AAPI Kanopy Film Fest

Sebastopol Regional Library will host two Kanopy films featuring the contributions and humanity of AAPI Americans:

• Halving the Bones: Author Ruth Ozeki's Autobiographical Film (2015)

  • Skeletons in the closet? HALVING THE BONES delivers a surprising twist to this tale. This cleverly-constructed film tells the story of Ruth, a half-Japanese filmmaker living in New York, who has inherited a can of bones that she keeps on a shelf in her closet. The bones are half of the remains of her dead Japanese grandmother, which she is supposed to deliver to her estranged mother.

    A narrative and visual web of family stories, home movies and documentary footage, HALVING THE BONES provides a spirited exploration of the meaning of family, history and memory, cultural identity.

    Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival.

• The Slanted Screen: Hollywood’s Representation of Asian Men in Film & Television (2006)

  • From silent film star Sessue Hayakawa to Harold & Kumar Go to Whitecastle, THE SLANTED SCREEN explores the portrayals of Asian men in American cinema, chronicling the experiences of actors who have had to struggle against ethnic stereotyping and limiting roles. The film presents a critical examination of Hollywood's image-making machine, through a fascinating parade of 50 film clips spanning a century.

    Winner of the Best Short Documentary award at the NY International Independent Film & Video film festival, THE SLANTED SCREEN envisions a new, exciting future in the entertainment industry, where the diversity of our culture and society is fully recognized and represented.

May is Asian & Pacific American Heritage Month where we take time to reflect and celebrate the important role that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) have played in our shared history.