Here is a list of upcoming screenings of AUTUMN GEM:
March 2010
- March 13: Willow Glen Public Library.
Location: 1157 Minnesota Ave., San Jose, CA. Time: 1:00pm
- March 23: University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Location: Barrick Museum Auditorium, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV. Time: 5:30pm.
- March 24: College of Southern Nevada.
Location: 6375 W. Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89146. Time: 6:30pm.
- March 27: Arizona State University.
Location: Tempe, AZ. Time: 2:00pm.
- March 29: Red Emma’s Bookstore.
Location: 2640 St. Paul St., Baltimore, MD 21202. Time: 7:00pm
- March 30: University of Maryland, College Park.
Location: College Park, MD 20742. Time: 12:15-1:45pm.
- March 30: Goucher College.
Location: Baltimore, MD 21204. Time: 7:00pm.
- March 31: Boston University.
Location: Room CAS B-12, 725 Commonwealth Ave. Boston, MA 02215. Time: 6:00pm.
April 2010
- April 5: Wellesley College.
Location: TBA. Time: 4:30pm
- April 6: Montclair State University.
Location: University Hall Room 1040, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ, 07043. Time: 7:00pm.
- April 7: Brookdale Community College.
Location: Lincroft, NJ 07738-1543. Time: 6:30pm.
- April 8: Stony Brook University.
Location: Charles B. Wang Center Theater, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4040. Time: 4:00pm.
- April 26: Laney College.
Location: 900 Fallon Street, Oakland, CA 94607-4893. Time: TBA
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February 5th, 2010
by Adam
The World Journal has an article on our upcoming screening in Las Vegas. Check it out!
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February 5th, 2010
by Adam
Somehow, we missed this article about the Autumn Gem screening at the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center.
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December 11th, 2009
by Adam
It’s been a week since our screening at Rae’s alma mater. Apologies on the delay getting this recap and photo gallery out. We had another great turnout at Berkeley last Thursday. Thanks to AAS 121 (Professor Harvey Dong’s Chinese American History class), Asian American Studies, Asian Pacific American Student Development, Cal Taiji & Cal Wushu for sponsoring and publicizing the event. By our count there were about 130 people in attendance, ranging from students to faculty and to the sister of Tien-Fang Hou, one of the sponsors of our New Jersey screening in October. The crowd didn’t give me too much of a hard time being the Stanford-half of the Autumn Gem team; I’ve never been one to be too into the whole Stanford-Cal rivalry. After all, many of my relatives attended Cal, and I grew up a bear loving fan before becoming a tree hugger.
With the Berkeley screening, we concluded our tour schedule for 2009. Autumn Gem will be back in 2010 on January 9, 2010 at 2:00 pm, at the San Francisco Public Library in Chinatown. We hope our successful 2009 season will be a springboard for a great 2009!
Afterwards, we treated ourselves to some frozen yogurt at Yogurt Park with Doug, Crystal, Ben and Petrice. It’s so cold now in the Bay Area, I can’t imagine eating fro-yo or ice cream anymore!
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December 1st, 2009
by Adam
With over a month to prepare for our Stanford screening tonight, we made sure we got the word out about the film through as many channels as possible. The Center for East Asian Studies was the co-sponsor for the event, and they helped flyer the campus, email various mailing lists, and list the screening on Stanford’s Events web site. Stefan from the Palo Alto Independent Films Group brought a sizeable contingent from his Meetup group to the showing. Another Meetup group brought a large group of Asian professionals. This week’s article in the Palo Alto Weekly also produced a big draw tonight. By my estimations, there were over 150 people of all ages at tonight’s screening of Autumn Gem. The lower portion of Cubberley was so packed it reminded me when I was a frosh taking Humanities in the very same auditorium! Thanks to everyone who came out to see our film!
During our introduction of the film, Professor Thomas Mullaney from Stanford provided some brief remarks about the role that martyrdom played in the interpretation and analysis of Qiu Jin. Had she lived a full life — not one cut off at 31 or 32 years of age — what would she have done? Whom would she have supported and what would she have thought about the events in China in 1911 (downfall of the Qing Dynasty), 1937 (invasion by Japan), and 1949 (Communist Revolution)? Hours after the screening, I’m still grappling with this question!
Following the film, Osvaldo, Cheryl, Felix, Rae and I picked up the flyers we posted the previous evening from White Plaza. We then went over to Fraîce frozen yogurt in what used to be the Corner Pocket in Tresidder Union. My how things have changed! The road to my freshman dorm is now the Munger Graduate Student Housing complex for the Law School. Old Union used to be the place where we paid our phone bills; now it’s a real student union. Students are no longer allowed to ride inside of the Main Quad, and there are bike paths and barriers throughout White Plaza. I can only imagine what Stanford will be like in another 15 years. Students today will probably have the same reaction that I have whenever I come back, “My, how things have changed since when I was a student!”
