Hoping to share the importance of Asian American film with students, University of Wisconsin Media and Cultural Studies Professor Lori Lopez started the university’s first Asian American film festival.
Lopez, who earned her Ph.D. from University of Southern California, said she was inspired by Asian American activists in Los Angeles who addressed the issues of Asian American representation in the media.
In addition to joining one of these activist organizations, Lopez attended Asian American film festivals and met with actors as well as directors in the film industry while in California.
“I teach a class on Asian Americans in media and my research area has often been how Asian Americans are working to improve their representation in the media,” Lopez said. “So it was my research, my teaching and commitment to Asian American artists and films that made me want to do this.”
Lopez said it is important to her that she supports Asian American filmmakers and movies that star Asian Americans as well as tell their stories.
When discussing the issue of stereotypes in film, Lopez said it is a problem that there are few Asian Americans portraying roles in the media. If it’s a movie or television show, however, like ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat, which has an all Asian American cast and tells a variety of stories, the issue of stereotypes becomes less significant.
Lopez said she believes the festival will help people see that Asian Americans can portray roles beyond those that are stereotypical. She said it’s important to consider shows such as Fresh Off the Boat in the context of other big steps the TV industry is taking to diversify their programming.
But what’s important, she said, is that people don’t put all the pressure on one show to fix the still existing problems within media and the representation of Asian Americans.
“I hope that [the films at the festival] start conversations. I hope people see the films and talk about what they learned, what they saw and what they didn’t like,” she said. “I’m okay if people don’t like some of the films because I think that’s important and interesting too.”
The festival will show five movies, two of which are documentaries while the others are feature films.
One documentary is about the Hmong community, as they have a large presence on campus, and the other is about testing in high schools and the issues of race that complicate the enrollment process.
Lopez said “Advantageous,” a science-fiction film, will also make its Madison premier, as well as two others starring Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American lead in a film.
Lopez said there is a great deal of information in the documentaries that navigate Asian American history and current issues in education. “Advantageous” also contains questions regarding gender in society.
Beyond learning about Asian American experiences, Lopez said the films are provocative in the stories they tell.
“I hope we can do it again next year. I don’t know where it’s going to go, but I’m really proud we were able to do it this year,” Lopez said. “I think it was a big accomplishment just because we’ve never had something like this before.”
