FESTIVAL MINI-GUIDE

SAN DIEGO ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL NOVEMBER 8-17, 2018 160+ FILMS, 20+ COUNTRIES, 6 VENUES, 1 FESTIVAL. SDAFF.ORG WELCOME TO THE SAN DIEGO ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL!

MAJOR GRANTS

MAJOR SPONSORS MAJOR MEDIA

SPOTLIGHT SPONSORS

GALA PRESENTERS OPENING NIGHT

WHAT A CRAZY RICH SUMMER it’s and Patrick Wang, who all return in 2018 been for Asian American cinema. Two with tenacious new features that look and features directed by and primarily sound like nothing else in mainstream featuring Asian Americans cracked the cinema. And let’s continue to herald the top four in weekly box office, and one emergence of new talents in documentary, has gone on to becoming the highest animation, narrative, and experimental grossing romantic comedy in nearly a filmmaking, and to those working in the decade. With any historic achievement feature and short forms, who realize that though comes the question: what’s Hollywood needs them more than they next? We can wait for Hollywood to need Hollywood. now invest in more Asian American And in the end, we’re reminded we need stories, but we’ve seen that enthusiasm them too. These are the filmmakers whose fizzle before. independence as artists fuel their nothing- Instead, let’s turn to the bedrock of to-lose spirits and dare them to make Asian American cinematic talent: the singular statements. After a historic independent filmmakers. Let’s summer, we return to our regular, bold, acknowledge the veterans who never spectacular programming in the fall. needed a #goldopen to announce their Filmmakers, audiences: welcome back to artistry. Directors like H.P. Mendoza, the San Diego Asian Film Festival. Stephanie Wang-Breal, Tanuj Chopra,

Periodical Statement San Diego Asian Film Festival, Nov. 8–17, 2018, Issue No. 4 Published annually Address: Pacific Arts Movement, 2508 Historic Decatur Road #140, San Diego, CA 92106.

2 #SDAFF2018 TICKET INFORMATION

• Tickets for all presentations are available at sdaff.org.

• Walk-up tickets for presentations at UltraStar go on sale at the UltraStar box office startingNov. 2.

• Walk-up tickets for presentations at non-UltraStar locations are available at that venue’s box officeone hour before showtime.

• Vouchers can be redeemed for regular screenings (not valid for special presentations) at Pac Arts box office/will call. See back of voucher for details.

NON-MEMBER PRICES PAC ARTS MEMBER PRICES

GENERAL ADMISSION GENERAL ADMISSION $12 $9

OPENING/CLOSING FILMS OPENING/CLOSING FILMS $40 $30

CENTERPIECE FILM CENTERPIECE FILM $15 $12

FESTIVAL 6-PACK ALL FESTIVAL PASS $60 $195

ALL FESTIVAL PASS $295 GROUP TICKETS

STUDENT/SENIOR/MILITARY MINIMUM OF 10 TICKETS PER SCREENING SAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY $9 (general), $30 (Opening/Closing), $10 (at door only) with valid ID $12 (Centerpiece)

FREE SCREENINGS

FREE FILMS AT 4 All films at 4:00PM on weekdays of the festival are free.

SHORTS FOR SHORTIES! A collection of international short films, free for kids 12 and under (Nov. 10, pg 30).

REEL VOICES World premiere of our high school documentary program (Nov. 11, pg 29).

ALL SCREENINGS & PANELS AT UCSD PRICE CENTER THEATER Free for UCSD students, faculty, and staff with valid ID.

PAC ARTS MEMBER SCREENING The Nov. 12 screening of DEAR EX (pg 12) is free for Pac Arts members

SPECIAL EVENTS

SDAFF AWARDS GALA & AFTER PARTY | SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10 Awards Gala 5:00PM-9:00PM | After Party 9:00PM-midnight | Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier $200 for Pac Arts members / $250 general. Purchase tickets at pacarts.org/awards-gala.

For more special events, visit sdaff.org or go to pg 23.

TICKET INFORMATION 3 VENUES

OPENING & CLOSING NIGHTS MAIN VENUE SDAFF AWARDS GALA

SAN DIEGO NATURAL ULTRASTAR CINEMAS MISSION VALLEY PORT PAVILION ON BROADWAY PIER HISTORY MUSEUM 7510 Hazard Center Dr. #100 1000 N Harbor Dr. 1788 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101 San Diego, CA 92108 San Diego, CA 92101 (Nov. 8, Nov. 17) (Nov. 9-14) (Nov. 10)

TAIWAN FILM INDIE FILMS IN NORTH MIRA MESA ENCORE SCREENINGS SHOWCASE PARK SCREENINGS SATURDAY

UCSD PRICE CENTER DIGITAL GYM CINEMA EDWARDS MIRA MESA MUSEUM OF THEATER 2921 El Cajon Blvd. STADIUM PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS 9500 Gilman Dr. San Diego, CA 92104 10733 Westview Pkwy 1649 El Prado La Jolla, CA 92093 (Nov. 16-17) San Diego, CA 92126 San Diego, CA 92101 (Nov. 9-11) (Nov. 15-16) (Nov. 17)

4 #SDAFF2018 SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

The feature presentations of this year's San Diego Asian Film Festival include two delectable films about families bound by food, a selection of imaginative virtual reality from Taiwan, classic films that will have you singing in your seats, and a rousing documentary about the kids who will save the world.

LITTLE FOREST THUR YIM SOON-RYE / S. KOREA / 2018 / 103 MIN 11/08 When Hye-won flees Seoul’s empty calories and daily 7:00PM humiliations, she returns to her rural town with a voracious NAT craving to whip up the good stuff. A gorgeous cooking journey based on a popular manga, auteur Yim Soon-rye’s latest glows with the beauty of self-invention, seasonal joys, and homemade makgeoli. OPENING NIGHT

INVENTING TOMORROW SUN LAURA NIX / USA / 2018 / 87 MIN 11/11 Science and young adult passion are entwined in this 7:00PM exhilarating dose of hope, creative guts and Inspector Gadget ULTRA genius. Four teens from Mexico, Hawaii, Indonesia, and India pursue ingenious solutions for environmental crises close to home on their way to the largest science fair in the world. A riveting journey and beautiful ode to awkward adolescence, teamwork, and people who want to save the world. CENTERPIECE

RAMEN SHOP SAT ERIC KHOO / SINGAPORE, JAPAN, FRANCE / 2018 / 90 MIN 11/17 A cinematic turducken of food movie wrapped in a love story 7:15PM marinated by Singapore’s multi-ethnic history. Two iconic NAT dishes and one iconic director come together in a Japanese chef’s search for his Singaporean mother’s soup recipe, discovering forbidden love and family rifts swimming in the broth. Foregoing nostalgia, Khoo vividly portrays the ways CLOSING NIGHT political histories reinvent the very food we eat.

VIRTUAL REALITY FROM TAIWAN FRI 11/09 UCSD PRICE CENTER THEATER / FREE 5:30-10:00PM Come check out the latest in virtual reality from Taiwan, featuring short narrative experiences that poke fun at SAT 11/10 tradition and reveal history in sensuous 360 degrees. 1:00-7:00PM THE TRAIN HAMASEN SUN 11/11 Lai Kuan-Yuan / Taiwan / 2017 / 8 min 1:00-7:00PM YOUR SPIRITUAL TEMPLE SUCKS John Hsu / Taiwan / 2017 / 10 min VIRTUAL REALITY FILMS UCSD VR experiences are available on a first come, first served basis. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 5 SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

CELLULOID JUKEBOX Like discovering birth parents way cooler than you could have imagined, these rediscovered classics rewrite the lineage of Asian cinema with vivid and timeless poignancy.

THE LEGEND OF THE STARDUST MON BROTHERS MACOTO TEZUKA / JAPAN / 1985 / 100 MIN 11/12 9:00PM Choreographed stage antics! Cocaine in kiddie pools! ULTRA This is the star-studded MTV glam rock opera you’ve never heard of, the one about dreamers who get a break from record label schemers and government conspirators, and who, in a flash of glory, experience the galaxial heights of CELLULOID JUKEBOX superstardom. Newly remastered cut of director Macoto (son of Osamu) Tezuka.

MOON FASCINATING, BIRD SWEET SUN RICHARD CHEN YAO-CHI / TAIWAN / 1978 / 95 MIN 11/11 This program features two of director Richard Chen’s 1:00PM landmark films of youth in Taiwan. A newly-restored print of his documentary-esque short THE MOUNTAIN, about political UCSD ideals in 1960s Taiwan, made after he graduated from UCLA; and his Chiung Yao adaptation MOON FASCINATING, BIRD SWEET, about the romantic fantasies of a kindergarten CELLULOID JUKEBOX teacher played by Brigitte Lin. Preceded by THE MOUNTAIN / Richard Yao-Chi Chen / Taiwan / 1966, 2017 restoration / 19 min

WAIKIKI BROTHERS FRI YIM SOON-RYE / S. KOREA / 2001 / 109 MIN 11/09 A landmark classic from the Korean New Wave, Yim Soon- 6:20PM rye’s deadpan portrait of masculinity follows a struggling cover band’s last gasp at a faded hotel in Sung-woo’s ULTRA hometown. Masterfully blending black comedy with warm compassion, this hard-to-find essential film, shown in a new digital remastering, features many of Korea’s future stars in CELLULOID JUKEBOX a stellar ensemble cast.

