Movie Review: The Colorado Dragon Boat Film Festival Offers Up Some Uniquely Touching Films

For the past year or two, I’ve been trying to cover, not only the Denver Film Festival, but also all of Denver Film’s offshoot film festivals like CinemaQ and Women and Film. Last year, the Colorado Dragon Boat Film Festival fell shortly after my father’s death, and I was not in a position where I was ready to get back to work yet. So this year, I wanted to be sure to make the Dragon Boat Film Festival, which presents the best films every year from Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Asian American filmmakers. The offerings this year were really unique and gave me a chance to experience some films that I probably wouldn’t have gotten a chance

to appreciate otherwise. So here’s my rundown of the four films I caught this year at the Colorado Dragon Boat Film Festival.

Pigsy

Using familiar characters from the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, this Chinese animated film, Pigsy, follows the story of a young, pig-like man in a dystopian future world where full of futuristic technology, yet with run-down buildings in a state of disrepair. Pigsy’s home, Old Town, is dilapidated, and the government isn’t doing much to update it. Instead, they create a new paradise called New World which promises to be a great improvement, and which only certain elite members of society get to move to. Pigsy gets the notification that he will be one of the people to relocate to New World and promises to take his grandmother, who is his guardian, with him. But when his invitation to New World turns out to be a mistake, he must find another way into New World, all while being part of the team from the company that designed New World who are trying to track down the black market that’s trying to get people into New World.

Never in my life have I had a harder time following the plot of a film, outside of maybe some experimental, David Lynch-type flicks. I think the problem was that whoever translated the subtitles either didn’t fully understand English or didn’t fully understand the original Mandarin, because everything seemed to be translated into really awkward, unnatural phrases that didn’t make a lot of sense. It made it hard to understand the storyline, especially since it was already a complex sci-fi epic. It’s a shame, because it certainly appeared to be a visually stunning piece of animation; I just couldn’t really appreciate it without better understanding the story.

Rating: 73/100

Third Act

Robert A. Nakamura is often referred to as the Godfather of Asian American media. Having been forced into a concentration camp at a young age due to his Japanese-American heritage, much of his work throughout his life were films exploring the shameful history of the United States imprisoning Japanese people and other Asian Americans following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He also co-founded the nonprofit Asian Pacific American media organization Visual Communications. In Third Act, Robert’s son, follow filmmaker Tad Nakamura, sets out to make a film about his father and follows him throughout the twilight years of his life as the elder Nakamura struggles with Parkinson’s Disease and, along the way, teaches us about the legacy of the great filmmaker.

This was such a touching and intimate portrait of a great artist and filmmaker. It brought up a lot for me about my relationship with my own father, especially in the final moments as the aging Nakamura started to resemble my dad in his final years. In a way, it’s a very universal story about families, while also giving you the specific background of a remarkable man. Tad Nakamura reflects on his own journey to becoming a filmmaker, as well, and how much that was influenced by his father and how he never expected to follow in his father’s footsteps in quite that way. It made for a truly touching film that lingers with you long after it’s over.

Rating: 90/100

K-Family Affairs

South Korean filmmaker Arum Nan also seeks to make a documentary about her parents, but her parents have a very unique situation. Her father is a civil servant in the Korean government, while her mother is a feminist political activist and runs a crisis line for sexual assault victims. The film follows through the history of South Korean politics from the lens of a family story, as Arum Nan reconciles her parents conflicting viewpoints and she reflects on her father’s own responsibility for the Sewol ferry tragedy which killed 304 people, mostly children, and set off a series of mass protests throughout the country.

This was a really fascinating and insightful look into Nan’s family and a really unique perspective to follow through Korean political history. The people of Korea seem to struggle through one failed regime after another, and all the while, the Nam family find themselves caught in the middle of the most important political battles. One thing that struck me was that, while the #MeToo movement in the West was mostly about the hashtag itself, the movement in South Korea erupted into public protests calling for justice to sexual assault victims. I wasn’t aware of how often political protests are a major part of Korean politics, so this film was a real eye-opener to a different culture.

Rating: 92/100

TINĀ

A beautiful film from New Zealand follows an older Samoan woman Mareta Percival (Anapela Polataivao), a tough-as-nails choir director who goes into retirement after the death of her daughter in the 2011 in the Christchurch Earthquake. But when her benefits are about to be taken away, she takes up a job as a substitute teacher at an upper-class private school. When she learns that a student named Sophie (Antonia Robinson), who loves music and dreamed of going to college on a music scholarship no longer can qualify for a music scholarship due to an injury to her hand an arm, Mareta comes up with the idea to start a school choir to give Sophie a chance at a choir scholarship. Facing stiff opposition and racism, Percival nonetheless assembles her choir and leads the children through a national competition while teaching them something about another culture.

This was easily the best film I saw the whole weekend. Polataivao’s performance was outstanding, and she really did sell you on her character being fierce and feared. The relationship between her and the children was utterly endearing, and it was hard not to fall in love with every one of these characters. It was smartly funny, but also touchingly emotional, leading up to a phenomenal ending that was both inspirational and heartbreaking, leaving not a single dry eye in the whole theater. This movie really needs to be seen by a much wider audience because it’s outstanding.

Rating: 97/100

That’s a wrap for this year’s Colorado Dragon Boat Film Festival, but the Women and Film Festival is right around the corner, so stay tuned to hear me report back from the next event from Denver Film.

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