New Print!

SFIAAFF revisits its beginnings with a special presentation of Wayne Wang's landmark feature Chan Is Missing, preserved by the Pacific Film Archive and shown in a beautiful new print. The screening also commemorates the historical role of PFA, the site where the first SFIAAFF took place, where Chan had its Bay Area premiere in 1981, and where Wang pursued his love of cinema. In San Francisco's Chinatown two taxi drivers search for their business partner Chan, a mystery man who has vanished with all their money. As they attempt to trace Chan's whereabouts, their encounters with his family, friends, and acquaintances reveal no lucid answers, rather, a complex portrait not only of the man but also of the community itself. While Chan certainly set a benchmark for Asian American film, and serves as a metaphor for the elusive pursuit of Asian American identity, it also pioneered a new era of American independent cinema, taking a budget of less than $30,000 and forging a work at once hip, intelligent, and relevant.