By APA Staff

You may not know their faces, but Asian and Asian American artists engineered some of the year's landmark moments in pop culture.

Loveleen Tandan, director/casting

The woman responsible for casting many of Mira Nair's films (Monsoon Wedding, Vanity Fair, consultant in The Namesake) had a breakout year in 2008 -- not only for her casting work on Brick Lane and Slumdog Millionaire, but also for making her official transition into directing. Slumdog Millionaire, arguably the most-buzzed about Oscar contender of the year, required three sets of kids to play each character (Jamal, Salim, and Lathika). After Tandan suggested it'd be more authentic for the young children, some of whom they picked out directly from Indian slums, to act in Hindi, director Danny Boyle agreed and asked her to come aboard as co-director for the Hindi-language scenes. One third of the film ended up being in Hindi, and one can only imagine how instrumental New Delhi-native Tandan was behind the scenes, making sure two talented Brit men, Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, didn't inadvertently take any drastic turns in their cinematic depictions of Mumbai. The result is what Mumbaites appreciate as a truthful depiction of their city, and what international audiences are heralding as one of the most satisfying pictures of the year. --Ada Tseng

Wei Te-sheng , writer/director

For directing the most commercially successful Taiwanese film of all time. For being a spokesperson for an awakened Taiwanese cinema. But most of all, for writing the script of Cape No. 7, a role that Wei Te-sheng has not received nearly enough attention for doing, but which, had he not done so miraculously well, would have made his other two accomplishments impossible. The Taiwanese press has been Wei Te-sheng this and Wei Te-sheng that ever since the musical romance was released in late summer. But once upon a time, before the awards and the publicity, Cape No. 7 was a script to be written. And at that time, aspiring filmmaker Wei Te-sheng sat down and wrote joke after joke, beat for beat. Cape No. 7 was a success because all of its elements (the romance, the music, the cultural resonances) were scripted tightly and structured into an entertaining whole. The film's use of local dialect, which everyone has been celebrating for being so natural (it's from the streets!, they say) is anything but: it had to be conceived, composed, and cadenced by somebody who knew what he was doing. And at a time when commercial cinema in Taiwan is struggling to find its path, it's good to know somebody knew. --Brian Hu

Alexander Wang, fashion designer

In November 2008, designer Alexander Wang took home the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award, which won him a year's worth of mentorship and $200,000 to expand his company. Labeled a wunderkind from the start, Wang launched his first line of cashmere sweaters when he was only a year into Parsons Design School in New York City. Half a decade later, at the tender age of 24, Wang has built his share of both celebrity and non-celebrity admirers for his unique style that is a little rock, a little urban, a little vagabond -- aiming to create high fashion that is stylish but still accessible. His signature look has been labeled "model-off-duty," with his line of T-shirts, vests, baggy pants, knit hats, and cozy cardigans. In May, he teamed up with Japan's Uniqlo to launch a collection of casual dresses, and while he's still known for his black and gray palette, his Spring 2009 collection introduced more vibrant color pieces. Wang also received a nomination from his peers for the 2008 CFDA Swarovski Womens Wear Designer of the Year Award. --Ada Tseng

Wong Kar-wai, director

In 2008, Wong Kar-wai retraced old steps and blazed new paths. His Ashes of Time Redux rescued Wong's legendary 1994 wuxia epic from Chinese cinema obscurity (where it famously had fans scratching their heads) and the depths of DVD hell (DVDBeaver called it "one of the worst transferred films to DVD ever"). Though they too didn't quite know what to do with it, international critics suddenly started singing its praises and contemplating Wong's idiosyncratic use of atmosphere, narrative, and time. International critics also didn’t know what to do with Wong's English-language debut, My Blueberry Nights, which was released in 2008 in the U.S. where it was produced. Some found the Anglicization of Wong's aesthetic awkward, others lamented the exoticism of Wong's Asian films. We found it simply divine: as playfully idealistic as Chungking Express, as far-fetched a dream of love as Happy Together.  --Brian Hu

Yoshihiro Nishimura, makeup effects/special effects/director

The make-up artist as auteur? Well, when the films are basically gore-fests with creatures distorted to abstraction and murders rendered to baroque levels of stirring excess, then yes, the make-up artist can be auteur. The pleasure of a film like Noburu Iguchi's The Machine Girl is as much in the zany effects as in the story of a girl seeking bloody revenge. After all, its one thing to think up Tempura Arm (http: //www.gomorrahy.com/images/machine_girl_still205.jpg), it's another thing to make it happen. Or it's one thing to write a movie about a demonic baby (http: //www.gomorrahy.com/images/akanbo_shoujo_mb07.jpg) (who isn't these days?), it's another thing to adhere the fangs and carve the wrinkles to make that monstrosity in Tatami: the Baby's Curse. Makeup effects supervisor Yoshiro Nishimura did both this year. But he became a bona-fide auteur when somebody had the brilliant idea to let the crazy make-up guy make his own movie. The result is Tokyo Gore Police, a parade of mutant violence which APA's Clifford Hilo has compared to Robocop, The Passion of the Christ, and the Marquis de Sade. Bringing Tempura Arm to shame are snail lady (http: //www.fantasiafestival.com/2008/_media/dynimages/tokyo_gore_police__.jpg), urinating person chair (http: //www.horror-fanatics.com/images/Tokyo_Gore_Police-_04.jpg), and leaking head (http: //www.dreadcentral.com/img/reviews/tokyogorepic1big.jpg ), among many, many, many others.  --Brian Hu

