Arts and Culture Newsletter: San Diego Asian Film Festival marks 25th year

When the San Diego Asian Film Festival gets under way next Thursday it will mark 25 years of artistic achievement and a quarter-century of growth into an international event.

That growth, says Alex Villafuerte, executive director of the festival-presenting Pacific Arts Movement, has been the result of “grit and determination. Lee Ann Kim assembled a great team that took the festival through its formative years. From there it became an institution that filmmakers from around the world look to to showcase Asian cinema.”

“That very first year, in 2000, we were in classrooms and auditoriums at (the University of San Diego). We’ve grown to a 10-day festival now showing 170 films, making us one of the largest showcases of Asian cinema in the country.”

This year’s festival, with screenings at Regal Edwards Mira Mesa and at the Museum of Photographic Arts at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park among other venues, will include films from 35-plus countries in 40-plus languages. The schedule is comprised of full-length features, shorts, documentaries, classics and more.

The opening-night screening at the San Diego Natural History Museum will be of “Cells At Work!”, Hideki Takeuchi’s live-action adaptation of a popular manga series by Akane Shimizu. Takeuchi will be on hand for a discussion after the 7 p.m. screening.

For star power, look no further than Yen Tan’s “All That We Love,” screening Nov. 10 and starring Margaret Cho.  “It’s a film about a divorcee whose family dog passes and she uses that to reassess her relationship in her life,” said Villafuerte.

That film comes with a note of symmetry: Director Tan had once been a volunteer graphic designer for the SDAFF, and comedian Cho was part of the very first festival 24 years ago. For details, visit sdaff.org/2024.

Theater

Another comedian and another pioneer in the business, Joan Rivers, is the focal point of a world premiere play by Daniel Goldstein at South Coast Repertory Theatre, just north of us in Costa Mesa. It’s simply titled “Joan.”

The production running through Nov. 24 and starring Tessa Auberjonois is part of South Coast Rep’s “American Icon” series, and Rivers was certainly that. This is not a one-person show re-creating Rivers’ act. It’s a full-cast play that concerns itself not only with Rivers’ career but with her life as a mother, to Melissa Rivers.

That it’s advised that the play contains “adult language” should come as no surprise.

Gospel music

Kirk Franklin has been performing his brand of urban contemporary gospel for decades and has earned 20 Grammys along the way. In case you’re wondering where he’s been lately, you can catch up with Franklin when his “Reunion Tour” comes to SDSU’s Viejas Arena on Saturday night.

Franklin, now 54, is bringing some special guests with him: Yolanda Adams, the Clark Sisters, Marvin Sapp and Fred Hammond. The presence of Adams on the bill is a special treat for those who are already fans of the performer known as the “Queen of Contemporary Gospel Music.”

Tickets start at $36 and go up. Way up.

Book event

San Diego’s women authors will be celebrated on Monday at the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park, when the museum’s “Community Mondays” program teams up with the San Diego Writers Festival for an event titled “Women Powered.”

Besides a book fair, the evening is a launch party for poet Jane Muschenetz and her collection “Power Point.” The free event runs from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Registration is required at sandiegowritersfestival.com.

Movie screening

It takes a lot to get me to a movie theater at 11 o’clock in the morning. It takes a lot to get me to do almost anything (besides working) at 11 o’clock in the morning. But with Mel Brooks’ classic “Young Frankenstein” being currently unavailable on either Netflix or Prime Video, I’m tempted to head to Media Arts Center San Diego’s Digital Gym Cinema on Saturday.

That’s when, at 11 a.m., “Young Frankenstein” will be screened, an event in partnership with the San Diego Public Library. Brooks’ 1974 spoof of Mary Shelley’s 1818 horror story is the best film he ever made and it features iconic comic performances from a great cast led by two gone too soon: Gene Wilder and Madeleine Kahn. Marty Feldman’s Igor and Cloris Leachman’s Frau Blucher are also unforgettable, as is Peter Boyle as the monster and Gene Hackman in a side-splitting cameo as a blind man serving soup and a cigar for that same monster.

U-T arts stories you may  have missed this week

UCTV

University of California Television invites you to enjoy this special selection of programs from throughout the University of California. Descriptions courtesy of and text written by UCTV staff:

“Gene Perry & Rumba Ketumba”

Watch the electrifying performance of Gene Perry & Rumba Ketumba recorded at UC San Diego’s Park & Market. Perry, a fixture in San Diego’s music scene since 1974, was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, and is a pioneer of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean music. His ensemble, Rumba Ketumba, features a vibrant mix of San Diego natives and international musicians. The group delivers high-energy Afro-Latin, Caribbean and Spanish Rumba rhythms that will keep you moving. “Gene Perry and Rumba Ketumba’s extraordinary musical talent and personalities are hard for audiences to resist,” says host Yael Strom, who has collaborated with the group on several groundbreaking cross-genre projects.

“Storytelling for the Screen: ‘The Citizen’”

Writer/director Sam Kadi and actors William Atherton and Rizwan Manji join moderator Juan Campo for an engaging discussion about “The Citizen.” The film tells the story of Ibrahim Jarrah, an immigrant from the Middle East who arrives in New York City one day before the tragic events of Sept. 11. The panel explores their experiences making the film, drawing inspiration from real Arab American stories, and its continued relevance. They discuss themes of citizenship, the immigrant experience, racial prejudice, and the right to protest, as well as the representation of Arab Americans on-screen. “The Citizen” offers a compelling look at the struggles and triumphs of pursuing the American dream in challenging times.

“AI for Security, Security for AI”

How secure are computers, and how does artificial intelligence impact security? In this program, Christopher Kruegel, professor of computer science at UC Santa Barbara, addresses two important questions in security and AI. First, how AI can enhance security? For decades, traditional machine learning models have been used in security solutions, but recent advances in AI are opening up new and exciting opportunities. Second, the security of AI systems themselves. Like any other software, AI systems are vulnerable to exploitation. Given their critical roles, it is essential to secure AI against attacks such as training data poisoning and adversarial inputs. Join Kruegel as he explores both the promises and the vulnerabilities of AI in today’s digital landscape.

And finally, top weekend events

The best things to do this weekend in San Diego: Nov. 1-3.