我的BLOG

選擇標簽 選擇分類 標準BLOG 視頻 資料 發表 BLOG新聞 新聞

• Quickly Re. Democratic Primary Race

  2008-02-21 4:20PM / 標準BLOG

  9:38 PM - After Wisconsin and Hawai’i -- A Quick Post on Democratic Primary Race

  I sure I don't have to update you on the primaries in Wisconsin and Hawai'i. The latest national poll now shows Obama with a commanding lead over Clinton (52%-38%). I'm glad my two home states, Virginia and Hawai'i, saw this race as I do. I helped with phone calls and by being a precinct captain in Virginia. The final tally of phone calls made to Virginia turned out to be higher than I though -- 22,000 calls in Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, and English. Hawai'i's vote was rather lopsided, which I hope will put to rest the idiotic and embarrassing rumor that Asian Americans are either too racist, too FOB, or too "against change" to vote for Barack Obama. I was interviewed in this Honolulu Advertiser article pondering if Asian Americans in Hawai'i would vote differently than mainlanders. I predicted yes -- in sum, because Asian Pacific Americans in Hawai'i are accustomed to civic responsibility and political engagement, and that here on the mainland, those who are marginalized or "passive consumers" of politics are most likely to fall back on name recognition to decide between two candidates. Until very recently, name recognition favored the Clintons of course. As this advantage has evaporated, so has Clinton's lead. My point is that just like any other community, Asian Pacific Americans are sometimes too busy worrying about making ends meet to pay careful attention to politics. And, in communities where there is also a language barrier (Asian Am. and Latino) the process of learning about and accepting a new candidate for President can be more gradual.
  
  Last night (click here for photos) as the returns came in from Wisconsin and Obama gave his Houston speech, singer and filmmaker Andres Useche and I were working on two new videos in Spanish. One is a music video for Andres' new song, "Si se Puede Cambiar." The other was shot in Maryland the day before the Potomic primary. I'll post them here and elsewhere as soon as they're ready.

  
  

  我來說兩句

• Clinton Strategists Attack... Not Obama, but We Who Support Him

  2008-02-18 5:41AM / 標準BLOG

  If you haven't noticed, the new attack on Barack Obama is an attack on his supporters -- "There is too much enthusiasm for Obama" is their new mantra. Political strategists, some posing as  journalists, are complaining that tens of thousands of people show up to hear Obama speak -- this must be bad, right? Obama supporters are known to cry during his speeches, some are even writing songs. Bad for America, right? Here is my reply:
  
  There IS passion in support of Obama's historic candidacy because it is the answer and the solution to George Bush policy and George Bush politics.  Obama is the OPPOSITE OF GEORGE BUSH, the opposite of deception and manipulation, the opposite of war for profit, of hundreds of thousands of innocent people needlessly killed, maimed, or turned out of their homes, the opposite of the corruption of our Justice Department in the name of political manipulation, of the cronyism that led to the collapse of our Homeland Security department and Federal Emergency Management (Hurricane Katrina), and the erosion of our civil liberties and our nation's good standing in the world.  We have lost a great deal in the past 7 years, and some of us want a new direction we want it with a passion. 
  
  Yes, there IS less passion out there for the Clintons.  There IS less passion for a return to the 90's and the Hillary's technocratic approach to our broken government.  There is less passion because the Clintons are LESS OPPOSITE of Bush in two important ways.  Hillary and her speech writers can blame Obama for being able to communicate effectively and inspire people to "ask not what your country can do for you...."  But they must also blame the global catastrophe that is the Bush Administration, Hillary's vote to authorize the Iraq War, and the fact that the Clintons have yet to effectively distinguish themselves from Bush/McCain policies and Bush/McCain politics in the eyes of the American people.  If there ever was a time to get passionate about the course of American history, this is the year.  It may be a bad thing for the Clinton machine, but it is a good thing for America.
  
  

  4個評論–  我來說兩句

• From a San Francisco Cafe: "TRE" and Clinton vs. Obama (of course)

  2008-02-17 7:28AM / 標準BLOG

  First of all a shout out to Patrick and AliveNot Dead.  I'm seeing a lot of people at the theaters who came out to support "TRE" because of this website!  Filmmakers out there, be glad this site is out there.                         So I was really happy to see the film projected on 35 mm last night, and we had a great time afterwards at the Margaurita (sp?) bar down the street.  All I can hope is that tonight we'll get a chance to do the same.  The drinks and the food were great at this place!  After a few drinks the ladies got into a discussion about who among them could see themselves cheating on Gabe with Tre.  The guys were standing to the side discussing it amongst themselves and at one point I had to run over to them and tell them to listen to the women -- all was being revealed!  My sound byte "Tre is a movie for women and men who understand women" paid off in my radio interviews, which I'll share with you once they are on-line.  In discussion with Tim Sika of Celluloid Dreams, I realized that Tre has a hybrid sensibility, not just on race, but also from a gender perspective (being that Kimberly-Rose and I authored the scrīpt together) and also from an alpha male vs. beta male perspective.  I explained that traditionally American films that touch upon romance have been firmly rooted in the beta male perspective -- most classicly in the nerd vs. jock high school genre, but also in the romantic comedy genre which is essentially an extension of nerd vs. jock but with adults.  Both Charlotte Sometimes and Tre are "hybrids" in the sense that perspective is in between alpha and beta male, and Tre in particular allows for a more in-depth and illuminating study of the percieved alpha male in the story.  The mystery as to why women are attracted to alpha males, even when beta males treat them more respectfully and offer stablility/security etc. is certainly a theme in both films.  We got into it over drinks last night but I'm not sure if anything was settled. 
  