Karen Chau, show creator

Little did Karen Chau know that when she was scribbling a five-year-old version of herself and bunch of cuddly animal friends four years ago, she was preparing for a show that would innovate children's programmming. After being hand picked by Nickelodeon executive producer Mary Harrington, Chau, who had no previous TV-producing experience, became the creator of Nickelodeon's first Chinese American themed children show, Ni Hao Kai Lan! -- a program that aims to teach young kids (of all ethnicities) how to speak Mandarin Chinese. A Hello Kitty fanatic with a lifetime of influence from Japanese anime, Chao creates decidedly childish and whimsical design that fits perfectly with her breakthrough project. Chau's own bicultural background set up the backdrop for Ni Hao Kai Lan!, and hopefully this show will give preschool Asian America a much needed role model to look up to. --Winghei Kwok

Brillante Mendoza, director

I've never been the biggest Brillante Mendoza fan, though he's gathered much praise at all of the big festivals -- Cannes, Berlin, Toronto. I found his Slingshot (for me a 2008 discovery) to be technically proficient and generally provocative, but not the eye-opener it and Mendoza's Foster Child were made out to be. But then came Service, which received lukewarm reviews at this year's Cannes Film Festival, but which I found to be an arresting triumph of style and drama. When Mendoza discussed the film at the Pusan International Film Festival, he talked mostly of the film's depiction of sex and sexuality, which apparently have brought the film a bit of controversy at home and abroad. But focusing on the sex, which others and now the director himself have chosen to do, takes away from the film's real accomplishments. In Slingshot, Mendoza's shaky camera and elaborate movements well captured a sense of place. In Service that skill for physicality is not for its own sake, or merely to shock and awe. Rather it comes to service the domestic drama, to create connections within a community, to depict the rugged temporalities of the slums and its economy, and to keep us on the edge of our seats. Consider me converted. --Brian Hu

Eiko Ishioka, costume designer

Part of the extravagance of Tarsem Singh's The Fall, no doubt, comes from the director's ambitious vision: the vast landscapes, the Taj Mahal-inspired architecture, elaborate interiors, gigantic blood-stained linens, and images of birds flying out of people's mouths. However, in this fantasy world -- directed by Tarsem but imagined by a young Romanian girl (played by Catinca Untaru) -- it's the costumes that make the characters come to life. Having previously worked on Tarsem's previous film The Cell, veteran Academy Award-winning costume designer Eiko Ishioka created matching black-and-gold uniforms for the masked bandit and his trusty sidekick (above); a red, black, and white-striped fur coat for the character of Darwin (http: //www.siameye.tv/SiamSFX/images/costume_gal/23.jpg), a iron pyrite-beaded headdress topped with brassy horns for the former slave (http: //www.siameye.tv/SiamSFX/images/costume_gal/22.jpg), and a lotus-patterned crimson dress for the kidnapped princess (http: //farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/2869232835_795c9ff1fc.jpg?v=0) (her face hidden beneath an opaque, chiffon mask inspired by Japanese folding fans). The steel etchings, the intricacies (http: //www.siameye.tv/SiamSFX/images/costume_gal/26.jpg) of each headdress -- these are the details that make us thankful for the invention of Blu-ray. --Ada Tseng
 

Ken Mok, television executive produecer

Ken Mok, the influential and successful television producer of today's hottest reality shows, serves as writer and creator of America's Next Top Model, Making the Band, Stylista, The White Rapper Show, and several other shows. He has written over 100 episodes for different reality series at various networks and studios. With several years in news production and years of experience working behind the scenes, Mok has worked his way up to become one of the most influential Asian American executives in Tinsel Town. Although often overlooked by the Asian American community and mainstream media, his collaboration with Tyra Banks is one of the only interracial executive-producing teams of its kind in Hollywood. Mok also founded 10x10 Entertainment, a production company which produces the top-rated reality series on the CW Network along with alternative media. With yet another successful year in 2008, Mok has future plans for his company to create and develop feature films, sitcoms, and television drama series. --Ellen Ho

Bharat Nalluri, director

One day in 2008, Miss Pettigrew lived, and director Bharat Nalluri made it happen by gathering a stellar cast, including Oscar favorites Francis McDormand and Amy Adams, as well as Lee Pace (who was also in one of our favorites of the year, The Fall). Making what he calls "a fairy tale for adults," Nalluri found Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day to be the exact project he needed, after just completing work on the powerful, but depressing miniseries, Tsunami: The Aftermath. So he dived back into 1939 and turned it into a delightful story about life and love, for the present and future. Miss Pettigrew screenwriter Simon Beaufoy also had his hand in another one of our favorites this year, a little film called Slumdog Millionaire. Miss Pettigrew has been nominated for a People's Choice Award for Favorite Independent Movie. --Ada Tseng

Back to APA's Best of 2008 (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/090102) issue

Published: Friday, January 2, 2009