6 #SDAFF2018 ASIAN AMERICAN PANORAMA

The best of Asian American cinema in all of its colors — from short film programs and animation, to documentaries about the famous and infamous, to feature-length tales of woe and humor.

1985 SUN YEN TAN / USA / 2018 / 85 MIN 11/11 It’s the Bible Belt during the AIDS crisis and Adrian is 8:30PM returning home for Xmas for possibly the last time. With ULTRA an all-consuming diagnosis put on painful mute, his dog and ex-girlfriend become his only confidants as Adrian grapples with the muscle tension of walking unspoken boundaries in the midst of family love.

AUGUST AT AKIKO'S SAT CHRISTOPHER MAKOTO YOGI / USA / 2018 / 75 MIN 11/10 Saxophone in hand, Alex goes searching for his grandparents 1:00PM on the Big Island, only to discover they have long passed ULTRA away, leading him to free-spirited Akiko’s Buddhist B&B. A breathtaking ode to jazz, empathy, and an island breathing ancestral mystery and healing.

BETWEEN TIDES THUR MASA FOX / JAPAN, USA, GUAM / 2018 / 87 MIN 11/15 As the Bonin Islands passed back and forth between US and 4:00PM Japan rule after WWII, for a young “Navy Generation” of EDMM multi-ethnic islanders, their citizenship, culture, and language changed overnight. Exploring the intimate ripple effects of ongoing statelessness, this film explores how these islanders hold onto remnants of their mixed traditions.

THE BIG HOUSE SAT KAZUHIRO SODA, MARKUS NORNES, TERRI SARRIS / 11/10 USA, JAPAN / 2018 / 119 MIN 12:50PM Endorphins flood the senses in this observational doc about ULTRA UMich’s football stadium, which hosts a jaw-dropping 100,000 visitors. Kazuhiro Soda and 16 co-directors wander in fascination, capturing everything but the game, from sonic immersions to assembling sandwiches and the myriad temporary microcosms within a blue and yellow galaxy.

ASIAN AMERICAN PANORAMA 7 ASIAN AMERICAN PANORAMA

BITTER MELON SUN H.P. MENDOZA / USA / 2018 / 96 MIN 11/11 A dark revenge comedy featuring a Filipino American 3:25PM family overcoming domestic violence demons with the ULTRA worst son ever. H.P. Mendoza returns, mixing multiple genres and tones in his transgressive take on the home- for-the-holidays story. Preceded by MAYBE / Kat Cole / USA / 2018 / 10 min

BLOWIN' UP SUN STEPHANIE WANG-BREAL / USA / 2018 / 94 MIN 11/11 Deep in Queens, Judge Toko Serita has created a courtroom 1:15PM remarkably uninterested in crime. A space where women ULTRA caught in sex work can wipe their slate utterly clean. A gripping documentary on the revolutions that happen when a small group of women rethink the unthinkable within a rigid criminal system.

A BREAD FACTORY, PART ONE MON PATRICK WANG / USA / 2018 / 122 MIN 11/12 A multi-purpose arts space, run by an old couple and 6:30PM an omnipresent child projectionist, stands up against a ULTRA municipal proposal to defer arts funding away from the historic community center and toward celebrity performance artists from China. Small town sensibilities become the showcase for introspection and the will—especially of women—to find purpose in communion.

A BREAD FACTORY, PART TWO MON PATRICK WANG / USA / 2018 / 120 MIN 11/12 The threads, so precisely woven in Part One, start to show 8:45PM their seams in Part Two, and the role of art in a small town ULTRA reveals itself in all its unexpected, and sometimes very comic, contradictions. New guests show up in town, drama ensues over a local newspaper, and a new production of Euripides pushes ahead steadfast. A BREAD FACTORY, PART ONE and TWO: Both films included with single admission.

8 #SDAFF2018 BUFFALO BOYS SAT MIKE WILUAN / INDONESIA, SINGAPORE / 2018 / 105 MIN 11/17 A smoke-filled, action-packed, dust-covered, Indonesian 2:30PM spin on the classic western. In the 19th century, American- MOPA born Indonesian gunslingers return to Java to avenge their father’s murder and deliver sweet justice to evil Dutch colonizers who have taken over their town.

CALL HER GANDA TUE PJ RAVAL / PHILIPPINES, USA / 2018 / 94 MIN 11/13 Transgender woman Jennifer Laude is found dead in a motel 7:55PM bathroom in the Philippines, last seen with an American ULTRA Marine on leave. Vigorous and poetic, PJ Raval’s latest doc follows a mother, trans journalist, and attorney as they set off a firestorm in pursuit of justice. Preceded by FUCK ME OR DESTROY ME / Aisha Mirza / UK, USA / 2016 / 4 min

FICTION AND OTHER REALITIES MON BOBBY CHOY, STEVE LEE / S. KOREA, USA / 2018 / 84 MIN 11/12 Bobby (aka real-life musician Big Phony) is a singer- 6:40PM songwriter who can’t seem to find his place in New York ULTRA City. Set to the actor’s own music, this semi-autobiographical film follows Bobby as a roadie on a friend’s tour in Korea where a chance meeting with a beautiful street singer sets him on a path to belonging.

FISH BONES TUE JOANNE MONY PARK / USA / 2018 / 82 MIN 11/13 Model-turned-actress Joony Kim stars as Hana, who floats 8:10PM between working at her family restaurant, off-kilter modeling ULTRA gigs, and new romantic curiosity sparked by musician Nico’s gentle seductions. Non-linear storytelling mixes with daring stylization and an emotional punch in this star-making debut for actors Kim, Cris Gris, and director Joanne Mony Park.

ASIAN AMERICAN PANORAMA 9 ASIAN AMERICAN PANORAMA

HAVANA DIVAS WED S. LOUISA WEI / HONG KONG / 2018 / 90 MIN 11/14 Caridad and Georgina, both with Cuban mothers and 5:55PM Chinese fathers, grew up in Havana performing Cantonese ULTRA opera as teenagers. Mixing scenes from Cuban history and a dream visit to China, the documentary showcases the women, now in their eighties, as they revive their opera careers and keep their Chinese Cuban culture alive.

LATE LIFE: THE CHIEN-MING WANG SAT STORY 11/10 FRANK W CHEN / USA, TAIWAN / 2018 / 99 MIN 5:25PM Former New York Yankees pitcher and “Pride of Taiwan,” UCSD Chien-Ming Wang, finds himself without a job in Major League Baseball while struggling to come back after years SAT of injuries. He works to regain his form to make one final 11/17 push to pitch again at baseball’s highest level. 12:30PM MOPA

LEITIS IN WAITING WED HINA WONG-KALU, DEAN HAMER, JOE WILSON / TONGA, USA / 11/14 2018 / 72 MIN 7:55PM Transgender women in Tonga fight religiousfundamentalism ULTRA and intolerance in a kingdom that once treasured their role. Through interviews with the leiti community and American-financed evangelicals, this feisty and poignant doc explores what it takes to thrive in a society influenced by outside forces without forsaking culture and tradition. Preceded by GRANDMOTHER AND ME / Kat Cole / USA / 2018 / 7 min

ORIGIN STORY SAT KULAP VILAYSACK / USA, LAOS / 2018 / 106 MIN 11/10 At 14, Kulap discovered that the man she called father was in 3:45PM fact not. Now a successful entertainer, Kulap embarks on an ULTRA investigatory quest that takes her to the Mekong, in search for keys to disentangle family secrets and the decade-long rift between Kulap and her mother.

10 #SDAFF2018 STAYCATION SAT TANUJ CHOPRA / USA / 2018 / 61 MIN 11/10 Sex, more sex, indecent proposals and Indian food tensions 3:15PM punctuate every minute of Tanuj Chopra’s latest dramedy ULTRA about a millennial couple grappling with insecurities and unearthed phone pics, all within the tangled bedsheets of their apartment.

TO KILL ALICE FRI KIM SANGKYU / S. KOREA / 2017 / 78 MIN 11/16 Literal explosives light the media firestorm surrounding 4:00PM Eunmi, a South Korean in America who rethinks her anti- EDMM Communist upbringing after visiting North Korea and pens a book calling for unification. Sangkyu Kim’s objective eye captures the public turmoil of her Korean book tour and wildly shifting assumptions about free speech, social faultlines, and Eunmi herself.

UNLOVABLE SUN SUZI YOONESSI / USA / 2018 / 82 MIN 11/11 Based on the life of lead actor Charlene deGuzman, Joy 4:00PM seeks help for sex addiction and finds herself in the garage ULTRA of a socially awkward man, and soon afterward, finds herself wielding drumsticks and a beat that leads to recovery. Rocking, hilarious, sexy, and genuine, UNLOVABLE is a touching tribute to the power of music.

WHITE RABBIT SAT DARYL WEIN / USA / 2018 / 71 MIN 11/10 Between eking out a living as a Task Rabbit for entitled moms, 6:10PM bungling her way through love, and staging outrageous ULTRA performances to a totally indifferent public, Sophia Lee is a modern day Don Quixote. Her truly impossible mission: existing as a human artist in Los Angeles. A hilarious, unforgettable portrait. Preceded by LIQUOR STORE BABIES / So Yun Um / USA / 2018 / 5 min

ASIAN AMERICAN PANORAMA 11 ASIA POP!

