I have seen a few pretty good documentaries this year, including October Country and Big River Man, but 9500 Liberty is something else. This could be the future of documentaries. I have been looking for ways that documentaries could break out of their tired formats, using talking heads and clips, or else that old pompous, preachy, "this is good for you" tone, and this movie by Eric Byler and Annabel Park has done it. It follows the progress of an anti-immigration law in Virginia. With everyone fighting and taking sides, the filmmakers discover that they are in possession of the most complete and accurate information, and so they begin to take part in their own story. In addition, they posted bits and pieces of the film on YouTube, further changing the direction of their coverage. It's a living, breathing film.
Die-hard film buffs may recognize Eric Byler's name. He has...
Die-hard film buffs may recognize Eric Byler's name. He has...
- 6/13/2010
- by Jeffrey M. Anderson
- Cinematical
As I noted last week, filmmaker Eric Byler was in Austin to promote 9500 Liberty, currently playing at the Dobie (Don's review). The documentary depicts the battleground in Virginia and on the Internet over an anti-immigration policy, the "Immigration Resolution," that the Prince William County board of supervisors adopted in 2008. To counteract the racial divisions that occurred in their community, county residents formed a resistance using YouTube videos and virtual town halls. The inflammatory showdown between the groups had profound and devastating social and economic impacts in their community.
Byler and Annabel Park not only co-directed 9500 Liberty, but co-founded the political action group Coffee Party USA in response to the politics that enabled the Virginia anti-immigration law to pass. Byler is the YouTube/Online Media Coordinator for the group, and has created a number of videos about political issues.
As he mentions in his interview, Byler screened two of his feature...
Byler and Annabel Park not only co-directed 9500 Liberty, but co-founded the political action group Coffee Party USA in response to the politics that enabled the Virginia anti-immigration law to pass. Byler is the YouTube/Online Media Coordinator for the group, and has created a number of videos about political issues.
As he mentions in his interview, Byler screened two of his feature...
- 6/8/2010
- by Debbie Cerda
- Slackerwood
Arizona's new immigration law has provoked accusations of racial profiling, since it gives police the power to stop and detain suspects if they have "reasonable suspicion" they are in the country illegally. The law has triggered a national debate about immigration and the role that local and state authorities play in enforcing federal laws. A new documentary shines a spotlight on the social and economic impacts of immigration policies, including racial profiling.
The documentary 9500 Liberty, directed and produced by SXSW Award Winner Eric Byler (Americanese) and Coffee Party Movement founder Annabel Park, depicts the battleground in Prince William County, Virginia and on the Internet in the battle over immigration policy. Anti-immigration networks used online media to frighten local lawmakers and citizens in Prince William County. In order to counteract the racial divisions that occurred in their community, residents formed a resistance using YouTube videos and virtual townhalls. The inflammatory showdown...
The documentary 9500 Liberty, directed and produced by SXSW Award Winner Eric Byler (Americanese) and Coffee Party Movement founder Annabel Park, depicts the battleground in Prince William County, Virginia and on the Internet in the battle over immigration policy. Anti-immigration networks used online media to frighten local lawmakers and citizens in Prince William County. In order to counteract the racial divisions that occurred in their community, residents formed a resistance using YouTube videos and virtual townhalls. The inflammatory showdown...
- 5/26/2010
- by Debbie Cerda
- Slackerwood
- Quick Links > Americanese > IFC First Take > Joan Chen IFC got lucky this weekend. It has just been announced that the indie company has scored the North American rights to AMERICANese, Eric Byler's follow up to Charlotte Sometimes. IFC picked up the feature for its IFC First Take label. It will be released in theaters and on-demand for Comcast/Cablevision simultaneously. Based on the novel by Shawn Wong, AMERICANese deals with issues of Asian-American identity, centering on the relationships of Chinese-American Raymond Ding (Chris Tashima). Also starring in the film is Joan Chen (The Last Emperor). Scheduled for release in 2007, AMERICANese already has a growing fan base. Byler and cast took home both the audience award for narrative feature and the jury prize for ensemble acting from the South by Southwest Film Festival. ...
- 10/23/2006
- IONCINEMA.com
San Francisco -- Despite its frank approach to the controversial issue of race, Americanese, writer-director Eric Byler's lethargic adaptation of Shawn Wong's novel, American Knees, limps along without a sense of narrative drive. A collection of scenes in search of a coherent story, the film's characters don't develop, and plot lines fail to coalesce by the movie's conclusion. In a word: it's dull.
The film may resonate with Asian-American audiences, too long deprived of seeing images of themselves onscreen, especially as romantic leads in a modern love story. It should have long a run on the festival circuit but has limited art house potential.
Perhaps stymied by the inherent difficulty of transforming the internal world of a novel into a movie, Byler, who demonstrated more storytelling finesse in his feature debut, Charlotte Sometimes, hasn't succeeded in opening up his story to cinematic or dramatic effect. However, he does convey the confusion that follows a breakup, how rapidly intimacy turns into estrangement. To be fair, Byler had his work cut out for him. Somehow, he had build an entertaining film around characters who are stuck and not particularly interesting to begin with.
