7th Aurora Asian Film Festival
By JOE NGUYEN, staff writer
June 4, 2004

Day Three—
Today is the longest day of the festival, consisting of four movies over the course of nine hours.

A documentary about the notorious Tuol Sleng prison entitled S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine was the first movie shown. It’s graphic yet moving presentation of this appalling event in history brought many of the audience to tears. Following the film, a panel discussion was held regarding the Khmer Rouge.

The next movie was South of the Clouds, a movie following Xu Da Qin, a middle-aged man who yearns to return to Yunnan, the province where he lived when he was younger. With his children grown up and his wife dead, he goes south and ponders about how his life could have been different if he didn’t move.

Travellers & Magicians, a movie from Bhutan, follows the journey of a man who seeks to leave his village for America. On the journey, he finds some companions in a monk, an apple picker and a father with his daughter. A crowd favorite, this movie received the loudest applause of the day.

Jeff Lau’s comedy Chinese Odyssey 2002 brought a change of pace from the dramas and documentaries of the past six movies. It’s a parody of Hong Kong Kung-Fu movies that has a ‘Naked Gun with a plot’ feel to it.

A long day of watching movies has passed and now it’s time to go home, get some sleep and prepare for another day of movies.

Day Four—
The final day of the film festival brings two of the movies I’ve been anticipating to see the most: Traces of a Dragon and Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman.

Traces of a Dragon is a documentary focusing on Jackie Chan’s family history back to the early 20th Century. It centers on his charismatic father’s story of the family’s struggle. You can read more about it in my review.

The next movie was Daniel Gordon’s The Game of Their Lives, a documentary about the North Korean soccer team who stunned the world by making it to the finals of the 1966 World Cup.

The closing film shown was Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman. Zatoichi, a legend in Japanese cinema, is given new life in this feature written, starred, and directed by Takeshi Kitano. By far, this was the most popular movie film in the festival, receiving a loud applause by the audience.

A Japanese themed gala was held at the Plaza after the show. Japanese cuisine was served while the Denver Taiko Group provided entertainment.

<< Festival Day One & Two