The Shangri-la Cafe
The Shangri-la Cafe is a 2000 short film written and directed by Lily Mariye. The film is about a Japanese American family who conceal their heritage and reluctantly adopt discriminatory practices in order to operate a Chinese restaurant in Las Vegas in the late 1950s.[1] The Los Angeles Times calls the film well-reviewed, and it won awards at festivals such as the Brussels Independent Film Festival and Nashville Independent Film Festival.[2]
The director began working on the film in 1998, working with the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women.[2]
Cast
[edit]- Montana Tsai as Annie Takashi
- Joanne Takahashi as Emiko Takashi
- Sam Anderson as The Man
- Christopher Chen as Tad Takashi
- Albert Chien as Jimmy Takashi
- Cedric Harris as Reverend Charles Osteen
- Montae Russell as George Brooks
- Margaret Laurena Kemp as Mildred Brooks
- Kelli Kirkland as Helen Osteen
- Charles 'Brick' Tilley Jr. as Man #2
- Bob Bergen as Television Announcer (voice)
Reception
[edit]The Los Angeles Times calls the film well-reviewed, and it won awards at festivals such as the Brussels Independent Film Festival and Nashville Independent Film Festival.[2] It was positively reviewed for its portrayal of 1950s racism by SFGate, which called it "unusually sensitive to the heightened experience of children."[3] The Chicago Reader wrote that Mariye set "a preachy tone" in the film.[1] Edward Guthmann from the San Francisco Chronicle, Jonathan Kaplan, and Lesli Linka Glatter praised Mariye's directing debut. The Hollywood Reporter's Michael Rechtshaffen described the film as a "tender, bittersweet childhood recollection of a not always glittering Las Vegas past."
Awards
[edit]- Filmmaker of the Year (Lily Mariye), National Organization for Women
- Best Short Film Award, Moondance International Film Festival
- Best Screenplay Award, Brussels Independent Film Festival
- 2nd place, Best Short Film, Nashville Film Festival
- 2nd place, Best Short Film, Woodstock Film Festival
Official selection
[edit]- BBC British Short Film in London, England
- Seattle International Film Festival
- Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films
- Hamptons International Film Festival
- American Cinematheque at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood, California
- Athens International
- Sepia Women of Color at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Big Bear
- Los Angeles Asian Pacific American Film and Video
- New York Asian American International
- San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
- Women of Color in Berkeley, California
- Sedona Film Festival
- Shades of Power in San Francisco, California
- Chicago Asian American Showcase
- San Diego Asian Film Festival
- Slant in Houston, Texas
- University of Iowa
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Portobello Film Festival
- Woodstock Film Festival
- Blue Sky International Film in Las Vegas, Nevada
- Magnolia Festival
- Yale Women in Film Festival
References
[edit]- ^ a b Asian American Showcase, Chicago Reader, April 19, 2001, retrieved May 3, 2023
- ^ a b c Elber, Lynn (August 9, 2002), ‘ER’ Nurse Pulls a Shift as a Film Writer-Director, Los Angeles Times, retrieved May 3, 2023
- ^ Guthmann, Edward (May 10, 2002), 'The Shangri-La Cafe' a good place to stop / Short KQED movie ably captures '50s racism, SFGate, retrieved May 3, 2023
External links
[edit]
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