Thousand Oaks Librarian

Many years ago I watched an early film by Martin Scorsese called Italianamerican. It’s basically an extended interview of his parents speaking about their lives back in Italy and in America. When I watched it, it made me want to tell the stories of my own family. For a long time, I’ve wanted to create a documentary about my grandparents. I’d like to tell of their lives back in Korea, their journey to first Brazil and then to the U.S., and their lives here in the U.S. with their children and their grandchildren. I’ve put off the project for a long time, mostly because I knew that to do it right would mean investing a lot of time that I didn’t have. But lately I’ve been thinking that I’m going to make an effort to get this thing off the ground soon…

That’s why I’m so excited of an upcoming event at the library. One of my professional goals is to develop interesting events for the community I serve. Since I have an academic background in film studies, my natural inclination is to create programming that somehow incorporates films. A couple of months ago I started thinking about putting together an event to celebrate APA Heritage Month at the library. A friend told me about this filmmaker named Vivian Wong and suggested that I contact her. Thankfully, when I contacted Vivian she was very receptive to the idea of driving all the way out to Thousand Oaks from LA (in heavy traffic!) to show some short documentary films dealing with the Asian American experience and give a short presentation titled “Uncovering Ourselves: Storytelling Through Oral History and Family Photos.”

The event is this Thursday night and I’m very excited about it! I’ve seen the films that are being screened tomorrow and they’re all so moving in their own way. They include:

No Vacancy
An intimate look at a South Asian family who owns and manages a motel in South Central LA. Directed by Tina Bhaga, Elena Bovetti, and Alexandra Lewis, 11 minutes, 2004.

Selling Louie’s Village
One family’s experience of owning and operating a Chinese Restaurant in small town Oregon. Directed by Jason Mak, 14 minutes, 2004.

Metros Es Para Todos: Grandma Hee Pok Kim & The Bus Riders’ Union
Hee Pok Kim, an elderly LA Koreatown denizen, recounts her growing sense of political involvement as a result of her activities with the Bus Riders’ Union. Directed by Eurie Chung, 8 minutes, 2006.

Beyond the Sea
The story of three Filipino Navy men and the impact their military service had on them and their families. Directed by Mark Villegas, Gena Hamamoto, and Kristina Nierva, 10 minutes, 2006.

Homecoming
A personal documentary that recounts the filmmaker’s experience as a second-generation Chinese American and her relationship to her grandmother from Malaysia. Directed by Vivian Wong, 8 minutes, 2005.

It should be a great night. Hope to see you there!

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The screening of the documentary film “The Lost Boys of Sudan” was a huge success! We really had no idea how many people would show up, so at about 15 minutes before the event was scheduled to start, we were happy to see around 20 people in the room. Then, between 6:15 and 6:30, I’d say around 60-70 more people walked in and the room was beginning to feel crowded. People were still coming in when we finally started the film at about 6:40pm. We had 100 chairs set up in the community room and we still had to bring about 20 more to accommodate everyone so I’d say the total number in the audience was 120+. Around 20 or so of those in the audience were from a local middle school. I found out that a teacher, who was also there, offered her students a deal: come watch the film and you don’t have to do homework for a few days, or something like that. Brilliant!

After the film ended, many of the audience members came up to me and my colleagues and told us how much they enjoyed the event and expressed their thanks. I gotta say, even though I feel like I help people and do positive things for the community on a daily basis, having 100+ people in the Library for an event like this was extremely encouraging. I felt like it was proof of how public libraries can bring a community together and contribute to the common good. It felt very good to be a librarian

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I’m really excited about two of our upcoming events at the Library. On Wednesday night (March 28) at 6:30pm, we’re showing the award-winning documentary film, The Lost Boys of Sudan, directed by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk. The film tells the story of two of the “lost boys,” focusing on their journey to and life in the U.S. Watching it a few months ago reminded me of just how fortunate I’ve been in my life up to this point. Things I often take for granted, like a roof over my head and the opportunity to get a college education, are simply things that these “lost boys” have had to struggle for their entire lives. Their stories, both collective and individual, are truly amazing.

The screening is actually a prelude to the main event, which is a visit to the Library by Valentino Achak Deng. Deng is a “lost boy” and is the subject of Dave Eggers’ (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) new bestselling book, What is the What. He’ll be at the Library on Thursday, April 5 from 7-9pm to talk about his experiences and life story. If you haven’t read this book yet, start now. Copies of the book will be on sale at both the film screening on Wednesday and the Deng visit. Of course, the Library also has multiple copies available to checkout.

For more information on both events, visit the Library’s website or go straight to the flyer for the two events.

