 "Photo: Courtesy of San Diego Asian Film Foundation")
When it's October, film fans know that Hazard Center is the place to be. Each year, the San Diego Asian Film Festival has brought moviegoers with a penchant for the international together, along with films made both at home and abroad.
Beginning as what executive director Lee Ann Kim dubbed "a bright idea in bed one day in 1999," the festival shows no sign of stopping as it enters its eighth year. However, Kim acknowledges that success did not come overnight for the SDAFF.
"Really, it was through the power of the Internet that this festival was born," Kim said.
Word of mouth spread among filmmakers of all colors who happened to have Asian content in their films.
"Here we are with a huge festival that services 15,000 people," she said.
Huge is no understatement either. Just last year, the festival played host to big names such as Grace Park of the critically acclaimed "Battlestar Galactica" and Daniel Dae Kim of the ABC mega-hit "Lost."
This year promises to be no different, with luminaries including George Takei and ... M.C. Hammer?!
"Everyone who hears that always asks me, 'Isn't he broke?!'" said Kim.
Far from being a typo, the untouchable hip-hop artist Hammer is into investing in films. Specifically, he is into investing in films which support communities of all stripes.
As opening night guest, Hammer's invitation isn't as crazy as would first seem. Justin Lin, director of the opening night film, "Finishing the Game," has a history with Hammer harkening back to 2002's "Better Luck Tomorrow."
Fans of that earlier work might know that Hammer single-handedly saved the production of the indie film, which opened the floodgates for Lin's mainstream career, most notably in "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift."
In a unique twist of fate, Lin has repaid Hammer by casting him as a Hollywood mogul in his satire about executives sweating bullets after Bruce Lee dies before completing his final film, "Game of Death." It bears noting that Lin will make an appearance and discuss the film at 1 p.m. on Friday at Montezuma Hall.
"Our emphasis is Asian-American film," Kim said. "In fact, this year we have more Asian-American feature films than ever."
Even so, there's still plenty of fun from abroad to be had, as a variety of movies from South Korea, Japan, Thailand and India are scheduled to be screened.
When asked about her thoughts about the progression of Asian media and Asian actors in the American media, Kim's jovial nature took a turn: "I think it's slow."
While acknowledging the accomplishments of Sandra Oh in "Grey's Anatomy" and Park in "Galactica," Kim rhetorically asked "Can you name one high-profile Asian man on TV who doesn't speak in an accent?"
Noting that Takei on "Heroes" speaks Japanese and Kim on "Lost" speaks Korean, "There's still an exotifciation of Asian males, but (at least) it's good to see them being given three-dimensional roles," Kim said. "It's time to take it one step further.
"I just hope that now the small work that we do at the SDAFF is that the people can stop looking at themselves as black, white, Asian. ... That we see ourselves as brothers and sisters in the big scope of the human experience."
-The San Diego Asian Film Festival begins Thursday. Visit www.sdaff.org for more information.
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