Colorado Dragon Film Festival

The folks who bring you the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival now bring you an Asian and Asian-American film festival!

The Colorado Dragon Film Festival opens Friday May 20 at 6:00 pm with a Special VIP Opening Night Reception and Screening of Uzumasa Limelight, director Ken Ochiai’s bittersweet tribute to the passing of an era in Japan’s samurai films that also pays tribute to Charlie Chaplin’s classic Limelight. The film focuses on aging actor Kamiyama Seiichi (played by Fukumoto Seizo), who specializes playing samurai who die in fight scenes, turning being dispatched into an artform. The Special VIP Opening Night will also feature traditional Japanese performances and demonstrations, Japanese food and refreshments. The film is being screened with the support of the Consulate General of Japan at Denver.

Click to the full schedule to see trailers for every film!

On Saturday, May 21, the festival continues with a Japanese animated feature screened by the Colorado Anime Fest. Following the film, children of all ages will have the opportunity to engage with Asian-related craft projects provided by the Denver Art Museum.

It’ll be “Documentary Sunday” on May 22, featuring Changing Season: On the Masumoto Family Farm, a documentary tribute to David “Mas” Masumoto, a 60-year-old Japanese American peach farmer, and his daughter Nikiko, who returns to work the family farm. The film weaves together the contemporary economic challenges of farming with the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII.

The weekend ends with filmmaker Grace Lee’s witty and culturally mouth-watering Off the Menu, which will leave viewers hungry with her fascinating look at how Asian cuisine has adapted to American tastes over the decades.

More info: http://www.cdbf.org/new-film-festival/