Film festival promotes cross-cultural education through political films

Incorporating films from all across Asia… The Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival

When: May 11 to 20

Where: Harris Theater, Regent Square and Melwood Screening Room

Cost: Ticket prices vary, group pricing available

www.silkscreenfestival.org

Incorporating films from all across Asia, the Silk Screen Asian-American Film Festival does not exclude any part of the vast continent in its selection process.

The festival will kick off its seventh season of movie screenings on Friday, May 11, with an opening night film and gala at the Harris Theater and Rivers Club. The event, which will run for 10 days, will feature 25 different films and 48 screenings.

The event seeks to promote cross-cultural understanding and diversity through the arts and through film. Katie Jones, the operations manager for the festival, believes that international film is a window to the other side of the world.

The festival defines Asia as a region that extends from Turkey to Japan. Unlike other events, the Silk Screen Asian-American Film Festival chooses to include each section of the continent. The festival includes movies from India, Iraq and Japan among many other countries in Asia.

Jones explained that the festival attempts “to help [audiences] appreciate other cultures of the world.”

“The Lady,” the film that will open the festival, follows the life and hardships of Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner and activist for democracy in Burma. The film, directed by Luc Besson, addresses a controversial issue that has surfaced in the news recently — Suu Kyi and her involvement in the change in the Burmese government.

Suu Kyi, whom Michelle Yeoh will portray in the film, has received international attention for her political efforts recently, but the festival’s programmers began to look into the film even before her rise in publicity. Aseem Chhabra, a film expert and the festival’s programming director of two years, explained that the committee of film selectors has been interested in the film since early this year.

Because of their popularity, films such as “The Lady” are relatively big-budget films for the festival, Chhabra said. More expensive films take about three to four months to get on the screening list, but if the committee of film selectors feels strongly about a particular movie, it will work hard to screen it.

“It’s a topic being discussed. It gives a historical perspective about this woman,” Chhabra said about Suu Kyi’s story.

The movie profiles the life of the political activist, exposing certain personal elements of her life and giving details about her relationship with her husband. Chhabra believes this movie is important because it helps Americans to understand the leader’s background.

Suu Kyi was the general secretary of the National League for Democracy party in Burma, which was founded in 1988. While holding that position, Suu Kyi was put under house arrest for six years for campaigning to change the government from a military junta to a democracy. She was released in 1995, and on May 2, 2012, became an officially elected member of the Burmese parliament, which dissolved its military junta in 2011 in favor of a nominally civilian government.

Hallie Johnson, the events and operations coordinator of the film festival, agreed that “The Lady” has generated interest and will be a good movie to show a Pittsburgh audience.

“It has been all over the festival circuit for the last couple months or so. It’s a timely movie. It’s relevant,” Johnson said.

The film selection process begins immediately after the present festival ends. Johnson explained that the committee begins the selection process by researching films. Many of the films come from other film festivals, while some come as suggestions by people in the film industry.

The committee selects 100 to 200 works that it watches and reviews. Each member participates in watching the films to help narrow down the list. They negotiate and continue to pare down the list until they reach about 25 movies.

Though there isn’t a specific list of criteria, both Johnson and Chhabra said they look for certain qualities in the films. Following the mission statement of the Silk Screen Asian Arts and Culture Organization, which runs the festival, the committee seeks to educate the audience and help it to view films about different cultures. For Johnson, there are some basic elements that need to exist for the film to work in the festival.

“Is it watchable? If we can’t get through the first 15 minutes, we’re not going to put our audience through that. Is it relevant to our mission statement? Will our audience walk away learning something?” she asked.

The Silk Screen Asian-American Film Festival does not set out to show “commercial” films, but instead attempts to educate viewers on the expansive region while aiming to show films that the audience will like. Chhabra said he searches for these types of films.

“When I’m selecting films, I select films that I like and what the audience likes,” he said. “I want to interact with the audience.”