Moving the image : independent Asian Pacific American media arts /

Filmmaking is the subject of this collection of provocative essays and memoirs by Asian Pacific Americans (plus one Navajo and one African American). The book is a kind of documentary of history and pride in their long but unacknowledged involvement in America's cinema arts. Regretably, the 52 contributors are barely known outside their communities. James Wong Howe, Oscar winning cinematogapher-director whose credits include Hud, was interviewed in 1970 by playwright-fictionist Frank Chin (who helped spearhead the Asian-American literary renaissance); Charles Leong recalls his movie appearances, and veteran film editors Yoshio Kishi and Irvin Paik recount their paths in the profession. Young directors like Mira Nair (Mississippi Masala) and especially Wayne Wang (Chan Is Missing) are admired by their peers, as is the pioneering feature filmmaker of the silent era, the prolific Sessue Hayakawa. The stoical grace attributed to Asians confronted by American racism involves complex emotions that the current generation seek to overcome. These artists and technicians, products of the 1960s and 1970s, seek a clearer definiton of hyphenated cultural identity, and their bitterness is less restrained. They cite Spike Lee's influence and are keen to the dilemma of racist stigmas about their "ghetto work." This powerful book deserves wide appreciation among film buffs, in Asian American academia, and particularly among a shamefully unaware general public. An indispensable text. R. Welburn; University of Massachusetts