Vietnamese Cinema Symposium

Vietnamese Cinema Symposium 6 – “Shifting Scenes”

Sunday, April 22, 2012
2:30 PM - 6:30 PM
121 Dodd Hall
UCLA Campus

Vietnamese Language & Culture (VNLC) and the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association (VAALA) present the sixth biennial Cinema Symposium: Shifting Scenes. The symposium will feature ten notable panelists who lend diverse perspectives to the creative, technical, and commercial aspects of film-making. The possibilities for filmmakers to tell stories and for audiences to engage with cinema have greatly expanded due to ongoing ‘shifts’, such as the increasing fluidity of geographical and cultural boundaries, internet-based distribution and networking channels, and the accessibility of digital film-making technology. The event will provide a forum for audiences to engage with film-industry professionals in examining the unique opportunities and challenges that present themselves in this dynamic landscape.

The diverse and accomplished speaker panel includes: Elizabeth Ai (Producer, Saigon Electric), Michael Chang (Attorney, Warner Bros. Entertainment), Chris Dinh (Actor/Writer, Crush the Skull, Things You Don't Joke About) Ellen M. Harrington (Exhibitions Director, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), Mye Hoang (Writer/Director, Viette), Le Van Kiet (Director/Writer, Dust of Life, House in the Alley), Porter Lynn (Actress, Touch), Duc Nguyen (Director/Producer, Bolinao52, Stateless), and Marcus Manh Cuong Vu (Editor/Director, Yxine Film Festival). In addition, the audience will have a special Skype session with director Victor Vu (Battle of the Brides, Blood Letter), who is currently on location in Vietnam.

2:30 – 3:00 p.m. Reception & Introductory remarks (Ysa Le & Linda Ta)
3:00 – 5:30 p.m. Panel discussion and showcase of film clips (Moderators: Thuy Vo Dang & Justin Tran)
5:30 – 5:45 p.m. Break
5:45 – 6:30 p.m. Special screenings of short films followed by Q&A

Films

• Cá chuoi / Mother never cries (2011) Director: Do Quoc Trung 15:34 min.
The story is about a middle-aged woman who finds a girl to sleep with her mentally challenged son.

• Duoi bóng cây / Under the Tree’s Shadow (2011) Director: Doàn Tran Anh Tuan 07:00 min.
Due to a boasting from Mouse, Snake takes Frog away. Mouse goes to save Frog, actually with another purpose.

• Un Interrogatoire / An Interrogation (2011) Director: Nghiêm Quynh Trang 15:56 min.
After her wedding with a Frenchman, a Vietnamese student is interviewed for her residence permit.

• The Man Who Was There (2009) Director: Andy Nguyen 11:58 min.
It’s Christmas Eve in New York, a man who lives alone leaves his flat for the first time in 8 years because of a silly reason and, fortunately, a girl helps him.

Web announcements here and here.
Free and open to the public.

Trip to Sacramento to Discuss California Education

                          Save our Schools

Tired of overcrowded classrooms and no money for supplies, teachers, or counselors?

Saddened that arts and sports programs are on the chopping block at your kid’s school?

Shocked by closed libraries and elimination of basic homework assistance and special needs programs?

Disappointed that your student slated for transitional kindergarten won’t be able to attend?

Worried about the funding cuts slated to hit our community colleges?

Join us… Parents, teachers, administrators, students, activists, anyone who cares about education – all are invited to attend our free bus trip to Sacramento to talk with our legislators about protecting school funding.

· Sacramento Bus Trip Wednesday May 2, 2012 from 6:00am to 6:00pm

(bus will depart from Eastridge mall, Free transportation, free breakfast & lunch)

To RSVP for any of the following events please contact: Lara McCabe (408)299-5030 or lara.mccabe@bos.sccgov.org

Online Registration: http://bit.ly/bustrip2012

Vietnamese American Poetry and Art Festival

Project Ngoc New Exhibit at UC Irvine

The UCI Libraries is pleased to announce the opening of an inspiring new exhibit, “Hope of Freedom: Project Ngoc’s Decade of Dedication on Tuesday, April 24th, at 5:30 pm in Langson Library. The exhibit chronicles the history and wide-reaching impact of Project Ngoc (Project Pearl), a UCI student-led humanitarian organization whose decade of activism raised awareness and support for the plight of Vietnamese refugees detained in camps in Asia after the Vietnam War.

This special evening will feature a talk by Manuel N. Gómez, Ph.D, Vice Chancellor Emeritus, Student Affairs, titled Student Activism and Social Justice: A History of Social Change. The program will include introductions by Interim University Librarian Lorelei Tanji and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Thomas Parham, Ph.D.

Conceived in 1987 by graduate student Tom Wilson, Project Ngoc grew into a remarkable humanitarian effort that made a difference in the lives of many Vietnam War refugees. Hope of Freedom traces Project Ngoc’s impressive accomplishments, including sending student volunteers to camps in Hong Kong, Thailand, and the Philippines to teach classes and deliver gifts, supplies and financial donations. Featured prominently in the exhibit are photographs of the camps, and paintings the refugees made, many with powerful images of their desperate yearning for freedom. The exhibit highlights Project Ngoc’s influence at the local, national, and international level through newsletters, student journals, and program materials that reveal the group’s tireless efforts on behalf of the refugees.

Project Ngoc donated their rich materials to the Southeast Asian Archive, which is part of the UCI Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department, where they are available for research. The nationally recognized Southeast Asian Archive documents the experiences of refugees and immigrants from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam who came to the United States - many to California - beginning in 1975.

