2025 Documentary Fund Open Call Starts September 20

 

Go get it!

CAAM’s 2025 Documentary Fund, supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, is now accepting submissions from independent producers creating films that highlight the Asian American experience. Eligible documentaries can apply for production or post-production funding, with awards ranging from $10,000 to $50,000, and must be intended for public media broadcast or online distribution. The submission window opens on Friday, September 20, 2024, at 12 a.m. PDT, and closes on Sunday, October 20, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. PDT. 

https://caamedia.org/blog/2024/09/18/caam-documentary-fund-open-call-apply-september-20-october-20-2024/

Awesomeness To Blue Eye Samurai And Your Emmy Win (I Will Watch You Soon)

 

From the Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Eye_Samurai

Premise

During Japan's Edo period (17th century), half-white half-Japanese onna-musha (female warrior) Mizu (meaning water) quests for vengeance against four white men, one of whom is her father, who illegally remained in Japan during the closing of its borders by the Tokugawa shogunate.^[5]

Voice cast

Main

• Maya Erskine as Mizu, a female mixed-race blue-eyed bushi.^[6] Her experiences of discrimination as a mixed-race Japanese child have left her cold, bitter and vengeful. Forced by her mother to disguise herself as a boy so as not to be found, she chooses to maintain her disguise into adulthood to pursue her path of revenge more freely.
• George Takei as Seki, Princess Akemi's male tutor. He sympathizes with Akemi's situation and later takes steps to ensure her freedom.
• Masi Oka as Ringo, an optimistic, handless male cook who idolizes Mizu. Despite Mizu initially not wanting a companion, she later tolerates Ringo. He proves surprisingly helpful and loyal to Mizu.
• Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Master Eiji, a blind swordsmith who raised Mizu. He was the first person to show Mizu kindness, partially because he cannot see her; as a result, Mizu holds deep respect for him, referring to him as "Swordfather".
• Brenda Song as Princess Akemi, the pampered but strong-willed daughter of a nouveau riche lord. She is in love with Taigen and resents her father's control over her and seeks a life of independence.
• Darren Barnet as Taigen, a promising but arrogant male swordsman of humble origins. He is in love with Princess Akemi and harbors a strong resentment towards Mizu, which has lasted since their childhoods, and later seeks revenge after being humiliated in a duel which cuts off his engagement with Akemi.
• Randall Park as Heiji Shindo, Fowler's nominal jailor and accomplice.
• Kenneth Branagh as Abijah Fowler, an Irish smuggler who is allied with the Shogun, in secret defiance of Japan's Sakoku closed-door policies. He plans to overthrow the current Shogun and replace him with a leader who will open Japan to outside influence.

Ronny Chieng And The Daily Show Emmy Win

 

Quiz Lady By Jessica Yu With Sandra Oh And Awkwafina Wins Best TV Movie

 

Absolutely loved this movie and thought it should have gotten more fanfare when it came out, so I was completely excited to see that it had won an Emmy for everyone involved.

And that it was Sandra Oh's first Emmy Win (and how crazy...and sad...is that).

Here's a quick paragraph from a NY Times article:

Jenny (Sandra Oh), a 40-something ball of chaos, is introduced in “Quiz Lady” the way you might expect of someone whose life savings are contingent on a hazardous fish bone-related lawsuit against a chain restaurant called Choochie’s: off in the distance, skittering heedlessly across the street before she’s suddenly struck by a car. Naturally, she pops right back up before having a meltdown over the mechanical entrance to the senior home where her younger sister, Anne (Awkwafina), is frustratingly watching from inside.

You're A First: Anna Sawai Wins Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series Emmy Award For Shogun + Spoiler

 

Congratulations to Anna Sawai for winng the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series and being the first Asian actor to win that award.

I thought it could possibly be Maya Erskine--and I really liked that show (I did not watch Shogun yet but I will...in time). 

And my understanding is that she won't be back though....

Here's some more of Anna talking about bringing her mom to the awards show and what she was thinking about when accepted the award.

Jenn Tran Speaks Out + Next Phase Is DWTS

 

She definitely got he shaft on this one and while I did not follow all of it, I have to say that the finale was crazy that she had to sit there next D...whatever his name is. Good for Tran tasking him on the finale though and sticking up for herself--as a strong Vietnamese American woman--and moving on, and up.

Next for Jenn Tran is going on DWTS, which I will definitely tune in for to see how she does.

P.S. If any young guy out there thinks a woman shouldn't propose to him....I just hope you find your way.

A Quick Letter To John McWhorter On Black Kamala And Joy (aka A Real "Dear John" Letter)

Dear John,

In your article in the NY Times on THE JOY you write that "That’s because a good deal of the joy people keep talking about is a result of one fact: that Harris is Black."

I'm not disagreeing with that in some senses, but you also leave out that she's Asian American as well. 

South Asian.

And there's a LOT OF JOY THERE FOR THAT FACT TOO.

I just find it interesting that in an article that talks about the myopicness of only thinking about race and not as you say thinking about "assessing her as an individual" that you would leave that out.

You may not be mixed, bi-cultural, etc.--but for those of us who are (myself cultural as a Transracial and International adoptee, Vietnamese War Orphan, and Vietnamese American) -- we do have a unique look on the world because we have to traverse between multiple worlds.

I think it says something about us and how we navigate the world and that this one thing alone, does in fact make us unique and can be a SINGULAR SOURCE OF JOY.

That's it.

Hope that guinea pig is eating good.

Il Slanty