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AnonymousThe second film I looked at was called Kai-Lan's Great trip to China. Kai-Lan is a cartoon character that plays on Nick Jr. The warm characters will be very welcoming for Kindergarten students. I will give my students a picture dictionary that has words from different clips of the film. Words like happy, grandpa, hello and others. Then the students would role play using those words to great each other. In the first section of the film it also teaches the students how to say hello my name is, in Mandarin Chinese. That would also be a great opportunity to learn how to introduce yourself.
Kindergarten students are learning about being open to new experiences, topics, ideas and conversations. This film is a great way to introduce how to view things in different perspectives. I really like the section where the Kai-lan and friends stop to have udon noodles and some of the characters don't want to try something new. Kai-lan asks them to try it and says "You never know, you may like it". Children transitioning from complete dependence on their parents, reach many transitions into becoming responsible and independent students.
This film I would use it multiple segments, adding to their vocabulary and picture journal each day over a week period. About 5 or so minutes a day. Taking time to stop at different points to examine, interesting things for the students. To talk with their peers, in a think-pair-share activity. Where the students discuss what they've seen, what they like or don't like and why they feel that way. Sometimes these activities are done with their elbow partner (the person they are sitting next to on the rug) or in small groups.
By starting the class with a visual, audio and physical representation of these characters it will lead in beautifully to the unit on China.
AnonymousI came across an interesting documentary on manga as a literary genre that would be a great resource for middle and high school students. This would be especially great for teachers who have taught the basic literary genres and is looking to go a bit deeper.
In Japan, comics and graphic novels are regarded as their own genre equal to novels, poetry, and drama. Manga Mad traces it back to the wood block prints of the Edo Period. Western culture did not have such easy access to easily and cheaply reproduced books of essays and poetry with images until it was too late. Western culture was conditioned to accept books of text as scholarly where Japanese culture accepts text and images. This became more important during the Meiji Period because these books were a very cheap form of entertainment.
This is available on Hulu for free.
AnonymousA student made video assignment sounds great! As a fourth grade teacher, I also have a hard time finding appropriate films. With all of today's technology, a student might easily be able to use YouTube or something like it to post footage of their stay abroad. I have many kids that have moved back to Japan, but still communicate via email. Maybe Skype is possible too.
AnonymousI viewed a movie titled "Please Vote for Me". The movie is about an elementary school in China that is using a Democratic way of electing a new class monitor. The movie follows the "campaigns" of three students who were nominated for the job. It is very interesting to watch these young students learn about democracy. I think this would be a great movie to show to any type of political science class. It really takes it back to the roots of what a democracy is. Highly recommend.
AnonymousHi all,
I. M. Pei: Building China Modern. This American Masters film was aired on PBS March 31, 2010, and will be streamed online through the end of June. To view the documentary, visit http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/.
-Xin
AnonymousBEATE SIROTA GORDON WHO DRAFTED WOMEN’S RIGHTS SECTION OF
JAPANESE CONSTITUTION TO DISCUSS LITTLE-KNOWN STORY AT JANM
Rare L.A. Speaking Engagement for 86-Year-Old Set for Tateuchi Democracy Forum May 16
LOS ANGELES.— The only woman to play a role in the writing of the Japanese Constitution, Beate Sirota Gordon, will speak about her memories in advocating for equal rights for Japanese women, on Sunday, May 16 at the Japanese American National Museum’s Tateuchi Democracy Forum in her first speaking engagement in Southern California. This program is organized in partnership between the Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation and the National Museum and co-sponsored by the Kasloff Foundation/U.S. Japan Cultural Education, American Airlines and the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles. It is supported by the Miyako Hotel, Los Angeles, and Japan Foundation.
Mrs. Gordon, daughter of internationally renowned Ukranian pianist Leo Sirota, was raised in Japan while her father worked at the Imperial Academy of Music. She moved to America in 1939 to attend Mills College, and when the war began, her parents were still in Japan. Mrs. Gordon would not see them again until the post-war. To get back to Japan to see her parents, she joined the U.S. government as someone who spoke Japanese and understood the culture.
