Slant Film Festival

For the 9th year, Aurora Picture Show presents Slant: Bold Asian American Images. Slant combats tired stereotypes of Asian Americans with quirky comedies, compelling visions, and fresh perspectives on the Asian American experience. This program runs for 109 minutes with a brief intermission halfway through.

The majority... of the 11 films in this year's program are being screened in Texas for the first time. Some of the films may share themes, but their subject matter couldn't be more different.

Waiting for a Train, by Oscar Bucher, is a documentary about Toshio Hirano, a musician whose lifelong love of bluegrass takes him on a journey from Tokyo to Texas to California. Machine With Wishbone, by Canadian filmmaker Randall Okita, uses the artwork of Arthur Ganson to tell the story of a little wishbone on a whimsical journey through a world of snoring beds and paper birds. Aram Siu Wai Collier's The Others uses found footage to humorously build up a love-hate drama between numerous 'ethnic' characters -- Mexican, Navajo, Inuit, Lakota, Puerto Rican and Arab -- all played by one man, Lou Diamond Phillips.

This year's festival also features works by a few Texas- born or based filmmakers. Josh Kim, a native of Orange, Texas, tells a tale of love letters and missed connections in The Postcard. Soham Mehta and Tim Tsai, both in the MFA film program at University of Texas Austin, are back at Slant for the second year in a row with very different films. Tsai's comedy, Alley of Hidden Dangers!, pits two robbery-minded thugs against a tough Asian mom, while Mehta's drama Survivors, presents the bone-chilling predicament of the only two people left alive in their town after a zombie attack.

The full list of films:
Girl with a Walkman by Melina Leon
Five Fingers by Kevin Barker
Beijing Haze by J.P. Chan
The Postcard by Josh Kim
One Night in LA by Jon Maxwell & Ray Huang
Survivors by Soham Mehta
Alley of Hidden Dangers! by Tim Tsai
Waiting for a Train: The Toshio Hirano Story by Oscar Bucher
The Pain with Being Thirsty by David Yun
Machine with Wishbone by Randall Okita
The Others by Aram Siu Wai Collier

Curator Melissa Hung and filmmaker Soham Mehta will be in attendance.

Admission is free to Aurora members and $6 for non-members. Please note that tickets must be purchased in advance. There will be no door sales for this event. Aurora members please RSVP.

Tickets are available online: http://tinyurl.com/cd4ep7Read More

For the 8th year, Aurora Picture Show presents Slant, an eclectic showcase of the best in emerging Asian American cinema. On Sunday we screen 4 documentaries.

In this program of documentaries, family members hold on to each other and their memories even when outside forces try to tear them apart.

Filmmaker Tim Tsai and ...curator Melissa Hung in attendance.

To buy tickets: http://www.instantseats.com/index.cfm?r=487B&fuseaction=home.venue&VenueID=78

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Kuna Ni Nanang (My Mother Said) | Jessica Sison
Houston premiere | 2007 | Super 8 presented on DVD | 5 mins
Meet Elena Bautista, 99 years young.

Pierre-Pierrot | Nith Lacroix
Texas premiere | 2006 | Video | 27 mins
Pierre and Pierrot are Laotian twins who were separated during the Vietnam War. The brothers have not seen each other since their tragic escape across the Mekong River. Kept apart by circumstance, they find reconciliation through the lens of a camera.

Of Love and Race | Tim Tsai
Houston premiere | 2007 | Video | 14 mins
Forty years after Loving v. Virginia, four interracial couples talk about love and race.

A Son’s Sacrifice | Yoni Brook
Texas premiere | 2006 | Video | 27 mins
Imran, a 27-year-old New Yorker of mixed heritage, struggles to take over his father's halal slaughterhouse in Queens. On Qurbani, one of Islam’s holiest days, Imran lead a sacrifice that will define him as a Muslim, as an American, and as a son.Read More

For the 8th year, Aurora Picture Show presents Slant, an eclectic showcase of the best in emerging Asian American cinema. The festival runs for 3 days this year. On Saturday evening, join us for a special performance.

Join Slant veteran and our favorite TV personality, Nobu Adilman, for a special show-and-tell screeni...ng of his short films and television shows. Nobu is the co-producer of Food Network Canada's Food Jammers and Invention Nation. His career has included writing for network television (Emily of New Moon, Cold Squad), acting (Trailer Park Boys, Parsley Days), hosting CBC’s Smart Ask! for two years, guest hosting CBC’s late night program, ZeD, and pop culture reporting on CBC Newsworld’s Play.

To buy tickets: http://www.instantseats.com/index.cfm?r=487B&fuseaction=home.venue&VenueID=78
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