The Motel at the Chicago Asian American Showcase - Opening Night April 1st (no joke)

[kangisman]

Check out my film The Motel.

Our next stop is The Opening Night Film at the Chicago Asian American Showcase on April 1st.

Here are some responses we got from people that saw us at the Closing Night at the San Francisco Internaational Asian American FIlm Festival last month (where we also picked up the "Best Narrative Feature Award")

From Yellow Peril :

"The Motel" might be a great film, one that I will remember for a while and want to see again and again. People have drawn comparisons to to "Welcome to the Dollhouse" which i think are quite valid, but when i learned that Miguel Arteta was one of the producers, I instantly saw similarities with "The Good Girl" and "Chuck and Buck" and there are parts that remind me of "Happiness" (by Todd Solondz). One of the great things about this movie that several people have pointed out is that it is a rather universal story of awkward adolescence and isolation. It would have already been a potentially intriguing movie, but put a couple yellow faces, and I'm entranced. If they were brown or white faces, I probably would have still loved it.

Anonymous:

Michael,

HOLYSHITWOW!!!

All I have to say is out of the three films I viewed at the Asian American Film Fest, I revelled in your story and characters lives the most! I was impressed with everything, from the simple opening credits with the montage of Jeffery's handwritten story, to the powerful climactic ending! I am so impressed with how this seemingly simple and popular theme of 'coming of age' is intertwined with deep issues that range from culture and ethnicity, and puberty to the everyday gritty reality of the rampant vices that seem to dominate and conquer the world...

From Flyingkumquat :

Ten minutes into the movie and I was thinking: Oh geez, another one about an immigrant family struggling to survive, complete with the dorky studious kid and the strict hard-working mom. But it is not. It is really about something much more interesting: Puberty.

[SunWuKong]

i'll forward this to my sister. she lives in Chicago.