American Sons (1994) - Part 1/2

NOTE: We hope to God Steven Okazaki doesn't sue us for doing this, but we've decided to upload his film here for the general public. Films like these need to be seen more often and in more widely accessible ways. We can only hope Mr. Okazaki agrees. For the record, we did actually purchase this film from his website. This film is located in our "Pirate Cinema" playlist.

The video description below is from the filmmaker's website:
Farallon Films [http://www.farfilm.com/web/title_as.htm]
And is available for purchase on that site for $19.95 (VHS only) http://www.farfilm.com/web/fforder_indiv_pp.htm
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Title: American Sons
Specs: Documentary | 1994 | 28 min | English

AMERICAN SONS is a provocative examination of how racism shapes the lives of Asian American men. A simple, but compelling performance piece featuring four of the country's finest Asian American actors: Yuji Okumoto (TRUE BELIEVER, KARATE KID II), Kelvin Han Yee (A GREAT WALL), Lane Nishikawa (LIFE IN THE FAST LANE, I'M ON A MISSION FROM BUDDHA) and Ron Muriera of the Asian American Theater Company, American Sons is an intimate and disturbing exploration of how prejudice, bigotry and violence twists and demeans individual lives.

American Sons mixes documentary and drama, utilizing actors telling real stories based on a series of interviews with Asian Americans throughout the country. It looks at difficult issues, such as hate violence, and examines the deep psychological damage that racism inflicts over generations. It confronts the ignorance of most Americans about Asian Americans, in particular the stereotypes placed on Asian men. It breaks the silence of the Asian American community and shatters the model minority myth. It presents a painful and angry view of American life never before explored in a motion picture or television program.

Music by Mark Izu with Francis Wong and Miya Masaoka
Produced, Written & Directed by Steven Okazaki

Major funding provided by
THE JOHN D. and CATHERINE T. MAC ARTHUR FOUNDATION, WALLACE GERBODE FOUNDATION, THRESHOLD FOUNDATION, NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION, PAUL ROBESON FUND, PEACE DEVELOPMENT FUND, SAN FRANCISCO JACL LEGACY FUND, and ZELLERBACH FAMILY FUND
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For information on the filmmaker:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0645574/
http://www.farfilm.com/web/ffbio.htm

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Steven Okazaki
• American Sons
• Farallon Films
• Yuji Okumoto
• Kelvin Han Yee
• Lane Nishikawa
• Ron Muriera
• Japanese
• Japanese American
• Korean American
• Chinese American
• Filipino American
• Asian American
• racism
• white supremacy
• short film
• documentary

[RPMuriera]

@habumani: thanks for sharing this film. I'm proud and honored to have worked with Steven Okazaki in this film, along with my friends and fellow actors Kelvin Han Yee, Lane Nishikawa and Yuji Okumoto.

You're right...more people need to see films like this, not just during Asian Pacific Heritage Month on your local PBS station. I still get requests from API college student organizations to come in and speak how racism impacts API men after they show this film. Thanks for the post! ~Ron

[habunami]

@RPMuriera

Thank YOU Mr. Muriera!

[joel1975]

@thehunter413 No, he is doing a monologue (as are all the actors) based on interviews with Asian American men.

[thehunter413]

Yuji Okumoto  is KOREAN!?!?!?!?!