Films to make you laugh, cry, and cheer, featuring high-flying teachers, time-traveling lovers, and a zombie-film director who will stop at nothing to achieve greatness.

BIG BROTHER THUR KAM KA-WAI / HONG KONG / 2018 / 101 MIN 11/15 Donnie Yen puts the danger in Dangerous Minds as the 8:35PM martial arts superstar plays a US Marine returning to EDMM his former high school as an extremely unconventional teacher. Yen solves student problems at home, fights corrupt FRI developers, and keeps fans happy with his lightning quick 11/16 legs in this upbeat social commentary. 8:15PM Preceded by PRACTICE / Iyabo Kwayana / China, USA / 2018 / EDMM 10 min

BROTHER OF THE YEAR SAT VITHAYA THONGYUYONG / THAILAND / 2018 / 125 MIN 11/10 Jane and Chut are siblings filled with mutual hate since 1:25PM childhood. Now adults, Jane is super successful while Chut ULTRA has little accolades to his name. The only way Chut can ruin Jane’s life is to sabotage her blossoming relationship with SUN their mutual boss. Will Chut risk it all just to taste revenge? 11/11 4:15PM ULTRA

DEAD PIGS SUN CATHY YAN / CHINA / 2018 / 130 MIN 11/11 In a world where money is everything, how do you keep 5:55PM your soul? Based on true events, an epidemic of dead pigs ULTRA surface in Shanghai-bound rivers, causing unpredictable collisions amongst a farmer, salon owner, waiter, rich girl, MON and Westerner-for-hire. A zany, dark, and sometimes musical 11/12 journey set to the sound of China’s corroding traditionalism. 3:15PM ULTRA

DEAR EX FRI MAG HSU, CHIH-YEN HSU / TAIWAN / 2018 / 100 MIN 11/09 Sanlian is left bewildered after her husband asks for a 7:00PM divorce, and his sudden death reveals the beneficiary of UCSD his insurance policy is his gay partner, who her son suddenly decides to live with. With humor and heart, three people MON must navigate strange living arrangements, fresh grief, 11/12 and new identities. 6:00PM ULTRA

12 #SDAFF2018 GO-GO SISTERS THUR NGUYEN QUANG-DUNG / VIETNAM / 2018 / 117 MIN 11/15 Set against the backdrop of war in Vietnam, a group of 5:40PM high school girls in Da Lat calling themselves the Wild EDMM Horses vow never to leave each other’s side. When one is stricken with cancer in present day, the women rush to find each other again before it’s too late.

GRADUATION WED JOAN JI YEY HUI / S. KOREA / 2018 / 82 MIN 11/14 Juggling graduation, living on her own, and low-paying 6:25PM jobs, lively and bright-eyed Hae-Rang holds onto her dream ULTRA to become a film production designer while maneuvering adulthood.

HOW LONG WILL I LOVE U MON SU LUN / CHINA / 2018 / 101 MIN 11/12 In this time traveling screwball romcom, bootstrapped 1:00PM strangers Xiao and Lu wake up in the same bed, toggling ULTRA between 2018 and 1999 every time they step out of each other’s doors. After their time travel get-rich schemes TUE hilariously fail, their budding romance takes a turn when 11/13 their two-person universe becomes a most unusual love 6:20PM triangle. ULTRA

A LAND IMAGINED FRI YEO SIEW HUA / SINGAPORE, FRANCE, THE NETHERLANDS / 2018 / 11/09 95 MIN 6:35PM In this breathtakingly baroque Singaporean noir, the black ULTRA heart of the criminal underworld isn’t drugs but sand, illegally smuggled to expand an ever-growing shoreline. A hard boiled detective searches for a missing migrant worker and encounters a mysterious gamer in a Lynchian rabbit hole unlike any Singapore seen before. Winner of the Golden Leopard at the 2018 Locarno Film Festival.

ASIA POP! 13 ASIA POP!

MEN ON THE DRAGON SAT SUNNY CHAN / HONG KONG / 2018 / 92 MIN 11/10 Lacking teamwork, Andy Lau tickets, and muscle tone in 6:45PM general, four aging telecom workers jump into a dragon ULTRA boat race to avoid layoffs. A star-studded Hong Kong mid-life desperation comedy and a hard-hitting commentary on new SUN economic realities, bundled into a feel-good sports film. 11/11 2:10PM ULTRA

MORI, THE ARTIST'S HABITAT FRI SHUICHI OKITA / JAPAN / 2018 / 99 MIN 11/09 Japan’s revered actors star in this charming comedy about 9:05PM one enchanted day in the life of celebrated painter and ULTRA hermit Morikazu Kumagai and his beloved wife, played by late Kirin Kiki. Immersed in the terrarium of his garden where MON microcosms become wonderlands, he swats away a throng 11/12 of fans, official awards, and even a supernatural being. 1:30PM ULTRA

MR. AND MRS. CRUZ FRI SIGRID ANDREA P. BERNARDO / PHILIPPINES / 2018 / 11/09 115 MIN 7:00PM Two strangers with the same last name meet serendipitously ULTRA while traveling to the beautiful island of Palawan where everyone mistakes them for a married couple. With the THUR shy heart of Before Sunset, their romantic musings and 11/15 meanderings twist and turn toward an unpredictable 8:05PM destination. EDMM

ONE CUT OF THE DEAD FRI SHINICHIRO UEDA / JAPAN / 2017 / 96 MIN 11/09 Can a zombie wield an axe? Would Hot Potato with a severed 9:50PM arm work on-screen? How far will a fast, cheap, but average ULTRA director go to ensure that his masterpiece doesn’t fall to pieces? Director Shinichiro Ueda’s debut answers all of SAT these questions and more in the ingenious zombie horror- 11/10 comedy of the decade. 9:05PM Preceded by MEA CULPA / Meng Yu / USA / 2018 / 7 min ULTRA

14 #SDAFF2018 SUNSET IN MY HOMETOWN SAT LEE JOON-IK / S. KOREA / 2018 / 123 MIN 11/10 Hak-Soo’s big chance to succeed as a rapper is interrupted 4:00PM when his father suddenly falls ill and he must return to ULTRA his hometown. As he realizes nothing has changed, he begins a humorous and heartwarming journey to reckon FRI with an unwelcome past. 11/16 8:30PM EDMM

THE WITNESS MON JO KYU-JANG / S. KOREA / 2018 / 111 MIN 11/12 The “bystander effect” is twisted into box office thriller gold 8:35PM as an ordinary salaryman witnesses a murder outside his ULTRA apartment complex and says nothing. Eye contact with the murderer has placed a target on his back, and a terrifying WED cat and mouse game plays out in the halls and stairways 11/14 of a once-safe home. 5:45PM ULTRA

XIAO MEI SUN MAREN HWANG / TAIWAN / 2018 / 95 MIN 11/11 Nine points of view filmed as nine different genres make up 3:20PM this ambitious portrait of a young elusive drug addict living UCSD in a kaleidoscopic Taipei. Splashy and visually sumptuous, the film’s whodunnit of missing identity juggles film noir, action, and PSAs, slyly suggesting film’s own unreliable and multiple personalities.

ASIA POP! 15 MASTERS

Fresh from Cannes, Venice, and other prestigious international film festivals, these are premiere works by the world’s best directors.

3 FACES SUN JAFAR PANAHI / IRAN / 2018 / 100 MIN 11/11 Banned filmmaker Jafar Panahi (This is Not a Film) turns on 3:45PM his camera again, this time to probe the film culture that ULTRA has produced his present circumstances. Specifically, he looks at the way society views women at different points in TUE their entertainment careers. The result is a characteristically 11/13 playful, patiently charming, and witty mix of narrative and 8:30PM documentary impulses. ULTRA

ASH IS PUREST WHITE TUE JIA ZHANG-KE / CHINA, FRANCE / 2018 / 141 MIN 11/13 In the heat of panic, Qiao fires a gun to protect the man she 2:15PM loves. For him, she serves five years in prison, but upon her ULTRA release, she finds that gang loyalty can be stronger than romantic ones. Covering nearly two decades, Jia Zhang-ke’s WED latest epic is an ode to innocence shattered and the classic 11/14 Hong Kong gangster films that continue to resuscitate the 8:10PM heart. ULTRA

DEAD SOULS MON WANG BING / FRANCE, SWITZERLAND / 2018 / 506 MIN 11/12 Survivors of China’s Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957-1959 12:30PM recount, with unflinching straightforwardness, the terrors of ULTRA their imprisonment, the mundane miracle of their survival, and their decades spent amongst the ghosts of the perished. This monumental documentary will be shown in two parts with an intermission and a dinner break.

DETECTIVE DEE: THE FOUR HEAVENLY SAT KINGS 11/10 TSUI HARK / CHINA, HONG KONG / 2018 / 131 MIN 5:20PM The Tang Dynasty’s most beloved sleuth returns to the big ULTRA screen to outsmart secular and supernatural forces, while fending off an imperial army intent on nabbing a deadly TUE scepter. All which to say, the stage is set for another colorful 11/13 Tsui Hark extravaganza of choreographed wizardry, shown 5:45PM for the first time in North America the way it was meant to ULTRA be seen: in 3D.