Beate was assigned in 1946 at the age of 22 to work for the political affairs staff for General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur was intent on turning Japan into a democracy and he told 25 of his staff, including Beate, to draft Japan’s new constitution. In fact, Beate was the only woman in this group. Assigned to the civil rights subcommittee, she was given the responsibility to write the articles related to women’s rights. Knowing Japan’s long patriarchal history, she “finally decided that I must give rights that were very detailed and explicit so that they could not be misinterpreted.”
Among the landmark pieces Beate wrote was part of Article 14: “All of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.” At the time, and for five decades afterwards, few people knew who drafted Japan’s constitution, including Beate’s historic role involving women’s rights.
Mrs. Gordon did not speak publicly of her contributions for nearly 50 years. As she will explain in her lecture set for 2 p.m., she began discussing her story only beginning in 1995 and has been asked to speak numerous times at colleges and universities and other venues throughout Japan as well as in the United States. Author of “The Only Woman in the Room”, Mrs. Gordon has been interviewed on NPR radio, “Nightline” with Ted Koppel and other media outlets.
She married Joseph Gordon, who she had meet in Japan during the Occupation, and moved to New York in 1947 to study ballet, modern dance, ethnic and folk dance, piano and drama. Mrs. Gordon spent her life working in support of the performing arts as well as the Japan Society of New York and the Asia Society. Since the story of her advocacy of women’s rights became public in Japan, Mrs. Gordon has become an iconic figure. A Beate Appreciation Society was formed and her story has been told in documentaries, stage productions and Japanese manga.
At 11 a.m., in support of Mrs. Gordon’s lecture, the film screening of “Sirota Family & the 20th Century” an award winning documentary film by Tomoko Fujiwara, will be shown. This film will feature Mrs. Gordon, and her family as they struggled to survive their travels from country to country as a Jewish family during World War II. There will be a light reception following the lecture.
Due to limited seating, ticket reservations and payments will be required in advance. The presentation will be $27 for National Museum members and $30 for non-members. Please send reservation forms, available online at http://www.janm.org, and payments to the Japanese American National Museum.
The Tateuchi Democracy Forum of the Japanese American National Museum is located on 100 N. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012. For more information, call 213.625.0414, ext. 2249, or go to http://www.janm.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Komai
213.830.5648 [email protected]
AnonymousI viewed "The Blue Kite" a Chinese film that has been banned in China. It is about the rise of Mao and Communism in China in the 1950's. It was a pretty long film, but really showed how everyday people in China were effected by Communism.
The parts of the film that I would use from this film in my classroom are the parts about rationing food and sharing with the community.
I would first show them the scene from the communal table and how wasteful some of them were being when they were eating together and then I would show them the scene from when the grandmother is cooking dumplings and the neighbors come and take them away saying that she has been hording and stealing food that should be shared with the entire community. There is another scene where the mother leaves to work as a farmer for several months even though she is a teacher. They want everyone to help "feed the nation and do their part". I think those scenes would help them understand Communism and the idea of "community" property.
Another scene that I would like to share with them, but it is probably a little too edgy for a classroom is when the students rise up and beat and stone the principal of their school because she is seen as a "rightest" or "anti Communist". I would then lead that into a discussion about how the government encouraged those attacks and their reasons.
I wish the film had talked more about the reform camps so I could give students an idea about how people were treated in the camps. They could compare and contrast them to the Nazi Concentration Camps and the Japanese Internment Camps in the U.S.
AnonymousBlue Kite sounds interesting. Where did you get a copy to view? Thanks.
AnonymousThe King of Masks
101 minutes. No MPAA rating (I would estimate a PG to PG 13 only because of the hermaphrodite/female impersonator opera singer---but seriously---NOTHING compared to typical Hollywood PG-13 movies nowadays with their stupid, mindless, and gratuitous cussing and sexual situations).
