Karin Anna Cheung and John Cho star in Justin Lin’s Better Luck Tomorrow (2002).

Ethnic Visions Film Series ahead

In the movie Better Luck Tomorrow (2002), overachieving high school students from the suburbs spend their leisure time pursuing extracurricular—and criminally entrepreneurial—activities.

And in ABCD (1999), a son and a daughter living in New Jersey give their widowed immigrant mother grief and delight by turns through the divergent life choices they make.

According to Robert Rosenstone, a professor of history at Caltech, these two films are unusual because the ethnicity of the characters—Asian in the first, East Indian in the second—is largely beside the point. In Humanities 119, dubbed the Ethnic Visions Film Series, Rosenstone will lead a class of Caltech students through nine selections from this cinematic wave.

“Recently I’ve noticed that there are many more ethnic filmmakers and a different kind of film is emerging,” Rosenstone says. “They’re all provocative, but many of these films are less concerned with portraying aggression and interethnic conflict with the Anglo majority, and more concerned with the particular ethnic group itself, its history, problems and future.” In each movie, the main character’s goal or journey leads him or her somewhere besides the great American melting pot.

Hollywood movies, especially big-budget projects, have a history of ignoring minority communities, Rosenstone says. When minorities are visible, they are often misrepresented. We’re all familiar with the same recycled stereotypes: the Asian whiz kid; the Latina maid; the African American drug dealer; and the Middle Eastern terrorist. Inscrutable accents are optional.

Rosenstone says that he was encouraged to go ahead with Ethnic Visions by the films that are regularly shown on campus as well as the screenings of films sponsored by international student clubs, which routinely draw sizable audiences. This new series will also have the backing of the Administrative Committee on Diversity and Minority Affairs.

“It’s nice when you bring in the actual filmmaker to discuss the film,” Rosenstone says, adding that he will be able to bring in four or five directors.

“The first two or three films will be classics,” he says. “Many of the works will be by independent or even first-time filmmakers.” Though the list of films to be shown is tentative, four filmmakers have confirmed their participation.

Kicking off the course on March 31 will be The Jazz Singer (1927), starring Al Jolson in the first talkie ever made. On April 21, Tim Bui will discuss his film Green Dragon (2002); an April 28 screening of Maryam (2000) will be followed by a talk with Ramin Serry; Justin Lin will discuss Better Luck Tomorrow on May 5; and Krutin Patel will be on hand to discuss ABCD on May 19.

For further information, contact Sheryl Cobb at sjc@hss.caltech.edu. All screenings are open to the Caltech community and will take place on Thursday evenings in Baxter Lecture Hall.
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