16 #SDAFF2018 A FAMILY TOUR SAT YING LIANG / TAIWAN, HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA / 2018 / 107 MIN 11/10 3:15PM A dissident Chinese filmmaker exiled in Hong Kong finds UCSD a way for her young son to meet the grandmother she can no longer visit on the mainland: by intersecting on a tourist WED trip to Taiwan. Swirling emotions of joy, regret, hesitation, 11/14 and betrayal grip the family through the gentle pangs of 8:20PM unconditional love during their clandestine reunion. ULTRA

GRASS WED HONG SANG-SOO / S. KOREA / 2018 / 67 MIN 11/14 Young writer Areum (Kim Min-hee) rattles away on her 4:20PM MacBook, concocting a new story in a café. At a nearby table ULTRA is a rotating door of couples discussing matters of guilt and mutual entanglement. Is Areum stealing their stories for her own? Or are we seeing the manifestation of her imagination? The artist’s knotted psyche makes for a breezy, if at times wistfully melancholic, creation.

KILLING TUE SHINYA TSUKAMOTO / JAPAN / 2018 / 80 MIN 11/13 Young ronin Mokunoshin is recruited away from countryside 8:40PM life and must grapple with a samurai sword he has never used ULTRA to kill. Known as the legendary creator of Tetsuo, Tsukamoto continues to experiment, this time with a samurai’s inner FRI turmoil as he confronts the mythical violence he is known for. 11/16 6:25PM EDMM

RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: ASYNC AT THE TUE PARK AVENUE ARMORY 11/13 STEPHEN NOMURA SCHIBLE / USA, JAPAN / 2018 / 65 MIN 6:30PM The Revenant Legendary composer Ryuichi Sakamoto ( , ULTRA The Last Emperor) performs his latest and most personal work, the acclaimed async, conceived as the soundtrack to a non-existent Tarkovsky film. This intimate concert documentary witnesses Sakamoto layering organic and electronic sounds across programmed instruments under a luminous projection screen.

MASTERS 17 MASTERS

SHOPLIFTERS FRI HIROKAZU KORE-EDA / JAPAN / 2018 / 121 MIN 11/16 Scrambling just below the radar is a rag-tag family that 6:00PM subsists on petty thievery. When they decide to take in a EDMM young girl from the cold, the unspeakable secrets that hold SAT this improvised household together start to spell danger. 11/17 Creative living and the hardest bonds to break enliven this 5:00PM nimble and heart-wrenching winner of the 2018 Cannes MOPA Film Festival.

VISION SAT NAOMI KAWASE / JAPAN, FRANCE / 2018 / 109 MIN 11/10 A forest ranger is visited by a French journalist in search of 8:55PM a mythic plant thought to alleviate all suffering. The visitor ULTRA is soon revealed to be more than a cultural tourist, but somebody with a mysterious connection to the mountain terrain and to the fabled herb. Another sensuous tale of nature, romance, and transcendence by Naomi Kawase.

YOCHO (FOREBODING) SAT KIYOSHI KUROSAWA / JAPAN / 2017 / 140 MIN 11/10 Etsuko might be the only person who can resist the alien Dr. 8:05PM Makebe, who sucks concepts from humans, leaving them ULTRA blubbering skin bags. As an alien invasion begins, Etsuko must free her husband from Dr. Makebe’s control. Without MON using special effects, Kurosawa’s latest is minimalist sci-fi 11/12 thriller, with a soft spot for schleppy heroes. 2:00PM ULTRA

18 #SDAFF2018 DISCOVERIES

From Asia’s most innovative and thought-provoking filmmakers come new stories and new ways of telling them.

ANOTE'S ARK MON MATTHIEU RYTZ / CANADA / 2018 / 77 MIN 11/12 Global warming, increasing typhoons, and rising tide levels 4:50PM threaten to submerge the Pacific Island nation Kiribati ULTRA and 4,000 years of culture. Tumultuous and urgent, the film follows President Anote Tong as he pleads within the international climate change community, while Sermary and her six children live the consequences of climate displacement.

ASAKO I & II FRI RYUSUKE HAMAGUCHI / JAPAN, FRANCE / 2018 / 119 MIN 11/09 Asako’s first love is a fantasy lifted from the movies: he’s 5:30PM cruelly handsome, heart-stoppingly passionate. Two years ULTRA later, she meets another man who looks just like him, setting forth a romance of uncanny and unspeakable encounters. SUN There are multiple sides to everyone, and director Ryuske 11/11 Hamaguchi has formulated a perfect enigmatic dream for 6:20PM their unexplainable actions. ULTRA

FATHER TO SON SAT HSIAO YA-CHUAN / TAIWAN / 2018 / 115 MIN 11/10 Taiwan’s emerald alleyways and small town merchants are 1:00PM the backdrop for this meditative drama intertwining several UCSD families with a mysterious past. Upon learning of his illness, rugged inventor Van Pao-te brings his son to Japan in search of the father who abandoned him as a young child, an event which ripples in the next generation around him.

GIRLS ALWAYS HAPPY SAT YANG MINGMING / CHINA / 2018 / 117 MIN 11/17 Director-actor Yang Mingming’s feisty feature pits the cranky 2:25PM crackling wits of mother and daughter, both struggling DGYM writers stuck living together in the cramped eavesdropping confines of old Beijing. Their unusual camaraderie snaps with the dry comedy of flawed lovers and ambition hemmed by codependence. Preceded by DIRECTOR OF SUCCESS OR: HOW I LEARN TO SHOOT A FILM / Kun-Yu Lai / USA / 2018 / 8 min

CONTINUED ON PG 24 DISCOVERIES 19 SCHEDULE

Times and films are subject to change. Visit sdaff.org for the latest info.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8 1:00PM FATHER TO SON 115 MIN (pg 19) UCSD OPENING NIGHT FILM 7:00PM 1:10PM SHORTS: SECRET UNIVERSAL ULTRA LITTLE FOREST 103 MIN (pg 5) NAT SERIAL BUS 87 MIN (pg 29)

1:25PM BROTHER OF THE YEAR ULTRA 125 MIN FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9 (pg 12) 3:15PM STAYCATION 61 MIN (pg 11) ULTRA 4:00PM SHORTS: WHERE ARE YOU ULTRA 99 MIN (pg 30) REALLY FROM? 3:15PM A FAMILY TOUR 107 MIN (pg 17) UCSD

5:30 - VIRTUAL REALITY FROM TAIWAN UCSD 3:35PM SHORTS: CAN'T HOLD IT ULTRA (pg 5) 10PM ANYMORE 99 MIN (pg 27) 119 MIN (pg 19) 5:30PM ASAKO I & II ULTRA 3:45PM ORIGIN STORY 106 MIN (pg 10) ULTRA

6:20PM WAIKIKI BROTHERS ULTRA 4:00PM SUNSET IN MY HOMETOWN ULTRA 109 MIN (pg 6) 123 MIN (pg 15)

6:35PM A LAND IMAGINED ULTRA 5:20PM DETECTIVE DEE: THE FOUR ULTRA 95 MIN (pg 13) HEAVENLY KINGS 131 MIN (pg 16) 100 MIN 7:00PM DEAR EX (pg 12) UCSD 5:25PM LATE LIFE: THE CHIEN-MING UCSD WANG STORY 99 MIN (pg 10) 7:00PM MR. AND MRS. CRUZ ULTRA 115 MIN (pg 14) 6:10PM WHITE RABBIT 71 MIN (pg 11) ULTRA

8:00PM THE LAND OF SEONGHYE ULTRA 6:30PM SHORTS: QUEER ACTUALLY ULTRA 117 MIN (pg 24) 91 MIN (pg 29)

8:45PM LONG DAY'S JOURNEY ULTRA 6:45PM MEN ON THE DRAGON ULTRA 133 MIN (pg 24) INTO NIGHT 92 MIN (pg 14)

9:05PM MORI, THE ARTIST'S HABITAT ULTRA 8:05PM YOCHO (FOREBODING) ULTRA 99 MIN (pg 14) 140 MIN (pg 18)

9:50PM ONE CUT OF THE DEAD ULTRA 8:30PM SHORTS: NSFW: NOT SAFE ULTRA 96 MIN (pg 14) FOR WUSSIES 90 MIN (pg 28)

8:55PM VISION 109 MIN (pg 18) ULTRA SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10 9:05PM ONE CUT OF THE DEAD ULTRA 11:00AM SHORTS FOR SHORTIES! ULTRA 96 MIN (pg 14) 48 MIN (pg 30)

12:50PM THE BIG HOUSE 119 MIN (pg 7) ULTRA SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11

1-7PM VIRTUAL REALITY FROM TAIWAN UCSD 12:00PM REEL VOICES 100 MIN (pg 29) ULTRA (pg 5) 1-7PM VIRTUAL REALITY FROM TAIWAN UCSD 1:00PM AUGUST AT AKIKO'S 75 MIN (pg 7) ULTRA (pg 5)

20 #SDAFF2018 1:00PM MOON FASCINATING, UCSD 2:00PM YOCHO (FOREBODING) ULTRA BIRD SWEET 95 MIN (pg 6) 140 MIN (pg 18)

1:00PM SHORTS: ANIMATION ULTRA 3:15PM DEAD PIGS ULTRA SENSATION 89 MIN (pg 27) 130 MIN (pg 12)