  On the campaign front the big news of today was leaked to me yesterday by a friend at the Service Employees International Union, who endorsed Obama today.  This afternoon I am at a cafe in San Francisco editing a "Latinos for Obama" video I shot on Monday when Obama spoke at the University of Maryland.  Latinos voted for Obama in Virginia and Maryland which was part of the reason why Obama carried both states by such a decisive margin. I was able to capture some of that spirit at UMD and will be posting the video soon.  Meanwhile, I've noticed that the Clintons' new slogan is "speeches or solutions" as if there were somehow a choice between the two.  I hate to slam the Clintons, and I won't here, but time and time again their slogans are so insulting.  Do they think we're too dumb to realize that BOTH Clinton and Obama are making speeches, only the CONTENT of Obama's speeches is reaching people at a much higher level.  Unfortunately for Hillary, who has been a faithful public servant and has worked really hard on this campaign, the nation needs a President who can communicate with us, because we no longer want the kind of President who manipulates us and our goverment behind closed doors.  It's as if the Clintons are saying to the American electorate "Go home, there's nothing to see here, it's too complicated for you to understand anyway, here let me prove it by being technical and boring for half an hour, government is too complex for a true democracy, you just go back to sleep and we'll fix everything for you."  Sadly, we've learned our lesson letting politicians run the government while we were asleep.  A few months ago it looked like the late 20th century style of politics was too entrenched, and if it was going to be a partisan war, the Clintons would be our best warriors.  Obama is offering an alternative vision where the people are active and awake, where the choices we must make as a nation are NOT too complex to understand -- not if our leader is a communicator who wants to listen to us, and to whom we want to listen.  As Annabel explains in this video, Hillary is a "technocrat" and a good one, but in today's America, a leader is required. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1v2aG-QMls
  Hope to see you at 4-Star Theater tonight:
  2200 Clement Street @ 23rd Avenue
  San Francisco, CA 94121
  (415) 666-3488
  Showtimes: Daily 1:40, 7:20
  A special Q&A with director Eric Byler
  Saturday (Feb 16th) after the 7:20 show
  Sunday (Feb 17th) after the 1:40 show
  Admission: $8.50
  
  

  4個評論–  我來說兩句

• "Tre" Is a Film for Women and Men who Understand Women

  2008-02-15 12:50PM / 標準BLOG

    I am doing radio and TV interviews tomorrow in San Francisco and I'm now thinking in sound bytes in order to prepare.  Just kidding.  But how do you like that title?  Lots of reviews came in today.  When I learned that film critic Dennis Harvey was reviewing Tre for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, I was glad because he had written a great review in Variety during our festival run.  I think I like his theatrical review even more, especially the last line which made me laugh out loud.  Like Dennis Harvey's review, Ben Hamamoto's piece in the Nichi Bei Times is insightful in ways that I hadn't thought of when writing or directing the film with regard to Tre's tactics and motivations.  I also like that he points out that Tre and Kakela are both hapa (mixed race Asian/Pacific Islander).  This review from Combustible Celluloid by Jeffrey Anderson praises the opening sequence and it's about time someone did!  It goes several minutes without dialogue but introduces all four characters (three of them partially nude) and the spacial/social dynamics between them.  I love it (=
  
  Meanwhile, there's been a big drama about the 35 mm blow-up that has been so painful for me as an artist that I haven't been able to even share it with hardly anyone until now -- but now thankfully the ordeal is over!  To make a long story short, my film was entrusted to a disgruntled Post Production Supervisor who had some psychological issues (to say the least) and had a big grudge against Cinema Libre.  Rather than murder everyone at the studio, he decided to take out his frustrations on my film.  The 35 mm print he created was a disaster that would have destroyed years of work by myself and others who had donated or practically donated their time.  I was pulled away from the Obama campaign in late January to basically do the guy's job for him in a huge rush to beat the Feb. 1st deadline for theatrical release.  I worked 20 hour days for 2 weeks with a new team of qualified and well-intentioned professionals, but we couldn't do the work fast enough and the film opened on digital in Los Angeles and Chicago.  This was really disappointing for me, because digital projection in my view robs a film of its cinematic artistry, forcing the narrative to rely solely on the story, which is strong enough, but not the whole presentation for the films that I make.  But the good news is I can be really excited about tomorrow night because San Francisco will be the FIRST CITY in the world to see the film as it was intended to be seen, on 35 mm film. In fact, I will be seeing it for the first time on 35 mm myself on Friday night, because I'll be doing interviews all day prior to the 7:20 PM screening.  So if you're in the Bay Area, come out Friday night for a rare experience of seeing a film with a director who is seeing it for the first time.  Or, hope to see you at one of the other Q/A screenings listed below.
  
