East West Players (EWP) in collaboration with the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) is proud to present:

Excerpts from "THE GIRLS FROM AFAR"
By Libby Emmons
Directed by Jeff Liu
A Staged Reading with Dante Basco, Fran de Leon, James Kyson Lee, Camille Mana, and Tamlyn Tomita

Slavery and human trafficking take on many forms sometimes right before our eyes. With her parents out of town, a daughter sneaks home for a romantic weekend with her boyfriend. But when they arrive, they discover two women and her parents’ secret. THE GIRLS FROM AFAR explores two worlds that coexist, yet are often invisible to each other. What happens when they finally come face to face?

The reading will be followed by a panel discussion and reception. This reading is presented as part of a month-long campaign to raise the awareness of human trafficking and modern day slavery. To learn more on human trafficking, visit: www.castla.org.

RSVP on Facebook

Or call East West Players at: 213-625-7000.

*SPECIAL: Pay what you can!

Day of Remembrance 2010

The Day of Remembrance commemorates the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, which led to the unconstitutional forced removal of thousands of Americans of Japanese ancestry from their homes on the West Coast and parts of Hawai`i by the U.S. government. A grassroots movement to petition the government for an official apology and reparations, pilgrimages to Manzanar and events like Day of Remembrance, organized in Japanese American communities throughout the country, sparked the successful redress campaign that culminated with the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.

During World War II, Fred Korematsu challenged the constitutionality of the incarceration Japanese Americans in a landmark civil rights case known as Korematsu v. United States. He lost and was sent to Topaz concentration camp. In the 1980’s a team of lawyers attempted to get his conviction overturned. The 2010 Day of Remembrance will explore this case and its relevance today.

Program

Emcees: Dana Heatherton and Tony Osumi
Remembrance Ceremony
Keynote Speaker: Dale Minami, Lead Counsel of the Coram Nobis legal team
Performance Selection from "Leaps of Faith" by Great Leap/Nobuko Miyamoto
Calls to Action

Light Refreshments following program
Arrive early - limited seating

Presented in collaboration with the Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress, the Japanese American Citizen’s League–Pacific Southwest, and the National Museum.

Saturday, February 27 * 11 AM & 3 PM
Sunday, February 28 * 2 PM
$23.00 members; $25.00 non-members. To purchase tickets, please call (323) 769-5503

A Play by Hiroshi Kashiwagi Directed by Darrell Kunitomi Southern California Premiere Award-winning Nisei playwright, actor, poet, and author Hiroshi Kashiwagi’s Southern California premiere of his new two-act play about a young Nisei couple torn apart over the infamous loyalty questions #27 & #28. Forty years later, we meet Tak and Grace again, and learn how these questions and the decisions they made back then affected them for the rest of their lives.

Writers Gallery Play Reading Presented by EWP:
THERE OR HERE
by Jennifer Maisel
directed by Chil Kong

A dark comedy about a mixed race American couple who outsources their pregnancy to India. Tomorrow Robyn and Ajay meet the woman who will have her egg and his sperm implanted inside her. Tonight they won't have sex even though they want to. Past and present, America and India - connected by the tenuous threads of time zones and technology. Outsourcedcomputer technicians, fast food order takers and phone sex operators become the refuge they can't seem to be for each other.

Saturday, May 01 * 11 AM & 3 PM
Sunday, May 02 * 2 PM
$23.00 members; $25.00 non-members. To purchase tickets, please call (323) 769-5503

It’s “Men versus the Women” in the Grateful Crane Ensemble’s delightful spoof of Japan’s New Year’s Eve singing contest, Kouhaku Uta Gassen. The show features nostalgic and classic Japanese songs and entertaining impressions of your all-time favorite Japanese singers.

The 26th Annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival will be from April 29th to May 8th. Presented by Visual Communications (VC), the nation’s premier APA media arts center, screenings will premier and showcase Asian American and International Asian cinema in the nation. The film festival screens 150 films and videos from over 20 countries. 200 industry professionals including filmmakers, celebrities, and press are in attendance. In addition to screenings, the festival offers a wide range of activities including seminars, workshops, and special events. Every year, over 14,000 people attend this film festival, which launches the celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

The Tateuchi Democracy Forum will feature a number of screenings including S. Leo Chiang's award winning documentary, A Village Called Versailles and new media works by seniors from VC’s and Diskovery Center's Digital Histories program.

