S. Leo Chiang Goes to Jail (with Community Cinema)

Last month filmmaker S. Leo Chiang participated in a discussion after his picture, A Village Called Versailles, played before for an audience of inmates at the San Bruno County Jail in the San Francisco Bay Area. Chiang offered his account of what was an unlikely setting for a film festival…

When ITVS emailed me about showing A Village Called Versailles, In, of all places, a jail as a part of Community Cinema screenings, I was taken aback at first, and then I was excited. I had never been inside a jail, and I wasn’t about to pass up the chance. I am, after all, a documentary filmmaker with innate anthropological curiosities.

I set out to the San Bruno County Jail #5, which is a part of the San Francisco County Jail system. My ITVS rep and I clear up confusions about our security clearances, pass through many remotely operated thick, metal, sliding doors, and walk down long, non-descript hallways. I see guards and rooms full of inmates in bright orange jumpsuits. So far, the experience looks a lot like a scene out of Oz on HBO.

We are here to present the film to students in classrooms of a pioneer Charter high school inside the San Francisco County jails, the Five Keys Charter School. The inmates take classes from inside the jail with the aim of getting their high school diplomas.

I enter the classroom and am nervous. The students had seen my film the day prior, and I’m there to answer questions and discuss their reactions to the film. I wonder if anyone would even speak or, let alone, raise a hand to ask a question. Or, will they just be rowdy? Will the session disintegrate into chaos?
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Tags: a village called versailles, Five Keys Charter School, Leo Chang, refugee

Our Own “Super Tuesday” for A Village Called Versailles: 6 Screenings Today!

Community Cinema is having our own “Super Tuesday” today with six screenings of our May documentary selection, A Village Called Versailles. The film has been a festival-circuit hit all year. The link above will connect you to all of our upcoming free screenings as well as our free downloadable discussion guide. The guide will give you background information, a statement from the film’s director S. Leo Chiang, and resources you can use to support Versailles and your own community.

Please join us!

San Francisco, California at 5:45 PM
San Francisco Main Public Library, Koret Auditorium
100 Larkin St. 94102

Queens, New York at 6:00 PM
Al Oerter Recreation Center
131-40 Fowler Ave

Manhattan, NYC at 7:30 PM
East 54th Street Recreation Center
348 East 54th St. 10033

Rochester, New York at 7:00 PM
WXXI
280 State St. 14614

Houston, Texas at 7:00 PM
Rice Cinema hosted by HoustonPBS
6100 Main St. 77030
Event Web site »

Montrose, Colorado at 7:30 PM
Hosted by Rocky Mountain PBS
Montrose Regional Library
320 South 2nd St. 81401

Here’s a clip from the film.

Tags: a village called versailles, documentary, gulf coast, New Orleans, vietnamese

Happy Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month from ITVS

This month we’re honoring Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month at ITVS by celebrating some of the groundbreaking films by and about the API community coming up in our broadcast schedule.

With the tragic oil spill encroaching on the coast of Louisiana, the upcoming premiere of A Village Called Versailles, by S. Leo Chiang on Independent Lens on May 25 promises to be especially cogent and poignant as a story of a Vietnamese American community in New Orleans facing down a massive ecological and socioeconomic disaster in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Versailles is the most recent production in a long collaboration between ITVS and the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), with whom we have co-produced a remarkable range of penetrating films in recent years.

Other ITVS and CAAM co-productions broadcasting this month include the Emmy-winning Sentenced Home (May 16 on Global Voices), Project Kashmir (May 18 on Independent Lens), and Independent Lens Audience Award-winner China Blue (May 23 on Global Voices).

Be sure to tune in for two other shows airing this month, too — Vietnam: The Next Generation and Teacher (which is already streaming in its entirety on the PBS.org video player).

Not sure which to watch? Take a peek inside: Clips and trailers for all of the titles airing this month are available now on the new ITVS.org video player.

Watch a preview of Project Kashmir airing next Tuesday, May 18 on Independent Lens (check local listings) >>

Tags: a village called versailles, Independent Lens, pacific islanders

Seattle’s Vietnamese Community Rallies Around A Village Called Versailles

Despite another unusually gorgeous sunny day in Seattle, we had 130 people attend our recent free Community Cinema Seattle premiere event for A Village Called Versailles. Eight people showed up just for the panel discussion. The audience loved the film finding it humorous, touching, and inspiring. There were big reactions to the story and the people in the film. The audience laughed, gasped, and were silently moved by the inspirational residents of East New Orleans’ Versailles.

We were lucky to have Trang Tu on our panel. Trang, an urban planner, is featured in the film. She spoke eloquently about Versailles and then about plans for development in Seattle and how the community can support or protest the new development in Little Saigon. Trang was integral in the development of the master plan for the rebuilding of Versailles.

Repeating that message was Thao T. Nguyen of the Vietnamese Friendship Association and Neighborhood House. Thao is a young board member who gave the audience some great tips for local activism and community support.

Our moderator, Nanette Fok, is a local activist and community organizer who drew fascinating opinions and stories from our panel. She asked how the lessons learned in A Village Called Versailles could be applied to Seattle. The audience decided that the film was an excellent catalyst topics like disaster preparedness on the community/neighborhood level.

Also on the panel was Trong Pham, President of the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, who spoke about the robust Vietnamese business community in Seattle. He and the Chamber sponsored a Vietnamese feast in the lobby after the event. At least 50-60 people stayed after the panel discussion and mingled and networked in the lobby.

Tags: a village called versailles, katrina, New Orleans, seattle