Film festival season is upon us. The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles was just last week, and now it's time for the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival from April 23-30. With a week of films, there are a lot of options, but here are four that you won't want to miss.
1. June Bride: Redemption of a Yakuza. Tatsuya Shindo’s church is not your momma’s church. Not only does the service take place in a bar, the congregation is filled with ex-yakuza, including Shindo himself. Once a mobster and drug addict, Shindo turned his life around after being exiled from his gang and now works as a spiritual leader. This documentary profiles Shindo and other members of the congregation who’ve traded organized crime for a higher path. (Friday April 24, 7pm; Monday April 27, 4:30pm; both screenings at the Japanese American National Museum)
2. Twinsters. You may remember seeing the Kickstarter campaign for this stranger-than-fiction documentary. In 2013 Samantha Futerman, an actress and New Jersey native, was discovered by her twin Anais Bordier through a YouTube video. The documentary captures everything that follows, from DNA tests to meeting each other’s adoptive families and brings the Internet’s capacity for forging connections to a whole new level. (Saturday April 25, 5pm, Aratani Theater; Tuesday April 28, 4:30pm CGV Cinemas 2)
3. 2030. Set in South Vietnam in the near future (we’ll give you three guesses which year), this film follows main character Sao as she tries to trace the details of her husband’s death. The landscape of the film is an exaggerated version of South Vietnam’s reality: rising water levels have flooded the area, eliminating farmland and forcing the inhabitants to rely on fishing and floating farms. Part mystery, part sci-fi cautionary tale, this film highlights the real effects of climate change. (Monday April 27, CGV Cinemas 2)
4. Love Arcadia. San Gabriel Valley natives will squeal over this coming-of-age love story set in the 626. The plot follows Jake, whose family’s boba shop is threatened when a developer arrives and wants to buy the property. Romance and existential dilemmas ensue as Jake decides on a life path. Five points if you ever had boba at the real café the film was shot in. (Monday April 27, 7pm, Downtown Independent; Wednesday April 29, 9:15pm, Japanese American National Museum)
And as a bonus, if you missed Miss India America at the Indian Film Festival of LA, you have a second chance to catch it. LAAPFF screenings take place at various locations throughout LA and tickets are available at www.asianfilmfestla.org.
For more information about the festival, including a schedule, click here.
Check out more upcoming film events.