Asian Film Database
Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in Canada (1995) |
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| 52min. Documentary, Colour | |
| Language(s): | English |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Dora Nipp (Canada) |
| Production Company: | National Film Board of Canada |
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| Awards: | Bronze Apple Award, 1998 National Educational Media Network |
| Setting: | Canada |
| Summary: | A rich and little-known part of Canadian history unfolds through the stories of the first Chinese women to come to Canada and of subsequent generations of Chinese Canadian women. (National Film Board of Canada) |
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Underground (2013) |
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| 18min. Documentary, Colour | |
| Language(s): | English |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Sandra Eileen Lim |
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| Summary: | Underground presents a performative and re-staged first person documentary portrait of Westminster Station/London Underground, based on footage captured during the time period leading up to and just after the July 7th 2005 transit bombings. Through re-working the original footage, this short piece sets out to explore and present the contradictory moods of the time, from the more official government position of carrying on as usual, to the sense of anxiety felt in the day to day, while highlighting the intangible effects of trauma which shaped the experience of the city and urban space at this time. (CFMDC) |
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Under the Willow Tree (1997) |
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| 52min. Uncategorized, Colour | |
| Language(s): | English |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Dora Nipp (Canada) |
| Production Company: | National Film Board of Canada |
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| Setting: | Canada |
| Summary: | Narrator/director Dora Nipp uses pictures from an old trunk and the memories of six Chinese Canadian women to take viewers on a fascinating personal journey into a little known part of our heritage. The experiences of her subjects, all born before World War II, chronicle the hardships and joys of growing up as part of the Chinese community in Canada. |
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Undertow (1995) |
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| 18min. Experimental, Colour | |
| Language(s): | English |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Anh Me-K (South Korea) |
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| Summary: | Undertow is an experimental short film which explores how the loss of family and culture can affect one's body consciousness and sexuality. It juxtaposes one adopted woman's reconstructed search for her birth mother (through a bleak urban landscape towards a phone booth) with the attempt to connect mind and body. Through multi-layered incorporation of text, dramatic and documentary footage, voice-over body movement, the internal challenges of crawling back into a murky past are revealed. "undertow" represents the pain and struggle of fighting against the forces, or currents (the undertow), which seek to trap us and prevent us from knowing ourselves. (http://www.twn.org) |
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Unique Mythology (2003) |
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| 13min. Music Video Poem, Colour | |
| Language(s): | English |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Atif Y. Siddiqi (Pakistan) |
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| Setting: | Canada |
| Summary: | Unique Mythology is a triptych of surrealistic music video poems (Garden, Space Age Mythology and Hey) inspired by the theme of creation. The images, words, movement and iconography are inspired by mythology and science fiction. (Vtape) |
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Unlocked (2009) |
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| 14min. Uncategorized | |
| Language(s): | |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Mio Adilman (Canada) |
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| Summary: | A bike comedy about an angry young man (Bobby Del Rio) and his overbearing mother (Jean Yoon), who fears that her son will be alone forever if he doesn't learn to control his temper. |
| Source: | Reel Asian |
Unplugged: Sally, Chelsea Hotel Room 207, And Perfect Day (2008) |
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| 19min. Uncategorized | |
| Language(s): | |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Paul Wong (Canada) |
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| Summary: | n a trilogy from Unplugged, an album of 16 informal video sketches, Wong revisits his collection of hundreds of uncatalogued videos. Always behind the camera, Wong is as uninhibited and instinctual as ever. Sally (6:00) gazes at beautiful Sally as she relaxes in her bathrobe in the sumptuous suite at the China Club in Beijing. Chelsea Hotel Room 207 (5:00) engages us in a crack-induced euphoria New York hotel room with three men in their underpants. Perfect Day (7:30) focuses on Wong alone in his studio trying to find inspiration. Revealing insecure moments in the everyday life of a mature artist, Wong searches for the roots of his creative process. |
| Source: | Reel Asian |
Unrivaled (2010) |
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| 109min. Action, Colour | |
| Language(s): | English |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Warren P. Sonoda |
| Production Company: | Lionsgate/eOne |
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| Awards: | Special Jury Prize at the 2010 Las Vegas Film Festival |