Directed by Wu Tianming
Bian Lian Wang: Zhu Xu (plays the "King") won lots of awards for his acting
Doggie: Zhou Ren-ying (the kid) should of won lots of awards for acting!
Tien Che: Zhang Riuyang
Liang Sao Lang: Zhao Zhigang (the opera singer-also an opera singer in real life)
I found this movie captivating and surprising. Surprising first because the production values were so high. I usually watch older, lower budget Asian films, so I wasn't expecting the early celebration scenes of 1930's China, what with fireworks and giant dragon puppets- Awesome. NOT DISNEY. Immediately, one wishes to have lived there, in that time, or to visit now, and be among the quality, beauty, and harmony of buildings and maze-like city somewhere in rural-ish ? China.
The story was interesting, regarding an older, somewhat impoverished (but not in art and spirit) street artist (the King of Masks), who wants an heir to pass his art on to. The heir must be male and this leads to some complications and some questioning of traditional gender values. One of the most successful performers is a hermaphrodite, who is portrayed as someone who has managed to find a respected niche wile maintaining the highest values of compassion, respect, and loyal community.
The fortunes of the King of Masks rise and fall. We learn about life in that era and the vagaries of the justice system (eerily parallel to how ours works at times). Issues of filial piety (traditional values worth keeping!) and community beg the question of just what constitutes "family," anyway. All of these questions/issues are dealt with rather subtley, it does not feel like an in-your-face- political statement- just like real life.
OK, can I just say- the acting was A-1 A-MAZING! From the King of Masks to the kid, to all the supporting cast- fantastic!
I think it is a valuable movie to show the advanced culture of China at that time- not just the architecture, and the art forms, but the (somewhat) changing, traditional values of the time. I think that my students would really relate to the street urchin who must get by on street smarts and heart, and who really ends up a hero
Great movie.
from Wikipedia:
"The film won a number of awards at various film festivals around the world. It had a limited American theatrical release in 1999 and earned about $1,000,000Text
From ROGER EBERT:
"The King of Masks" was directed by Wu Tianming, who as a studio head in the 1980s helped bring the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers to prominence. After the Tiananmen Square revolt, he moved to the United States and returned in 1995. This is his first film after his homecoming, and although it has no overt political message, perhaps it is no accident that its hero is a stubborn artist who clings to his secrets.
AnonymousThe movie I saw was called "Not One Less." It is a chinese film about chinese education in the early 1990's. It is a touching film about a 13 year old girl who is a substitute teacher at a rural school. She is told not to lose any students and searches after one student who decides to go to the city for work. I teach middle school math and could not really tie this movie into my Algebra curiculum, but has an important lesson for middle school students. It teaches the importance of relationships, education, commitment, poverty, and life. I think that most of my students would benefit from seeing how others live that are outside of the US. It would be a very valuable lesson. However, my only fear due to the some what slow pace of the movie, it would not be able to captivate them enough to watch until the end without losing interest. It doesn't have enough action and might be too long for some of them to get through the subtitles. Although the ones who are able to, will be glad they did.
AnonymousMost Honorable Son (PBS)
Directed and written by Bill Kubota
Co-produced by Ed Moore and Joel Geyel
This is a fascinating film about Ben Kuroki a Japanese American born in Nebraska. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the war broke-out, he hated being Japanese and felt guilty about what they did. He volunteered repeatedly before he was accepted into the airforce. Initially, he was stuck on the ground peeling potatoes for over 20 days straight until he finally found himself with a squadron after making enough noise.
Ben was sent to Europe to fight against the Germans. After completing 25 missions, he returned to the United
States. He then requested to pilot the B-29, an aircraft being used to bomb Japan. In one night, 80,000 people were killed by the fire bomb attacks of the B-29s.