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We had our pre-Oscar party at the library today. Over 60 people attended so it was a great turnout! We had popcorn, candy, and drinks and it really seemed like people enjoyed the event. After starting things off with a little Oscar trivia (2 lucky winners went away with a nice Thousand Oaks Library bag stuffed with candy), we got to the main event, which was the screening of some 2005 Academy Award nominated short films. I think the audience enjoyed most of the films, but the one that actually received some applause was the winner for best animated short film, The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation. Both before and after the event, many people came up to me and told me how happy they were that the library was putting on this event. I was asked repeatedly about future film programs at the library, so I know people are looking forward to seeing more interesting films at the library. I now know that there is definitely a community of movie lovers in Thousand Oaks. We even had an influx of Oscar contest submissions today, many of them probably coming from people here for the screening. I think there were around 25-30 new ballots submitted today. I’m anxious to see who wins the prizes. Maybe I can get the winners to pose for a quick pic and post it here

So, I’ve been thinking about this year’s Oscars and I think I pretty much have my predictions and personal picks decided for most of the major categories. I wish I could comment on some of the other categories like editing and cinematography, but I haven’t seen enough of the nominees in those categories so I’ll just stick to the ones where I’ve actually seen a good number of the nominees.

Best Actor

• Will win: Forest Whitaker
• Should win: Forest Whitaker

I’ve been a fan of Whitaker for a long time (a personal favorite is his role in Ghost Dog) and he’s amazing in The Last King of Scotland.

Best Actress

• Will win: Helen Mirren
• Should win: Helen Mirren

Mirren made you forget that you were actually watching an actress playing a role. And to do that while playing a real person who’s still alive is even more impressive.

Best Supporting Actor

• Will win: Eddie Murphy
• Should win: Mark Wahlberg

Murphy was good in Dreamgirls, but can an Oscar really go to the man who just made Norbit?! Mark Wahlberg stole every scene he was in and he did it while sharing the screen with the best of the best. On a side note, I heard Djimon Hounsou was terrific in Blood Diamond, but I could not get myself to go see that movie because of Leonardo’s accent. When I first saw the trailer to that movie, I knew immediately that I would not pay money to see it the second Leonardo started speaking.

Best Supporting Actress

• Will win: Jennifer Hudson
• Should win: Rinko Kikuchi

Everyone’s talking about Hudson and I’m not sure why. I’ll admit that she was good, but most of her “acting” in the movie was simply standing there and singing, which she did on “American Idol.” Kikuchi was absolutely haunting in her role and I think she deserves the Oscar.

Best Director

• Will win: Martin Scorcese
• Should win: Paul Greengrass

I will be happy to see Scorcese win it because I love his movies, but I’m not sure Departed was much a departure (sorry) for him. I wish he would tackle different types of stories…like Kundun, which is one of his best films in my opinion. As for Greengrass, I’ve loved every film he has made, including one that’s on my all-time best films list, Bloody Sunday. He probably won’t win it this year, but I think he’ll win one sooner rather than later.

Best Film

• Will win: The Departed
• Should win: Babel
  

This is a difficult category to pick. I haven’t seen Letters from Iwo Jima, but I have seen the other four nominees. I liked all of them, but I especially found Babel powerful in its storytelling and filmmaking. It definitely kept my attention during them movie and it stayed with me afterwards.

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First, sorry for the lack of posts recently. It’s been over a week now since the Bears lost the Superbowl and I’m just now coming out of my cave.

And now, onto some exciting library-related news… I’m pleased to announce that there are two upcoming Oscar-related programming opportunities for the T.O. community. First, the library is running an Oscar contest in which people are asked to make their Oscar predictions to win some great prizes. The first place prize is $50 in video rentals from the library. The second place prize is a pair of movie tickets from a local theatre. The third place prize is a $10 gift certificate to the Library Foundation store. All you need to do is fill out an entry form and ballot (pdf file) and turn it in at a reference desk at either the Thousand Oaks Library or the Newbury Park branch library.

The second Oscar program is a Pre-Oscar Party at which the library will screen a group of academy-award nominated short films from last year. On Saturday, February 24, from 2-4pm, we’ll show five films, including the winner for best live action short film, Six Shooter, as well as the winner for best animated short film, The Moon and the Son. We’ll also have some light refreshments and play some movie trivia (with some small prizes). For more information, click here for our flyer. Registration is not required, but it is encouraged. Call (805) 449- 2660 ext. 204 to let us know that you’ll be attending.

Hopefully this is only the beginning of many cool film programs at the library. I’ll be doing whatever I can to bring a nice collection of mainstream feature films, independent films, documentaries, and foreign films to the library. If you’re reading this and think you’d be interested in attending a film screening at the library, tell me what kind of films you’d like to see. Or, if you have any topics/periods/genres/filmmakers you’d like us to highlight (maybe bringing in an expert on film), please leave a comment here.

Btw, if you’re not sure how to comment on this site, it’s extremely easy. Just click on the main heading of the entry you want to comment on, scroll all the way to the bottom of that next page, write your comment in the comment box, give your name and email (don’t worry, your email won’t be published), and click “Submit Comment.” You don’t need to fill out the “website” field unless you have your own website that you want to let me know about.

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