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  • AAS 2021 - CALL FOR FILMS

    Established as an Association for Asian Studies (AAS) conference program in 2011, AAS Film Expo is curated and organized by the Asian Educational Media Service (AEMS), a program of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

    Due to the continued uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the AAS 2021 Annual Conference is being presented March 21-26, 2021 in an entirely online format on an Eastern Standard Time schedule.

    Documentary and independent films on issues reflecting contemporary life in Asia will be presented throughout the dates of the conference with on-demand, asynchronous viewing options. Access to the films will be offered for registered attendees of both the free and paid areas of the virtual conference. Films will only be available to view during the six days of the conference.

  • CALL FOR FILMS - AAS Film Expo 2020

    The Association for Asian Studies (AAS) annually hosts the premier North American conference of Asia scholars devoted to scheduled programs of scholarly papers, roundtable discussions, workshops, and panel sessions on a wide range of issues in research and teaching, and on Asian affairs in general. The upcoming AAS conference is scheduled on March 19-22, 2020 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts.

    AAS Film Expo was established as a conference program in 2011 by the Asian Educational Media Service (AEMS), a program of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Documentary and independent films on issues reflecting contemporary life in Asia are projected in a dedicated screening room with a schedule running from Thursday through Saturday. An “on demand” screening area allows additional viewing opportunities for attendees who miss scheduled screening times.

    We welcome the submission of films related to Asia produced by scholars and independent filmmakers. Criteria utilized in the selection process include timeliness, broad appeal to the scholarly community, and examples of new field work. All films presented in the conference are promoted in a special AAS Film Expo booklet which includes contact information for distributors or filmmakers who self-distribute. In addition to the Film Expo booklet distributed to conference attendees, film listings are included in the AAS Annual Conference Program Addendum and on the AEMS website: http://aems.illinois.edu. When possible, short post-screening Q&A’s are arranged with filmmakers or film representatives in attendance or via online video conferencing. We can not offer funding to attend the screening.

  • AsiaLENS: Drokpa: Nomads of Tibet

    AsiaLENS Screening
    Tuesday, November 12, 2019 - 7pm
    Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL

    Drokpa: Nomads of Tibet
    Directed by Yan Chun Su. 2016. 79 minutes.

    Post-screening discussion with Hilary Brady Morris,
    PhD Candidate, Musicology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

    Presented as part of International Week.

    The grasslands of the Tibetan plateau are home to the source of Asia’s major rivers. Nearly half of humanity depends on this water for survival. Tibetan nomads, known as DROKPA have roamed on this land for thousands of years. Set in the high plateau of eastern Tibet, Drokpa is an intimate portrait of the lives and struggles of an extended family of Tibetan nomads whose life in on the cusp of irreversible change as once lush grasslands are rapidly turning into deserts, revealing the unprecedented environmental and sociopolitical forces that are pushing the Tibetan nomads to the edge of their existence.

  • AAS 2019 FILM EXPO | MARCH 21-23 | Denver, Colorado

  • Mar 12 | AsiaLENS Screening | The Song Collector

    The Song Collector
    Directed by Erik Koto.
    2016. 54 minutes.

    Introduction and post-screening discussion with Stefan P. Fiol Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology, College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati.

    Tuesday, March 12, 2019 - 7pmSpurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL

  • CALL FOR FILMS - AAS Film Expo 2019

    The upcoming AAS conference is scheduled for March 21-24, 2019 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel in Denver, Colorado.

    For more information, please download the AAS Film Expo Submission Form.

    *** DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS NOVEMBER 12, 2018 ***

  • Oct 11 | AsiaLENS screening | Art In Smog

    Art In Smog
    with filmmaker Lydia Chen

    Thursday, October 11, 2018 - 7:00 pm
    Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL

    Vivid art merges with intimate interviews to evoke the human pursuit of meaning. This film illustrates the rise of China over 25 years as experienced by international artists Su Xinping and Xia Xiaowan, painter and antiques expert Mushi, fearless curator Cui Cancan, and painter Chen Hui. The pursuit of art takes them from quiet lives in the 1990s to the extremes of the 2000s, as documented in footage shot in 1991 and 2016.

  • Sep 13 | AsiaLENS screening | Forgive - Don't Forget

    Forgive - Don't Forget
    Thursday, September 13, 2018 - 7:00 pm
    Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL

    During Japan's surrender at the end of World War II, numerous swords were confiscated by American Officers. To better understand the past and build a bridge between cultures in the present, a filmmaker attempts to return one of these surrendered swords to its original owner.

  • CALL FOR FILMS - AAS Film Expo 2018

    The upcoming AAS conference is scheduled for March 22-25, 2018 at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington D.C.

