Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month has been celebrated throughout the month of May for more than thirty years, honoring the contributions made throughout the history of the country. Unsurprisingly, these contributions are reflected in the cinema of this country as well, in addition to the long legacy of cinema brought to the United States from across the globe. Celebrating these cinematic contributions in May, the Dryden is proud to present The Japanese Paper Film Project on May 29, with free admission for all, sponsored by the Monroe County Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This multi-year project uncovers the previously hidden technique of creating moving images on paper instead of film in the 1930s. Presented by Project Supervisor Eric Faden of Bucknell University, and accompanied by Duo Yumeno, a koto and cellist combo, this fascinating piece of history is now available for everyone to enjoy. In addition, the Dryden will be presenting three films photographed by James Wong Howe, a legendary groundbreaking cinematographer and the first Asian-American recipient of the George Eastman Award.
Dates and Titles:
May 6: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Norman Taurog, US 1938, 91 min., 35mm)
May 20: Bell, Book, and Candle (Richard Quine, US 1958, 106 min., 35mm)
May 27: Seconds (John Frankenheimer, US 1966, 106 min., 35mm)
May 29: The Japanese Paper Film Project
Events in this Series
The Japanese Paper Film Project
AAPI Heritage Month Screenings In the 1930s, several Japanese companies produced films made on paper (“kami firumu”) instead of celluloid. The Japanese Paper Film Project preserves the surviving movies and promotes scholarship about these films. From 1932 to 1938, two Japanese companies dominated the paper film market. Most well-known are REFCY, based in Tokyo, and Katei Toki (“Home Talkie”), based in Osaka.
Seconds (35mm)
George Award Winners: James Wong Howe | AAPI Heritage Month James Wong Howe provides the amazing camerawork for one of cinema's most complex, terrifying works of science fiction. A mysterious organization gives a middle-aged man a new lease on life: thanks to a staged death and the wonders of plastic surgery, the stodgy businessman metamorphoses into sexy artist Rock Hudson.
Matinee: Bell, Book, and Candle (35mm)
George Award Winners: James Wong Howe | AAPI Heritage Month A charming, radiant Kim Novak plays Gillian, a genuine but good witch, who casts a spell on oblivious publisher Shepard (James Stewart) to make him leave his fiancée and fall in love with her.
Bell, Book, and Candle (35mm) - Free for Members!
George Award Winners: James Wong Howe | AAPI Heritage Month | Free for Members A charming, radiant Kim Novak plays Gillian, a genuine but good witch, who casts a spell on oblivious publisher Shepard (James Stewart) to make him leave his fiancée and fall in love with her.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (35mm)
George Award Winners: James Wong Howe | AAPI Heritage MonthThe third Hollywood adaptation of the classic Mark Twain novel (and the first in glorious Technicolor!) sees the mischievous boy going through all his iconic pranks: the ingenious fence-whitewashing episode, the courting of Becky Thatcher, rafting down the Mississippi river, attending his own funeral, saving the local drunk from the gallows, and finally a daring escape through a gorgeously designed cave.