USA,
2002, 84 min
Shown in 2002
CREDITS
- dir
-
Bertha Bay-Sa Pan
- prod
-
Bertha Bay-Sa Pan, Joseph Infantolino, Alexa L. Fogel
- scr
-
Bertha Bay-Sa Pan
- cam
-
John Inwood
- editor
-
Gary Levy
- mus
-
Leonard Nelson Hubbard
- cast
-
Bai Ling, Kieu Chinh, Kristy Wu, Treach, Will Yun Lee, Tina Chen
- source
-
Beech Hill Films, 450 West 15th St., Suite 602, New York, NY 10011. FAX: 212-989-7722. EMAIL: sgbhf@aol.com.
-
COMMENTS
Bai Ling and Bertha Bay-Sa Pan in person. Skyy Prize contender.
OTHER
Three generations of Asian American women confront their shared history in a Queens apartment in Bertha Bay-Sa Pan's debut feature, Face. Shifting back and forth between 1970s new York and today, Face tells the mirroring stories of Kim, a headstrong girl whose dreams of independence get cut short by an unplanned pregnancy, and her daughter, Genie, who grows up vowing not to make the mistakes of her mother. But as she embraces American youth culture (including a relationship with an African American DJ) Genie bumps up against the same conflicts and disapproval her mother faced 20 years earlier. When Kim, who abandoned baby Genie to be raised by her grandmother, comes home for Genie's graduation, old wounds are opened and old questions finally answered. Each woman must navigate her own path between the past and present, China and Ameirca, tradition and independence, and their choices are neither easy nor predicable. Shot with a color-saturated palette that conveys the vibrancy of Chinatown and featuring standout performances by Kieu Chinh as Genie's grandmother and Treach (of Naughty by Nature) as her DJ boyfriend. Face is a lively and heartfelt exploration of the meaning of family and cultural identity.
—Jennie Yabroff
FACTOID #65
The combined running time for all the films in the Festival is approximately 310,000 minutes. Or to put it another way, 5,167 hours. That’s about 215 days of viewing, 24 hours a day, with no breaks.
