Asian film fest closes with memorable characters
Annual movie fete finishes with good flicks, fare
Alvina Yeh, staff writer
June 4, 2007
Page 1 | 2

Photo by Ashton Do Artist Tom Finke stands next to one of his pieces June 3 at The Other Side Arts during the closing night gala of the 10th Aurora Asian Film Festival.

AURORA – On closing night of the 10th Aurora Asian Film Festival, moviegoers were introduced to a couple of memorable characters: one, a fiery, old street artist, the other a benevolent butt-kicking monk.

The evening started with “The Cats of Mirikitani,” a documentary that captures the story of Jimmy Mirikitani, an 81-year old street artist whom director Linda Hattendorf befriends. She follows him with a camera for more than a year, hoping to share his story of being interned during WWII, losing half his family in Hiroshima, struggling with a steady job, and finally being homeless.

Moviegoer Marla Legourrierec, having seen several other films about the internment especially appreciated the links the film made to current events.

“It was a beautiful overlay with the current war in Iraq and the internment,” Legourrierec said. “The intertwining messages were presented wonderfully.”

Chiyo Hirouchi, a moviegoer identified with Mirikitani as she was interned at the Grenada camp in southern Colorado.

“Because he was an artist, the way he perceived things was so real and human,” Hirouchi said. “I was actually in the internment camp too, so I could relate to much of what he was saying throughout the film.”

The life and art of Jimmy Mirikitani brought a humanistic side of the internment camps to light. For some, the film encouraged them to think about other internment stories.

“It was beautiful,” moviegoer Teneke Warren said. ”I’m so glad it was a happy ending. This film makes me wonder about the other untold stories of other victims from the internment camps.”

More on Day 4 >>

Alvina Yeh is a staff writer for AsiaXpress.com. Alvina can be contacted via e-mail at Alvina.Yeh@asiaxpress.com.