    For more information, please download the AAS Film Expo Submission Form.

    *** DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS NOVEMBER 10, 2017 ***

  • AsiaLENS Screening @ Spurlock Museum - February 14th

    AsiaLENS Presents:
    PUNCH
    Directed by Lee Han
    2011. 107 minutes. Korea. Korean with English subtitles.

    Film Description:
    PUNCH is a coming of age film set in an impoverished Seoul neighborhood. One of Korea’s most popular films of 2011, it follows the life of a high school student who is more talented at fighting than at studying. His homeroom teacher seems to enjoy tormenting him. His disabled father struggles to support him. He doesn’t know anything about his mother, but discovers that she isn’t even Korean. The movie succeeds through its interesting and sympathetic portrayals of a diverse set of characters.

    Presented as part of “South Korean Millennials: Coming of Age in the Twenty-first Century” co-sponsored by Indiana University

    AsiaLENS is a series of free public film screenings and lecture / discussion programs -- organized by AEMS and CEAPS in collaboration with Spurlock Museum -- presenting recent documentary and independent films on issues reflecting contemporary life in Asia.

    All AsiaLENS screenings are FREE and open to the public.
    http://aems.illinois.edu/

  • CALL FOR FILMS - AAS Film Expo 2017

    The Association for Asian Studies (AAS) annually hosts the premier North American conference of Asia scholars devoted to scheduled programs of scholarly papers, roundtable discussions, workshops, and panel sessions on a wide range of issues in research and teaching, and on Asian affairs in general. The upcoming AAS conference is scheduled for March 16 -19, 2017 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

    AAS Film Expo was established as a conference program in 2011 by the Asian Educational Media Service (AEMS), an outreach program of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Documentary and independent films on issues reflecting contemporary life in Asia are projected in a dedicated screening room with a schedule running from Thursday through Saturday. An “on demand” screening area allows additional viewing opportunities for attendees who miss scheduled screening times.

    We welcome the submission of films related to Asia produced by scholars and independent filmmakers. Criteria utilized in the selection process include timeliness, broad appeal to the scholarly community, and examples of new field work. All films presented in the conference are promoted in a special AAS Film Expo booklet which includes contact information for distributors or filmmakers who self-distribute.

    In addition to the Film Expo booklet distributed to conference attendees, film listings are included in the AAS Annual Conference Program Addendum and on the AEMS website: http://aems.illinois.edu. When possible, short post-screening Q&A’s are arranged with filmmakers or film representatives in attendance or via online video conferencing.

    For more information, please download the AAS Film Expo Submission Form.

    *** DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS NOVEMBER 28, 2016 ***

     

  • AsiaLENS screening @ Spurlock museum - October 18

    Threads: The Art and Life of Surayia Rahman
    Directed by Cathy Stevulak. Produced by Cathy Stevulak and Leonard Hill.
    2015. 30 minutes. In Bengali and English with English subtitles.

    Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - 7:00 pm
    Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana IL

    A special pre-screening introduction by co-producer Leonard Hill will be presented by the Spurlock Museum Guild Lecture and Performance Series. Madhu Viswanathan, the Diane and Steven N. Miller Centennial Chair in Business, will lead a post-screening discussion with Leonard Hill.

    Special Engagement: Join a discussion with co-producer Leonard Hill earlier in the day at the Asian American Cultural Center's (1210 West Nevada Street, Urbana, IL) Food for Thought program at 12:00 pm.

    A self-trained and passionate artist, Surayia Rahman is an unconventional Bengali woman who frees herself, other women and families from poverty and social hardships, by guiding hundreds of underprivileged women in Bangladesh to create masterworks of exquisitely hand-embroidered art that has been gifted to dignitaries and admired in collections throughout the world.

    For more information on this and future events: http://www.aems.illinois.edu/events/asialens.html

  • AsiaLENS screening @ Spurlock museum

    My Fair Wedding, a 2014 film by Jang Hee-sun. 94 minutes. Korean with English subtitles. Tuesday, April 12th, 7:00PM, Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL Introduction and post discussion TBD. In this intimate and candid film, we follow Gwang-Soo and Dave as they plan their gala wedding, the first same-sex marriage performed in South Korea. Held openly to the public at Kwangtong Bridge, this landmark wedding is not free from gay marriage opponents making their displeasure heard before and during the grooms’ special day. A light-hearted love story with strong undertones about marriage equality, My Fair Wedding offers a first-hand account on overcoming adversity and how a milestone event goes beyond just one couple. For more information on this and future events: http://www.aems.illinois.edu/events/asialens.htmI

