FILM

Aurora Picture Show presents Slant 10 Live: The Neo-Benshi Experience,  Saturday, May 22, at 7PM. Location: Super Happy Fun Land, 3801 Polk Street. Artists Neelanjana Banerjee and Goh Nakamura in attendance with curator Melissa Hung.

Join us for a special evening of live performances with film. Benshi were Japanese performers who provided live narration during the silent film era. San Francisco-based writer Neelanjana Banerjee performs neo-benshi by writing her own scripts and re-imagining classic Bollywood films to hilarious effect.

Also no stranger to wordplay, singer songwriter Goh Nakamura performs a live score to new work by Slant alum Dino Ignacio. Goh’s music has been featured on film soundtracks and this evening he’ll bring his guitar and imagination for a show of cinematic songs.

Neelanjana Banerjee is a writer, editor, and teacher based in San Francisco. She is the co-editor of the new book Indivisible: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian American Poetry.

Goh Nakamura is a musician who writes ditties about parking tickets, impossible crushes and faraway dreamlands. He has two albums, Daylight Savings and Ulysses.

Slant turns 10! This annual Aurora program showcases an eclectic mix of the best short films made by emerging and mid-career Asian American artists. With rich characters and visions that give voice to the fantastical as well as the every day, these short films are as varied as they are compelling. Through our film festival, DVDs and performances, we provide a fresh perspective on the Asian American experience. The festival features all genres including narrative, experimental, documentary and animation. Works accepted into the festival often combat tired stereotypes of Asian Americans with quirky comedies and compelling visions.

Curated by Melissa Hung, Slant provides a fresh perspective on the Asian American experience. Artists featured include Greg Pak, J.P. Chan and many others. One of the longest-running festivals in Texas devoted to Asian American film and video art, the festival has screened more than a hundred films, many of them showing in Texas for the first time.

From the beginning, Slant has made its home at the Aurora Picture Show, a nonprofit microcinema. In presenting this festival, Aurora participates in exploring the power of moving image in crafting identity and community.

Melissa Hung is a writer, editor, and the founder of Hyphen, a magazine about Asian American culture. A native Texan, she now lives in San Francisco where she misses TexMex and cafeterias.

Special thanks to Hyphen Magazine for their support of this program.

Pictured: Neelanjana Banerjee and Goh Nakamura.