The story begins after the protagonist, Ray (Chris Tashima), a middle-aged, divorced Chinese-American professor, and his considerably younger bi-racial girlfriend, Aurora (Allison Sie), have broken up. She wants to move on, he can't let go. Tashima, a classically handsome, photogenic actor, struggles to make a stiff, inexpressive character, short on charisma, psychologically interesting. Unfortunately, Ray remains opaque as he mopes his way through life and, sadly for the audience, the entire movie. It's hard to tell if the fault lies in the script's uninspired dialogue, ineffective direction, poor acting or a combination of all three.
Things heat up when Ray embarks on a troubled love affair with Betty (Joan Chen), who delivers a raw performance as a needy, neurotic co-worker with a mysterious past. Betty adds intrigue and a needed injection of adrenaline, but then she suddenly drops out of sight. Kelly Hu overacts as Allison's friend, Brenda -- a loud, nasty vixen and a misogynist stereotype.
Veteran actor Sab Shimono is marvelous as Ray's heartsick father, a man still deeply in love with his late wife. The film perks up whenever Shimono is onscreen. With his vitality and endearing goofiness, it's tempting to wish that the story centered on him rather than his self-absorbed son.
Americanese, with its focus on love, race and sexuality, is a departure from Asian-American films that have focused primarily on cross-generational conflict, the tension between traditional immigrant parents and their pop-culture-intoxicated American offspring. If only the film was good as its intentions.
AMERICANESE
American Knees Prods.
Credits:
Director: Eric Byler
Screenwriter: Eric Byler
Producer: Lisa Onodera
Executive producer: Allison Sie
Director of photography: Robert Humphreys, Stacy Toyama
Production designer: Ben Woolverton
Music: Michael Brook
Costume designer: Jeanette Fuller
Editor: Kenn Kashima.
Cast:
Raymond Ding: Chris Tashima
Aurora Crane: Allison Sie
Wood Ding: Sab Shimono
Brenda Nishitani: Kelly Hu
Jimmy Chan: Michael Paul Chan
Betty Nguyen: Joan Chen
Steve: Ben Shenkman
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 114 minutes...
The film may resonate with Asian-American audiences, too long deprived of seeing images of themselves onscreen, especially as romantic leads in a modern love story. It should have long a run on the festival circuit but has limited art house potential.
Perhaps stymied by the inherent difficulty of transforming the internal world of a novel into a movie, Byler, who demonstrated more storytelling finesse in his feature debut, Charlotte Sometimes, hasn't succeeded in opening up his story to cinematic or dramatic effect. However, he does convey the confusion that follows a breakup, how rapidly intimacy turns into estrangement. To be fair, Byler had his work cut out for him. Somehow, he had build an entertaining film around characters who are stuck and not particularly interesting to begin with.
The story begins after the protagonist, Ray (Chris Tashima), a middle-aged, divorced Chinese-American professor, and his considerably younger bi-racial girlfriend, Aurora (Allison Sie), have broken up. She wants to move on, he can't let go. Tashima, a classically handsome, photogenic actor, struggles to make a stiff, inexpressive character, short on charisma, psychologically interesting. Unfortunately, Ray remains opaque as he mopes his way through life and, sadly for the audience, the entire movie. It's hard to tell if the fault lies in the script's uninspired dialogue, ineffective direction, poor acting or a combination of all three.
Things heat up when Ray embarks on a troubled love affair with Betty (Joan Chen), who delivers a raw performance as a needy, neurotic co-worker with a mysterious past. Betty adds intrigue and a needed injection of adrenaline, but then she suddenly drops out of sight. Kelly Hu overacts as Allison's friend, Brenda -- a loud, nasty vixen and a misogynist stereotype.
Veteran actor Sab Shimono is marvelous as Ray's heartsick father, a man still deeply in love with his late wife. The film perks up whenever Shimono is onscreen. With his vitality and endearing goofiness, it's tempting to wish that the story centered on him rather than his self-absorbed son.
Americanese, with its focus on love, race and sexuality, is a departure from Asian-American films that have focused primarily on cross-generational conflict, the tension between traditional immigrant parents and their pop-culture-intoxicated American offspring. If only the film was good as its intentions.
AMERICANESE
American Knees Prods.
Credits:
Director: Eric Byler
Screenwriter: Eric Byler
Producer: Lisa Onodera
Executive producer: Allison Sie
Director of photography: Robert Humphreys, Stacy Toyama
Production designer: Ben Woolverton
Music: Michael Brook
Costume designer: Jeanette Fuller
Editor: Kenn Kashima.
Cast:
Raymond Ding: Chris Tashima
Aurora Crane: Allison Sie
Wood Ding: Sab Shimono
Brenda Nishitani: Kelly Hu
Jimmy Chan: Michael Paul Chan
Betty Nguyen: Joan Chen
Steve: Ben Shenkman
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 114 minutes...
- 4/27/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Austin's South by Southwest Film Festival announced its jury and audience award winners Wednesday. Gregg Kavet and Andy Robin's crime caper Live Free or Die took home narrative feature honors from the jury, while Eric Byler's romantic dramedy Americanese won the audience award in the same category. The latter also garned a special jury prize for ensemble cast, making it the only film to nab two honors. The jury awarded Mark Woolen's roller derby-themed "Jam" best documentary feature and gave a special jury prize to James D. Scurlock's credit card docu Maxed Out. Audiences went for Luke Meyer and Andrew Neel's medieval fantasy game study, Darkon, as best docu feature.
- 3/15/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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