ASIAN POP-UP CINEMA ANNOUNCES OPENING And CENTERPIECE FILMS, PINNACLE CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS AND NEWLY ADDED IRAN AND AFGHANISTAN FILMS FOR SEASON 17
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CHICAGO, IL - (August 21, 2023) Asian Pop-Up Cinema announces opening night and centerpiece films scheduled for the 17th Season, September 8 - October 7. Additionally announced are recipients of the festival’s Pinnacle Career Achievement Award and women directed films from Iran and Afghanistan.
Season 17 kicks off with a screening of director Masayuki Suzuki’s YUDO, following architect Shiro Miura's (Toma Ikuta) and his return to his family-owned public bathhouse. Intent on modernizing the outdated establishment, Shiro faces unexpected challenges from both his brother Goro (Gaku Hamada) and a fire that lands him as the bathhouse’s temporary manager. As he immerses himself in the role, Shiro connects with customers and begins to understand the happiness and democratizing power the place offers. The film will be presented at AMC NEWCITY 14, 1500 N. Clybourn, (September 8).
Centerpiece film HARVEST MOON is Mongolian actor Amarsaikhan Baljinnyam’s debut feature as director. An award-winning screenwriter, he adapted this father-son story from a short novel by T. Bum-Erden, following a city chef who must fulfill the harvesting in his village after his father dies. Representing Mongolia in the international feature 2022 Oscar submission, the film will be presented at AMC NEWCITY 14 (September 23). Baljinnyam will be recognized as a Pinnacle Career Achievement honoree for his work in more than 20 films and the Netflix original series Marco Polo.
STAND UP STORY actor Ben Yuen will also be honored for Pinnacle Career Achievement this season. Winner of the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2018 as a Cantonese opera actor who performs in female roles in Tracey, and later on winning multiple awards as a gay man in “Suk Suk” (Twilight’s Kiss in the U.S), Ben Yuen is going to dazzle us again in his portrayal of an intellectually disabled father in STAND UP STORY when we will have its international premiere at AMC NEW CITY 14 (September 16).
Features from Iran and Afghanistan will be included in the festival for the first time this year. In Dornaz Hajiha’s directorial debut LIKE A FISH ON THE MOON (Iran), parents search for answers when their four-year-old son stops speaking. Winner of Best Film and Best Performance at Transilvania Film Festival in June 2023, the film will have its U.S. Premiere at AMC NEW CITY 14 on Sept. 23.
Also, on the same day, A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT (Afghanistan) will make its Illinois premiere. From director Roya Sadat, the film follows a public official who is arrested and put on death row for defending a young woman accused of adultery. Filmed entirely in Afghanistan despite “constant security threats,” it was selected as the Afghan entry for Best Foreign Language film at the 90th Academy Awards.
"Expanding Asian Pop-Up Cinema's search for strong Asian films originating from countries absent in past seasons has been our objective for our upcoming Season 17 program. The outcome is quite amazing as this season will feature films from Mongolia, Iran and Afghanistan with the filmmakers scheduled to join us here in Chicago. I can only say that, get your tickets early!" said Sophia Wong Boccio, Asian Pop-Up Cinema Founder and Executive Director
Season 17 will run between September 8 through October 7, with screenings scheduled on weekends during this period. All of the twenty-two films will be premiered at AMC NEWCITY 14 in Lincoln Park, except for three Chinese films which will be shown in conjunction with and to celebrate Asia’s Mid-Autumn Festival. THE BEST IS YET TO COME, RIPPLES OF LIFE will be shown at the Illinois Institute of Technology in collaboration with their Office of Community Affairs on September 30. HACHIKO will be shown at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theater on October 1, and is hosted by DCASE/Chicago Film Office. The Consulate General of People’s Republic of China in Chicago will be providing traditional Mid-Autumn Festival sweets to attendees of these screenings.
The full lineup with tickets sales will be announced August 28, 2023.
ABOUT SOPHIA’S CHOICE / ASIAN POP-UP CINEMA
Asian Pop-Up Cinema, a semi-annual Asian Film Festival, is the brainchild of Sophia Wong Boccio, founder of Sophia’s Choice, a Chicago-based 501 C (3) not-for-profit incorporated in 2015 with the multi-pronged mission of cultivating an interest in and understanding of Asian cultures via a diverse offering of Asian films; connecting the Asian film industry with local Chicago film professionals, educators, and students; and promoting Chicago as a destination for international visitors.
Connect with Asian Pop-Up Cinema:
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Media Contact: Danielle Garnier
Garnier Public Relations, 312-841-3500, danielle@garnierpr.com