Packaging Asianness (published in Asia Pacific Arts; 5/25/07)
This year’s Asian Excellence Awards have reason to celebrate: the increase of recognizable stars as guests (from Chow Yun-fat, Margaret Cho, Kal Penn to Quentin Tarantino, Antoine Fuqua and Kenny G) as well as a likely rise of viewership (for the first time, an hour-long edited version was broadcast on E! Entertainment Television). But as we’re shining our pretty actresses at the cameras and feeding our successes to the mainstream in cute bite-sized morsels, what are we losing?
Behind the Curtains of the Asian American Film Scene: The Class of 2006 (published in Asia Pacific Arts; 1/12/07)
For viewers of Asian American film, 2006 was a notable year. It was the year that many first-time feature filmmakers debuted their projects to critical acclaim not only in the Asian American community but also in the greater indie film scenes. However, while quality and quantity were there, acquiring distribution was another hurdle in itself.
Best of 2006: Asian American Films (published in Asia Pacific Arts; 1/12/07)
Films about Asian Americans, films made by Asian Americans (and Canadians). It’s been an impressive year for them all. APA combined the opinions of some notable filmmakers and festival directors and dug into our own hearts to create our 2006 Top Ten List of Asian American Film.
Ode to Gilmore Girls: Behind the Musicality of TV’s Beloved Show (published in Asia Pacific Arts; 8/23/06)
As a smart-talking, endearingly-pretentious, pop-culture reference machine, Gilmore Girls has always taken its music very seriously. You are what you listen to — especially when it comes to Lane Kim, who best encapsulates the ‘audiophile’ mentality of the show, acting as a mouthpiece for the Gilmore writers/producers who aren’t shy about separating the real deals from the poseurs.
You Break, You Buy: The Indelible Mark of Gilmore Girls (published in Asia Pacific Arts; 8/23/06)
Over these past six seasons of “Gilmore Girls,” viewers have gotten a glimpse of what Asian Americans on television can be. No token characters, no racial identity issues, just people who light up the crazy world we live in. Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino was just trying to find a funny story to tell, and as a byproduct, a door was creaked open. Helen Pai, Keiko Agena, and Emily Kuroda helped make it happen.
Ada Tseng 