  • AsiaLENS screening @ Spurlock Museum - March 8

    I Am, a 2011 film by Sonali Gulati. 71 minutes. Hindi and English with English subtitles. Tuesday, March 8th, 7:00PM, Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL Introduction and post discussion TBD. After eleven years, an Indian lesbian filmmaker chronicles the journey home to finally confront the loss of her mother whom she never came out to. By meeting parents of other gay and lesbian Indians, she pieces together the fabric of what family truly means, in a landscape where being gay was, until recently, a criminal and punishable offense. For more information on this and future events: http://www.aems.illinois.edu/events/asialens.htmI

  • AsiaLENS screening @ Spurlock Museum - February 9th

    Tales of the Waria, a 2011 film by Kathy Huang. 56 minutes. Tuesday, February 9th, 7:00PM, Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL Introduction and post discussion by Leslie Morrow, Director, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center, Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Indonesia is home to the world’s largest Muslim population. It is also home to a community of transgendered individuals known as warias, biological men who live openly as women. In this eye-opening PBS documentary, four warias search for romance and intimacy. Along the way, they encounter unique obstacles that force them to make extraordinary sacrifices to keep the ones they love. For more information on this and future events: http://www.aems.illinois.edu/events/asialens.htm

  • CALL FOR FILMS - AAS Film Expo 2016

    The Association for Asian Studies (AAS) annually hosts the premier North American conference of Asia scholars devoted to scheduled programs of scholarly papers, roundtable discussions, workshops, and panel sessions on a wide range of issues in research and teaching, and on Asian affairs in general. The upcoming AAS conference is scheduled for March 31-April 3, 2016 at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Washinton State Convention Center, WA.

    AAS Film Expo was established as a conference program in 2011 by the Asian Educational Media Service (AEMS), an outreach program of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Documentary and independent films on issues reflecting contemporary life in Asia are projected in a dedicated screening room with a schedule running from Thursday through Saturday. An “on demand” screening area allows additional viewing opportunities for attendees who miss scheduled screening times.

    We welcome the submission of films related to Asia produced by scholars and independent filmmakers. Criteria utilized in the selection process include timeliness, broad appeal to the scholarly community, and examples of new field work. All films presented in the conference are promoted in a special AAS Film Expo booklet which includes contact information for distributors or filmmakers who self-distribute.

    In addition to the Film Expo booklet distributed to conference attendees, film listings are included in the AAS Annual Conference Program Addendum and on the AEMS website: http://aems.illinois.edu. When possible, short post-screening Q&A’s are arranged with filmmakers or film representatives in attendance or via online video conferencing.

    For more information, please download the AAS Film Expo Submission Form.

    *** DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS DECEMBER 7, 2015 ***

  • News and Reviews - Summer 2015, Issue #57

    The Summer 2016 issue of News and Reviews is available online here.

    Issue #57 features:

    Letter From The Editor

    Film Review: Golden Gate Girls

    Film Review: Mrs. Judo

    Film Review: Spilled Water

    Website: Digital Asia

    Support AEMS

    News and Reviews Archive

    About AEMS

  • Asian Film Festival 2010: Visualizing Tibet | November 2-7

    Asian Film Festival 2010

    AEMS and the IL/IN East Asian National Resource Center present:
    Asian Film Festival 2010: Visualizing Tibet

    November 2 - 7, 2010
    Tuesday through Sunday

    Spurlock Museum
    600 S. Gregory Street
    Urbana, IL

    With a special Thursday night film event at:
    The Art Theater / 126 W. Church Street, Champaign, IL

    All films are in Chinese or Tibetan with English subtitles.
    FREE ADMISSION
    Seating will be first come, first served, and theater will be cleared between screenings.

    Special Guests:
    Elliot Sperling, Associate Professor, Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
    Arjia Rinpoche, Director, Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center, Bloomington, IN
    Lynn True, Film Director, Summer Pasture

    Co-sponsors: Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities (IPRH), Weber State University, Kham Film Project, AsiaPacificFilms, Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies UI

    Supported with funding from the U.S. Department of Education National Research Centers Program


    Film Festival Schedule

    Tuesday, November 2
    7:00pm - Unmistaken Child (Nati Baratz, 2008, 102 min)

    Thursday, November 4 (Art Theater, Champaign,IL)
    7:30pm - Kundun (Martin Scorsese, 1997, 135 min)

    Friday, November 5
    7:00pm - Summer Pasture (Lynn True and Nelson Walker, 2010, 86 min)
    9:15pm - Serfs(Nongnu)( Li Jun, 1963, 88 min)

    Saturday, November 6
    1:00pm - Milarepa (Neten Chokling, 2006, 90 min)
    3:15pm - Tantric Yogi (Chenaktsang Dorje Tsering, 2005, 50 min)
    7:00pm - The Search (Pema Tseden, 2009, 112 min)
    9:20pm – Song of Tibet (Xie Fei, 2000, 95 min)

    Sunday, November 7
    1:00pm - The Search (Pema Tseden, 2009, 112 min)
    3:15pm - Milarepa (Neten Chokling, 2006, 90 min)

     

     


     

  • AsiaLENS Documentary Film Series - Fall 2010

    We are pleased to announce the schedule for the Fall 2010 AsiaLENS documentary film series at the Spurlock Museum.

