Recent Posts
Yusaku Mizoguchi’s Award Winning Sae Shines
On Facebook, I saw my director friend Yusaku Mizoguchi win Best Director at the City of Angels Film Festival for his feature Sae, a touching drama about a Japanese student who decides to overstay her student visa in the U.S. in order to pursue a life as an artist. As an international student myself, I felt deeply connected to Sae’s perspective and reached out to Yusaku for an interview.
Influenced by the Influencer(s) Franchise
When I was making my feature The Way You Dance in Vancouver earlier this year, I was invited to a Royal Bank of Canada event in partnership with the Whistler Film Festival. There, I bumped into Cassandra Naud and Emily Tennant, the two leads of Influencer, a thriller feature I had caught on Shudder. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was a Canadian production shot in Vancouver—and that both lead actors were Canadian as well. I remember Influencer as a smart, character-driven thriller centered on a psychopath (played by Naud) who takes over the identities and assets of her victims, all of whom are influencers.
My Favorite Movies of 2025
Having done extensive cultural criticism work when I was a graduate student at Yale and Berkeley in the early 2000s, I lament that film critics…
Interview with Kaidy Kuna, Indonesian American Actor of Daly City and Something Good Going On
As I was programming and moderating a Q&A for Yale in Hollywood Fest, I asked Arnold Setiadi, director of Something Good Going On, whether the…
Dax Phelan, Writer and Director of Jasmine, on Filmmaking Today
I’ve long been fascinated by writer-director Dax Phelan, whose debut feature, Jasmine—starring Jason Tobin—was an award-winning hit on the festival circuit. Ten years after its premiere, I’m excited, as a fan, to catch up with Mr. Phelan about what he’s working on now.
Fresh Fear October 2025 List
Each year, Fresh Fear recommends 10 horror features—new, classic or rarely seen—available now on streaming to binge for Halloween! Here’s our October 2025 list:
2025 Canadian Screen Award Winner Josette Jorge Joins Quentin Lee’s The Way You Dance & Executive Producer Jennifer Price Sells Lee’s The Unlucky Starring Ludi Lin at TIFF
As the cameras are set to roll on September 22, 2025, in the greater Vancouver and Langley areas, British Columbia (BC), Canada, THE WAY YOU DANCE welcomes 2025 Canadian Screen Award winner Josette Jorge (RUBY AND THE WELL, LAW & ORDER TORONTO: CRIMINAL INTENT, SAINT-PIERRE) as Gloria Garcia-Campanelli, the high school best friend of main protagonist Twinkle Lee, played by accomplished dancer Kyle Toy. THE WAY YOU DANCE also stars celebrated Hollywood veteran Tzi Ma (KUNG FU, MULAN, THE FAREWELL).
Weapons Metaphorizes America’s Worst Fears
It’s no wonder that Weapons is a hit at the U.S. box office as the movie arrives at the perfect time when our political fears manifest every day in America where we feel helpless to talk about. Now there is a horror movie that answers to our worst nightmare—school mass shootings.
Interview with Josette Jorge, a Fresh & Hot 2025 Canadian Screen Award Winner #josettejorge
When I saw Josette Jorge win a Canadian Screen Award earlier this year, I was overjoyed to see a fellow Asian Pacific Islander friend receive such recognition. An actor, writer, and educator based in Toronto, Josette earned her first Canadian Screen Award in 2025 for Best Supporting Performer in a Children’s or Youth Program for Ruby and the Well. Last year, my producing partner Cindy Au Yeung and I also received a Canadian Screen Award—Best Comedy Special—for our series Comedy Invasio
Jenifer Yeuroukis Made the First DOGMA LA 25 Feature The Queerdos
Jenifer Yeuroukis, a filmmaker friend I’ve met about a decade ago in my hip hop classes at the former Edge Performance Art Center in Los Angeles, has just directed her first feature film The Queerdos that I executive produced. The Queerdos also marks the first feature film of the film movement Dogma LA 25 that a collective of filmmakers and I have founded. Wrapping The Queerdos, I’ve taken the opportunity to have a conversation with her.










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