEMS are hosting an all-day family event, with games, music and crafts, community resource tables from local organizations, and three films for and about kids, shown throughout the day.

Schedule:

10:15 - Going to School in India, the first 3 of 9 short films. 2007. In English. Based on the 2005 children's book by Lisa Heydlauff.

10:45 - Families of Korea.2001, 30 minutes. In English.

11:30 - Going to School in India, the second 3 of 9 short films.

12:00 - Time for School: The Global Education Crisis. 2003, 47 minutes. In English.

1:00 - Going to School in India, the third 3 of 9 short films.

1:30 - "What's It Like To Go to School in Asia?" Panel discussion with Sunny Jeong (Korean Cultural Center), Waunita Kinoshita (Urbana High School and Parkland College), and Indira Rajagopalan (Complex Director for University Apartments, UIUC)

2:45 - Back to School: The Ongoing Struggle to Educate the World's Children. 2006, 52 minutes. In English.

There are almost as many ways to learn as there are children, and the ways that children thrive and struggle in every environment imaginable are sensitively and sympathetically portrayed in these videos, introducing school life in Afghanistan, India, Japan, Korea, and other countries, in styles engaging and accessible to children.

Click on the links above for full descriptions. Going to School in Indiaand Families of Korea are appropriate for children of all ages; Time for Schooland Back to School would be of more interest to older children and adults.

A panel of local educators with Asia expertise discussed the films with parents and teachers.

Resources
Time for School official website on PBS's Wide Angle. Includes extensive background information, photos, notes, a map, and other resources.

Back to School official website on PBS's Wide Angle. Includes extensive background information, photos, notes, a map, and other resources.

Going to School in India official website. Includes information on both the book and the film. You can download mini-books here!

Going to School in India trailer

Going to School, the non-profit organization that produced Going to School in India. Includes activities for kids as well as information for adults.

Reviews
Going to School in India was reviewed by Rachel Heilman in the Fall 2007 issue of AEMS News and Reviews (PDF download).
Going to School in India was reviewed by Smita Jain in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of SPAN Magazine.

Awards
Time for School
2004 Cine Golden Eagle Award
2004 Gabriel Awards - Certificate of Merit Award

Back to School
2007 Cine Golden Eagle Award
2007 Gabriel Award
2006 Overseas Press Club, The Carl Spielvogel Award (Best International Reporting in the Broadcast Media Showing a Concern for the Human Condition) - Citation for Excellence

Going to School in India:
NAPPA Gold Award, 2007
Best of the Fest and Best International Short, Kids First Best Awards, Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival, 2006
Jury Award Best Family Film, Big Bear Lake International Film Festival, 2006
Best of the Fest, East Lansing Children's Film Festival, 2006
Parents' Choice Recommended award winnter, 2007

Families of Korea:
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award, 2002
NAPPA Silver Award, 2001
Dr. Toy's 10 Best Socially Responsible Products and 100 Best Children's Products, 2001, to Families of the World Series
Kids First! endorsement and All-Star
Parents' Choice approved

Outreach

***** SPECIAL PRESENTATION *****

* SPECIAL PRESENTATION *