Our guest speaker Manuel Gómez served as UCI Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs before retiring in 2011 after 38 years of service to the campus and UC system. Over the course of his career, Gómez inspired countless students to meet their goals and laid a strong foundation for academic, character and leadership excellence at UCI. His legacy includes founding the UCI Center for Educational Partnerships, co-founding the UC-wide Silk Road to the Future, and establishing the UCI XIV Dalai Lama Endowed Scholarship. A published poet, Gómez received the UCI Medal in 2011.

A light reception and exhibit viewing will follow the presentation. The event is free and open to the public. Space is limited; reservations are first come, first served. Please go to http://partners.lib.uci.edu/projectngoc to make an online reservation. For further information please call 949.824.4651 or email partners@uci.edu.

Hope of Freedom will be on display through October 2012 in the Langson Library Muriel Ansley Reynolds Gallery during regular library hours.

White House and Vietnamese-American Petition

Tel: 714.636.1121 Fax: 714.260.0236
10501 Garden Grove Blvd. , Garden Grove, CA 92843, USA March 8th, 2012

SBTN PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HUMAN RIGHTS FOR VIETNAM

The Vietnamese American community is united in its desire to promote human rights in Vietnam. More than 130,000 (as of March 5th and in counting) Vietnamese Americans signed a petition to ask for the Obama Administration’s assistance in releasing prisoners of conscience in Vietnam. SBTN created a plaque to memorialize this petition and has tendered the plaque to the White House staff to deliver to the President. After March 8, the White House will issue an official response to the petition.

The White House Office of Public Engagement quickly responded to the need for an open dialogue with the Vietnamese American community by hosting a briefing for 165 Vietnamese Americans from over 30 states on March 5. The briefing was a general meeting to educate participants about different aspects of the U.S. government’s work on diaspora engagement, global partnership, and human rights.

At the briefing, Dr. Quintan Wiktorowicz, Senior Director for Community Partnerships at the National Security Council, spoke about the community’s resilience and spirit and how this is part of the American experience. Dr. Wiktorowicz spoke of partnership with the Vietnamese American community.

Vietnamese Americans were also briefed by a panel of State Department speakers. The panel included: Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Michael Posner; Director of Global Partnerships, Thomas Debass; and, Acting Director for Mainland Southeast Asia in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Eric Barboriak. Assistant Secretary Posner expressed his efforts to promote human rights issues throughout ongoing discussions with Vietnam. His State Department colleagues emphasized the different ways in which the U.S. government is engaging on these issues with the Vietnamese government.

Briefing participants were able to present their questions and concerns directly to the panel of speakers from the Administration regarding current human rights policy, trade, religious freedom, and other issues. The government panel duly took notes of all the questions and concerns. Dialogue and interaction between the Vietnamese American community and the Obama Administration needs to continue regarding these matters.

Outside of the White House, more than 1,000 petitioners from fifty states stood in Lafayette Square with signs proclaiming “Free Viet Khang” and “Human Rights for Vietnam”, despite the cold weather.

The meeting between the Vietnamese American community and Obama Administration officials is a dialogue that needs to continue. Community members should sign up on the U.S. Department of State website to get regular updates on human rights, religious freedom, trafficking of human persons, internet freedom, press freedom, and many other issues that drove Vietnamese Americans to participate in the We the People petition drive at :

https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USSTATEBPA/subscriber/new?

Phu Do Nguyen, vice president of SBTN, was informed through White House staff that The Obama Administration needs to hear from Vietnamese Americans regarding violations of human rights. U.S. Department of State officials are open to meetings and briefings with individuals and organizations to provide update on violations and conditions in Vietnam.

As in 2008, President Barack Obama stated, "I strongly believe that the human rights record of the government of Vietnam remains unsatisfactory. Political opposition movements are prohibited, independent human rights organizations are banned, and the government continues to crack down on dissent by arresting political activists and disrupting opposition organizations. It is past time for the government of Vietnam to do far more to protect human rights and to advance the freedom of all of its people." SBTN recognizes the Administration’s commitment to these issues and hopes that the administration will do more to engage with the Vietnamese American community on human rights. Most of all, SBTN desires to see more tangible evidence of Vietnam’s progress towards human rights, as more individuals abroad are reporting human rights violations.

The same petitioners that met the White House officials on March 5 also joined many more Vietnamese Americans on March 6 to secure Congressional support for Vietnam Human Rights Act (HR 1410), Vietnam Human Rights Sanctions Act (HR 156) and H.Res. 484 “Calling on the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to respect basic human rights” and other human rights related bills.

Vietnamese American voices are heard throughout Capitol Hill as more than 700 constituents and petitioners divided into teams to visit almost 100 Senate and 435 House offices on March 6. This is a historic moment for the Vietnamese community as it's the first ever event to bring as many as 700 people to the political center of democracy, organized and united behind one common cause – Human Rights For Vietnam. Truc Ho, CEO of SBTN, believes that President Obama, who is a human rights advocate, will advance the pro-democratic values of the Vietnamese American and that all the petitioners will be with him every step of the way to build a stronger and inclusive America.

San José Police Department Recruiting Police Officers

Interested in becoming a police officer?

The San José Police Department is currently looking for highly motivated individuals who are looking for an exciting career in law enforcement.

To find out whether you meet the minimum qualifications and to learn about the hiring process, be sure to review the "Hiring Process" and "Qualifications" at:

www.sjpd.org/JoinSJPDBlue.

After reviewing the SJPD website, if you still have questions:

contact a recruiter or call (408) 277-4951.

Supervisor Dave Cortese & President Obama