Press Release

CONTACT: Kathleen Takeda, VP Cultural Affairs, San Jose J.A.C.L. 408-295-1250

Film Screening and Forum:

Asian American Women in the Arts/Media

Sunday, October 13, 2002 , 2-4 p.m.

Wesley Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, 566 N. 5th Street, Japantown, San Jose, CA 95112

SAN JOSE-The San Jose chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and Nihonmachi Outreach Committee (NOC) will host a forum on Asian American Women in the Arts and Media. A screening of Deborah Gee's landmark film "Slaying the Dragon" will be followed by an expert panel discussion, and a question and answer session. Incorporating clips from film classics and contemporary works, this seminal film traces portrayals of Asian women in film, theatre and news media from the 1920's Anna Mae Wongm era through the mid-1980's. Entertaining and highly insightful, the documentary features interviews with familiar Asian American celebrities and also with average Asian American women, whose personal testimonials suggest how their treatment by others maybe have been influenced by stereotypical Asian images.

The forum will be held on Sunday, October 13, from 2-4 p.m. at the Wesley Methodist Church fellowship hall in San Jose Japantown. Panelistsm will include professionals working in the areas of film, theatre and news/print media, including playwright Philip Kan Gotanda, Professor Wei Ming Dariotis (San Francisco State University), and Julie Hatta (formerly with NAATA). Admission is free, and donations are welcome.

The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is a membership organization whose mission is to secure and maintain the human and civil rights of Americans of Japanese ancestry and others victimized by injustice. The JACL has 112 chapters nationwide and eight regional districts with over 24,000 members found in twenty-three states. The JACL derives its effectiveness through its regional offices located in key cities and areas to serve the needs of the organization's members and to maintain the well-being of all Asian Americans.

The Nihonmachi Outreach Committee (NOC) is a grassroots organization founded in 1979 to preserve and promote the development of San Jose Japantown, to fight against inequality and discrimination, and to promote an understanding and awareness of Japanese American culture and history. In the 1980s NOC campaigned for redress and reparations as part of the National Coalition for Redress and Reparations (NCRR). NOC continues to organize annual Day of Remembrance programs to commemorate the concentration camp experience. and works with Muslims, Arab Americans, and others to resist today's "war hysteria, racism, And the failure of political leadership," similar to conditions which led to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

For further information, please contact Jackie Maruhashi at 408-287-9710 or Kathleen Takeda at San Jose JACL 408-295-1250.