special categories
FIGHTING SPIRIT
The rule breakers, champions of justice, and gamechangers that showcase the resilience of the human spirit.
See the playlist below!
2000S | HEROES | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Infamous
ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL
DIR: STEVE JAMES, 2016 | 88 MINS
A David vs Goliath story straight from the headlines. After the 2008 financial crisis, the federal government brought criminal charges against only one bank: a family business in New York’s Chinatown. Little did the DA know that Chinatown protects itself, and that the Sung Family was driven by the honor and mission of its founder and his three unyielding and extraordinary daughters.
wATCH HERE:
UP TO 1950S | Fighting spirit | Heartthrobs
AMERICAN PASTIME
DIR: DESMOND NAKANO, 2007 | 107 MINS
Based on true events, Lyle Nomura is a star pitcher forced to leave behind a college scholarship when he and his family are suddenly interned at the Topaz Utah internment camp. As the Nomura’s start their own baseball team, tensions build to a final showdown with a rival team led by a racist prison guard.
wATCH HERE:
2000S | HEROES | Fighting spirit | big moments
A VILLAGE CALLED VERSAILLES
DIR: S. LEO CHIANG, 2009 | 66 MINS
In a New Orleans neighborhood called Versailles, a tight-knit group of Vietnamese Americans overcame obstacles to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, only to have their homes threatened by a new government-imposed toxic landfill. The empowering story of how the Versailles residents, who have already suffered so much in their lifetime, turn a devastating disaster into a catalyst for change and a chance for a better future.
wATCH HERE:
2000S | FIGHTING SPIRIT
DOCUMENTED
DIR: JOSE ANTONIO VARGAS & ANN LUPO, 2013 | 89 MIns
One of the 2013’s most powerful documentaries chronicles Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas’ coming-out as an undocumented American through an essay published in the New York Times, his shaky self-discovery as an activist and symbol, and perhaps most crushingly, his learning how to be a son to a mother he hasn’t seen since she let him go nearly 20 years ago.
wATCH HERE:
60S & 70S | Heroes | Fighting Spirit | LgbtQ
Limited Partnership
DIR: THomas miller, 2014 | 75 MINS
Chances are you have not heard of Filipino American Richard Adams and his Australian husband, Tony Sullivan. This is their powerful love story culminating in the first federal lawsuit seeking equal treatment for a same-sex marriage in U.S. history.
Join us on Wednesday, May 13th at 7:00PM PT for a Q&A with filmmaker Thomas Miller, film subject Tony Sullivan, and special guest Assemblymember Todd Gloria!
wATCH HERE:
Q&A REGISTRATION:
2000S | FIGHTING SPIRIT | fAMILY APPEAL
LINSANITY
DIR: EVAN JACKSON LEONG, 2013 | 89 MINS
In February 2012, Harvard alum Jeremy Lin went from undrafted benchwarmer cut from multiple NBA teams to the overnight inspiration to underdogs everywhere, and headliner of the global phenomenon called Linsanity. LINSANITY is only partially about basketball and the charismatic Asian American kid armed with faith, family, and undeniable skills. It’s also about how everyday people can defy expectations and become extraordinary.
wATCH HERE:
2000S | fighting spirit
minding the gap
DIR: bing liu, 2018 | 98 MINS
Three young skateboarding friends bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship.
wATCH HERE:
2000S | FIGHTING SPIRIT | INFAMOUS
OPERATION POPCORN
DIR: DAVID GRABIAS, 2015 | 81 MINS
In this thrilling stranger-than-fiction documentary, a squadron of military-minded Hmong men in California plot to stage a coup in their estranged homeland with the help of the US government and its AK-47s. Filled with wily characters and pixelated evidence, this is both a documentary about secret wars and an edge-of-your-seat mystery.
wATCH HERE:
UP TO 1950S | Fighting spirit | big moments
RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE
DIR: Konrad aderer, 2017 | 78 MINS
Tule Lake is where the troublemakers were held. These were the incarcerees who spat at the government’s insidious loyalty questionnaires, who banded together and sought a collective voice against injustice, and who seriously questioned the flag that cast an agonizing shadow over their families. It is the untold story of courage, controversy, and anger in a "jail within a jail."