Kick off the month-long celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month at IU Bloomington. Special guest Jonny Sun is the author and illustrator of everyone’s a aliebn when ur a aliebn too and the New York Times best-selling illustrator of Gmorning, Gnight! by Lin-Manuel Miranda. He is a writer for the sixth season of the Netflix Original Series BoJack Horseman, and is writing a movie for 20th Century Fox (https://www.jomnysun.com/). Jonny Sun will give a formal talk following this reception at Whittenberger Auditorium at 6 pm. Mr. Sun’s visit and presentation is made possible with support from the Union Board. This event is free and open to the public and is co-hosted by the Asian Pacific American Faculty and Staff Council.
Film Screening: “Chinatown Rising”
Date: March 29, 2020 | Time: 4 pm | Venue: IU CinemaAmidst the social upheavals of the 1960s and 70s, a young student from San Francisco’s Chinatown set out to document the political turmoil rolling his own community. Armed only with a 16mm camera and leftover film scraps, Harry Chuck captured the astonishing energy of Chinese American activists who challenged conservative elders and helped launch the Asian American Movement. Shot over 45 years, Chinatown Rising features exquisite unreleased archival footage to tell of this unprecedented moment in Asian American history. This film screening is part of “Movement: Asian/Pacific America,” a partnership between the IU Asian Culture Center, the Asian American Studies Program, and the IU Cinema. The film screening is free, but ticketed.
FriDate is an opportunity for student organizations to shine! A different student organization hosts each week to share information about their organization and host an activity, which may include a cultural event, a social hour, or discussion. This event is open to the public.
Film Screening: “Lingua Franca”
Date: Sunday, April 5 | Time: 4 pm | Venue: IU CinemaIn this beguiling drama, an undocumented Filipina immigrant works as a caregiver to a Russian-Jewish grandmother in Brooklyn. Secretly paying an American man for a green-card marriage, the threat of deportation constantly shadows her. When he backs out, she begins a relationship with a slaughterhouse worker who is unaware that she is transgender. In English and Tagalog with English subtitles. Contains mature content, including sexual situations. Director Isabel Sandoval is scheduled to be present for this screening. This film screening is part of “Movement: Asian/Pacific America,” a partnership between the IU Asian Culture Center, the Asian American Studies Program, and the IU Cinema. The film screening is free, but ticketed.
In recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, La Casa and Latino Studies Program is hosting a videoconference discussion with Dr. Grace Peña Delgado. on her book Making the Chinese Mexican Global Migration, Localism, and Exclusion in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. Making the Chinese Mexican examines the Chinese diaspora in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Through an intersectional approach to racism and immigration, it looks at the experiences of Chinese migrants in the region during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This book challenges the reader to reexamine the complexities of nation making, identity formation, and the meaning of citizenship and represents an essential contribution to the general understanding of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. About the author: Grace Peña Delgado is Associate Professor of History at UC Santa Cruz whose area of work focuses on Border Studies, Ethnicity, Chicana/o Studies, Nationalism, Immigration, Latin American and Latino Studies, Sexuality, Asian American Pacific Islander History, and Mexico.
Film Screening: Aparisyon
Date: Monday, April 6 | Time: 7 pm | Venue: IU CinemaThe tumult leading up to Ferdinand Marcos’s 1972 declaration of martial law has infiltrated even the cloistered walls of Adoration – a monastery nestled deep in the woods outside of Manila. Avoiding the careful watch o Mother Superior, wide-eyed novice Sister Lourdes begins attending political rallies surreptitiously with Sister Remy, a young nun suffering a crisis of faith following her brother’s protest-related disappearance. Pitting prayer against political action, guilt against sin, Apparition tackles the repercussions of (mis)construing the actions of men as the will of God. In Tagalog with English subtitles. This film screening is part of “Movement: Asian/Pacific America,” a partnership between the IU Asian Culture Center, the Asian American Studies Program, and the IU Cinema. The film screening is free, but ticketed.
