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The legend of The Twelve Sisters or The Twelve Ladies, known as Nang Sip Song (นางสิบสอง) or as Phra Rot Meri (พระรถเมรี) in Thai and as Puthisen Neang Kong Rei in Khmer, is a Southeast Asian folktale based on an apocryphal Jātaka Tale, the Rathasena Jātaka of the Paññāsjātaka collection. It is one of the stories of the previous lives of Buddha in which Rathasena, the son of one of the twelve women, is the bodhisattva.

2017 Southeast Asian American Studies Film Showcase

The 2017 Southeast Asian American Studies Film Showcase will celebrate films (documentary, experimental, and narrative) that delve into Southeast Asian cultures in all its imaginaries and interpretations. Appropriate topics include, but are not limited to, diasporas, immigration, kinship, identity, gender, and politics.

Film Schedule

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Session: 10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (3 films in one session)
O'Leary 222
Burmese Refugee
Phetmixay Means Fighter
Immigrant Stories

Session: 1:30-3 p.m.
O'Leary 222
Vientiane in Love

Session: 3:15-4:45 p.m.
O'Leary 222
Lost Child: Sayon’s Journey

Friday, July 28, 2017

Session: 9-10:30 a.m.
O'Leary 222
Better Places: Hmong of Rhode Island A Generation Later
Nuoc (Water / Homeland)*

Session: 1:30–3 p.m. (2 concurrent films during session)
Bridging The Gap Of Dreams - O'Leary 478
The End / Beginning: Cambodia* - O'Leary 222

*Community Special Selection

Get customized directions to the O'Leary Library using UMass Lowell's interactive Google Maps.

Film Showcase: Thursday, July 27

In BURMESE REFUGEE, San Aung, a refugee from Burma, struggles to establish a new life in America after spending years in a Southeast Asian Refugee camp.

Burmese Refugee

San Aung, a refugee from Burma, struggles to establish a new life in America after spending years in a Southeast Asian Refugee camp.
Director / Producer: Michael Tacca
Time: 19 min. 50 sec. Learn More.

Watch The Teaser Trailer

Phetmixay Means Fighter is a short documentary film that seeks to explore Lao American refugee resiliency narratives through the life of my father, Phoutone Phetmixay.

Phetmixay Means Fighter

Phetmixay Means Fighter is a short documentary film that seeks to explore Lao American refugee resiliency narratives through the life of my father, Phoutone Phetmixay.
Director / Producer: Rita Phetmixay
Production Company: EthnoCommunications
Time: 12 min. Learn More.

Immigrant Stories is a research and archiving project run by the Immigration History Research Center (IHRC) at the University of Minnesota. Immigrant Stories helps immigrants, refugees, and their family members create digital stories: brief videos with images, text, and audio about a personal experience.

Immigrant Stories

Immigrant Stories is a research and archiving project run by the Immigration History Research Center (IHRC) at the University of Minnesota. Immigrant Stories helps immigrants, refugees, and their family members create digital stories: brief videos with images, text, and audio about a personal experience. Learn more.

Vientiane in Love is the first omnibus Lao film delving into different aspects of love as shown through five separate stories.

Vientiane in Love

Vientiane in Love is the first omnibus Lao film delving into different aspects of love as shown through five separate stories.
Director / Producers: : Anysay Keola, Phanumad Disattha, Vannaphone Sitthirath, Xaisongkham Induangchanthy
Time: 95 min.

LOST CHILD: SAYON’S JOURNEY: Sayon’s Journey explores the lasting journey of the Cambodian Genocide that claimed an estimated 1.7 million people through the eyes of a former Khmer Rouge child soldier.

Lost Child: Sayon’s Journey

Sayon’s Journey explores the lasting journey of the Cambodian Genocide that claimed an estimated 1.7 million people through the eyes of a former Khmer Rouge child soldier.
Producer(s): Janet Gardner and Sopheap Theam
Production Company: Gardner Documentary Group
Time: 57 min. Learn More.

Film Showcase: Friday, July 28

BETTER PLACES: HMONG OF RHODE ISLAND A GENERATION LATER: In this sequel to The Best Place to Live (1981), we filmed the original families and updated their situations through intimate portraits of their lives and families from the middle-aged generation have continued to innovate in places and strategies for making a living.

Better Places: Hmong of Rhode Island A Generation Later

In this sequel to The Best Place to Live (1981), we filmed the original families and updated their situations through intimate portraits of their lives and families from the middle-aged generation have continued to innovate in places and strategies for making a living.
Director/Producers: Peter O’Neill, Producer
Production Company: Skylight Films
Time: 52 min. Learn More.

Set in the California Drought, Nước (Water/Homeland) is an experimental narrative short film about a queer Vietnamese American teen who attempts to piece together and understand their mom's experience as a Vietnam War refugee.

Nước (Water / Homeland)

A queer Vietnamese American teen attempts to piece together and understand their mom's experience as a Vietnam War refugee.
Director: Quyen Nguyen-Le
Time: 5 minutes. Learn More.

Bridging The Gap Of Dreams captures Lao Americans who overcame their odds and barriers.

Bridging The Gap Of Dreams

Bridging The Gap Of Dreams captures Lao Americans who overcame their odds and barriers. An intimate personal accomplishment for their personal struggles and challenges in order to live out and pursue their successful American dreams.
Director: Bounek Phouikham
Producers: Thavisouk Prasavath, Aloun Khotisene, & Bounek Phouikham
Production Company: LAStory Productions
Time: 63 min. Learn More.

Sophal Ear's compelling story of his family’s harrowing escape from Cambodia under the rule of the Khmer Rouge.

The End / Beginning: Cambodia

Sophal Ear's compelling story of his family’s harrowing escape from Cambodia under the rule of the Khmer Rouge.
Time: 47 minutes. Learn More.

Contact

Films and inquires should be sent to:

Steve Arounsack, Ph.D.
Chair, Film Showcase Committee
email: sarounsack@csustan.edu
Phone: 209-664-6577

Mailing address:
Steve Arounsack, Ph.D.
Re: SEAA Film Showcase
Anthropology Program
California State University, California
1 University Circle
Turlock, CA 95382

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