    AsiaLENS is a series of free public film screenings and lecture / discussion programs -- organized by AEMS in collaboration with the Spurlock Museum -- presenting recent documentary films on issues reflecting contemporary life in Asia.

    Local and visiting experts introduce the films and lead audiences in post-screening discussions.

    All AsiaLENS screenings are FREE and open to the public every first Tuesday of the month during Fall and Spring semesters at the University of Illinois.

    The Spurlock Museum is located at 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL.

    Full schedule for Fall 2010 is listed below.  Click here for more information on the films in AsiaLENS - Fall 2010.

    Journey of a Red Fridge - Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - 7pm

    1428 - Tuesday, October 5, 2010 - 7pm

    Unmistaken Child - Tuesday, November 2, 2010 - 7pm

    Burma VJ - December 7, 2010 - 7pm

  • Film Review: To Tell the Truth - The Liu Binyan Story

    This documentary film traces very well the life and career of the foremost practitioner and perhaps even the founder of the so-called reportage school of Chinese literature.  As far back as the Hundred Flowers Movement of 1956, Liu dared to stand up and challenge the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from within for not living up to its stated ideals.For his troubles, along with hundreds of thousands of other students and intellectuals, the film shows how he was purged and imprisoned for many years at the start of the CCPs Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957. [Read more...]

  • Temporary library hours: M, W, F 1:30 pm - 5:00 pm. Please call for other times: 265-0640.

    Temporary library hours: M, W, F 1:30 pm - 5:00 pm. Please call for other times: 265-0640.

  • Roundtable: Digital Video in Asian Studies - at AAS Conference, Sheraton Chicago, March 27, 2009

  • EAPS Educator Workshop: China's Revolutionary Anniversaries, April 13, 2009

  • AsiaLENS: "The Flute Player" film + discussion with Judy Ledgerwood, NIU. Tuesday, October 21, 7pm, Spurlock.

    AsiaLENS: "The Flute Player" film + discussion with Judy Ledgerwood, NIU.  Tuesday, October 21, 7pm, Spurlock

  • ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2008: YOUNG IN JAPAN, October 3-5 at Boardman's Art Theatre!

    Asian Film Festival 2008: Young in Japan, October 3-5 at Boardman's Art Theatre!

  • Wings of Defeat: A TEACHER WORKSHOP on Japanese Kamikaze Pilots in World War II , Sept. 29, 4pm

    Wings of Defeat: A Teacher Workshop on Japanese Kamikaze Pilots in World War II , Monday, September 29, 2008, 4pm

  • Fall 2008 Newsletter now available!

    Fall 2008 Newsletter now available!

  • AEMS Media Library catalog now online with the Lincoln Trails Library System

    AEMS Media Library catalog is now online with the Lincoln Trails Library System!

  • AsiaLENS: Golden Venture film screening and discussion with Poshek Fu, Spurlock Museum, 9/16/08

    AsiaLENS: Golden Venture film screening and discussion with Poshek Fu, Spurlock Museum, 9/16/08

  • New: Interview with Keiko Ikeda, producer, On Another Playground

    New: Interview with Keiko Ikeda, producer of the DVD On Another Playground: Japanese Popular Culture in America.

  • New Current Events Page: China's May 12 Earthquake

    New Current Events Page: China's May 12 Earthquake

  • NEW: Media Library Borrower's Agreement to take effect July 1

    NEW: Media Library Borrower's Agreement to take effect July 1

  • Summer 2008 Newsletter now available!

    Summer 2008 Newsletter now available!

  • New DVD Release: On Another Playground: Japanese Popular Culture in America

    New DVD Release: On Another Playground: Japanese Popular Culture in America

  • Summer sale price: Under Another Sun: Japanese in Singapore (DVD)

    Summer sale price: Under Another Sun: Japanese in Singapore (DVD)

  • New online film review: Transnational Tradeswomen

    New online film review: Transnational Tradeswomen

  • New Current Events Page: 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing

    New Current Events Page: 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing