Asian Perspectives

Error message

Warning: "continue" targeting switch is equivalent to "break". Did you mean to use "continue 2"? in include_once() (line 1120 of /homepages/25/d202189983/htdocs/drupal7sas/includes/bootstrap.inc).
Deprecated function: implode(): Passing glue string after array is deprecated. Swap the parameters in drupal_get_feeds() (line 394 of /homepages/25/d202189983/htdocs/drupal7sas/includes/common.inc).

Asian Perspectives

This special series of films addresses themes of Asian identity within a Latin American context. The program gives voice to a segment of the Latin American population that is often ignored in film or relegated to peripheral, stereotypical characterizations. This series is intended to raise awareness of Asian perspectives by presenting three recent feature-length documentary films that reflect upon and educate viewers about the long history of travel, immigration and cultural exchange between Asia and Latin America.

Featuring:

The Girl from the South (La chica del sur) by Argentine director José Luis García (p. )
Inori by Mexican director Pedro González-Rubio (p. )
Nikkei by Venezuelan director Kaori Flores Yonekura (p. )

With many thanks for the generous support from the Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation.

Read more about Asian Perspectives

Nikkei

The search for identity. Cultures crossing continents. In Nikkei, director Kaori Flores Yonekura tells the story of her grandparents’ intrepid journey from Japan to Peru to Venezuela. Along the way, their personal search for a new home is set against the larger backdrop of the history of Japanese immigration to Latin America: from servitude in Peru, to the anti-Japanese media campaigns in World War II, to propaganda and promises of a better life in Venezuela.

The Girl from the South

La chica del sur

In 1989, just three weeks after the Tiananmen Square massacre, José Luis García attended the World Festival of Youth and Students in Pyongyang, North Korea. He documented the event with a VHS camera, inspired by the presence of Lim Su-Kyung, a student activist from Seoul who was boldly speaking out in favour of the peaceful reunification of North and South Korea. Su-Kyung created a further stir by announcing that she would cross the Panmunjom military border on foot, an act that would put her in danger of imprisonment or even death.

Inori

The word inori in Japanese means “prayer, adoration, invocation,” and in this spirit director Pedro González-Rubio has created a breathtaking ode to a disappearing way of life. In the small mountain community of Kannogawa, Japan, the laws of nature reshape the human blueprint of what used to be a lively village. While the younger generations have migrated to the cities, the few people left perform their everyday activities with a brave perspective on their history and the cycles of life.