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Cambodia finally has its first entry into the Academy Awards and the movie is now showing at the Art Theatre in Long Beach. In The Missing Picture, director Rithy Panh combines hand-carved figures with archival photos and footage to retell his experiences surviving the Khmer Rouge. The artful and affecting documentary is packed with style, intelligence, and heart, and there really is no other movie like it. At a special screening on Saturday, March 1 at 3:00 p.m., the director will be on hand to introduce the movie and take part in a panel that also features producer Catherine Dussart, French narrator Randal Douc, and composer Marc Marder. Adding extra perspective are Chhom Nimol from Dengue Fever, Prach Ly from the Cambodia Town Film Festival, Anderson Le from the Hawaii International Film Festival, and yours truly. Moderating will be my friend Julia Huang from interTrend. Check out the trailer, below, and get tickets at arttheatrelongbeach.com. It’s the same price as a regular show even though you also get the panel discussion, a dance performance, and a reception with food and drink… Or reach out to me directly and I’ll see what I can do for you. More press, in case you aren’t sold yet. Hope to see you there! “Startlingly, Panh tells his story through a mixture of Khmer Rouge propaganda newsreels and little clay figurines. It was perhaps the only way of managing the devastating memories.” – The Guardian “Panh’s remarkable new documentary works as a survivor’s testament, a film about memory and loss–and as a self-reflexive essay asking how atrocities should be depicted on screen.” – The Independent “The Missing Picture is personal and unexpected, a documentary that mixes media in an unusual way to very potent effect.” – The Los Angeles Times “The film, which won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, uses miniature clay figures and archival newsreels to recount Mr. Panh’s childhood memories—the missing pictures of the title.” – The Wall Street Journal
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Cambodia finally has its first entry into the Academy Awards and the movie is now showing at the Art Theatre in Long Beach. In The Missing Picture, director Rithy Panh combines hand-carved figures with archival photos and footage to retell his experiences surviving the Khmer Rouge. The artful and affecting documentary is packed with style, intelligence, and heart, and there really is no other movie like it. At a special screening on Saturday, March 1 at 3:00 p.m., the director will be on hand to introduce the movie and take part in a panel that also features producer Catherine Dussart, French narrator Randal Douc, and composer Marc Marder. Adding extra perspective are Chhom Nimol from Dengue Fever, Prach Ly from the Cambodia Town Film Festival, Anderson Le from the Hawaii International Film Festival, and yours truly. Moderating will be my friend Julia Huang from interTrend. Check out the trailer, below, and get tickets at arttheatrelongbeach.com. It’s the same price as a regular show even though you also get the panel discussion, a dance performance, and a reception with food and drink… Or reach out to me directly and I’ll see what I can do for you. More press, in case you aren’t sold yet. Hope to see you there! “Startlingly, Panh tells his story through a mixture of Khmer Rouge propaganda newsreels and little clay figurines. It was perhaps the only way of managing the devastating memories.” – The Guardian “Panh’s remarkable new documentary works as a survivor’s testament, a film about memory and loss–and as a self-reflexive essay asking how atrocities should be depicted on screen.” – The Independent “The Missing Picture is personal and unexpected, a documentary that mixes media in an unusual way to very potent effect.” – The Los Angeles Times “The film, which won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, uses miniature clay figures and archival newsreels to recount Mr. Panh’s childhood memories—the missing pictures of the title.” – The Wall Street Journal
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The first of three videos based on last month’s Long Beach: Work in Progress conference that I helped assemble has recently been uploaded. Longtime Giant Robot mag readers will be familiar with many faces that are included: Joe Escalante from The Vandals, Chhom Nimol and Zac Holtzman from Dengue Fever, pro skater Chad Tim Tim, W+K’s John Jay, Staple Design’s jeffstaple. I hope you also know Jack Grisham from T.S.O.L., Pulitzer Prize winning food writer Jonathan Gold… Hardcore GR fans will also be familiar with the work of videographer, Ben Clark, my good friend and go-to photographer who shot portraits for many of my key articles: Stephen Chow, Richard Mulder, Boris, P.K. 14. I was really stoked that he got the gig and think his video captures the spirit of the event as well as the vibe of Long Beach. Check out the link on Imprint’s Vimeo page. If you dig it, please share and come back for more on the next couple of Tuesdays. Clockwise from top left: Ben Clark and me, Joe Escalante (The Vandals) and Jack Grisham (T.S.O.L.), Chhom Nimol and Zac Holtzman (Dengue Fever), Jonathan Gold (The Los Angeles Times).
