rss feedA musical tribute to the working stiffs of New York’s Chinatown? You bet and more.
The creative brains behind this gem of a trailer are filmmakers Richard Wong and Wayne Wang.
It succeeds on many levels, including the opening scene, playfulness the participants exhibit, colors and shading and juxtaposition next to Chinatown workers in New York City.
And did you catch that guy on guitar? And how the woman keeps her arms crossed in the beginning?
If you’re going to be in New York City on Sept. 28, drop by Tribeca Cinemas at 54 Varick St. to catch this short and others at the Chinatown Film Project.
The newly-expanded Museum of Chinese in America is sponsoring the event which features prominent filmmakers.
Among the films that caught my interest is Fortune Cookie directed by Amir Naderi. I don’t know anything about his film. So, I won’t speculate. But I like fortune cookies.
Tickets are limited for the 7 p.m. event on Monday. You’ll have to RSVP to rsvptaa1(at)tribecafilminstitute(dot)org by this Friday.
The evening will feature 10 short films that answer the basic question: How do you see Chinatown?
If you can’t make the Sept. 28 event, it looks like the Apple Store in SoHo will host the film project at 7 p.m. from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1. Contact the museum for details.
But the museum has a YouTube channel for the Chinatown Film Project and is posting short videos from people documenting their Chinatowns around the globe and stories.
So, if you’ve got the video or film bug, start visualizing your story.
So, how did Wong and Wang come up with their catchy ditty and short film concept?
Wang explains it on the museum’s Web site page about the film project.
In the video interview, Wang talked about how Wong came up with the idea of a musical. But Wang paired it with ordinary people who live and work in Chinatown.
His thought:
What if we do a musical of the working stiffs of Chinatown? People that you normally don’t see if you walk through the main part of Mott Street….People who are kind of more behind the scenes…(who are) the real heart of Chinatown.
Wang is known for directing The Joy Luck Club.
When I was a teenager, I saw his brilliant and gentle film, Dim Sum.
