It’s not a wall Brit Withey sees when he’s plotting how to bring even larger audiences to the annual Aurora Asian Film Festival, which opened Thursday night at the Aurora Fox Arts Center and continues through Sunday.
It’s more like a couple of high hurdles. One is the idea that Aurora is too far a trek for the folks seeking the global fare of the Denver International Film Festival. “For god’s sake, it’s not that far,” says Withey.
The other, more serious, problem Withey encounters is that “people think when you say Asian film they know what that means – ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,’ ‘Kung Fu Hustle.’
“Those are the people I’d really like to say, ‘Look at this documentary about North Korea,” he says. “‘State of Mind’ is a really good film about a very sensitive and timely political topic.”
In its eighth year, the festival combines the programming muscle of the Denver Film Society, where Withey is program director, with the outreach know-how of festival collaborator the Aurora Asian/Pacific Community Partnership.
This year’s 11 films come from Thailand, South and North Korea/U.K., China, Vietnam, Japan, India/U.S. and the Philippines.
Tonight the festival continues with the visually lyrical film “Buffalo Boy” (7 p.m.), based on Son Nam’s beloved short story about a young man coming of age in the saturated lowlands of Vietnam.
Also screening this evening: “Yesterday Once More” (9 p.m.). Andy Lau (“House of Flying Daggers”) reunites with Sammi Cheung in Hong Kong director Johnnie To’s charming caper-romance about a divorced couple whose high-society personas mask that they are talented jewel thieves.
When you scour the festival circuit for class acts, Withey says, “a lot of films you end up hearing about are relatively serious.” With its nod to the sort of pairing that made “To Catch a Thief” such a teasing romp, “Yesterday Once More” is anything but.
“I’m a sucker for a feel-good movie when it works,” Withey admits, “and this one does.”
Saturday, Denver-born writer-director Sridhar Reddy will be in town for the screening of “19 Revolutions” (7 p.m.). Reddy’s debut feature uses a sort of Robin Hood approach – initially Guru steals food and delivers it to the poor – to tackle the issue of class inequality in a country still wrestling with its old caste system, despite an official renunciation.
Also Saturday, Hayao Miyazaki’s animated stunner “Princess Mononoke” screens outdoors at the Martin Luther King Library’s sunken garden (8:45 p.m.).
“Crying Ladies,” a comedy from the Philippines about three women employed to grieve at a funeral of a dodgy businessman, ends the festival Sunday. It is followed by a closing-night party at the Korea House.
Eighth Aurora Asian Film Festival
FESTIVAL|Aurora Fox Arts Center, 9900 E. Colfax Ave.; |tickets $5-$8; closing night $20 for film and reception|Tickets available at the Aurora Fox Arts Center box office or 303-326-8695. Go to auroraasian.org or denverfilm.org for the full schedule.