I understand that Ben Kuroki saw himself as a true American but my understanding falls short as to why he would annihilate his own people. His self hatred must have propelled him to destroy any image that looked like the reflection in his own mirror.
The assignments that I have created around this story will deal with creative writing and persuasion.Students will beome a character living in 1940s. They must be japanese and tell me where they live (country); who they are; what life entails during this time as this character. The next assignment will be a debate on war. Students will be placed in groups to debate topics such, are there any merits to war? and, would you be able to bomb your own ethnicity if you were a citizen of another country? The culminating assignment will involve a gallery walk on the bombing of Pearl harbor from the aspect of Americans and the Japanese.
Anonymous"The Sinking of Japan" movie is a very good way to show the effects of plate tectonics. It has great video of tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanoes and shows what the after-effects they have on people, buildings, and the landscape.[Edit by="eschlum on Jun 7, 10:46:59 PM"][/Edit]
clay dubeThe King of Masks can be ordered from Netflix on dvd or streamed to your computer or internet-connected television. This is true of some other Chinese films as well.
AnonymousHi all,
Now in its 16th year, the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival invites you to explore the more than 200 feature films, documentaries, shorts and music videos that will screen in downtown Los Angeles from June 17-27.
1428 (China, Hong Kong)
Dir. Du Haibin
Filmmaker Du Haibin artfully hones in on the aftermath of the great Sichuan earthquake of 2008, capturing the intimate reactions of the survivors and the government's response, both ten days after the tragedy and seven months later. Winner of the documentary award at the Venice Film Festival.
Sun, Jun 20th, 1:45pm & Mon, Jun 21st, 8:00pm, at Regal 13
http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2010/filmguide/Title/AA
Café Noir (South Korea)
Dir. Jung Sung-il
Combining classical European literature with leftist politics and sly homages to the past decade of Korean cinema, this sprawling, playful examination of unrequited love is the directorial debut of film critic turned audacious auteur Jung Sung-il.
Sun, Jun 20th, 8pm & Wed, Jun 23rd 8pm, at Regal 12
http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2010/filmguide/Title/CC
Golden Slumber (Japan)
Dir. Nakamura Yoshihiro
A comic thriller. Certainly the year’s most heartwarming film about political assassination, serial killers, conspiracy theories, and the Beatles, this non-stop Japanese pop-thriller offers up laughs, tears, and more than a few explosions.
Sun, Jun 20th, 4pm, at Downtown Independent & Sat, Jun 26th, 8pm, at Regal 12
http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2010/filmguide/Title/GG
Judge (China)
Dir. Liu Jie
This devastating Chinese drama traces the intertwined lives of a grieving judge, a car thief he's sentenced to death, and a rich man who desperately needs a kidney transplant.
Sat, Jun 19th, 4:30pm & Tue, Jun 22nd, 7:30pm, at Regal 8
http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2010/filmguide/Title/JJ
The Red Chapel (Denmark)
Dir. Mads Brugger
Documentary: Two Korean-Danish comedians and their trickster director infiltrate North Korea to expose its horrors in a documentary way stranger than fiction.
Sat, Jun 19th, 7:30pm, at Downtown Independent & Thu, Jun 24th, 7:45pm, at Regal 10
http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2010/filmguide/Title/RR
Woman on Fire Looks for Water (Malaysia, South Korea)
Dir. Woo Ming-jin
With a keen eye for the meditative rhythms of life in a small village, this lyrical film follows a father and son as they each yearn for a love that may never come.
Fri, Jun 18th, 8pm, at Regal 12, & Sun, Jun 20th, 1:45pm, at Regal 9
http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2010/filmguide/Title/WW
Big in Japan (Japan)
Top Japanese music videos – screened at the Grammy Museum.
