C-Diddy Rules

January 11, 2007

airSupremacy.bmp

The festival, which opens March, is in its 25th year!! More on that later.

Back to air guitar. Firstly, I have heard about this phenomenon, and that some Asian Americans apparently do really well in these competitions. But I've never seen a competition, nor had the urge to.

Air Guitar Nation is a pretty darn good documentary - I mean, it follows the formation of the U.S. contigent from the very beginning, though that was only 2002. And who knew Oulu, Finland, is the center of air guitar?

The film follows several air guitarists, including David Jung, a k a "C-Diddy." C, as I shall call him, is a Korean American who hails from Brooklyn. Part comic, part actor, part musician-without-an-instrument, the guy kicks some air guitar ass. Also, his mantra is "world peace...air guitar...forever!" Oh yeah - did I mention he wears a Hello Kitty breastplate?

So that's just one of the approximately 130 films that'll be showcased this year at the film festival. At the screening, festival director Chi-hui Yang dropped names like Eric Byler, Justin Lin and several other festival returnees (but goodies) who've reemerged for this year's festival.

He also mentioned that the opening and closing night films are coming straight from Sundance. And in other news, the venues this year will be a lil' different - apparently the Sundance Co. bought the AMC Kabuki in Japantown, which is under renovation.

Also, more exciting things to look for - members, look for catalogs in the mail in about two weeks, the festival website will be live soon, and...the launch party will be in February. The actual film festival runs March 15-25.

(Can you tell I'm a film fest junkie?!)

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Momo Chang

Senior Contributing Editor

Momo Chang is the Content Manager at the Center for Asian American Media, and freelances for magazines, online publications, and weeklies. Her writings focus on Asian American communities, communities of color, and youth culture. She is a former staff writer at the Oakland Tribune. Her stories range from uncovering working conditions in nail salons, to stories about “invisible minorities” like Tongan youth and Iu Mien farmers. She has freelances The New York Times, WIRED, and East Bay Express, among other publications.