PROGRAM THREE
SEPTEMBER 4 Thursday
Showtime 7:30 p.m.
Visual Communications @ The Union Center for the Arts
120 Judge John Aiso Street • Basement Level • Los Angeles Little Tokyo
(Formerly North San Pedro Street, between First and Temple Streets. FREE Parking
LUMPIA
(United States, 1996-2003) Directed by Patricio Ginelsa, Jnr.
Visual Communications and FilAm ARTS, Inc. proudly present a sneak preview showing of LUMPIA, a new feature-length film by Patricio Ginelsa, Jnr., a graduate of the USC School of Cinema/Television who completed this work in between tending to the marketing and promotion of the landmark feature, THE DEBUT. Working over a number of years with a group of high-school friends and later, with film/video editor Arthur James Calomay, Ginelsa melds elements of EL MARIACHI and WEST SIDE STORY into a comic examination of youth acculturation and the price that Pinoys pay in order to enter the mainstream of American society.
Tensions are rising at Fog Town High School, whose student body is composed mostly of minorities, most notably Filipino Americans. Some Filipino students in particular, named “The Pack,” are not the “coolest” kids in school with their outdated fashion and thick accents. They become the target of ridicule for “The Crew,” a bunch of American-born thugs who lounge about and cause mayhem. To make matters worse, Tyrone and his “Crew” have begun to enjoy a new fad: FOB-bashing. James, one of the “The Pack,” begins to fall for a girl named Kelly and in his attempt to impress her, finds himself in the middle of a cultural clash. The continuous abuse from Tyrone and his cronies leads James to question his choice of image and friends.
Enter the silent avenger known only by his weapon of choice: lumpia, the ubiquitous Filipino egg-roll. An outcast and complete mystery to his fellow students, the barong-wearing Filipino appears in dramatic fashion to protect “The Pack” from the “The Crew” with his martial arts skills. How exactly does this stranger fit into this cultural battle and what are his motives?
By revisiting an old story, LUMPIA takes the prototypical boy-meets-girl story and successfully locates it within the director’s hometown of South San Francisco. Calling on colleagues he met during the making of THE DEBUT (specifically, AJ Calomay who edited and organized years of old and updated footage; and actress Joy Bisco who narrates the story and has an on-screen cameo as a karaoke video siren), director Ginelsa effectively closes a chapter of his mediamaking career, and promises more good creative stuff in future works.
Video, 80 minutes, narrative
programONE
8.01.03 - 9.12.03
pinoy online visions
programTWO
9.03.03
pinoy living room visions
programTHREE
9.04.03
pinoy visions:
special sneak-peek
programFOUR
9.05.03
pinoy visions:
a
family affair
programFIVE
9.06.03
pinoy visions:
a
tribute to Linda Mabalot
programSIX
9.06.03-9.07.03
pinoy visions
on demand