1:15PM BLOWIN' UP 94 MIN (pg 8) ULTRA 4:00PM SHORTS: SERVING LIFE ULTRA 93 MIN (pg 30) 1:30PM THE RETURN 84 MIN (pg 25) ULTRA 4:50PM ANOTE'S ARK 77 MIN (pg 19) ULTRA 2:10PM MEN ON THE DRAGON ULTRA 92 MIN (pg 14) 6:00PM DEAR EX 100 MIN (pg 12) ULTRA

3:20PM XIAO MEI 95 MIN (pg 15) UCSD 6:30PM A BREAD FACTORY: PART 1 ULTRA 122 MIN (pg 8) 3:25PM BITTER MELON 96 MIN (pg 8) ULTRA 6:40PM FICTION AND OTHER REALITIES ULTRA 3:45PM 3 FACES 100 MIN (pg 16) ULTRA 84 MIN (pg 9)

4:00PM UNLOVABLE 82 MIN (pg 11) ULTRA 8:35PM THE WITNESS 111 MIN (pg 15) ULTRA

4:15PM BROTHER OF THE YEAR ULTRA 8:45PM A BREAD FACTORY: PART 2 ULTRA 125 MIN (pg 12) 120 MIN (pg 8)

5:20PM TEN YEARS TAIWAN UCSD 9:00PM THE LEGEND OF THE STARDUST ULTRA 108 MIN (pg 26) BROTHERS 100 MIN (pg 6) 5:55PM DEAD PIGS 130 MIN (pg 12) ULTRA TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13 6:05PM SHORTS: INTERNATIONAL ULTRA DISCOVERIES COMPETITION 2:15PM ASH IS PUREST WHITE ULTRA 97 MIN (pg 27) 141 MIN (pg 16) 6:20PM ASAKO I & II 119 MIN (pg 19) ULTRA 4:00PM SHORTS: OVERNIGHT SHIPPING ULTRA 94 MIN 7:00PM CENTERPIECE FILM ULTRA (pg 28) INVENTING TOMORROW 87 MIN (pg 5) 5:15PM SIGNAL ROCK 127 MIN (pg 25) ULTRA 8:30PM 1985 85 MIN (pg 7) ULTRA 5:45PM DETECTIVE DEE: THE FOUR ULTRA 131 MIN 8:40PM LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO ULTRA HEAVENLY KINGS (pg 16) NIGHT 133 MIN (pg 24) CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE 8:50PM TEN YEARS THAILAND ULTRA 95 MIN (pg 26) LEGEND 9:30PM MYSTERY KUNG FU THEATER ULTRA NAT San Diego Natural History Museum ULTRA UltraStar Mission Valley EDMM Edwards Mira Mesa Stadium MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12 UCSD UCSD Price Center Theater 12:30PM DEAD SOULS 506 MIN (pg 16) ULTRA DGYM Digital Gym Cinema MOPA Museum of Photographic Arts 1:00PM HOW LONG WILL I LOVE U ULTRA FREE Screenings* Virtual Reality 101 MIN (pg 13) *see pg 3 for details Films 1:30PM MORI, THE ARTIST'S HABITAT ULTRA Celluloid Taiwan Showcase Jukebox 99 MIN (pg 14)

SCHEDULE 21 SCHEDULE (CONTINUED)

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16 6:20PM HOW LONG WILL I LOVE U ULTRA 101 MIN (pg 13) 4:00PM TO KILL ALICE 78 MIN (pg 11) EDMM 6:30PM RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: ASYNC ULTRA 5:00PM THE ISLAND 42 MIN (pg 24) DGYM AT THE PARK AVENUE ARMORY 65 MIN (pg 17) 6:00PM SHOPLIFTERS 121 MIN (pg 18) EDMM 94 MIN 7:55PM CALL HER GANDA (pg 9) ULTRA 6:10PM NERVOUS TRANSLATION DGYM 91 MIN (pg 25) 8:10PM FISH BONES 82 MIN (pg 9) ULTRA 6:25PM KILLING 80 MIN (pg 17) EDMM 8:30PM 3 FACES 100 MIN (pg 16) ULTRA 8:15PM BIG BROTHER 101 MIN (pg 12) EDMM 8:40PM KILLING 80 MIN (pg 17) ULTRA 8:30PM SUNSET IN MY HOMETOWN EDMM 123 MIN (pg 15) WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14

4:00PM SHORTS: OCTOPUS RUPTURE ULTRA SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17 99 MIN (pg 28) 12:30PM LATE LIFE: THE CHIEN-MING MOPA 4:20PM GRASS 67 MIN (pg 17) ULTRA WANG STORY 99 MIN (pg 10) 5:30PM TEN YEARS JAPAN 98 MIN (pg 26) ULTRA 12:30PM SIR 96 MIN (pg 25) DGYM 5:45PM THE WITNESS 111 MIN (pg 15) ULTRA 2:25PM GIRLS ALWAYS HAPPY DGYM 117 MIN 5:55PM HAVANA DIVAS 90 MIN (pg 10) ULTRA (pg 19) 105 MIN 6:25PM GRADUATION 82 MIN (pg 13) ULTRA 2:30PM BUFFALO BOYS (pg 9) MOPA 122 MIN 7:40PM THE THIRD WIFE 94 MIN (pg 26) ULTRA 4:45PM INLAND SEA (pg 24) DGYM 121 MIN 7:55PM LEITIS IN WAITING 72 MIN (pg 10) ULTRA 5:00PM SHOPLIFTERS (pg 18) MOPA CLOSING NIGHT FILM 8:10PM ASH IS PUREST WHITE ULTRA 7:15PM 90 MIN 141 MIN (pg 16) RAMEN SHOP (pg 5) NAT

8:20PM A FAMILY TOUR 107 MIN (pg 17) ULTRA

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15 LEGEND

4:00PM BETWEEN TIDES 87 MIN (pg 7) EDMM NAT San Diego Natural History Museum ULTRA UltraStar Mission Valley 5:40PM GO-GO SISTERS 117 MIN (pg 13) EDMM EDMM Edwards Mira Mesa Stadium 6:25PM SIR 96 MIN (pg 25) EDMM UCSD UCSD Price Center Theater DGYM Digital Gym Cinema 8:05PM MR. AND MRS. CRUZ EDMM MOPA Museum of Photographic Arts 115 MIN (pg 14) FREE Screenings* Virtual Reality Films 8:35PM BIG BROTHER 101 MIN (pg 12) EDMM *see pg 3 for details Celluloid Taiwan Showcase Jukebox

22 #SDAFF2018 PARTIES & SPECIAL EVENTS

OPENING NIGHT TAIWAN FILM SHOWCASE MR. & MRS. CRUZ AFTER PARTY RECEPTION RECEPTION (FREE for LITTLE FOREST (FREE for Taiwan film ticket (FREE for MR. & MRS. ticket holders & holders & badgeholders) CRUZ ticket holders and badgeholders) FRI Nov. 9, 5:30-6:30PM badgeholders) THUR Nov. 8, 9:00-11:00PM UCSD Price Center FRI Nov. 9, 5:30-7:00PM Natural History Museum 9500 Gilman Dr. Ultrastar Mission Valley 1788 El Prado La Jolla, CA 92093 7510 Hazard Center Dr. #100 San Diego, CA 92101 San Diego, CA 92108

SDAFF AWARDS GALA & QUEER ACTUALLY FILMMAKER & INDUSTRY AFTER PARTY RECEPTION BRUNCH ($200 for Pac Arts members; (FREE for QUEER ACTUALLY (Filmmaker & industry guests $250 general) ticket holders & badgeholders) only) SAT Nov. 10, 5:00-9:00PM SAT Nov. 10, 8:30-10:00PM SUN Nov. 11, 10:30AM-12:30PM Port Pavilion at Broadway Pier Ultrastar Mission Valley Hazard Center, 3rd Floor 1000 N Harbor Dr. 7510 Hazard Center Dr. #100 7150 Hazard Center Dr. San Diego, CA 92101 San Diego, CA 92108 San Diego, CA 92108

Gala After Party (FREE for badgeholders) 9:00PM-Midnight

REEL VOICES RECEPTION CENTERPIECE RECEPTION MEMBER & BADGEHOLDER (FREE for REEL (FREE for INVENTING RECEPTION VOICES ticket holders & TOMORROW ticket holders & (FREE for members & badgeholders) badgeholders) badgeholders) SUN Nov. 11, 1:30-3:00PM SUN Nov. 11, 5:30-7:00PM MON Nov. 12, 8:00-9:30PM Hazard Center, 3rd Floor Ultrastar Mission Valley Ultrastar Mission Valley 7150 Hazard Center Dr. 7510 Hazard Center Dr. #100 7510 Hazard Center Dr. #100 San Diego, CA 92108 San Diego, CA 92108 San Diego, CA 92108

SDAFF HAPPY HOURS GO-GO SISTERS CLOSING NIGHT (Suggested donation) AFTER PARTY AFTER PARTY TUES Nov. 13 & (Cocktail specials until (FREE for RAMEN SHOP WED Nov. 14 closing) ticket holders & 7:00-8:30PM THUR Nov. 15, 7:30PM until close badgeholders) Ultrastar Mission Valley Crab Hut Mira Mesa SAT Nov. 17, 9:00-11:00PM 7510 Hazard Center Dr. #100 8280 Mira Mesa Blvd E Natural History Museum San Diego, CA 92108 San Diego, CA 92126 1788 El Prado San Diego, CA 92101

PARTIES & SPECIAL EVENTS 23 DISCOVERIES

CONTINUED FROM PG 19

INLAND SEA SAT KAZUHIRO SODA / JAPAN, USA / 2018 / 122 MIN 11/17 Surrounded by cats in a remote Japanese village, fishing 4:45PM is braided into the lifestyles of all its aging but vivacious DGYM residents. A documentary that unfolds with easy curiosity and reveals the rhythms and the underlying change of a dwindling way of life.