Sat, Jun 19th, 7:30pm, & Wed, 23rd, 9:45pm, at Grammy Museum
http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2010/filmguide/Title/BB
Climate Refugees (Bangladesh, Chad, China, Kenya, Tuvalu, USA)
“Climate Refugees” is a term few people outside the U.S. military and U.N. circles were familiar with outside the US military and UN circles…until now. As alarming as it is prescient, Michael Nash’s illuminating documentary examines the facts behind the phrase and exposes what is being called the biggest challenge facing mankind.
Fri, Jun 25th, 8:30pm at California Plaza
http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2010/filmguide/Title/CC
Jonathan Gold, the Los Angeles-based Pulitzer-prize winning food critic, is well-known for his love of Asian cuisine. He will speak at a screening on 6/19 (4 pm) at the Downtown Independent. The film to be screened is Udon.
Udon (Japan)
Dir. Motohiro Katsuyuki
UDON is a high-spirited comic ode to the power of Japan’s ubiquitous noodle. After failing to make it as a stand-up comedian, a young man drags himself home to Kagawa Prefecture, where his father owns a small udon factory. When an article he writes for a local magazine sets off a nationwide udon craze, he learns there’s more to the simple noodle, and the people who make them, than he ever expected.
Sat, Jun 19th, 4pm, at Downtown Independent
http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2010/filmguide/Title/UU
Camera, Camera (USA)
Dir. Malcolm Murray
Documentary. A sharp, subtle critique on the nature of tourism and photography, the enigmatic documentary Camera, Camera follows a handful of diverse Westerners traveling through Laos, paying special attention to the snapshots they take along the way.
Sat, 19th, 4pm, at Regal 11; Mon, Jun 21st, 10:15pm, at Regal 9;
& Wed, Jun 23rd, 5pm, at Regal 13
http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2010/filmguide/Title/CC
Parade (Japan)
Dir. Yukisada Isao
The stylish Parade could easily be mistaken, at first glance, for a Japanese sitcom, as it gathers four twenty-somethings together in a small Tokyo apartment….
Tue, Jun 22nd, 7:30pm, at Regal 10 & Wed, Jun 23rd, 10pm, at Regal 9
http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2010/filmguide/Title/PP
For more information about the film festival, please go to:
http://www.lafilmfest.com/2010/[Edit by="xjiang on Jun 15, 2:06:54 PM"][/Edit]
AnonymousI teach 7th and 8th grade social studies, but I am also the advisor for the “film club” (basically the students who come watch movies in my room every day at lunch). When I was in the school library picking out movies for the club, one of the members saw “My Neighbor Totoro” and since I remembered it from China class, I picked it for the week.
I actually remember watching this movie when I was younger so I was interested in seeing if there was any difference between the early 1990’s dubbed version and the Disney dubbed version.
I would actually use this in my class as a bridge to making the unknown more familiar. “Japan” may seem too far away, too out of my students’ spheres of influence so they might not care about leaning about it. But using something safe (like a cartoon that just happens to be from Japan and about Japan) is a way to make a connection for them. I would previously view the movie and find 10 or so things that were distinctly Japanese and something that my students might not be familiar with (some examples: not wearing shoes in the house, growing rice, writing in Japanese etc). Then as they were watching they would list all the things they saw that they thought were distinctly Japanese. Afterwards we would have a discussion about them. It is also helpful to refer to the movie when I am teaching about other parts of Japanese history/culture. “Remember how mountainous the land in My Neighbor Totoro was? Well Japan is 80% mountainous and 20% flat land...” I reference a lot of Disney movies/cartoons in my teaching because that is what most of my students are familiar with.
I also would just use this movie as a free day or rainy day movie. Instead of showing some movie that they are all familiar with already, this would be a way to have them experience a little bit of another culture. This may led them into wanting to know more about Japan or some aspect of Japanese life. Like I said, to me this movie is a bridge. Forcing my students to watch a movie that may help teach the history of Japan better would backfire because they wouldn’t pay attention. This movie might get them interested enough that they want to learn more (and then would hopefully stay more focused during my lesson!).