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Soaring Voices Film Festival

Presented by Crocker Art Museum at Guild Theater

October 17, 2009

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Celebrate contemporary films by female directors exploring the roles of Japanese and Japanese American women. Regional filmmakers, artists and scholars will offer diverse perspectives on four film screenings, and the Sacramento Area Youth Speaks poets will perform original works and recitations based on Soaring Voices. The festival will be followed by an after-party at 40 Acres Art Gallery.

Reservations required by October 14. To register, call (916) 808-5499 or email education@crockerartmusem.org.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 4 PM
Pre-Festival Walkthrough of Soaring Voices
Festival Pass holders are invited to a pre-festival walk-through of Soaring Voices with the Crocker’s Director of Education Stacey Shelnut-Hendrick.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17
9:30–10:40 AM
SCREENING: From a Silk Cocoon (2004, 57 Minutes)
Woven through their censored letters, diary entries and haiku poetry is the story of a young Japanese American couple whose shattered dreams and forsaken loyalties lead them to renounce their American citizenship while held in separate American prison camps during World War II. Director Satsuki Ina will introduce the film.

11 AM–12:50 PM
SCREENING: Wool 100% (2006, 100 Minutes)
This drama combining live action, puppetry and animation is about two aging women who live a solitary life collecting discarded items from a nearby town. One day they return home to find a young girl knitting a red sweater in their house. Each time the girl finishes her sweater, she mysteriously unravels it and starts again. Classical pianist Natsuki Fukasawa will introduce this film, directed by Mai Tominaga.

1–2:10 PM
SCREENING: Shinjuku Boys (1995, 53 Minutes)
Directed by Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams, this film introduces three “onnabes” (women who live as men, but don’t usually identify as lesbians) who work as hosts at the New Marilyn Club in Tokyo. All three talk frankly to the camera about women, sex, transvestitism and lesbianism. This is a remarkable documentary about the complexity of female sexuality in Japan today. Cindi Sturtz Sreetharan, Ph.D., Assistant Director of the Asian Studies Program at Sacramento State will introduce the film.
Images and content in this film may be challenging for some viewers.

2:25–2:45 PM
Sacramento Area Youth Speaks Performances
Enjoy spoken word performances by Sacramento Area Youth Speaks poets, who will perform original works and recitations based on the Soaring Voices.

2:45–5:15 PM
SCREENING: K-20: Legend of the Mask (2008, 137 Minutes)
Director Shimako Sato combines a top cast with stunning visual effects to depict a story of a Ninja-like thief who lives in a very different version of 1949 Feudal Japan, where World War II never happened. Don’t miss the Sacramento Premiere of this film rarely seen in the United States. Jenny Stark, Associate Professor of Film and Video at Sacramento State, will introduce the film.

5:30–9 PM
After Party
Hosted at 40 Acres Art Gallery.

This Festival is supported by Japan Foundation, LA, VIZ Pictures, Inc., Cinema Epoch, Women Make Movies and Movies on a Big Screen.