THE ISLAND FRI TUAN ANDREW NGUYEN / VIETNAM / 2017 / 42 MIN 11/16 Fresh from the Whitney Biennial, a stunning film that weaves 5:00PM historical footage, interviews, and speculative fiction focused DGYM entirely on Pulau Bidong, an uninhabitable island that from 1978-1991 became the largest refugee camp post- Vietnam War. Monumental ruins and national debate mix with mythology as the last man on earth encounters a UN scientist washed ashore. Preceded by HOÀI (ONGOING, MEMORY) / Quyên Nguyen-Le / USA / 2018 / 11 min

THE LAND OF SEONGHYE FRI JUNG HYUNG-SUK / S. KOREA / 2018 / 117 MIN 11/09 An award-winning deep dive into the precarious everyday 8:00PM life of Seonghye, a young educated woman typical of Korea’s ULTRA new invisible poor. With realist tension and a provocatively hopeful ending, this finely crafted drama questions the toll of mediocre survival on our working young.

LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT FRI BI GAN / CHINA, FRANCE / 2018 / 133 MIN 11/09 After returning to his hometown, Luo Hongwu finds in an 8:45PM old clock the photo of a mysterious woman, triggering ULTRA a romantic and existential quest that will lead him, the audience, and perhaps the entire apparatus of cinema itself, SUN on a nocturnal journey through tangled moebius strips of 11/11 memory and dreams. 8:40PM ULTRA

24 #SDAFF2018 NERVOUS TRANSLATION FRI SHIREEN SENO / PHILIPPINES / 2018 / 91 MIN 11/16 Yael, an eight-year-old girl growing up in late 80's Philippines, 6:10PM confronts miracles and disasters both international and very, DGYM very small. With tremendous empathy, imagination and attention to detail, director Shireen Seno evokes a child's world as strange and intimate as a dream.

THE RETURN SUN MALENE CHOI / DENMARK, S. KOREA / 2018 / 84 MIN 11/11 Fact and fiction swirl around in this deeply touching 1:30PM experimental doc which follows Karoline and Thomas far ULTRA from their Denmark home, on a quest to uncover their birth parents in Korea. As feelings deepen for each other, stories from other adoptees unsettle their journey with profound and unpredictable outcomes. Preceded by JOURNEY VISION PART I AND II / JooYoung Choi / USA, The Cosmic Womb / 2018 / 7 min

SIGNAL ROCK TUE CHITO S.ROÑO / PHILIPPINES / 2018 / 127 MIN 11/13 Set in the 90’s on a remote Filipino island, Intoy begins to 5:15PM connect the dots between his dwindling romantic prospects ULTRA and the stream of women sent as overseas workers. When his sister’s life abroad takes a dangerous turn, Intoy sets out to bring her home with the help of bayanihan and Chito S. Roño’s colorful ensemble cast on his side.

SIR THUR ROHENA GERA / INDIA / 2018 / 96 MIN 11/15 A delicate and charming story of thwarted love as widowed 6:25PM villager Ratna takes a Mumbai job as a live-in maid for EDMM handsome Ashwin, recovering from a failed engagement. Transcending savior narratives, Rohena Gera’s latest explores SAT unpredictable agency across modern-day caste divides and 11/17 the magnetic pull of reinvention. 12:30PM DGYM

DISCOVERIES 25 DISCOVERIES

TEN YEARS JAPAN WED CHIE HAYAKAWA, YUSUKE KINOSHITA, MEGUMI TSUNO, AKIYO FUJIMORA, KEI ISHIKAWA / JAPAN, HONG KONG / 2018 / 98 MIN 11/14 5:30PM Produced by Kore-eda, a speculative omnibus from five ULTRA top and emerging Japanese filmmakers who imagine their country in ten years woven through with nefarious technology, population culling, military service, and a city forced underground from pollution.

TEN YEARS TAIWAN SUN LEKAL SUMI CILANGASAN, RINA B. TSOU, PO-SHUN LU, PEI-JU HSIEH, KEK HUAT LAU / TAIWAN, HONG KONG / 2018 / 108 MIN 11/11 5:20PM Cloaked in poetic sci-fi, mockumentary and high style, five UCSD up-and-coming filmmakers depict in futuristic terms the fallout from the pressing issues of Taiwan today—from media- driven morality, nuclear waste, rural poverty, transpacific labor and a generation hazily opting out.

TEN YEARS THAILAND SUN ADITYA ASSARAT, WISIT SASANATIENG, CHULAYARNON SIRIPHOL, 11/11 APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL / THAILAND, HONG KONG / 2018 / 95 MIN 8:50PM ULTRA With current political uncertainty suggesting dystopic futures, four Thai filmmakers (including a few juggernauts) imagine their country in urgent terms ten years from now. Themes range from an absurdist cat takeover fantasy, an audacious sci-fi critique, the military’s attempt to police art, and a luminous entry from the master, Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

THE THIRD WIFE WED ASH MAYFAIR / VIETNAM / 2018 / 94 MIN 11/14 Set in 19th century Vietnam, 14-year-old May is the third 7:40PM wife of a wealthy landowner. As she adjusts to married life ULTRA with complex relationships, May’s desires blossom. In an ethereal and visually stunning debut, Ash Mayfair captures the struggle of a woman caught between what society wants and what the self demands.

26 #SDAFF2018 SHORTS

SHORTS: ANIMATION SENSATION Embark on a fantastic trip through worlds unknown from family birthmarks, mysterious forests, and lively women divers in this international series of animated shorts. HAENYO, THE WOMEN OF THE SEA Éloïc Gimenez / France / 2018 / 5 min RELATIONSHIPS Chingyu Yang / Taiwan / 2017 / 3 min THE REALM OF DEEPEST KNOWING Seunghee Kim / S. Korea / 2017 / 3 min THE STATE OF THINGS Ryo Orikasa / Japan / 2017 / 4 min CHANGYOU'S JOURNEY Perry S. Chen / USA / 2018 / 6 min SUN 11/11 1:00PM / ULTRA / 89 MIN REUNION Mai Shirai / USA / 2017 / 1 min TO BE FIONA Fiona Lu / USA / 2017 / 6 min REFLECTION Hannah Park / USA / 2018 / 3 min SONDER Neth Nom / USA / 2018 / 13 min MY FATHER'S ROOM Nari Jang / South Korea / 2016 / 8 min JEOM Kangmin Kim / USA / 2018 / 4 min SPACE BUTTHOLE David Chai / USA / 2017 / 8 min WORLD DESTROYER Rebecca Gill, Anthony Gardea / 2017 / USA / 3 min MOGU AND PEROL Tsuneo Goda / Japan / 2018 / 9 min A RADISH TALE Olivia Asis / USA / 2018 / 4 min THE STARRY NIGHT Lee Jonghoon / South Korea / 2017 / 9 min

SHORTS: CAN’T HOLD IT ANYMORE Overfull bladders, unibrow harassment, cranky grandparents, audacious women, and the neverending taunt of the claw machine. Shorts about reaching your limit and finding relief in the bushes. JUNE Huay-Bing Law / USA / 2018 / 13 min NAI NAI Wyatt Wu / USA / 2018 / 20 min COME & TAKE IT PJ Raval, Ellen Spiro / USA / 2018 / 25 min GAZE Farnoosh Samadi / Iran, Italy / 2017 / 15 min YASAMIN Julia Elihu / USA / 2017 / 14 min SAT 11/10 3:35PM / ULTRA / 99 min SELECTION Shim Kyu Taek / S. Korea / 2017 / 12 min

SHORTS: INTERNATIONAL DISCOVERIES COMPETITION Cinema proves to be the cruelest intoxicant in these ravishing new shorts that capture the eye, ear, and flesh, tendering urban, rural, and otherworldly spirits with piercing vision. They compete for the SDAFF Best International Short Film Award. DOWN THERE Zhengfan Yang / China, France / 2018 / 11 min LILY'S PAIN STORE Chen Li / China / 2018 / 25 min TUNGRUS Rishi Chandna / India / 2018 / 13 min SUN 11/11 6:05PM / ULTRA / 97 min BABYLON Keith Deligero / Philippines / 2017 / 20 min KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK Arom Choi / S. Korea, USA / 2018 / 15 min A FAREWELL Yifei He / China, USA / 2018 / 13 min

SHORTS 27 SHORTS

SHORTS: NSFW - NOT SAFE FOR WUSSIES From dark K-Town host bars to a cat in plastic conehead, strange tensions and unusual desires redefine safety in these playful, shocking, and sensual shorts. GOOD HANDS GOOD FEET Marshall Law / Taiwan / 2018 / 13 min MONOGAMISH Nardeep Khurmi / USA / 2018 / 13 min DON'T CRY WITH ME Hiroaki Kubo / Japan / 2017 / 15 min CLIQUE BAIT Anna Mikami / Hong Kong, USA / 2018 / 15 min NIGHT FAT Dolan Chorng / USA / 2018 / 9 min SAT 11/10 8:30PM / ULTRA / 90 min THE TREE Chuhao Liu / USA / 2017 / 13 min KOREATOWN Grant Hyun / USA / 2018 / 12 min