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Holy crap! Long Beach: Work in Progress really happened. The scenario seemed too good to be true: Come up with panels to illustrate and demonstrate the underrated heritage and upside of a city that I’ve been digging since I was a teenager. Crashing culture, colliding communities, and the power of subcultures–I’m all over that. Above you can see Long Beach skaters/activists Chad Tim Tim, Justin Reynolds, Paul Kwon, Dallas Rockvam, and Levi Brown with Pulitzer Prize winning food writer Jonathan Gold. The event took place in the historic Edison Theatre, which was built in 1917 as the Nippon Pool Room and went through phases as a sporting goods store, foot clinic, and beauty salon. Most recently it was home to CSULB’s theatre troupe but has been shuttered for five years until it was opened by the city just for Friday’s event. Keynote speaker John Jay (W+K Garage) spoke on the the creative crisis–how the need for creativity is at an all-time high in business, the arts, and society in general. His manifesto was followed by authors Cara Mullio and Jennifer Volland’s very cool study on local Case Study House architect Edward Killingsworth. (Yes, I bought a copy of their brand-new Hennessey+Ingalls book on Killingsworth and had them sign it.) Jonathan Gold’s seemingly stream-of-consciousness-yet-completely-in-control ruminations on things he likes to eat in Long Beach (framed by recollections of sailors at The Pike, a roller-coaster decapitation, and bad metal shows at Fender’s) was so good it almost made me cry, and was followed by an otherworldly panel on Long Beach music moderated by my friend and member of The Vandals Joe Escalante. Somehow, he was able to balance the early hardcore punk stories of his longtime colleague Jack Grisham from T.S.O.L. with peeks into Little Cambodia via Dengue Fever’s Zac Holtzman and Chhom Nimol (who played an acoustic preview of a brand new song). Is that a mash-up of subcultures or what. The final panel was about the importance of skateboarding to Long Beach culture and its future with Justin, Chad, Ricki The Dude Bedenbaugh, and Paul. Of course, it ripped and generated a ton of responses. The long day was capped by a round table discussion handled by jeffstaple and words from District 2 Councilperson Suja Lowenthal. Very legit to get seals of approval from a king of street culture and a city respresentative. And so awesome to witness my worlds colliding right in front of my eyes, with Jack and Joe (above, left) from years of going to punk shows to Tanya, Julia, and Renzei (above, right) from my current efforts to help the team build Long Beach (and everywhere else) through culture labs and backers in business. Keep an eye out for more photos and even a video to be leaked in the near future… But until then I think the message of Long Beach: Work in Progress can be applied to anyone’s hometown. Look for what’s cool about it, and then seek to understand, grow, mix, and share...
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I don’t talk about my day job here very often, but I think that a lot of you will appreciate this. Imprint Culture Lab is a company that showcases up-and-coming, under-the-radar, and imported ideas. Eric Nakamura actually helped kickstart the earliest ones, bringing in high-powered friends from the worlds of streetwear, tech, otaku, and craft. I’ve been helping out with the newest one, which takes place in the home base of Imprint and its sister company interTrend.
The topic was born when the founder of Imprint/CEO of interTrend Julia Huang (above, right) told me that her companies were moving from a high rise to the second oldest building in Downtown Long Beach. I created a job for myself documenting its renovation, digging into the building’s sordid past as a psychic temple, researching the local history, and showcasing the community’s energy and upside in a blog. While sitting in on a meeting to choose a direction for the next Imprint, Long Beach seemed like a perfect choice to me. With the company investing and placing roots in the neighborhood, it was time to give back and grow it.
Long Beach: Work in Progress, which takes place next Friday, will have four panels. Authors Cara Mullio and Jennifer M. Volland will talk about their new book for Hennesy+Ingalls on Case Study House architect Edward A. Killingsworth. On the subject of music, Joe Escalante from The Vandals (above, left) and Jack from T.S.O.L. will represent Long Beach’s first generation hardcore punk subculture and Chhom Nimol and Zac Holtzman will talk about their relationship Long Beach’s Little Cambodia.