Film Screening: Short Films
Date: Tuesday, April 7 | Time: Doors Open at 5 pm with a reception; Screening at 6 pm followed by Q & A with filmmakers until 7:45 pm. All events free, but ticketed. Tickets can be secured through the BCT Box Office | Venue: Buskirk-Chumley TheaterThis film screening is part of “Movement: Asian/Pacific America,” a partnership between the IU Asian Culture Center, the Asian American Studies Program, the IU Cinema, and the Asian Pacific American Faculty and Staff Council. Filmmakers Drama del Rosario, Haley Semian, and Shelly Yo are scheduled to be present for a Q&A following the films: The films in this short-film program include:
In This Family is a short documentary that looks at how one Filipino family reacts to having a gay son. Revisiting unreleased audio recordings of fights from inside his own home, documentary filmmaker Drama Del Rosario shares his story of being outed as a teenager, dealing with his family's reaction, and the society's percipience on homosexuality. Beyond coming out, the film speaks about how parents learn to embrace their children unconditionally.(summary from IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7812080/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl)
This short film recently won the inaugural BAFTA-GSA Commissioning Grant. The film explores the filmmaker’s personal story of sexual assault trauma and mental health from the perspective of a gay couple.
A story about a Korean American girl named Juno who is haunted by her father's disappearances. Upon his return, Juno must decide to keep her drifting father grounded or to let him go. (summary from IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10009596/)
Chinese Hoosiers (2017) is a documentary short that takes a look into the lives of Chinese international students at Indiana University. We will see how this "common group" of people live their lives in vastly different ways and how they've all found home in the Hoosier state.
On the eve of her wedding anniversary, empty-nester Sujata Chopra attempts to find some joy in her broken marriage, until she learns about the passing of her childhood companion's spouse on Facebook. Having been disconnected from this woman for over 30 years over a misunderstanding, Sujata finds the courage to reach out to send her condolences. They reconnect, sparking friction when Sujata's controlling husband, Dr. Chopra, finds out.(description taken from IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9075918/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl)
The lyric-dramatic genre of zarzuela may have originated in Spain, but its popularity extended throughout the Hispanic world and was cultivated widely in Latin America and the Philippines, where it still enjoys popularity today. Join the Latin American Music Center for a concert highlighting the rich variety of zarzuela repertoire, with songs drawn from works by Philippine, Latin American and Spanish composers from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The program will also highlight some of the often overlooked musical, cultural and historic connections between these three parts of the world.
Screening: “When We Walk”
Date: Thursday, April 9 | Time: 7 pm | Venue: IU CinemaDirector Jason DaSilva’s autobiographical When We Walk tracks his daily exertions balancing his progressive multiple sclerosis and fatherhood. The follow up to the Emmy Award-winning When I Walk (2013), When We Walk is the second installment of a documentary trilogy chronicling a devoted filmmaker and father’s indestructible drive to keep the cameras rolling no matter what – and to show his son what it means to never give up. This film screening is part of “Movement: Asian/Pacific America,” a partnership between the IU Asian Culture Center, the Asian American Studies Program, and the IU Cinema. The film screening is free, but ticketed.
Film Screening: “Lingua Franca”
Date: Friday, April 10 | Time: 7 pm |Venue: IU CinemaIn this beguiling drama, an undocumented Filipina immigrant works as a caregiver to a Russian-Jewish grandmother in Brooklyn. Secretly paying an American man for a green-card marriage, the threat of deportation constantly shadows her. When he backs out, she begins a relationship with a slaughterhouse worker who is unaware that she is transgender. In English and Tagalog with English subtitles. Contains mature content, including sexual situations. This film screening is part of “Movement: Asian/Pacific America,” a partnership between the IU Asian Culture Center, the Asian American Studies Program, and the IU Cinema. The film screening is free, but ticketed.
FriDate is an opportunity for student organizations to shine! A different student organization hosts each week to share information about their organization and host an activity, which may include a cultural event, a social hour, or discussion. This event is open to the public.
"New Identities" is a solo viola recital featuring works by four Asian composers. The recital explores the blend of Western and Eastern musical traditions and how that creates a unique musical identity. Anna Mach is a Filipino-American studying viola performance and music theory at the Jacobs School of Music. She is also a Student Chef at the Asian Culture Center and enjoys exploring cuisines from across Asia! Light reception will be served following the recital.
The Student Recognition Banquet is a three-in-one annual celebration held to recognize graduating students as new IU alumni, to recognize the Asian and Asian American student leaders at IU for their contributions to the university, and to appreciate the volunteers of the Asian Culture Center. By invitation only.