Sixth annual festival offered cinematic tour of Asian culture
6/17/2003

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The curtains have closed at the Fox Arts Center and nearby Fletcher Plaza is cleaned up, but the memories of movies shown during the Sixth Aurora Asian Film Festival will linger long in the minds of those who attended any part of the event.

The festival, which ran from June 5-8, offered a tour of Asian - and Asian American - culture that included stops in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Philippines, Japan and Korea.

The opening night film, "25 Kids and One Dad," a warm-hearted, award-winning Chinese film about a man's efforts to make his world a better place by becoming a father to 25 orphans, drew a near sellout crowd. The movie was followed by a reception featuring Chinese entertainment and food. Closing night's "Small Voices," an equally heart-warming film from the Philippines, featured director Gil Portes on hand to introduce and answer questions about the film.

"Small Voices" was about a Filipino teacher's efforts to organize poverty-stricken rural students to sing in a competition. Portes explained he shot the film in 15 days and two hours, an incredible accomplishment. The movie is currently making the rounds of film festivals, and the Denver Film Society’s Brit Whithey, who programmed the Aurora Asian Film Festival, explained he had to ship his copy of "Small Voices" immediately off to be the opening night screening of another festival. "Small Voices" drew a sellout crowd for the film and the reception that followed, which featured entertainment from the Philippine American Society of Colorado and food from the Filipino American Community of Colorado.

Receptions with Asian entertainment and refreshments also followed movies on Friday and Saturday evenings, but on Friday night, the rain prevented the festivities from being held at Fletcher Plaza. Instead, the food from Yummy Yummy Thai restaurant and the entertainment from the Thai Cultural Connection were presented in the Fox Arts Center itself.

Many of the films included in the festival were of the international level of quality of the opening and closing features. The Thai film "Monrak Transistor," an epic story of a man whose life follows a difficult path of obstacles and tests (and is similar to the classic "Odyssey") and the Korean comedy "Hi Dharma," about a group of gangsters who take refuge in a secluded Buddhist monastery and clash with the resident monks, were both submissions by their countries for the Academy Awards. A Japanese film, "To Dance with the White Dog," a remake of a 1993 American TV movie based on a bestselling novel about how an elderly man deals with the sudden death of his wife, was one of the most lyrical of the movies presented. Question-and-answer sessions were also held following two documentaries, "Saigon USA" and "Sumo East and West."

Whithey of the Denver Film Society said he was pleased with the artistic level of the festival and looked forward to continuing the relationship with the Aurora Asian/Pacific Community Partnership, the organization that has co-sponsored the festival since its inception.