By Abraham Ferrer
There’s something about the South-by-Southwest Conference and Film, TV, and Music Festivals that somehow screams “genre-fest” or a week-long orgy of “low-hanging fruit.” Over the years, SXSW (established in 1987 as a meeting and incubation ground for emerging cinematic and technology creatives) has distinguished itself as a happening in which “visionary” cinema artists arrive with new works that would make programmers at relatively tony affairs as Sundance and the Berlinale blush. Anyone recall A QUIET PLACE, the SXSW Opening Night film from 2018? Or how about SXSW 2010, which opened with Matthew Vaughn’s comic-book action-fest (for audiences of a certain type) KICK-ASS? We think you get the picture — a film festival loaded with selections clearly aimed for mainstream audiences (we’re looking at you, FABULOUS FILIPINO BROTHERS – SXSW 2021) is clearly not all that concerned with being an event for high-brow tastemakers. Populist cinema geeks welcome here.
Asian American and Pacific Islander filmmakers and new media content creators have long held a cherished place in SXSW programming lore, as future box-office champs and awards nominees and recipients — as well as future genre-fest legends — rub elbows with an equally brash and unruly content conference and music festival featuring the best of established hit-makers and indie up-and-comers. If anything, this year’s edition of SXSW (the film component, that is) is prepared to reinforce the arrival of a new generation of cinematic artists. Sure, there is the random arrival fresh from those “other” festivals held back in January in Park City, Utah, not to mention other platforms (FANCY DANCE, produced by Nina Yang Bonjiovi; AMERICAN BORN CHINESE, by the tandem of Destin Daniel Cretton and Dinh Thai; I’M A VIRGO, produced by Tze Chun; Babak Jalali’s dystopian Sundance selection FREMONT; the freshly-minted Best Short Narrative Film of Sundance ’23, WHEN YOU LEFT ME ON THAT BOULEVARD by Kayla Abuda Galang; and WILD LIFE, by the multi-award winning team of Jimmy Chinn and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi). Outside of this stellar octet of directors,…it’s as if the slate was wiped clean for a stable of newcomers to make the scene on the streets, back alleys, and copious brisket joints of Austin, the capital city of The Lone Star State. Needless to say, there are surprises in store for those seeking “new hotness” in the line-up of nearly seventy works by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders skedded for SXSW 2023.
For instance, consider “Headliners” selection JOY RIDE by first-time director Adele Lim. Following in the deep footsteps of raunchy, unapologetic buddy movies ranging from THELMA AND LOUIS to GIRLS’ TRIP (and nope, I’m not going to include in this canon the comparatively mild and sentimental 80 FOR BRADY, mercifully exiting theatres this week), director Lim’s much-publicized “hard-R-rated road comedy” is as raucous as it is debauched — a bold step forward for the award-winning screenwriter who has spent time putting as much distance as possible from her 2018 screenwriting breakthrough, CRAZY RICH ASIANS. Also consider veteran actress-turned-director Veronica Ngo (or Ngo Thanh Van for those who follow her international career and attendant celebritydom). Residing comfortably in the action and romance genre for several years now, Ngo brings to SXSW her “Midnighters” selection FURIES, a blood-and-guts crime drama that would make even Japanese crime auteur Miike Takashi blush. Or, if viewers craved the bitchy, faux-fabulous side of life, they could do no wrong in taking in Yen Tan’s TV pilot A GUIDE TO NOT DYING COMPLETELY ALONE. And for those desiring a little bit of sweetness with their drama, we think they’ll be qeueing furiously for Imran Khan’s period piece MY MUSTACHE, a WONDER YEARS-ish paean to coming of age — and of accepting onself. Additional titles included in the SXSW slate hew to the “traditional” brew of wild and crazy…just look at their mostly self-explanatory titles: WITH LOVE AND A MAJOR ORGAN by Kim Albright; IT LIVES INSIDE by Bishal Dutta; QUEENDOM by Agniia Galdanova; Hikari and Lee Sung Jin’s BEEF; MOLLI AND MAX IN THE FUTURE, produced by Candice Kuwahara; Kit Zauhar’s THIS CLOSENESS; and Paris Zarcilla’s RAGING GRACE. Quite clearly, AAPI works at SXSW ’23 do not apologize for being their real and authentic selves. That is the audience’s problem to work out among themselves.
Because this is Austin, after all, SXSW ’23 contains a plethora of short subjects that are as varied as their are distinguished. We already gave mention of Kayla Galang’s WHEN YOU LEFT ME ON THAT BOULEVARD (and yes, that Sundance ’23 Grand Prize for Short Narrative Film was richly deserved), but we can’t ignore fellow Sundance selections THE FAMILY CIRCUS by Andrew Fitzgerald, and Liz Sargent’s TAKE ME HOME. This trio anchors a slate of new works by mostly new artists whose filmmaking flair are on full display here: Sparsh Ahuja’s BIRDSONG; Lloyd Lee Choi’s CLOSING DYNASTY; Joecar Hanna-Zhang’s DELIVER ME; Xiaoxuan Jiang’s GRAVEYARD OF HORSES; Courtney Loo’s SLICK TALK; Amy Omar’s BREAKING FAST WITH A COCA COLA; Brian Tang’s KODAMA; Mai Vu’s SPRINGROLL DREAM; and Sean Wong’s NAI NAI & WAI PO. Taken together with the selection of music videos, animated shorts, and “Made in Texas” offerings, it can be said that the SXSW ’23 roll call of short subjects is robust, far-ranging in scope, and positively distinguished.
Of course, this being SXSW, a wide berth is once again given to creatives working in online, virtual reality, and augmented reality experiences. While one of the most buzz-worthy titles has to be AESPA VR CONCERT IN KWANGYA (a virtual K-Pop concert created by a team led by Soo-man Lee and producer Junyoung Park), SXSW ’23’s hefty VR and AR profiles are led by new experiences headed by NEO-WULIN: THE ERA OF BLACK ART by the team of Guanyu and producers Chenchenchen and Bingbing Wang; and FIND WIILII: EP.1, THE GATE CRASHER, by a team composed of Sooyoung Choi and Mina Hyeon, with producer Sohee Kim. However, this line-up only scratches the surface of the many virtual offerings that are in store for festival attendees. If you can invest some time to be amazed and mesmerized by works including THE EYE AND I: VOL. 1 (Hsin-Chien Huang, with producer Hsiao-Yue Tsao), TEMPORAL WORLD: A HAPTISONIC VIRTUAL REALITY MEMORY WORLD (Chloe Lee), ONCE A GLACIER by Jiabao Li, and Gayatri Parameswaran’s YOU DESTROY. WE CREATE., then we assure you, this is a rabbit hole you would mind staying stuck in for awhile.
And since “online” includes streaming series, episodics, and other accomplished works meant to be discovered and enjoyed from the conveniences of home, we can’t close outt his overview without name-dropping titles like BLINDSPOTTING (Season 2 Premiere) produced by Jess Wu Calder; and the aforementioned BEEF and A GUIDE TO NOT DYING COMPLETELY ALONE. Whew! This year’s SXSW has something for everybody, from features, shorts, television and homegrown works to online and virtual reality experiences. And for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, there’s a good chance that you may find “you” somewhere in this distinguished collection of works.
For the full line-up of SXSW ’23 films by AAPI artists, click here
asianpacificfilmexperience.org 