Here are photos from tonight’s screening of Autumn Gem at Stanford University. Next up on our tour schedule is a trip to Rae’s alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley, this Thursday, December 3. From Beat Cal, it’s now Go Bears!
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November 30th, 2009
by Adam
The Palo Alto Weekly has an article on Autumn Gem this week. The writer, Be’eri Moalem, came to our house a few weeks ago following our screening at City College of San Francisco. Back in 2002, I interned for a month as a photographer for the Weekly, photographing dozens of stories.
Tomorrow is our big screening at Stanford University, my alma mater. On Thursday, we head over to Berkeley, from which Rae graduated. We spent part of this evening posting flyers around campus in our final advertising effort. Cubberley seats 500 people, and I’m hoping that we’ll have at least a 100 people at the screening. Come and bring your friends!
Click on the image below to read the article.
Posted in Interviews, Press, Press and Reviews | 1 Comment »
November 10th, 2009
by Adam
Here’s a poster for the upcoming screening of Autumn Gem at Stanford University on Monday, November 30, 2009, from 7:00-9:00 pm. The free screening will be held at Cubberley Auditorium, located at 485 Lasuen Mall, Stanford, California 94305.
Click on the image to see the large version. Feel free to send this to your friends and family. Our goal is to fill up Cubberley Auditorium, which seats 500 people. Help us reach that goal!
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November 10th, 2009
by Adam
We had a couple of firsts at our Autumn Gem screening at City College of San Francisco yesterday. The place was packed, thanks to the combined efforts of the Asian Studies, Asian American Studies, Cinema and Women’s Studies Departments; we had over 90 people in attendance. The second first is one that I’m not all that proud about; we had our first technical mishap during the screening of the film!
Normally, we play the movie off of Rae’s MacBook Pro. Everything was going fine until the midway point in the film when the video completely froze and the audio started repeating! QuickTime X was completely unresponsive and force quitting (command-option-escape) would not work. Fortunately, I had also brought my own MacBook Pro as a backup for this very situation. While Rae answered a few questions from the crowd, I quickly got my MBP set up with the projector and sound system. The rest of the screening went off without any major issues. Phew!
During the Q&A session, someone asked about airing this film on PBS. We reiterated our desire to have the film shown on television. For us, it’s a matter of finding the right contacts and going through the proper channels. If any readers have any contacts, please let us know!
Following the screening, we headed down to Stanford to pick up posters that the Center for East Asian Studies had made for us. We didn’t have much time to talk with the staff there, as we had to get back to our house for an interview with the Palo Alto Weekly. Back in 2003, I had done a photo internship with the Weekly; now, six years later, we’re the ones getting featured!
Here are some photos from the City College of San Francisco screening. Now, it’s on to publicizing our Stanford and Berkeley screenings on 11/30 and 12/3. Help us spread the word!
Posted in General, Screenings, Technical | 1 Comment »
November 3rd, 2009
by Adam
Now that our tour is over, we’ve identified some things we would have changed regarding our packing strategy (see photo to right). We often felt like we were a rock band traveling the country during this tour. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any roadies to help carry our gear! So, because it’s just the two of us, we have to be extra vigilant and ruthless with regards to what we bring with us.
If you recall from our previous post, Rae carried our clothes and toiletries in her REI Traverse backpack, and I carried all the computers, mobile Internet, camera flash, and power adapters in a Rickshaw Bagworks Medium Commuter Messenger Bag. We took turns dragging around a single Pelican 1510 Carry-On Case that contained 300 DVDs, assorted cables, papers, and my 5D Mark II camera. So, what worked and what didn’t?
For starters, we would try to leave the Pelican at home next time. While ultra-durable and somewhat capacious, it’s also quite heavy and bulky to travel with. When fully loaded, the 1510 tired one’s arm after prolonged periods. Similarly, the Rickshaw bag held a surprising amount of gear, but it too became very heavy to wear over time, even with the critical cross strap (used to distribute the weight more evenly on my body). For the next trip, I think I would try to load everything into my LowePro CompuTrekker AW camera/laptop backpack. I would have to reduce the number of DVDs that we bring with us, but at least 120-140 would fit comfortably along with one computer, my camera, flash, cables, modem and accessories.
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November 2nd, 2009
by Adam
Here are a couple of reviews from bloggers who saw Autumn Gem during our recent Midwest/East Coast tour. Enjoy reading them!
If you come across any additional blog or newspaper reviews, send them our way!
Posted in General, Press, Press and Reviews | No Comments »
October 30th, 2009
by Adam
Our last stop was at the University of Pennsylvania. Following the screening at the Evergreen Senior Club in Delaware, Uncle Don drove us to Philadelphia. World Series fever was in the air, as we saw many banners for the Phillies, as well as people sporting Phillies jackets, hats and shirts.