| Setting: | Canada |
| Summary: | Down-on-his-luck, backroom cage fighter Ringo Duran gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is chosen to compete against the greatest MMA athletes during a massive national championship. Propelled to compete by his sexy girlfriend, an old-school trainer and the legacy of his family's name, Ringo embarks on an improbable, violent and ruthless journey to find out if he has what it takes to be king of the cage. (shootgoodfilms.blogspot.com) |
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Unsettled (2001) |
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| 81min. Fiction, Colour | |
| Language(s): | English |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Ruba Nadda (Canada) |
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| Setting: | Canada |
| Summary: | Randy is a small time drug dealer who has a raft of women hanging onto him, each with a different need: one of them is breaking up with an acquaintance of his, Quinton, another is a neighbour with a crush on him who invades his life and apartment, another is a desperate young girl who keeps 'seeing' her older sister who has died recently in an accident. (femfilm.ca) |
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Untag Taiwan (2012) |
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| 37min. Documentary, Colour | |
| Language(s): | Taiwanese |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Betty Xie |
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| Trailer/Excerpt/Film: | Trailer |
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| Setting: | Taiwan |
| Summary: | A student documentary that explores Taiwanese identity politics through the 2012 Taiwan Presidential Election. (www.xiebetty.com/films/) |
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Untitled (1979) |
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| Short | |
| Language(s): | English |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Midi Onodera (Canada) |
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| Setting: | Canada |
| Summary: | This short was an exercise in hand-tinting, bleaching and various post manipulation techniques. (midionodera.com) |
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Unveiling the Abuse (2011) |
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| 36min. Documentary, Colour | |
| Language(s): | English |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Azra Rashid (Pakistan) |
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| Trailer/Excerpt/Film: | Trailer |
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| Setting: | Canada |
| Summary: | A documentary about Canadian women who are being forced into marriages by their families under the guise of the age-old tradition of 'arranged' marriage. The documentary also looks at whether Canada's multicultural policies render women vulnerable to abuse at the hands of the family in the name of culture and tradition. (IMDb) |
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Unwanted Soldiers (1999) |
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| 49min. Documentary, Colour | |
| Language(s): | English |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Jari Osbourne (Canada) |
| Production Company: | National Film Board of Canada |
| Trailer/Excerpt/Film: | Film |
| Awards: | Best Historical Documentary, Hot Docs, 2000; Chris Award, Columbus Film and Television Festival; Canadian Heritage Award, Yorkton Film Festival; Canada Award, Academy of Canadian Film and Television |
| Setting: | Canada |
| Summary: | This documentary tells the personal story of filmmaker Jari Osborne's father, a Chinese-Canadian veteran. She describes her father's involvement in the Second World War and uncovers a legacy of discrimination and racism against British Columbia's Chinese-Canadian community. Sworn to secrecy for decades, Osborne's father and his war buddies now vividly recall their top-secret missions behind enemy lines in Southeast Asia. Theirs is a tale of young men proudly fighting for a country that had mistreated them. This film does more than reveal an important period in Canadian history. It pays moving tribute to a father's quiet heroism. (National Film Board of Canada) |
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Upside Down - Downside Up (2008) |
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| 7min. Uncategorized, Colour | |
| Language(s): | English |
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| Setting: | Hong Kong |
| Summary: | Upside Down - Downside Up is part of a series of performance art videos whereby the artist submits herself to several physical endurance challenges. The film is a new addition to the endurance series that began in 2006, and was made at the Artist Cultural Outreach Residency in Hong Kong 2008. (Vtape) |
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Urge (2000) |
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| 10min. Comedy, Black and White | |
| Language(s): | English |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Siu Ta (Canada) |
| Production Company: | Urge 2 Film |
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| Setting: | Canada |
| Summary: | A young woman has to pee. Due to various circumstances and her own inability to admit it, she holds it in. When the need becomes too unbearable, she takes matters into her own hands - with unexpected results. (CFMDC) |
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Usagi (2004) |
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| 4min. Uncategorized | |
| Language(s): | |
| Director/Filmmaker: | Asa Mori (Canada) |
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| Summary: | Adorably clever, this half human half rabbit creature plays out four mini tableaux: heart, memento mori, beauty and milk. |
| Source: | Reel Asian |