Alas, there is no Asian film festival in Denver. There used to be — the Aurora Asian Film Festival was held in Denver’s eastern suburb (people in Aurora hate for their city to be called a suburb). It was sponsored by the Denver Film Society, the folks who bring the annual Deniver International Film Festival to town. But it folded after a few years because the local AAPI community didn’t support it (Japanese only went to Japanese films, Chinese went to Chinese films, Filipinos… well you get it. And, many of the communities tried to have too much of a say in what movie should or should not screen. If it was racy, or showed a negative side of the community, the Film Society would get push back to switch the film, or have to fight to show it. So ultimately, it was too much hassle for the trouble. As the Japanese would say, it was mendokusai (a pain in the ass).
So I read with envy as the months go by about the San Diego Asian Film Festival, the San Francisco Asian Film Festival, and others. Because I can’t go, I usually don’t write about them. I tend to write about things that affect readers here in Debver, whether it’s a national issue that affects all Asian Americans, or about a Denver Asian community event.
But I want to say a few words about the Austin Asian American Film Festival, because 1) it’s in one of my all-time favorite towns and 2) I beat up on Austin a little bit a couple of months ago when I wrote about an Asian festival down there that used the “wonton” font, which bugged me, and 3) because Eugenia Beh is doing the publicity for the festival and she’s cool and works tirelessly for AAPI causes including Asian Americans for Obama.
I traveled to Austin for many years during my music critic days, to spend a blissful week at the South By Southwest Music & Media Conference, and most of the time was spent enjoying Austin and the great food and the great people… and oh yeah, listening to a lot of music.
I wish I could go to the AAAFF — it sounds wonderful. Continue reading