For tickets and program information, please visit www.vconline.org/festival

Enjoy an evening of candid conversations with some of the most successful and influential leaders within the entertainment industry, the seminars are an opportunity to gain first-hand insights and perspectives in a master class setting reminiscent of Bravo's "Inside the Actor’s Studio."

The first Legacy Series' first guest is Lost's Daniel Dae Kim in conversation with Giant Robot's Eric Nakamura.

Presented in collaboration Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE), Giant Robot, and the National Museum

FREE to CAPE Members, $10 for guests. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served. Limited Seating. Reserve your seat online at www.capeusa.org/panel.

Program:
7:00 - 7:30 pm Networking with Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres
7:30 - 9:00 pm Daniel Dae Kim with Eric Nakamura
9:00 - 9:30 pm Reception

An RSVP is essential, since space is extremely limited. Please respond to www.capeusa.org/panel ALL RSVP MUST BE SUBMITTED BY: Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 5pm.

Come enjoy an evening at the Museum and view research projects and artworks by two local schools. Civitas School of Leadership and Ribet Academy will display projects which were inspired partly by their visits to the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy.

API AND NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE FESTIVAL:
A Community Benefit for the Japanese American National Museum

Join us in celebration of Asian, Pacific Island, and Native American cultures through performance, documentary, and more!

A 'PAY WHAT YOU CAN' day! No one will be turned away.

11 AM: Museum Opens
12 PM: Screening of "Bento to Mixed Plate: Plantation Roots"
12:30 PM” Japanese dance group LA Beat
1 PM: Filmmaker and Director of Haramokngna American Indian Cultural Center, Kat High
1:30 PM: "Crossing the Rainbow Bridge: Our Story"
2 PM: CSU Northridge Asian American Studies professor, Allan Aquino
2:30 PM: Filipino Dance Performance by the Shining Son
3:00 PM: "Reaffirmation and Discovery: The First Pow-Wow on Hawaii"
3:30 PM: Kawalea Polynesian Dance Group from Eagle Rock
4:00 PM: Spoken Word by Miwa Lyric
4:30 PM: Screening of "Stand up for Justice: The Ralph Lazo Story"
5 PM: Museum Closes

Activities for the program include:

Films:
"From Bento to Mixed Plate"
"Reaffirmation and Discovery: The First Pow-Wow on Hawaii"
"Crossing the Rainbow Bridge: Our Story"
"Stand Up for Justice: The Ralph Lazo Story"

Performances:
Japanese dance group LA Beat
Kawalea Polynesian Dance Group from Eagle Rock
Spoken word artist Miwa Lyric

Lecturers:
CSU Northridge Asian American Studies professor, Allan Aquino
Filmmaker and Director of Haramokngna American Indian Cultural Center, Kat High

Crafts:
Ruthie's Origami Corner
Lei making activity
Free food samples from Aloha Cafe (12pm to 2pm)

Community organizations will be tabling and speaking about their causes, their organizations, and about their future events.

Participating Community Organizations include:
Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA)
Chinatown Service Center (CSC)
Hecho de Mano
American Indian Community Council
AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA)
Haramokngna American Indian Cultural Center
Southern California Indian Center InterTribal Entertainment
Multiracial Americans of Southern California (MASC)
Filipino American Historical Society - Los Angeles (FANHS L.A.)

Other May 29 happenings:
Take a guided tour of COMMON GROUND: The Heart of Community with museum docents

See our temporary exhibits Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids by Kip Fulbeck and Textured Lives: Japanese Immigrant Clothing from the Plantations of Hawaii'

FREE!
The Society of Friends (Quakers) were one of the few groups to publicly defend and support the Japanese Americans during the Second World War. Learn more about their important social justice work and legacy that extends to today.