SHORTS: OCTOPUS RUPTURE A salty explosion of the irreverent and fantastic mixed with breakdowns, probings, sci-fi, and revolutionary food. Literal ruptures included. THE CLEANER Bowon Kim / South Korea / 2018 / 20 min COSMIC DENTAL ASSOCIATES OF CLIFTON, NJ JP Chan / USA / 2018 / 3 min ALIENS OF EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY Molmol Kuo / USA / 2018 / 14 min MANONG NG PA-ALING E del Mundo / Philippines USA / 2018 / 15 min LUMPIA CAMPESINA Robert Karimi / USA / 2017 / 9 min OKAASAN (MOM) Kana Hatakeyama / Japan, USA / 2018 / 18 min WED 11/14 4:00PM / ULTRA / 99 min JUST A KID FROM SEATTLE JJ Augustavo / USA / 2018 / 20 min

SHORTS: OVERNIGHT SHIPPING Imagine Bruce Lee’s Game of Death except instead of Kareem at the top of the pagoda… it’s Love. Yes, Love, kickboxing in all its romantic, familial and heroic splendor. THE WORLD OF MIMI Dong-ki Yoon / South Korea / 2018 / 22 min THE PILGRIMAGE Kevin Duncan Wong / USA / 2018 / 15 min MATCH Zulfiya Hamzaki / USA / 2018 / 7 min MA Andrew Chung / Canada / 2018 / 11 min IF NOT Phyllis Grae Grande / Philippines / 2017 / 19 min TUE 11/13 4:00PM / ULTRA / 94 min UNINVITED Seung Yeob Lee / South Korea / 2017 / 20 min

28 #SDAFF2018 SHORTS: QUEER ACTUALLY From a hockey rink and dance club to a mother’s funeral, the emotions that bind crash upon life’s decisive moments. SALAMAGAN Elisa Oh / USA / 2018 / 12 min FINDING HOME Abraham Troen / USA / 2017 / 19 min LIONS IN WAITING Jason Karman / Canada / 2017 / 18 min LIMBOLAND Melanie Ramos / USA / 2018 / 18 min ZERO ONE Nick Neon / USA / 2018 / 24 min

SAT 11/10 6:30PM / ULTRA / 91 min

SHORTS: REEL VOICES 2018 Mental health, cultural identity, and homelessness are just some of the diverse topics addressed in this impressive collection of documentaries produced by high school students in the 2018 Reel Voices filmmaking class.

FOLLOW YOUR HEART Madeline Atwater / USA / 2018 / 5 min AMERICAN BORN CONFUSED DESI Anvita Gurung / USA / 2018 / 8 min GREATER THAN HOMELESS Katie Jose / USA / 2018 / 4 min FOR NEVER Trish Lai / USA / 2018 / 3 min BRUJERÍA Vivian Munoz / USA / 2018 / 7 min SUN 11/11 12:00PM / ULTRA / 100 min FOR HERE OR TO GO Ryan Nguyen / USA / 2018 / 6 min STROKES FROM NATURE Sidney Oung / USA / 2018 / 4 min DEPENDENT Drake Presto / USA / 2018 / 8 min LA ÚNICA OPCIÓN Clara Siliezar / USA / 2018 / 8 min TO ALL THE FOODS I CAN’T EAT Berean Smith / USA / 2018 / 5 min

SHORTS: SECRET UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS Consider these shorts as messages to the world, smuggled out on a secret USB, embedded in artificial contact lenses, Instagram memes, encrypted memos, and all kinds of surreal border crossings. FIRST GENERATION Jeannie Nguyen / USA / 2017 / 9 min NICE Andrew Ahn / USA / 2018 / 22 min SHARE Barna Szász & Ellie Wen / USA / 2018 / 13 min AFTER/LIFE Puck Lo / USA / 2018 / 15 min SUMMER ORANGE Chen Xu / USA / 2018 / 28 min SAT 11/10 1:10PM / ULTRA / 87 min

SHORTS 29 SHORTS

SHORTS: SERVING LIFE From reenactments of Duterte’s unofficial killings, a single mother wrestling with lice, and a hilarious game of telephone, these shorts consider the body’s social entanglements, even when flesh and blood might be physically absent.

KILLINGS Joseph Mangat / Philippines, USA / 2018 / 10 min JIEJIE Feng I Fiona Roan / USA / 2018 / 15 min $30 TO ANTARTICA Joey Chu / Hong Kong, Antarctica, USA / 2017 / 18 min ALICE AT THE STORE Chris Woon-Chen / USA / 2018 / 19 min MON 11/12 4:00PM / ULTRA / 93 min ONE LAST TASTE Yucong Chen / USA / 2018 / 5 min MILK Winnifred Jong / Canada / 2017 / 2 min A YEAR Jisun Jamie Kim / Nepal, USA / 2018 / 13 min TIDES Masami Kawai / USA / 2018 / 11 min

SHORTS: SHORTS FOR SHORTIES! A selection of family-friendly shorts to empower and excite the coming generation of bright, young dreamers and achievers. EVOLVE ME Daniel Chung / USA / 2018 / 3 min BIG TOP DREAMS Mirza Jaafar, Amanda Chee, Soh Fia / Singapore / 2017 / 7 min YOKO Wesley Fuh / USA / 2018 / 6 min SLURP Anya Martin / USA / 2018 / 2 min EVERYBODY ELSE IS TAKEN Jessica Grace Smith / New Zealand / 2017 / 14 min HOT SPRING Yen Yu Liu / Taiwan / 2017 / 5 min SAT 11/10 11:00AM / ULTRA / 48 min FILL AND MOO Toshiko Hata / Japan / 2017 / 8 min APPLE HARVEST Jebby Zhang / USA / 2018 / 3 min

SHORTS: WHERE ARE YOU REALLY FROM? Surprising stories of the Asian diaspora outside the US context–from a little-known Cuban Korean hero, interred Japanese Peruvians, and an obsessed Japanese fan of East LA Chicano music. KIMCHI Jackson Kiyoshi Segars / USA / 2018 / 14 min LETTER TO MY CHILDREN Joseph Juhn / Cuba, Korea, USA / 2018 / 15 min OUR MAN IN TOKYO (THE BALLAD OF SHIN MIYATA) Akira Boch / USA, Japan / 2018 /19 min THE CRYSTAL CITY Kenya Gillespie / USA / 2018 / 13 min FRI 11/09 4:00PM / ULTRA / 99 min SIDE BY SIDE: OUT OF A SOUTH KOREAN ORPHANAGE AND INTO THE WORLD Glenn Morey, Julie Morey / USA / 2018 / 38 min

30 #SDAFF2018 Bank of America applauds the Pacific Arts Movement for bringing the arts to all

When members of the community support the arts, they help inspire and enrich everyone. Artistic diversity can be a powerful force for unity, creating shared experiences and a desire for excellence.

Bank of America recognizes the Pacific Arts Movement for its success in bringing the arts to performers and audiences throughout our community.

Visit us at bankofamerica.com/SanDiego Life’s better when we’re connected®

©2018 Bank of America Corporation | SPN-126-AD | ARR6WNBC

31 Enjoy a change of pace. Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A., Stella Artois® Beer, Imported by Import Brands Alliance, St. Louis, MO Brands by Import Imported S.A., Stella Artois® Beer, Anheuser-Busch InBev © 2018 StellaArtois.com | ENJOY RESPONSIBLY | RESPONSIBLY StellaArtois.com | ENJOY

Anheuser-Busch: Stella Artois Production Job# 304822 Creative Job# XXXXXX 32 #SDAFF2018Project Name: SA - Change of Pace Item Number: PSA2018012 Trim Size: 5.375" x 8" Date/Round: Bleed Size: 5.625" x 8.25" Operator: cs Live Area: 5.125" x 7.75" Closing Date: 8.30.18 Scale/Final Size: 100% Publication: Pacic Arts

PO: DD: PM: AS: CD: AD: CW: PR: C M Y K PRINT & OOH Making Health Care Better for Everyone California Schools VEBA proudly supports the Pacific Arts Movement and the ...

19TH ANNUAL

2018 VebaOnline.com

We are a proud sponsor of the San Diego Asian Film Festival

As a San Diego-based not-for-profit health plan, we have been providing health insurance to the people of San Diego County for over 25 years. sharphealthplan.com

33 34 #SDAFF2018 © 2015 Southwest Airlines Co. Airlines Southwest 2015 ©

Without a Heart, it’s just a machine.

So in 1971, a little heart built a different kind of airline—one that made sure everyone could fly.

Everyone has important places to go. So we invented low-fares to help them get there.

To us, you’re not 1A or 17B. You’re a person with a name, like Steve.

Here, we think everyone deserves to feel special, no matter where you sit or how much you fly.

And with all the places we’re going next, we’ll always put you first, because our love of People is still our most powerful fuel.

Some say we do things differently.

We say, why would we do things any other way?

Without a Heart, it’s just a machine.

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When it comes to print technology, DPI Direct is the only San Diego company that does everything under one roof.

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We Bring Print To Life

I CHOOSE TRANSIT. How I get there defines me.

CHANGING THE WAY SAN DIEGO MOVES

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36 #SDAFF2018 It’s really worth it, you need to become a member too.... “(Pac Arts) is a San Diego treasure.” Tzi Ma Pac Arts Member and Actor (Meditation Park, Netflix’s Wu Assassins, Disney’s Mulan) Get Insider Access WITH A MEMBERSHIP AT PAC ARTS! Reap the rewards in time for the 2018 San Diego Asian Film Festival this November!

Become a Supporter-Level Member at $250 Receive a SDAFF All-Festival Pass, SDAFF t-shirt, and year-round perks!

Memberships start at $60 Benefits include, but not limited to: FRIEND DONOR SUPPORTER* PATRON* PRODUCER*

INVITATION ONLY EVENTS DISCOUNTED TICKETS & PASSES YEAR ROUND SCREENING VOUCHERS 2018 SDAFF T-SHIRT 2018 SDAFF ALL-FESTIVAL PASS 2018 SDAFF AWARDS GALA TICKETS

Student/Senior/Military (must show valid ID), Legacy, Corporate, and Dual-Level memberships are available. To view levels & full benefits, visit pacarts.org/membership. As a 501(c)(3), memberships are partially tax deductible.

*Supporter-level members receive one (1) 2018 SDAFF T-shirt & one (1) All-Festival Pass. *Patron and Producer-level members receive two (2) 2018 SDAFF T-shirts and two (2) All-Festival Passes.

MEMBERSHIP 37 MOVING PICTURES, MOVING MINDS

ABOUT PACIFIC ARTS MOVEMENT Pacific Arts Movement (Pac Arts) is one of the largest media arts organizations in North America that focuses on Asian and Asian American cinema. Our mission is to present Pan Asian media arts to San Diego residents and visitors in order to inspire, entertain, and support a more compassionate society.

OUR PROGRAMS Pac Arts is committed to sharing powerful stories with audiences year-round through the San Diego Asian Film Festival, Spring Showcase, Spotlight Screenings, and Outdoor Screenings. From our award-winning high school documentary program Reel Voices to Youth Days at the festival, we are also dedicated to educating and nurturing a new generation of creative leaders and storytellers.

SPRING SHOWCASE, COMING APRIL 2019 YOUTH DAY Two days of free youth-oriented film An eight-day presentation of the best of Asian and Asian screenings to educate, enlighten, and enhance local American cinema on the other side of the calendar year. students' film and cultural literacy.

REEL VOICES A 10-week summer documentary OUTDOOR CINEMA Pac Arts presents year-round program training local high school students to become film programs such as Spotlight and Outdoor Screenings socially-conscious digital storytellers. A year-long version throughout San Diego County. of this program, Reel Voices Monarch, is a collaboration between Pac Arts and Monarch School that empowers As a non-profit organization, we rely on students impacted by homelessness to share their stories the support of sponsors, grants, donors, through film. and members to fulfill our mission.

38 #SDAFF2018 INDEX FEATURE FILMS 3 Faces...... pg 16 Sunset In My Hometown...... pg 15 Killings...... pg 30 1985...... pg 7 Ten Years Japan...... pg 26 Kimchi...... pg 30 Anote's Ark...... pg 19 Ten Years Taiwan...... pg 26 Knock, Knock, Knock...... pg 27 Asako I & II...... pg 19 Ten Years Thailand...... pg 26 Koreatown...... pg 28 Ash Is Purest White...... pg 16 Third Wife...... pg 26 La Única Opción...... pg 29 August At Akiko's...... pg 7 To Kill Alice...... pg 11 Letter to My Children...... pg 30 Between Tides...... pg 7 Unlovable...... pg 11 Lily's Pain Store...... pg 27 Big Brother...... pg 12 Waikiki Brothers...... pg 6 Limboland...... pg 29 Big House...... pg 7 White Rabbit...... pg 11 Lions in Waiting...... pg 29 Bitter Melon...... pg 8 Witness, The...... pg 15 Liquor Store Babies...... pg 11 Blowin' Up...... pg 8 Xiao Mei...... pg 15 Lumpia Campesina...... pg 28 Bread Factory, Part One...... pg 8 Vision...... pg 18 Ma...... pg 28 Bread Factory, Part Two...... pg 8 Yocho (Foreboding)...... pg 18 Man of Pa-Aling...... pg 28 Brother Of The Year...... pg 12 Match...... pg 28 Buffalo Boys...... pg 9 Maybe...... pg 8 Call Her Ganda...... pg 9 SHORT FILMS Mea Culpa...... pg 14 Dead Pigs...... pg 12 $30 To Antarctica...... pg 30 Milk...... pg 30 Dead Souls...... pg 16 A Farewell...... pg 27 Mogu & Perol...... pg 27 Dear Ex...... pg 12 A Radish Tale...... pg 27 Monogamish...... pg 28 Detective Dee: The Four A Year...... pg 30 My Father's Room...... pg 27 Heavenly Kings...... pg 16 After/Life...... pg 29 Nai Nai...... pg 27 Family Tour, A...... pg 17 Alice at the Store...... pg 30 Nice...... pg 29 Father To Son...... pg 19 Aliens of Extraordinary Night Fat...... pg 28 Fiction And Other Ability...... pg 28 Okaasan (mom)...... pg 28 Realities...... pg 9 American Born Confused One Last Taste...... pg 30 Fish Bones...... pg 9 Desi...... pg 29 Our Man in Tokyo (The Girls Always Happy...... pg 19 Apple Harvest...... pg 30 Ballad of Shin Miyata)...... pg 30 Go-Go Sisters...... pg 13 Babylon...... pg 27 Practice...... pg 12 Graduation...... pg 13 Big Top Dreams...... pg 30 Reflection...... pg 27 Grass...... pg 17 BrujerÍa...... pg 29 Relationships...... pg 27 Havana Divas...... pg 10 Changyou's Journey...... pg 27 Reunion...... pg 27 How Long Will I Love U...... pg 13 Clique Bait...... pg 28 Salamagan...... pg 29 Inland Sea...... pg 24 Come & Take It...... pg 27 Selection...... pg 27 Inventing Tomorrow...... pg 5 Cosmic Dental Associates Share...... pg 29 Island, The...... pg 24 of Clifton, NJ...... pg 28 Side by Side: Out of a Killing...... pg 17 Dependent...... pg 29 South Korean Orphanage Land Imagined, A...... pg 13 Director of Success or: How and Into the World...... pg 30 Land Of Seonghye...... pg 24 I Learned to Shoot A Film.....pg 19 Slurp...... pg 30 Late Life: The Chien-Ming Don’t Cry With Me...... pg 28 Sonder...... pg 27 Wang Story...... pg 10 Down There...... pg 27 Space Butthole...... pg 27 Legend Of The Stardust Everybody Else Is Taken...... pg 30 Strokes From Nature...... pg 29 Brothers...... pg 6 Evolve Me...... pg 30 Summer Orange...... pg 29 Leitis In Waiting...... pg 10 FILL and Moo...... pg 30 The Cleaner...... pg 28 Little Forest...... pg 5 Finding Home...... pg 29 The Crystal City...... pg 30 Long Day's Journey First Generation...... pg 29 The Pilgrimage...... pg 28 Into Night...... pg 24 Follow Your Heart...... pg 29 The Realm of Deepest Men On The Dragon...... pg 14 For Here or To Go...... pg 29 Knowing...... pg 27 Moon Fascinating, For Never...... pg 29 The Starry Night...... pg 27 Bird Sweet...... pg 6 Fuck Me or Destroy Me...... pg 9 The State of Things...... pg 27 Mori, The Artist's Habitat...... pg 14 Gaze...... pg 27 The Train Hamasen...... pg 5 Mr. And Mrs. Cruz...... pg 14 Good Hands Good Feet...... pg 28 The Tree...... pg 28 Nervous Translation...... pg 25 Grandmother and Me...... pg 10 The world of MIMI...... pg 28 One Cut Of The Dead...... pg 14 Greater Than Homeless...... pg 29 Tides...... pg 30 Origin Story...... pg 10 Haenyo, The Women of To All The Foods I Can't Eat....pg 29 Ramen Shop...... pg 5 The Sea...... pg 27 To Be Fiona...... pg 27 Return, The...... pg 25 Hoài (ongoing, memory)...... pg 24 Tungrus...... pg 27 Ryuichi Sakamoto: Async At Hot Spring...... pg 30 Uninvited...... pg 28 The Park Avenue Armory...... pg 17 If Not...... pg 28 World Destroyer...... pg 27 Shoplifters...... pg 18 JEOM...... pg 27 Yasamin...... pg 27 Signal Rock...... pg 25 Jiejie...... pg 30 YOKO...... pg 30 Sir ...... pg 25 Journey Vision Part I & II...... pg 25 Your Spiritual Temple Staycation...... pg 11 June...... pg 27 Sucks...... pg 5 Just a Kid from Seattle...... pg 28 Zero One...... pg 29 INDEX 39 19TH ANNUAL

PAID SAN DIEGO ASIAN FILM U.S. POSTAGE U.S. San Diego, CA San Diego, Permit No. 2787 No. Permit NON-PROFIT ORG NON-PROFIT FESTIVAL NOVEMBER 8 – 17, 2018

ASH IS PUREST WHITE

WHITE RABBIT

DETECTIVE DEE: THE FOUR HEAVENLY KINGS

BITTER MELON SDAFF.ORG

@PACARTSMOVEMENT #SDAFF2018