Asian and Asian-American film festival at Rice to feature four movies

CONTACT: B.J. Almond
PHONE: (713) 348-6770
E-MAIL: balmond@rice.edu

The first Asian and Asian-American Film Festival at Rice University will showcase four highly acclaimed, award-winning movies from Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and the U.S. Feb. 23-25. Students of all ages can attend free.

The festival, which is a continuation of Rice’s celebration of the Chinese New Year, begins with a screening of the U.S. film ”Only the Brave” at 7 p.m. Feb. 23. Director Lane Nishikawa, also a noted poet and playwright of Asian-American literature, will be present to discuss the film. ”Only the Brave” was the first movie to dramatize the story of the legendary 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team from the perspective of the Japanese-American soldiers in World War II. Virtually every major Asian-American actor appears in the movie, including Jason Scott Lee, Mark Dacascos, Tamlyn Tomita and the late Pat Morita (2005, 97 minutes, in English).

The Hong Kong film ”In the Mood for Love” will be screened at 7 p.m. Feb. 24. The New York Times described this award-winning film as ”breathtakingly gorgeous” and ”dizzy with a nose-against-the-glass romantic spirit that has been missing from the cinema for years.” Directed by Wong Kar-wai (”Ashes of Time,” ”Chungking Express,” ”2046”), the movie stars Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu Wai as Shanghai refugees who fall in and out of love in early 1960s Hong Kong, and it pays tribute to the romantic music of the era with a soundtrack featuring Nat King Cole (2000, 98 minutes, in Cantonese/Shanghainese/French with English subtitles).

The festival concludes Feb. 25 with two films. ”3-Iron” from South Korea will show at 6 p.m. This humorous movie follows a mysterious man who breaks into people’s homes and cleans house, does laundry and snoops into the owners’ lives. Created by Korea’s most-acclaimed director, Kim Ki-Duk (”Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall … and Spring”), the film stars Lee Seung-yeon, Lee Hyun-kyoon and Kwon Hyuk-ho (2004, 88 minutes, in Korean with English subtitles).

At 8 p.m. the Taiwan film ”Goodbye, Dragon Inn” will be screened. This comedy-drama recounts the final night of a famed movie palace as patrons watch King Hu’s legendary ”Dragon Inn.” The director, Tsai Ming-liang, is noted for capturing Taibei’s relentlessly dynamic, frenetic and yet nostalgic urban lifestyles in such films as ”What Time Is It There?” and ”Rebels of the Neon God” (2003, 82 minutes, in Mandarin/Taiwanese with English subtitles).

All films will be shown at the Rice Media Center, which features Houston’s only silver screen. Parking is available next to the media center, accessible from entrance No. 8 on University Boulevard at Stockton. Tickets for adults are $6 for each movie, but a festival movie pass to see all four films is available for $15. Tickets must be purchased at the box office, which opens 30 minutes prior to each screening. Students should bring their school I.D. to qualify for free admission.

Rice University’s Asian-American Film Festival is sponsored by Rice Cinema, the Office of Minority Community Affairs, the Asian Studies Program and the Transnational China Project at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

For more information, call Rice Cinema at 713-348-4853 or visit <ricecinema.rice.edu>.