Cherry Blossom Festival Parade and SFiFF52 Preview

What a roller coaster ride during the last few days! I am talking about the temperature in San Francisco! Coming from nowhere, the temperature suddenly climbs to the 90s and set the record high. Luckily, it’s very unusual and short lived. Today, it’s back to the 50s and 60s. And, no earthquake. Not yet.

Over the super hot weekend, I completed my "ゆ Noren."

Because I am inexperienced, my noren didn’t came out as good as I would have hoped. I should have used a hairdryer to dry it quickly after I wrote the "ゆ" character on the fabric. I didn’t know. The ink spread a little bit. However, instead of paying hundreds of dollars to buy one, I made it myself for nothing. Plus, I gained some experience and I can definitely do better next time. I hang the noren at my cubicle as soon as the ink became dry.

Mission is completed.

To add more heat to the weather, the annual Cherry Blossom Festival Grand Parade took place on Sunday in Japantown. Although I have seen to it so many times, I still enjoy watching it, just like I enjoy going to the annual Chinese New Year Parade no matter how many times I have been to.

http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

Although the weather was scorching hot, some people in the parade are hotter. I feel exhilarated to capture the beauty, the strength, the spirit, the excitement, and the fun with my camera.

After I got back from the parade, I stopped by Chinatown and bought some roasted pig (烤乳猪), and some fresh chives and buk choy. I completed a perfect day by cooking couple dishes, served with my newly bought dishes.

Apparently, every spring, San Francisco’s Japantown is the hot spot to be.

Tens of thousands come to Japantown to celebrate the Cherry Blossom Festival, and also come to attend the longest-running film festival in the Americas — the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFiFF).

With more than 150 films from more than 50 countries, the 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival (SFiFF52) will take place April 23 – May 7 at Sundance Kabuki Theater, Castro Theater, Landmark’s Clay Theater, and other venues.

As always, this year’s program is full of excitements. It contains a wide spectrum of recent world cinema as well as a few retrospective programs. Regardless one’s taste in films, everybody should be able to find something that is familiar and delightful. In addition, people have plenty to choose from at the festival if in the mood of experiencing something new and challenging.

Here is a list of films that I am looking forward to at SFiFF52.

Still Walking (歩いても歩いても | Japan 2008 | in Japanese | 114 min.)
Director Hirokazu Kore-eda‘s (是枝裕和) "Nobody Knows" (誰も知らない) is one of my all time favorites, and I also enjoy his period drama "Hana" (花よりもなほ, SFiFF50). Now I am thrilled that his highly anticipated new film "Still Walking" (歩いても歩いても) comes to the festival. "Still Walking" tells a story about grown children visiting their elderly parents on one summer day. It shows how a family is bonded by love as well as resentments and secrets. A must see.
Artemisia (艾草 | Taiwan 2008 | in Mandarin | 85 min.)
Chiang Hsiu Chiung’s (姜秀瓊) feature directorial debut "Artemisia" (艾草) is nothing short of excellence. The film is an affectional and beautiful portrait of a loving mother Ai-chao who struggles to cope with her family’s affairs that reflect the changing society in Taiwan.

My full review.
Every Little Step (USA 2008 | 96 min.)
Based on the audition process of the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, documentary "Every Little Step" is a touching and endearing film that pays tributes to artists of many generations. It captures auditionees’ heartfelt journeys and explores A Chorus Line‘s legacy.
Good Cats (好猫 | China 2008 | in Chinese/Sichuan dialect | 103 min.)
After director Ying Liang‘s (应亮) feature debut "Taking Father Home" (背鸭子的男孩) won the SFiFF49’s SKKY Prize, all of his feature films have been selected by the SFiFF since. His second film "The Other Half" (另一半) was shown at last year‘s SFiFF. His latest film "Good Cats" (好猫) will be shown at this year’s SFiFF. It’s a story about greed and corruption beneath the current rapid modernization in China. I have seen this film frame by frame numerous times because I donated my time and talent to translate the entire film. I hope the countless hours I spent on revising and editing its English subtitles will pay off when the translation conveys the story to the audience.
Easy Virtue (UK/USA 2008 | 93 min.)
Director Stephan Elliott ("The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,") blends brilliant performance, fantastic cinematography, lavish art design and costumes, funky music, and mischievous humor into an entertaining "Easy Virtue" (UK/USA 2008 | 93 mins.). The movie is the second adaptation of Noel Coward‘s classic play, and the first adaptation is a silent film by Alfred Hitchcock eighty years ago. Even though this film is no "Gosford Park," it has its own charm when telling a story about a newly wed American wife tries to escape a suffocating upper class British family.
The Beast Stalker (證人 | Hong Kong 2008 | in Cantonese | 110 min.)
Just won Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Awards few days ago at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards, director Dante Lam‘s (林超賢) action packed thriller "The Beast Stalker" (證人) will have its U.S. premiere at the festival. Go and see it before the Hollywood remakes it.
River People (水上人家 | China 2008 | in Chinese/Yan Cheng dialect | 88 min.)
Worked with directors Zhang Yimou (张艺谋) and Chen Kaige (陈凯歌), director He Jianjun (何建军) is considered to be a leading voice of the
sixth generation Chinese filmmakers. His new docudrama "River People" tells a story about two teenager boys living on the Yellow River bank, one wants to leave for the city, and the other one wants to stay.
The Window (La ventana | Argentina/Spain 2008 | in Spanish | 85 min.)
It appears to be a very simple story — a bedridden 80-year-old man gets ready for his estranged son’s visit. He looks out his window at the Patagonian landscape and sees light and life, the past and the present, while sensing the future. When the story is told by renowned director Carlos Sor’n in his new film "The Window," it becomes a must see at the festival.
Speaking in Tongues (USA 2008 | in English/Mandarin/Spanish/Cantonese | 60 min.)
While there are 112 languages spoken in San Francisco metropolitan area, the notion of "English Only" (in 31 states already) seems absurd. The intriguing documentary "Speaking in Tongues" follows four youngsters and their families in a San Francisco public school for a year to study the fascinating impact of bilingual education. Can’t speak in another tongue yet? Not to worry, the film will be subtitled at the screenings before you get back to school to learn another language.
Tongzhi in Love (彼岸浮生 | China 2008 | in Mandarin | 30 min.)
Academy Award winning director Ruby Yang‘s (杨紫烨) new documentary "Tongzhi in Love," perhaps the first documentary about gays in China, examines gay men’s double lives in modern China — the freer city gay life versus the closet life being the only child who is responsible for producing an heir for the family.

My full review.
Home (Switzerland/France/Belgium 2008 | 97 min.)
The still images from "Home" (starring Isabelle Huppert) reminds me European films such as "Adam’s Apples" (SFiFF49). I feel that if I were going to see only one European film during this festival, "Home" would be the one. The story about a happy-go-lucky family dealing with a highway built on their front yard interests me. Don’t we all deal with similar situations even it might not be a highway?
Claustrophobia (親密 | Hong Kong/China 2008 | 100 min.)
Award winning screenwriter Ivy Ho‘s (岸西) directorial debut "Claustrophobia" is a drama about office romance set in modern time. Although personally I never think office romance is a good idea — for the obvious reasons — I am eager to see how protagonists in this film sort things out in their cubicles.
Departures (おくりびと | Japan 2008 | in Japanese | 131 min.)
This just in: the winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009, "Departures" will be shown at the fesitval on Saturday May 2 at 11:00 am at the Clay Theatre! Enough said.