We had an intimate screening, similar to our first stop on this tour in Madison, Wisconsin. Despite the small size, the audience was very enthusiastic about the film; I bet the cold weather and World Series fever contributed to the small showing; next time, we’ll mobilize and get those Women’s Studies and Chinese Literature professors to require their students to watch the film! Rae and I have definitely taken notes on how to get more people in attendance at our screenings; we’ll be testing out our theories in the ones coming up at Stanford (November 30) and Berkeley (December 3).
Read the rest of this post and see the photos »
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October 30th, 2009
by Adam
About two weeks ago, Rae’s dad told us to call one of his friends from college who now lives in Delaware. Professor Charles Ih (from the University of Delaware) was very interested in showing Autumn Gem to the Evergreen Senior Club at the Chinese American Community Center in Hockessin, Delaware. The only time that we had available was on the October 28th, our final tour date. We arranged to have the screening at 11:00 am, which would give us enough time to drive over to Philadelphia for our 4:00 pm screening.
We got back late the previous evening from our New York screening. Sleeping only a few hours, we woke up bright and early to drive two and a half hours from New Jersey to Delaware. The drive fortunately was uneventful, unlike the rain storm we drove through coming back from Boston the previous week. The CACC building also houses a Montessori School and Child Care Center during the weekdays. We saw lots of little kids and their parents running around during the screening.
Read the rest of this photo and see the photos »
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October 30th, 2009
by Adam
During our Pasadena screening, we received a very enthusiastic response from one of the audience members. Ann Lau told us that Qiu Jin was one of her role models and she was very excited to have seen the movie. She was instrumental in setting up our screening in New York. Putting us in touch with Peggy Chane from the Visual Artists Guild, we secured Tuesday’s screening at Tribeca Film Center in record time. Peggy is a great marketer, and she brought a nice sized crowd to the showing. It was also great to see friends and co-workers — Christine, Gaelen, Anand and Sid — on Tuesday night. The event was co-sponsored by the VAG and New York Women in Film and Television. All in all, about 40 people braved the wet weather to watch Autumn Gem.
Tribeca Film Center, as one might expect, has a great projector and audio system. We heard things in the movie that are usually muffled by lesser sound systems! I debated between showing the movie from the DVD or from my laptop. While the uprezzer for the DVD was really good, I still saw more detail from my laptop’s 720p version of the film. So, in the end, we went with the laptop.
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October 27th, 2009
by Adam
Rae at Peace and Love Cafe in New York
We’re currently at the Peace and Love Cafe across the street from the Tribeca Film Center, where we’ll be screening Autumn Gem at 6:30 pm tonight. Our first Midwest and East Coast Tour is coming to a close, with only two more showings tomorrow before we head back to the Bay Area on Thursday.
Overall, it’s been a great tour. We’re a bit tired from all of the travel, but that’s more than made up by the enthusiastic responses to the film and all of the contacts we’ve made. This is not the last tour of Autumn Gem; it’s just the beginning!
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October 25th, 2009
by Adam
Our third week on tour concluded with a screening at the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The BCNC is celebrating their 40th anniversary of serving the Chinatown community this year, and the organization is having a celebration gala in a couple of weeks on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at the center’s two buildings at 885 Washington Street and 38 Ash Street. When Rae and I arrived, we initially went to the Washington address and were confused when we couldn’t find anyone who knew about the screening. Fortunately, a passerby told us to go across the street to the other BCNC location. Apologies to anyone who came to the screening who first went to the Washington address!
After setting up the projector and tinkering with the image and color settings, we were ready to go around 12:40. Following an introduction by Carmen Chan from the BCNC, Rae and I gave our 10-minute presentation before starting the film. We had to duck out during the screening to be interviewed by a reporter from the World Journal. We were also interviewed by the Sing Tao Daily after the screening. We’ll try to pick up copies of the newspaper when we’re in New York tomorrow.
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October 24th, 2009
by Adam
On Friday, we had a great time at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where we participated in several seminars before our screening of Autumn Gem at 4:00 pm.
At most of the screenings on this trip, we don’t have too much time to wander around the school and talk with the students. We have typically arrived at the venue an hour before the screening in order to test the projector, screen and speakers. Following the screenings, we return to the road to reach the next venue. This is why Rae says, “It feels like we’re in a band… minus the roadies!” At UMass Boston, however, we had scheduled two additional events before the screening, giving us time to connect with the faculty and students. Kudos go to Shirley Tang, Professor of Asian American Studies and American Studies at UMass Boston, for organizing these extra events. It’s something that we’ll definitely suggest to other schools that we show Autumn Gem at in the future.
At noon, Rae and I conducted a martial arts demonstration at the Campus Center. Rae performed her mantis form and taught wushu basics, whereas I went through the first few steps of the Tai Chi 24 form. Here’s a video of the two of us performing and teaching, along with student reactions following the workshop:
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Posted in General, Screenings, Travel | 3 Comments »
