Preity Zinta takes Best Actress in Chicago, The Pool wins at SAIFF, and Devil calls for M Night Shayamalan's special talents. All this and more in the latest edition of News Bites.
Best Actress goes to Preity Zinta
Over her decade-long career, popular Bollywood actress Preity Zinta has earned her fair share of Filmfare Awards (for Dil Se and Kal Ho Naa Ho) and nominations (ten and counting), but she has recently added an international award to her collection. The Chicago International Film Festival honored her with the Silver Hugo Award for her latest performance in Deepa Mehta's Heaven On Earth. Deepa Mehta, known for her "Elements Trilogy" (Fire, Earth and Water), cast Zinta as a Punjabi wife who is a victim of domestic violence. She stars alongside actor Vansh Bhardwaj in the film. Another Preity Zinta film, Heroes, was just released internationally on Diwali weekend. In other Chicago Film Fest news, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata won the Silver Hugo Grand Jury Prize. Tokyo Sonata tells the story of a salaryman who tries to hide the fact that he's been fired from his job from his family. --Ada Tseng
Shyamalan's Next Thriller
M. Night Shyamalan's last thriller The Happening did not receive very positive reviews, but Shyamalan is getting another chance to prove himself. He is coming out with another thriller, entitled Devil. This time around, though, he will only be in charge of the writing component. Devil will be an independently-produced film, directed by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle (Quarantine), based on the script by Brian Nelson. Production will begin next year and information about the story has not yet been released. --Christie Liu
Joy Luck Club back in production
The renowned Asian American theater company East West Players is presenting The Joy Luck Club, a night (or Sunday matinee) of theater, adapted from the best-selling novel by Amy Tan. Director Susan Kim recently completed a New York run of her Joy Luck Club revival earlier this year. The LA version stars Jennifer Chang, Celeste Den, Karen Huie, Elaine Kao, Emily Kuroda, Cici Lau, Katherine Lee, and Deborah Png as the four mother-daughter pairs, and it runs from November 12th to December 7th. In conjunction with the show, there will be a special "Ladies Night Out" celebration and four forums, "Her Stories, Our Stories," which will feature discussions involving Tamlyn Tomita and Rosalind Chao (of the original Joy Luck Club film), popular bloggers Disgrasian and Angry Asian Man, and the cast and crew of East West Players' new production of The Joy Luck Club. Click here for more information. --Ada Tseng
Chinese culture exhibition showcases Asian American activist art
The Chinese Culture Center has a new exhibition. From October 23rd to January 3rd, "Icons of Presence: Asian American Activist Art," organized by guest curator Margo Machida, will showcase graphic art posters from the 1970s and 1980s. Works by Jim Dong, Nancy Hom and Leland Wong -- whom are all influential in San Francisco's Asian American arts movement -- created to show the influences that have shaped their Asian American activism, will also be displayed. "The Icons of Presence" exhibition highlights printmaking and graphics as an influential means of expression for Asian American activists. The exhibition is located at the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco. For more information, click here. --Kristie Hang
Bollywood Idol in New Jersey
Loins of Punjab! opens in Los Angeles on November 7, promising to combine Bollywood vibrancy, American Idol singing, and New Jersey small town culture. The film follows seven very different Indian Americans who engage in a singing battle in New Jersey. Manish Acharya is director, writer, producer, and star. The film will be the first English comedy film to open first in India. Watch it in LA at the Regent Showcase or at Downtown's historic Imaginasian Center. --Christie Liu
New Harry Chang book out Nov 1st
Author Harry Chang ias about to release the follow-up to his debut novel, 2006's Chinatown Beat. His new novel entitled Year of the Dog is the second book in a planned trilogy centered around his protagonist Jack Yu, a Chinese American police officer. The three books take place in New York City's Chinatown within a span of eight months. For more information, click here. --Ada Tseng
Asian/American/Modern Art: Shifting Currents
Complementing the "Asian/American/Modern Art: Shifting Currents, 1900-1970" art exhibition at San Francisco's de Young Museum is a 168-page book by the same title. The book is a comprehensive look at the artists of Asian descent that have been producing art in America since the beginning of the 20th century. With a focus that "highlights the stylistic tensions and artistic influences apparent in the work of major artists" rather than trying to define an Asian American aesthetic, Shifting Currents carefully disaggregates the diversity within the Asian community, featuring works from artists like Chiura Obata, Yun Gee, Ruth Asawa, Isamu Noguchi, Nam June Paik, and Carlos Villa. Themes of war and peace, urban life and community are highlighted. Published by the University of California Press, the book will be released in November 2008. For more information about the "Asian/American/Modern Art: Shifting Currents, 1900-1970 novel or art exhibition, click here. --LiAnn Ishizuka
News from the South Asian International Film Festival
New York's South Asian International Film Festival took place from October 22 to 28. Opening night featured Nandita Das' Firaaq, and the festival closed with Mehreen Jabbar's Ramchand Pakistani. The Grand Jury prize for Best Feature went to Chris Smith's The Pool, while Christy Garland and Susan Armstrong took home the Best Documentary prize for Doormat. The Pool tells the story of a young boy working in a Panjim, Goa hotel who gets obsessed with a swimming pool. Chris Smith won the Special Jury Prize for the film at Sundance earlier in their festival run. Doormat follows the lives of Keralans who make their living weaving simple coconut fibre doormats, and the documentary explores the idea of living one's life in submission. Audience Awards went to Jaffar Mahmood's Shades of Ray and Joshua Weinstein's Flying on One Engine. --Ada Tseng