Program:

Remarks from Joe Franko, former AFSC Regional Director

Video clips of AFSC's "Spirited Engagement"

Keynote Speaker: Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, Ph.D., George and Sakaye Aratani Professor of Japanese American Redress, Internment, and Community at UCLA

Moderated Conversation With: Esther Takei Nishio, first Japanese American student to return to the West Coast, and Jean Hibino, Executive Secretary, Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative Fund

Presented in collaboration with Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress, American Friends Service Committee, The George and Sakaye Aratani Endowed Chair, Asian American Studies Center, UCLA, and the National Museum.

The Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival is a fiscally sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts, and every year brings together film and book lovers, innovative and emerging artists, and Mixed families for two days of workshops, readings, film screenings, a children's event and a live performance.

The Festival has showcased many talented filmmakers, writers, and performers including Rebecca Walker, Kip Fulbeck, Danzy Senna, Kim Wayans & Kevin Knotts, Angela Nissel, Neil Aitken, Sundee Frasier, Karyn Parsons and many, many more.

The festival dates coincide with Loving Day, a global network of annual events celebrating the 1967 Loving decision affirming the right of people of different races to marry. The Loving Prize, presented during the festival, is awarded annually to outstanding artists, storytellers and community leaders for inspirational dedication to celebrating and illuminating the Mixed racial and cultural experience. Past recipients of the prize are: James McBride, Kip Fulbeck, Angela Nissel, and Maria P.P. Root.

11:00AM-12:30PM Short film program:
Tokyo Equinox (Dir. Yuri Makino); Mixed Mexican (Dir. Thomas Lopez); Unreserved (Dir. Tracy Rector); Crayola Monologues (Dir. Nathan Gibbs); MiXeD Me & MASC (Dir. Kristen Lee)

11:00PM-4:00PM Mixed Marketplace: featuring artworks, clothing, products and organizations promoting the Mixed experience

1:00PM-2:00PM Readings, Q&A, book signing featuring
Carleen Brice, Kevin Minh Allen, Jason Luckett, Kerina C. Pharr

2:00PM-3:15PM “Black, White and Yellow” (Dir. Nicole Koschmann)
Feature film screening and Q&A

3:30PM-4:30PM Readings, Q&A, book signing featuring
Marie Mutsuki Mockett, Tara Betts, Celina Martinez, Monique Fields

4:30PM-6:00PM Biracial Not Black Damn It-Part 2 (Dir. Carolyn Battle Cochran)
Feature film screening


For schedule information, visit mxroots.org. The festival is free and is and open to the public!

The Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival is a fiscally sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts, and every year brings together film and book lovers, innovative and emerging artists, and Mixed families for two days of workshops, readings, film screenings, a children's event and a live performance.

The Festival has showcased many talented filmmakers, writers, and performers including Rebecca Walker, Kip Fulbeck, Danzy Senna, Kim Wayans & Kevin Knotts, Angela Nissel, Neil Aitken, Sundee Frasier, Karyn Parsons and many, many more.

The festival dates coincide with Loving Day, a global network of annual events celebrating the 1967 Loving decision affirming the right of people of different races to marry. The Loving Prize, presented during the festival, is awarded annually to outstanding artists, storytellers and community leaders for inspirational dedication to celebrating and illuminating the Mixed racial and cultural experience. Past recipients of the prize are: James McBride, Kip Fulbeck, Angela Nissel, and Maria P.P. Root.

11:00PM-4:00PM Mixed Marketplace: featuring artworks, clothing, hair products and organizations promoting the Mixed experience

11:30AM-12:30PM Panel: “Exploring the Historical Context for Contemporary Stories of the Mixed Experience”
Moderated by KTLA’s award-winning co-anchor Frank Buckley

1:00PM-3:00PM “Off & Running” (Dir. Nicole Opper)
Feature film screening and Q&A

3:30PM-4:15PM Readings, Q&A, book signing featuring
Heidi W. Durrow, Neil Aitken, & Susan Ito

4:45PM-6:15PM “A Family is a Family is a Family: A Rosie O’Donnell Celebration” (Dir. Amy Schatz)
Feature film screening and Q&A

For schedule information, visit mxroots.org. The festival is free and is and open to the public!

