Imperial Japanese Navy Zero fighter pilots are legendary for their battles in the Pacific. The U.S. Army 442nd Regimental Combat Team is the most decorated unit in U.S. military history and composed almost entirely of Japanese Americans.

While the Imperial Japanese Navy Zero fighter pilots and the U.S. Army 442nd RCT have both been the subjects of films, "Pawns of the King" may be the first film to depict a meeting of these storied men. This film is also unique in that it portrays the meeting of two WWII enemies with the same Japanese ancestry.

The film features an ensemble cast of distinguished actors: Sab Shimono ("Robot Stories," "Come See The Paradise," "The Wash") Michael Yama ("Stand and Deliver," "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom") Jim Ishida ("The Terminal," "Real Women Have Curves," "Armageddon") Rodney Kageyama ("California Dream," "Stanley's Gig," "The Next Karate Kid") Emily Kuroda ("Gilmore Girls," "Minority Report," "Stranger Inside") Ken Takemoto ("Snow Falling on Cedars," "Dreamers, " "Six Feet Under")

Also the powerful crew includes composer Scott Nagatani, who scored "Visas and Virtue," a short film about Chiune Sugihara, which won the 1997 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

"In light of current events, we feel that this story is timely. We believe our film conveys an important message about communication, understanding, and peace."

Because of their project's strength, they received a New Filmmaker Program grant from Panavision and generous support from Kodak as well as assistance from many other companies, organizations, and individuals, including East West Players, Go For Broke Foundation, House Foods America/Curry House, and Yoshinoya West.

SPAM-KU: I WON A HAIKU CONTEST ABOUT SPAM
Directed by: Steven K. Tsuchida
Produced by: Steven K. Tsuchida
Caste: Christopher Gorham, Erik Marion, Elizebeth Uhl
USA | 2004 | trt 5min | Beta SP | Color | Drama |
-Roy wins a poetry contest with his Spam haiku. The prize: A lifetime supply. Will his life change for the better or will it take a gooey turn?

DO NOT DISTURB
Directed by: Michael Ogasawara
Produced by: Michael Ogasawara
Caste: Michael Ogasawara
USA | 2004 | trt 3min | DVD | Color | Animation |
-Got skeletons in your closet? This creepy animation testifies that you never know what will pop up from your past.

THE HAIRS
Directed by: Yohei Kawamata
Produced by: Yohei Kawamata
Caste: Yohei Kawamata
USA | 2004 | trt 5min | Beta SP | Color | Experimental |
-With every touch, a little more disappears.

CRYING OUT LOVE, IN THE CENTER OF THE WORLD
(SEKAI NO CHUSHIN DE, AI WO SAKEBU)
Directed by: Yukisada Isao
Produced by: Minami Ichikawa, Kei Haruna
Cast: Mirai Moriyama, Masami Nagasawa, Takao Osawa, Kou Shibasaki,
Japan | 2004 | trt 138min | 35mm | Color | Japanese w/ ES | Drama |

New York Premiere
As the love song goes, the first cut is the deepest. Happily engaged, Sakutaro and Ritsuko seem poised for a wonderful life together. Preparing for a move, Ritsuko (Kou Shibasaki) stumbles upon a cassette tape marked 1986 among Sakutaro's things and takes off mysteriously. As he searches for her, Sakaturo's memories of his first great love, Aki, and her untimely death come rushing back to him.

As Sakutaro travels back to his hometown to reconnect with a past that has not left him, the present and past unfold simultaneously to reveal a larger tale of a Romeo and Juliet-styled tragedy.

Directed by GO's Isao Yukisada (also starring the lovely and charasmatic Kou Shibasaki), CRYING OUT LOVE, IN THE CENTER OF THE WORLD was one of the biggest hits of the summer box office in Japan. Based on the hugely successful romance novel by Katayama Kyoichi, the film helped usher in the current Japanese trend of "jun ai" ("pure love") — stories of young innocent love wrought with deep heartache. This film transcends cliches and wins the audience over with its thriller-like disclosure, a meticulous attention to design and, ultimately, its revelation of the nature of love and finding closure with the past.

The Asia Society
Rose Hall
725 Park Avenue (at 70th St.)
New York, NY 10021
www.asiancinevision.org/festival.html
www.asiasociety.org

About the festival:
Asian American International Film Festival
http://www.aaiff.org

CRYING OUT LOVE, IN THE CENTER OF THE WORLD
(SEKAI NO CHUSHIN DE, AI WO SAKEBU)
Directed by: Yukisada Isao
Produced by: Minami Ichikawa, Kei Haruna
Cast: Mirai Moriyama, Masami Nagasawa, Takao Osawa, Kou Shibasaki,
Japan | 2004 | trt 138min | 35mm | Color | Japanese w/ ES | Drama |

Cinema Arts Centre
23 Park Avenue
Huntington, Long Island 11743
Box Office:
631-423-FILM (3456)
631-423-BOXO (2696)
http://www.cinemaartscentre.org/

About the film:
See July 23.

"The First Light Series"
A videographic montage, exploring the unified theory and the theory of relativity.

Director: Alex Harsley
2005 100min dvd

Kayako Sakoh as Dark
Kaori Iko as Illegitimate Child
Chris Brandt reading excerpts from “Understanding Human Behavior” essay by John Locke

As part of the 2005 Howl Festival film and video program.

Two Boots Pioneer Theatre
155 East 3rd Street
( btwn Avenues A+ B)

For advance Tickets
www.twoboots.com/pioneer/

For additional information
The 4th Street Photo Gallery
67 East 4th Street
212 673 1021
madalyn.warren@gmail.com

JAPAN: Memoirs of a Secret Empire
Part 1: The Way of the Samurai
Part 2: The Will of the Shogun
Part 3: The Return of the Barbarians


This very educational and entertaining program focuses on the period called "Edo," 250 years of solicity from the rest of the world (Sakoku). How it was started and how it came to end.

Ruled by the shogun with absolute power and control the empire prohibited trading with other countries, thus shutting down the possibilities of infuence from the Western and Christian world. Until the Black Ship (Kurofume) and Commodore Mathew C. Perry arrived from the USA in 1853 and demande Japan to open the market.

The program as well as its website is full of exciting information about not so well known history of Japan.

PBS
http://www.pbs.org/empires/japan/index.html

Station
Channel: WLIW 21

Showtimes
Part 2
Tuesday, August 30, 8:00pm
Wednesday, August 31, 12:00am
Friday, September 2, 3:00am
Monday, September 5, 2:00am
Part 3 (Conclusion)
Tuesday, September 6, 8:00pm
Wednesday, September 7, 12:00am
Friday, September 9, 3:00am
Monday, September 12, 2:00am