  "TRE" a film by Eric Byler
  4-Star Theatre (San Francisco)
  2200 Clement St. @ 23rd Ave.
  Showtimes:   Daily 1:40, 7:20
  **Q&A's (w/ Eric Byler)
    Friday (Feb 15th) after the 7:20
    Saturday (Feb 16th) after the 7:20
    Sunday (Feb 17th) after the 1:40
    Admission: $8.50
  
  
  
  

  3個評論–  我來說兩句

• Diary from Virginia Primary -- Volunteering for Barack Obama

  2008-02-15 6:20AM / 標準BLOG

    Last week on the day before Super Tuesday, I woke up to find my cell phone had somehow vibrated itself off the night stand and into a glass of water.  That day I bought my first Blackberry (already addicted) which I found out can post text and photos to my Facebook wall instantly.  Below is the diary I kept while standing in the freezing cold volunteering for the Obama campaign (and voting) in the Virginia Primary Feb. 12.  (I am now in San Francisco for the opening of Tre tomorrow, more on that in my next blog.)  The final entry refers to a national phone banking effort I helped to orchestrate, with people in various cities teaming up to make almost 10,000 phone calls in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean to voters in Virginia.
  
  6.20 AM Election Day in Virginia. I woke up just before 4. I am precinct captian at Falls Church High School for Barack Obama. It is cold out but spirits are high. More later.
  
  6.58 AM. A woman emerged from the polling place just now saying "I am the only Republican in Falls Church!" I asked what she meant and she said she was the first Republican to vote today. It had only been an hour, but at least 40 people had preceeded her. She said she had voted for Ron Paul to let the party know she was not happy.
  
  10.45 AM. I have been to two other polling places now. I am at the same Annandale firestation where Annabel, Jean, Mark, and I uncovered Republican voter fraud in 2006. A man came out just now and reported that 241 Democratic ballots had been cast, to only 70 GOP. Radio reports say Republicans0. Vcdgdg
  
  10:49 AM  Woops. Radio reports say Republicans are voting in droves for Hillary to get an easier opponent for McCain in November. Virginia's open primary allows such hijinks but most states do not for just this reason.
  
  2:30 PM   I went to Gainesville to vote and am now back at the polling place in Annandale. I felt really good about voting for Obama! I took a photo of my electronic ballot and will post if I can figure out how.
  
  3:06 PM  A very nice woman named Rachel who is the Democratic Party Chair for Mason District just arrived. She ducked in to check the polling data. 405 Democratic ballots cast. 167 Republican ballots.
  
  6:13 PM  An election observer from the DNC has joined us in the freezing rain. She is a Clinton supporter, she explained, because she was a Clinton appointee. But she told me thinks Obama will win and that his Presidency would be better for our country. To explain the contradiction she said "it's loyalty."
  
  8:17 PM  When the polls closed I watched despopndently as three or four people were turned away. With the bad weather they had hoped an exception would be made. Not so. Almost immediately I received two emails saying Obama is the projected winner in Virginia. We are now eating pho with two friends who are Clinton supporters. Annabel received an email saying Obama won 55 percent of Latino vote in Virginia. At our polling place it seemed that Asians were for Clinton. Interested to see final numbers on both.
  
  11:37 AM (the next morning)  The morning after Virginia's primary I am at the airport about to fly to San. Francisco. I have press stuff to do for Tre which opens there Friday. I am happy of course that Obama won, happy also to be out of the freezing cold ice storm. Election rules prohibit us from standing with in 40 feet of the polling place entrance, which meant we were either standing in the hail and sleet or huddled in the car for 13 hours. In the past I have been known to say "it's a priviledge to suffer for art.". By the same token it is a priviledge to suffer for a cause or a candidate you believe in. YouTube videos soon.
  
  12:03 PM  Thanks so much for all your hard work! We not only won the primary but also engaged people in the process - people from crucial communities who would not have had the life changing experience of being a part of this movement at this point in history had we not reached out to them in the way that we did. This is a tremendous gift to these people, to our communities, and to our country.
  
  I am about to take off from DC to SF. Please share my thank you note with everyone who helped out. Thanks thanks.
  
  Eric
  
  

  1個評論–  我來說兩句

99

10/20

|<

<

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

>

>|