By Koji Steven Sakai
I recently saw White On Rice at the Asian Pacific Film Festival here in Los Angeles. The film is about a middle-aged loveable loser who tries to find love after getting his heart broken by his ex-wife (back in Japan). The problem of course is that he’s awkward, socially inept, has no job and no future, and lives with his sister’s family.
First, let me say that it’s nice to watch an Asian American movie that isn’t super serious. It’s time that we as a people try to move past our stories about identity, intergenerational conflicts, and racism. Although all those stories do have their time and place, it wouldn’t hurt us if we could once in a while laugh at ourselves a little.
Overall, I enjoyed White On Rice and found myself laughing out loud. The actors were all great, especially Lynn Chen who really should be getting more roles! If you get a chance to check out the movie at an Asian American film festival near you, I highly recommend it. It’s definitely nice to be able to laugh and watch Asians/Asian Americans on the big screen at the same time.
Check out the trailer at:
http://vconline.org/festival/program.cfm?program_id=35
Koji Steven Sakai, a graduate from the University of Southern California's Masters of Professional Writing program, had his first feature film, Haunted Highway directed by the Japanese director Junichi Suzuki and distributed by L ions Gate DVD. He has held several fellowships, starting with the most recent, which include: Producer's Guild Power of Diversity workshop (2009), Film Independent’s Project: Involve (2007), Visual Communication’s Armed With a Camera (2006), and Screenwriting Expo 4 Screenplay Competition New Visions Fellowship award (2005).
He is currently in post production on his newest feature length film: "The People I Slept With," where he served as a writer and producer.
[Slanty Note: Look for some more guest posts by Koji throughout this month]
