Festival Intern Claudia Leung’s SFIAAFF Picks

Hey everyone! This is Claudia Leung, Festival Intern with the 29th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF). I’m excited about SFIAAFF not least because it’s become a family affair – a few months ago I roped my dad into volunteering to be a part of the Festival advertising campaign. If you see those images on CAAM’s website or on BART or MUNI of an older Chinese man sitting on a park bench with an umbrella and dog, yeah, that’s my pops. Getting my folks excited about SFIAAFF wasn’t hard; there are a lot of great films & events this year. Here are my Festival picks for the whole fam, and I hope you’ll find them exciting too!

FOR MY DAD: CLASH

When I first heard about the film CLASH, I knew my dad, an action film fan, would have to see it. My aspiring model dad may even get to shake hands with attending stars Johnny Tri Nguyen and Veronica Ngo, who play the alternately brooding and ass-kicking main couple.

FOR MY MOM: THE LEARNING IN CONVERSATION WITH RAMONA S. DIAZ

I know my mom, the teacher, will find many things to appreciate about this documentary by Ramona S. Diaz, which touches on the issues of education policy, migrant labor, cross-cultural relations on a human scale. Plus, afterwards there will be a Q&A with the director, which is every teacher’s favorite engagement tool.

FOR MY SISTER: LOOK WHO’S LAUGHING NOW: BREAKOUT FEMALE COMEDIANS

My sister has never failed to make me laugh, and is herself a big comedy fan, which is why my pick for her is Look Who’s Laughing Now, a panel which is part of the daylong Festival Forum. The panel features one of my favorite funny and creative stars, Thu Tran. I think of her series, “Food Party” as a foodie version of Pewee’s Playhouse for grown-ups.

FOR ME: M/F REMIX

The film nerd and latent hipster with leftist tendencies in me is excited for M/F REMIX. A young filmmaker pays tribute to Godard’s Masulin Feminin with her own take on dilettantism in a time of political and social upheaval and rampant consumerism. Hmm… sounds like my life.

Those are the recommendations for my family. What SFIAAFF picks would you recommend for your friends and family this year?