Thursday, July 22 & Thursday, July 29
5 PM-6 PM — Self-guided JANM Gallery Tour
6 PM -7 PM — Evening Champagne Tea Service
7 PM -8 PM — Poetry Performance

Chado Tea Room
at the Japanese American National Museum

$20 Museum members; $ 25 non-members; $ 15 students

In this rare bilingual Japanese-English appearance, leading tanka poet and Tokyo-based performance artist Mariko Kitakubo will present tanka Japan's oldest and most popular poetry form accompanied by music on original instruments. L.A. awarding-winning tanka poet, Linda Galloway, Ph.D. will read the stunning translation of Ms. Kitakubo's work by Amelia Fielden. Book signing to follow.

Advance reservations required.

For information and to order tickets contact Chado Tea Room at 213.321.1748 or at chadotearoom@aol.com.

Ms Kitakubo's beautiful bilingual book edition of On this Same Star and her CD, Messages, accompanied by an original score on rare Japanese instruments (with print translation) will be available for purchase at the Museum Store.

This program is presented in partnership with Chado Tea Room and the Japanese American National Museum with special thanks to Mariko Kitakubo and Linda Galloway.

Proceeds from the ticket and book sales to benefit the National Museum's educational programming and outreach.

*FREE!

Months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, two best friends spend their final moments together, not realizing their lives will soon be forever changed by the incarceration of all Japanese and Japanese American living along the West Coast.

A Crossroad Called Manzanar was awarded a grant in 2009 from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program. Project partners include the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) and the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California (CHSSC).

For more information about the film, visit www.acrossroadcalledmanzanar.com/

Comedyzen is proud to be hosting East Coast comedian, Eliot Chang. You can catch is Comedy Central Present on air now. We are also lucky to be hosting Iliza Shlesinger, winner of NBC's LAST COMIC STANDING. Her comedy is as lethal as she is lovely.

Youtube phenoms Just Kidding Films will be performing a special rendition of their famous, History of Korean Drama.

Plus many more. Meet and Greet the comedians at the AFTERPARTY at CHOP SUEY, right around the corner.

For tickets, visit www.brownpapertickets.com/event/119160.

For more information, visit www.ComedyZen.com/.

Thursday, July 22 & Thursday, July 29
5 PM-6 PM — Self-guided JANM Gallery Tour
6 PM -7 PM — Evening Champagne Tea Service
7 PM -8 PM — Poetry Performance

Chado Tea Room
at the Japanese American National Museum

$20 Museum members; $ 25 non-members; $ 15 students

In this rare bilingual Japanese-English appearance, leading tanka poet and Tokyo-based performance artist Mariko Kitakubo will present tanka Japan's oldest and most popular poetry form accompanied by music on original instruments. L.A. awarding-winning tanka poet, Linda Galloway, Ph.D. will read the stunning translation of Ms. Kitakubo's work by Amelia Fielden. Book signing to follow.

Advance reservations required.

For information and to order tickets contact Chado Tea Room at 213.321.1748 or at chadotearoom@aol.com.

Ms Kitakubo's beautiful bilingual book edition of On this Same Star and her CD, Messages, accompanied by an original score on rare Japanese instruments (with print translation) will be available for purchase at the Museum Store.

This program is presented in partnership with Chado Tea Room and the Japanese American National Museum with special thanks to Mariko Kitakubo and Linda Galloway.

Proceeds from the ticket and book sales to benefit the National Museum's educational programming and outreach.

Friday, September 24, 5:30 PM - 8 PM
Saturday, September 25, 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM
$20 general; $15 members, students and those who were in camp.

A multi-generation, community-oriented gathering of those who were in and those who are interested in the WRA camp at Heart Mountain WY, and its short and long-term impact.

Friday panels on Japanese American confinement, and terminology of the 1940s Japanese American experience in camp

Saturday panels on Ht Mt, an overview; personal perspectives; questions of loyalty; resettlement; and, Family/Generations/Recollections: An intergenerational dialogue

Limited to 250 persons

To register for the conference, please download this FORM.

