Hawaii at SFIAAFF

Lane Nishikawa's "Only the Brave" starring Hawaii kama'aina Jason Scott Lee and Mark Dacascos

The 24th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), the largest annual showcase of Asian and Asian American cinema in North America, began yesterday with "Americanese," the new film directed by part-Hawaii-raised Eric Byler. Earlier this week, the film picked up the audience award for best narrative feature and the jury award for outstanding ensemble cast at the SXSW Film Festival.

That's not the only Hawaii connection at SFIAAFF this year. Pearl City High School grad Jason Scott Lee will be participating on a panel called "Is Charlie Chan Dead? Asian American Men on Stage," about the "the politics of representing Asian American men, the experiences of actors themselves, the complicated history governing media portrayals, working in Hollywood versus independent productions, and the future of Asian American cinema."

Lee will also be around for the screening of "Only the Brave," a film directed by Lane Nishikawa in which he and fellow kama'aina Mark Dacascos star. "Only the Brave" is about WWII’s 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was the most decorated unit in U.S. military history and was made up entirely of Japanese Americans, many of whom were from Hawaii.

Finally, there will be a tribute screening of "Picture Bride" to posthumously honor director Kayo Hatta. "Picture Bride" remains the only independently produced film from Hawaii that got national distribution from a major studio (Miramax). The screening will be preceded by a memorial reception hosted by Hatta's friends and family, and there will be a special screening of some of her recent personal works.

>> 24th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival

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