Southeast x East (SEE) Asian Film Festival
The Southeast x East (SEE) Asian Film Festival is coming to Segerstrom Center for the Arts. This two-day event co-presented by VAALA, happens May 12-13 and provides attendees a chance to delve into the wonderful world of Asian cinema. The SEE Asian Film Festival is proud to bring you a special selection of award-winning films from the Philippines, South Korea and more as well as panel discussions from artists, creators, and community members.
The festival will screen four acclaimed feature-length films from Southeast/East Asia and its diaspora, as well as hold panel discussions with artists and creators in the community. You can find more information and save your seat for each screening below. Get tickets to all four film screenings for $40 or select your favorite films and see them for $10 each.
SEE Asian Film Festival: Leonor Will Never Die
May 12, 2023
Leonor Reyes was once a groundbreaking figure in the Filipino film industry during its ragtag action cinema glory days, but now she struggles with old age, mounting bills, and the untimely death of her son. While revisiting an unfinished script about a fearless protagonist trying to avenge his brother’s murder, Leonor is struck on the head by a falling television set and knocked into a coma. As she lies unconscious in the hospital, fantasy and reality begin to blur when Leonor finds herself awake inside her script, becoming the hero of her own story. An innovative blend of pulpy action homages, playful comedy, and touching family drama, “Leonor Will Never Die” is a wonderfully imaginative tribute to the art of filmmaking. “Leonor Will Never Die" won the Amplify Award at the Toronto International Film Festival as well as a World Cinema Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. It was nominated for Best International Film at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards.
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SEE Asian Film Festival: Turning Red
May 13, 2023
Disney and Pixar’s “Turning Red” introduces Mei Lee, a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming, is never far from her daughter—an unfortunate reality for the teenager. And as if changes to her interests, relationships and body weren’t enough, whenever she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS), she “poofs” into a giant red panda!
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SEE Asian Film Festival: Broker
May 13, 2023
Ha Sang-hyeon (Song Kang-ho from "Parasite") and his friend Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won) run an illegal business together: they steal babies from a church's "baby box" and sell them to desperate parents on the adoption black market. But when a young mother, So-young (Lee Ji-eun), returns after abandoning her baby, she discovers their scheme and goes along with them to interview potential parents for her child. “Broker" was screened at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the Ecumenical Jury Prize along with the award for Best Actor for Song Kang-ho. "Broker" is rated R for language and adult themes.
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SEE Asian Film Festival: Song Lang
May 13, 2023
Set in 1980s Saigon, “Song Lang” is a gritty underworld noir hiding a tender, romantic heart. At the film’s core is the unlikely bond that develops between hunky, brooding Dung (Lien Binh Phat), a tough debt collector for a ruthless loan shark, and Linh Phung (V-pop star Isaac), a charismatic young opera singer for a struggling company that performs cai luong, a modern form of traditional Vietnamese folk opera. The two meet when Dung comes to forcefully collect a debt from the opera troupe, but when their paths cross again, a friendship—and then more—develops, awakening surprising, tender feelings in both men. Their story, too, soon scales operatic heights. With his first feature film, director Leon Le has delivered a rich drama: a smoldering relationship between two apparent opposites—equally uncompromising—set against the backdrop of a gorgeous, fading art form.
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AAPI Heritage Month
The fun’s not over after the film! Throughout May, shining a spotlight on to our local Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and artists. Bring the whole family for free artistic offerings on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza, including hula lessons at Tuesday Night Dance, Live on Argyros Stage concerts, and a capstone celebration where everyone’s invited to dance the night away!
Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month is presented with generous support from Charlie and Ling Zhang.
The SEE Asian Film Festival is presented by Segerstrom Center for the Arts and Some Folks Productions in partnership with VAALA.