Tuesday, November 17, 2009

MN Transracial Film Festival a success


A big thanks again to all of you who came to join us for the MN Transracial Film Festival of Saturday, November 14th at the Oak Street Cinema. It was a brisk day but everyone reports there was a great attendance throughout the day. Considering the great lineup and the historic nature of the festival it was wonderful to see such vibrant support, and I hope we'll see more of these in the future.

I particularly applaud the festival's commitment to also showcasing the music and writing of other adoptees and our allies, with work from me, Sun Yung Shin, Mayda and Ed Bok Lee being included in the program. This isn't always an easy programming decision to make, and I deeply respect this commitment to all of the diverse voices of our community. Judging from the applause I would say our audience enjoyed this, and I hope it will continue to be a part of the festivals in the years ahead.

For my part, I read selections from Tanon Sai Jai and BARROW, opening with the poem "A Sum of Threads". I read some newer pieces from these books and regulars like "Midwestern Conversations". Sun Yung Shin debuted newer work, while Ed read three poems reflecting his experiences as a Korean American. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay as long as I wanted due to a most unfortunate shortage of quarters, a Minneapolis traffic cop and the onset of the sniffles. But I'm definitely putting this event on my calendar for future years.

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