YI YI: The Frida Cinema

305 East 4th Street,Santa Ana CA 92701

15 May, 2021

Description

Debuting at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, Edward Yang's drama Yi Yi is widely regarded as one of the most significant films of the 2000s. Set in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei, the movie explores the relationships of the middle-class Jian family. Focusing on engineer NJ, his wife Min-Min, and their children, the story begins with Min-Min's mother undergoing a stroke and collapsing into a coma. Unconscious and on life support, the family is advised to talk to her every day. Using this tragic event as a narrative springboard, the story delves into the Jians' interactions with extended family and friends. A favorite of film festivals from Vancouver to Hong Kong, Yi Yi garnered Yang the prestigious Best Director Award at Cannes as well as the Best Foreign Film award at the 2000 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards. The Frida Cinema is proud to present Yi Yi as part of our Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month series of films recognizing the contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. A portion of ticket proceeds from screenings of Yi Yi will be donated to Stop AAPI Hate, an initiative launched by the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council (A3PCON), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University in response to the alarming escalation of acts of xenophobia and bigotry against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Learn more at stopaapihate.org. "Yang takes the long view, transforming the ingredients of family melodrama into a serene, generous, comic vision of our tangled urban lives.”  — David Ansen, Newsweek “Rather than the typical inciting incident of a film's typical narrative structure, Yang's screenplay builds its story organically, painting a portrait of flawed, tender humans.” — Christopher Machell, CineVue “A humanistic masterwork.” — Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine