Director
San Diego has been called many things – including a paradise. It’s also a refugee city, a cluster of neighborhoods, a militarized zone, a border town. And Asian American. This collection of four short documentaries, commissioned on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the San Diego Asian Film Festival, maps many such San Diego’s – across ethnicity, geography and history. At the same time, they hold on to some notion of paradise, however illusory: a haven from war, the dreams of an immigrant, precious teenage reminiscences, solace in the afterlife, and spaces for creative expression.
Sound Mixer
A working-class mobile home park in Silicon Valley faces imminent closure. Notes From Buena Vista glimpses into the lives of low-income families in one of the wealthiest places in the world.
Co-Producer
A working-class mobile home park in Silicon Valley faces imminent closure. Notes From Buena Vista glimpses into the lives of low-income families in one of the wealthiest places in the world.
Co-Director
The impact of mass incarceration is explored through an annual charity trip that takes children to visit their imprisoned mothers.
Director of Photography
Arrested at 16 and tried as an adult for kidnapping and robbery, Eddy Zheng served over 20 years in California prisons and jails. Ben Wang’s BREATHIN’: THE EDDY ZHENG STORY paints an intimate portrait of Eddy—the prisoner, the immigrant, the son, the activist—on his journey to freedom, rehabilitation and redemption. BREATHIN’ moves with a deep, critical love, unafraid in confronting the hard truths of Eddy’s crime, the harsh realities of mass incarceration and the intertwined emotional hardships experienced by all involved. The film finds Eddy at many crossroads — in and out of parole hearings, organizing in the community, othered and at risk of deportation — his resilience and astounding compassion resounding throughout. In chronicling Eddy’s decades-long struggle for freedom, the film interrogates the complexities and hypocrisies of crime and punishment in the United States, raising the greater question: For whom are prisons for?
Director of Photography
The San Quentin 1000 Mile Running Club is comprised of a mixed age, race, and ethnicity set of inmates at California's historical San Quentin State Prison. The men, who are serving time for anything from drug possession to first degree murder, find temporary solace in long distance running. They are coached by runner Franklin Ruona, who comes in from the outside and with a small set of other supportive running coaches, volunteer time to help these men train for their annual marathon. Laps is a film that captures a regular training day in the recreation yard.
Director
The San Quentin 1000 Mile Running Club is comprised of a mixed age, race, and ethnicity set of inmates at California's historical San Quentin State Prison. The men, who are serving time for anything from drug possession to first degree murder, find temporary solace in long distance running. They are coached by runner Franklin Ruona, who comes in from the outside and with a small set of other supportive running coaches, volunteer time to help these men train for their annual marathon. Laps is a film that captures a regular training day in the recreation yard.
Director of Photography
Distance Between is a short personal documentary exploring the emotional and genetic connections between fathers and sons.
Writer
Distance Between is a short personal documentary exploring the emotional and genetic connections between fathers and sons.
Director
Distance Between is a short personal documentary exploring the emotional and genetic connections between fathers and sons.
