More "Face" time with Bertha Pan
10.12 - Posted by Editor
Bertha Pan's feature film "Face," which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, makes it to theaters at long last this Friday, October 15, in San Francisco (UA Galaxy Theater, UA Stonehouse Theater) and San Jose (Camera 12 Cinema).
The official announcement describes the film, which stars Bai Ling, Kristy Wu, and Treach, as "the coming of age story of two women caught between the conflicting cultures of their traditional heritage and the surrounding influence of urban life." AsianAmericanFilm caught up with director Bertha Pan as she prepared for the theatrical premiere.
AAF: Congratulations on the theatrical release of "Face"! Can you tell us a bit about your journey to getting distribution and what your hopes are for the film?
BP: It's been a long and winding journey from premiering at Sundance 2002 amongst all the unexpected hype then experiencing all the even-more-unexpected disappointments in the two years following. Even though all the trials and tribulations encountered along the way make "Melrose Place" look tame - I'm grateful for all the folks who've stuck it out with me and helped me get this far with the movie. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and hopefully, all the heartaches and hard lessons learned will be good material for future projects as well as wisdom for future dealings. Of course at the end of the day it's still a luxurious position to get your first feature film played in movie theaters - regardless of the delays in between. Thank God the story and characters of this movie are not of any timely nature, and I would still love for "Face" to play to as many people as possible from all different cultural, social, educational, racial and religious backgrounds, and to be able to move and entertain across the board; and of course I appreciate generous souls like yourself who help spread the word and share this exposure.
AAF: Any special events scheduled around the release? Will you or any actors be around for Q&A sessions?
BP: Unfortunately as of now, besides certain regional radio interviews with Bai Ling and Will Yun Lee, it does not look like there will be any special events or appearances arranged for the Bay Area release as far as I know. But depending on the response we receive locally for the movie, who knows what could happen? As for the upcoming NY/LA release - I believe there will be a big fun party held with all the cast members and musicians from our soundtrack present. I will keep you updated on that.
AAF: "Face" features an interracial romance between an Asian American woman and an African American man. Have you noticed any differences in how African American and Asian American audiences view the film?
BP: "Face" has been fortunate enough to play at such a wide range of different film festivals and events in front of such diversed audience members that it's been hard to differentiate which responses were from which racial background; but in general it's all been very enthusiastic and positive; especially since the whole courtship between the two characters is about breaking through one's insecurities and defense mechanisms and getting to connect on a deeper level - all of which, has nothing to do with the color of their skin.
AAF: What's your favorite scene from the movie?
I am very grateful for the amazing cast and crew I got to work with and am truly proud of the whole movie, so it's hard to pick out a particular scene as my favorite. But I suppose the funny ones are a lot easier for me to watch personally....
AAF: What's next for you?
BP: I just directed a music video for Tre Hardson's (formerly Slim Kid Tre of Pharcyde) song "Just Can't Hold On" off the "Face" soundtrack. We are in the middle of post-production still but hopefully it will get played on some of the music television channels soon. I am also in the process of developing a basketball movie with my managers Pop Art Films.
For more about "Face," read Konrad Aderer's 2002 AsianAmericanFilm.com interview with Bertha Pan.