Co-sponsored by the Heart Mountain, WY Foundation; the Aratani Endowed Chair, UCLA; the Japanese American National Museum

Asian American Music Festival's Movement 2 is a direct tribute to the Asian American jazz legacy and the API consciousness movement with performances by two generations of leading Asian American pianists, Gary Fukushima and Jon Jang. Movement 2 closes with the world premiere of "Concerto for Jazz Orchestra and Taiko" composed by Jon Jang, performed by The New Asian American Jazz Orchestra directed by Gary Fukushima.

The AAMF is the world’s leading festival celebrating Asian American music: jazz, world, hip-hop and beyond. AAMF celebrates the artistic and creative achievements of Asian American, Asian, and Asian Pacific Islander (API) artists in all genres of music.

Click here to hear some music by Gary Fukushima GF3 Trio.

Click here to hear some music by Jon Jang Solo Piano.

For more information or to buy tickets to this event, www.asianamericanjazzfestival.com.

Asian American Music Festival's Movement 3 is Hawaiian music night with international pop superstar Jake Shimabukuro headlining. Abe Lagrimas, Jr. and Noel Okimoto open in their vibraphone and drums quartet.

The AAMF is the world’s leading festival celebrating Asian American music: jazz, world, hip-hop and beyond. AAMF celebrates the artistic and creative achievements of Asian American, Asian, and Asian Pacific Islander (API) artists in all genres of music.

Click here to hear music by Abe Lagrimas, Jr.

Click here to hear music by Noel Okimoto.

Click here to hear music by Jake Shimabukuro.

For more information or to buy tickets to this event, www.asianamericanjazzfestival.com.

Asian American Music Festival's Movement 4 features Japanese American pop-jazz superstar Emi Meyer opening for Undercover Culture recording group, Shanghai Restoration Project, in a multi-media hip-hop and electronic performance.

The AAMF is the world’s leading festival celebrating Asian American music: jazz, world, hip-hop and beyond. AAMF celebrates the artistic and creative achievements of Asian American, Asian, and Asian Pacific Islander (API) artists in all genres of music.

Click here to hear music by Emi Meyer.

Click here to hear music by Shanghai Restoration Project.

For more information or to buy tickets to this event, www.asianamericanjazzfestival.com.

AAMF closes with two stars of unique artistic and cultural identities: singers Sachal Vasandani and Charmaine Clamor in two performances of jazz with world influence.

The AAMF is the world’s leading festival celebrating Asian American music: jazz, world, hip-hop and beyond. AAMF celebrates the artistic and creative achievements of Asian American, Asian, and Asian Pacific Islander (API) artists in all genres of music.

Click here to hear music by Sachal Vasandani Quartet.

Click here to hear music by Charmaine Clamor & her Killin’ Sweethearts.

For more information or to buy tickets to this event, www.asianamericanjazzfestival.com.

Matinee Show at 2 p.m. / Evening Show at 6 p.m.
Tickets: $20/members $25/non-members

Celebrate the Seventh Anniversary of CAM with the West Coast return of Paper Son, a critically-acclaimed autobiographical solo show by writer/performer Byron Yee. Presented in partnership with community co-sponsors, the Japanese American National Museum and Visual Communications, Paper Son explores the issues of identity, immigration and personal heritage in the story of Oklahoma-native Byron Yee, who moves to California to start a career in stand-up comedy. A disastrous movie audition for the role of a stereotypical Pidgin-English-speaking Chinese restaurant owner compels Yee to confront his long-ignored heritage, where he soon discovers that his own father was a paper son.

Awarded “Outstanding Solo Show” at the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival and winner of the “Best Of Fringe Award” at the San Francisco Fringe Festival, Paper Son is a show not to be missed!

Tickets maybe purchased online at www.camla.org or by calling 213-485-8484. Purchase your tickets in advance, limited seating available.

Presented in partnership with the Chinese American Museum and the Japanese American National Museum.