Japanese-American films

Friday, October 26
Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue on the University at Albany Downtown Campus
GREAT GRANDFATHER'S DRUM (57 minutes) at 7 p.m., followed by a screening of PICTURE BRIDE (94 minutes)

Free and open to the public.

The documentary GREAT GRANDFATHER'S DRUM is an intimate and joyful portrait of Maui Taiko, a contemporary Japanese-American drum ensemble. Through dynamic performances on giant drums, they travel on a heartfelt journey back to rural Japan to seek their ancestral roots.

PICTURE BRIDE (United States, 1994, 94 minutes, color) won the Audience Award at Sundance, and was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Set in 1918, the film explores the experiences of a couple— a Japanese city girl and a Japanese-American plantation worker— who meet and marry through long-distance matchmaking, a practice necessitated by U.S. anti-miscegenation laws.

The program is is shown in association with a performance on Saturday, November 10, at UAlbany Performing Arts Center by San Jose Taiko, a California drum ensemble celebrating its 45th anniversary. For more information on the San Jose Taiko event, contact the Performing Arts Center at (518) 442-3997 or visit www.albany.edu/pac.