Trailer For 2.28.09 Premiere

in the final stretch!  final sound mix session tomorrow and color correcting on saturday. in the meantime here's the trailer for the big LA premiere:

if this video is taking too long to load you can watch the trailer on youtube.

after a month of mainly meetings, e-mails and phone calls this trailer was hella fun to cut!

Bambu Exclusive- "When Will The Time Come"

since starting this film, the parallels between the political climate of the late 1960's and today have become more and more apparent. as long as america's foreign policy continues to bully and devastate other countries in order to protect it's economic interests...there will also be voices to protest it.

"When Will The Time Come?" by BAMBU

DOWNLOAD SONG

for the upcoming a song for ourselves mixtape, bambu dropped an exclusive titled "when will the time come?" which samples "jonathan jackson" by chris iijima, nobuko miyamoto and charlie chin. just as chris wrote about the human emotions behind the death of a young black panter on "jonathan jackson", bambu spits the truth about the horror and destruction of the recent attack of the gaza strip by the u.s. funded israeli military.

look out for the whole mixtape produced by dj phatrick to drop at the end of the month.

"Song" Premiere Gets Love On Angry Asian Man

angry asian man was probably the first blog i ever got into...and now look at me.  the premiere for a song for ourselves got a big shout on angry asian man last week!  if you wanna keep up with any kinda asian american anything in the media, this is the place to go.  

good looks phil for always having my back! 

Blue Scholars - "Coffee And Snow" Video

daymn, and you thought you got your grustle on over the holidays! blue scholars started off '09 by droppin a new track and video: like all the scholars' videos, this one was directed and cut by zia mohajerjasbi. i've become a big fan of zia over the last couple of years. his cinematography and production value can't be touched. i've always been up on his music videos but I was blown away when i saw his film manoj. this mockumentary is not only hella funny, but its really smart in the way it unfolds the issue at hand... manoj - directed by zia mohajerjasbi:

"Song" Gets Write-Up in the Rafu Shimpo

for those who don't know, the rafu shimpo is the main japanese american newspaper here in LA.  getting ink in the rafu is huge for me personally because i know my grandma and bachan are gonna see it!  i don't know if they really understand what i do, but if my name's in the rafu it's all gravy to them. "I think it's important to know that there have been successful artists and musicians in our community who have come before.   My parallel with what Chris was doing back then is my relationship to hip-hop now."

large up to jordan ikeda from the rafu for the interview and doing a great job of connecting the film with the musicians who are gonna perform at the premiere. 

UPDATE:  the rafu article is now online.

Bambu's "Crooks & Rooks" Video on OkayPlayer!

my dood bambu is doin' it big! his new music video for "crooks & rooks" premiered today on okayplayer! please click on the link and leave a comment, let okayplayer know that politically focused artists like bambu need to be supported. big ups to the homie a.j. calomay of xylophone films for cutting and producing the video.

"Jonathan Jackson" by Chris Iijima, Nobuko Miyamoto & Charlie Chin

growing up listening to my mom's "a grain of sand" LP i always played the same 3 songs and "jonathan jackson" was not one of them. it wasn't until i got schooled on the black panther party, george jackson and his brother jonathan that i realized the meaning behind the song. during her interview for the film, nobuko explained how "jonathan jackson" was created: Listen to the entire song here:

Premiere Shout on Prometheus Brown

geologic (one half of blue scholars) mentioned the premiere of a song for ourselves on his blog. between touring, recording music and raising a kid, geo aka prometheus brown somehow finds time to watch and review a gang of flicks (almost one a day)! peep the blog for articulate and socially conscious reviews of films both new and old, hollywood and indie, local and foreign.

earlier this year he reviewed my film pilgrimage. good looks geo!