By Andrew Hamlin
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Painters, poets, scribes, and filmmakers often have to make sacrifices for their art. But the lovers of art, the ones determined to be part of the scene as fans, sometimes go it rough for their own ends.
“I moved into a 270-square-foot micro-apartment in lower Queen Anne in 2004,” remembered SuJ’n Chon, a programmer at this year’s Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF). “The affordable rent and access to the cultural district is what brought me to the neighborhood.
“When SIFF (parent organization of the festival) started operating the Uptown Cinema [in Queen Anne] as a year-round theater for independent cinema, it was the primary reason why I stayed. I saw a lot of films at the Uptown!”
Chon’s a Seattle native, and the only member of her Korean family born on Washington state soil. She did most of her growing up in Snohomish County’s Mountlake Terrace. Before returning to Seattle full-time, she took a crucial turn clear across the country.
“I didn’t grow up watching movies in our immigrant household. Instead, I fell in love with films when I worked as a video store clerk while in college in Sarasota, Florida, in the early 1990s. I was earning my way through college so rarely had the extra money to go to the movie theater.
“I took advantage of all the free rentals I got through my job. My first favorite film was Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ‘Delicatessen.’ I have watched the Coen brothers’ ‘Raising Arizona’ more times than I can remember. I saw and loved Ang Lee’s ‘The Wedding Banquet’ before I saw [his] ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,’ but when I saw that wuxia-inspired story, I was completely awestruck.”
She joined the SIFF organization in 2006 as a festival volunteer. By 2018, she’d joined the first Asian Crossroads Programming team, and now also screens titles for the New American program, as well as documentary films from APIA filmmakers, or that tell APIA stories.
Programming for SIFF becomes strenuous when festival time nears. Chon screened 70 feature films between Dec. 10 and March 5.
In the end, programmers green-lit 13 Asian features in this year’s festival—12 dramatic films and one documentary—from Hong Kong, India, Japan, Mongolia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Asked to pick a few of her favorite titles from that list, Chon came up with three.
“I first saw ‘Against the Tide’ [directed by Sarvnik Kuar] at Sundance. This documentary is about two Indigenous fishermen from Mumbai who are childhood friends, close like brothers, but have chosen divergent fishing methods. One uses traditional fishing methods, which are more environmentally sustainable but with less ‘yield.’ The other uses modern ones picked up while studying abroad in Europe, which are more destructive in order to yield more catch. Despite the methods, both fishermen are struggling for catch in the climate-impacted waters.
“Through the film, we see the depths of their friendship but also the fissures as they confront their real-life tensions. There are so many lenses to this film, whether you want to view it from the standpoints of friendship and love, modernity vs. traditionalism, capitalism vs. collectivism, profit vs. environment.”
Of course, not all films tackle heavy topics, she said.
“I was charmed by Singapore’s ‘Ajoomma’ [directed by He Shuming] about a middle-aged Singaporean woman with an obsession with K-dramas and K-pop. When her son bails on their trip to visit South Korea on a guided tour, she decides to go anyway.
“Her trip is a series of mishaps, misfortunes, and misunderstandings, including being left behind at a tour stop, breaking her phone (her only communication method), and relying on Koreans, even though they can’t understand each other.”
Chon’s third pick covers more grim territory, “Plan 75,” from Japan, directed by Chie Hayakawa. It postulates a near-future Japan where the government, facing a huge rise in senior citizen and a huge shortage of senior care, offers anyone over the age of 75 a chance to gently and quietly commit assisted suicide, with a modest cash stipend thrown in for the surviving family.
“This hauntingly rendered dystopian narrative doesn’t feel that far from real-life possibility,” Chon mentioned. “The timeliness makes it all the more powerful.”
Overall, Chon hopes that the Asian films this year allow them to feel places, things, and people, outside of their own experience.
“Every film I watch gives me an opportunity to immerse myself into someone’s unique story and go to places outside my own small world,” she concluded. “To me, movie tickets are ultra-cheap plane tickets, and I don’t even have to pack. I hope other viewers get to enjoy the movieverse through Asia!”
The 49th Annual Seattle International Film Festival plays May 11-21 across several venues in Seattle.
For tickets, showtimes, and more information, visit https://www.siff.net/festival.