Please note time change in this program from 345P to 145P on Sat, July 19.

Oscar-winner Jessica Yu entered filmmaking through the world of documentaries with award-winning projects such as BREATHING LESSONS, PROTAGONIST, and IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL. She has demonstrated wider talents, expanding her directorial repertoire to include television (Grey’s Anatomy and The West Wing) and commercial spots. This year marks her narrative feature debut with the AAIFF08 Closing Night Presentation, the hilarious comedy PING PONG PLAYA.

In this intimate discussion, Yu will discuss the creative process in transitioning from the types of film for which she has widely become known—those dealing with disability, outsider artists, and extremists—to irreverent comedy. She will discuss the potential of the moving image to be simultaneously socially conscientious, commercial, critical, and above all, fun.

Moderator:
Andrew Hsiao is the executive editor of the non-profit publishing house The New Press, where he has worked with authors like Bill Moyers, Jesse Jackson, Sen. John Edwards, Vijay Prashad, Frances Fox Piven, Juan Gonzalez, Peter Kwong, Sonia Shah, Ruben Martinez, J. Hoberman, Jeff Yang, and many others. He was an editor and staff writer for The Village Voice, and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Spin, and other publications. He co-produces a weekly radio program, Asia Pacific Forum on WBAI 99.5 FM in New York, and is the author of a deck of playing cards, Regime Change Begins at Home. He lives in Brooklyn.

Read more: This Sporting Life: An Interview with Jessica Yu, Director of PING PONG PLAYA.

Co-sponsored by: