I received press credentials for the San Diego Asian Film Festival and was instantly excited about an event that boasted a party at the Hard Rock Cafe on 4th Street. I love San Diego. The film history, music history —
I received press credentials for the San Diego Asian Film Festival and was instantly excited about an event that boasted a party at the Hard Rock Cafe on 4th Street.
I love San Diego. The film history, music history — Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix have played the S.D. Sports Arena — and I’ve never been there. To follow this grand introduction to the city, I got sick. Yes, I got the flu and missed it. However, I felt this festival, bringing the spotlight to a culture besides America, was important. I asked for a screener of the Audience Award winner, a fantastic film titled “The Power of Two.”
I had no expectations and didn’t know I was receiving a documentary in the mail. I love when a film surprises you. It tells the tale two sisters who are sick and dying from the incurable disease cystic fibrosis.
It is a great film that tugs (and I mean tugs!) at the heart-strings. The subtext of the film was tough (sibling love). I watched this film while my brother and I were fighting. It made me think, these siblings face death at any moment together, why am I fighting with my brother. This is the real power of movies. It’s exactly why I attend film festivals, I want to get the goods. I want to walk in one-person and walk out another. I’m “entertained” enough through a culture driven by devices. To me, this film touched on something that binds us all. Breath.
The saddest thing about cystic-fibrois is that in order to get a lung-transplant a patient must be sick enough to receive surgery and be strong enough to survive. Sounds daunting, and it is — 110,000 Americans are on the transplant list. In the end, both sisters find what normal girls can have while living an extraordinary life. The real treat is the ending. The sisters we have followed can amazingly do something many regular people take for granted: The simple blessing of breath. How many times a day do any of us say we’re happy we can breathe?
The San Diego Asian Film Festival happens every October. Visit www.sdaff.org for venues, films, sponsors, past films. These Asian Festivals that in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver and Sacramento (among other major cities) are very important to keeping films alive. They’re a great exchange of people, films, ideas and different worlds — through shared experience. I had a film in the Vancouver Asian Film Festival in 2002 and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I’m still friends with a director I met there.
