The Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC) is bringing the community together in Chinatown on Friday, August 26th through August 28th with the riveting Films at the Gate Festival. This reporter spoke recently with ACDC’s Director of Development and Communications Christine Nguyen about the festival’s origins and what people can expect this year.
CHRISTINE NGUYEN: This year is the 16th iteration of the festival; we took a break in 2020. I wasn’t involved at the very beginning, but it was a combination of Jean Lukitsh, the organizers behind Street Lab, Sam and Leslie Davol, who at the time lived in Chinatown. Then ACDC got involved to put on this Film Festival to pay homage to Chinatown’s history of movie theaters and cinema houses. I believe from the 1960s up until the 80s, late at night, like after the feature films, movie theaters would play classic Kung Fu films. And that was like an activity that a lot of Chinatown families, residents, and visitors enjoyed. That was kind of a beloved pastime during those decades. And then you know with the video rental business taking off like blockbusters and stuff, I think that led to a lot of the movie theaters in Chinatown to shut down.
Jean Lukitsh, our longtime curator, also worked as a projectionist in a number of these movie houses in Chinatown… I think the fact that Jean’s been involved from the very beginning and continues to volunteer and be a major contribution to the vent every year is huge.
This year our three films lined up are called Kung Fu Stuntman: Never Say No! which is a documentary presented in a mix of Mandarin and Cantonese with English subtitles. That’s an interesting documentary, just behind the scenes with different stunt people involved in a lot of the classic, iconic Kung Fu films that many fans know about.
Then we’re also showing Ip Man 4, which features Donnie Yen. Donnie is from Boston, a hometown hero, and the martial arts school that his mom started was pretty active in Boston for a while now and that’s the one that Jean Lukitsh has been involved in.
The final film we’re showing on Sunday is Ne Zha. This one is more geared towards children. It’s an animated film that incorporates martial arts and I think traditional folklore but it’s action-packed.”
SAMPAN: “Are there comparable festivals in the area?”
CHRISTINE NGUYEN: “A close, comparable event local to Boston at least is the Boston Asian American Film Festival. The thing is like they screen more contemporary films including documentaries, fictional shorts, and feature length films. But their focus is around amplifying Asian American creatives. So, it’s all around Asian American movies, featuring Asian directors, actors, and stories and experiences. That one I would say is a more robust event, over two weeks and kind of spread out across different venues where they screen at different locations like the Brattle theater in Cambridge or in Boston. They have different screening events spread out around Greater Boston.”
SAMPAN: “What are the current and future goals of the Films at the Gate festival?”
CHRISTINE NGUYEN: “Our goal of posting this festival every year is to partly advocate for more open spaces so that residents like families, individuals, and young people of all ages have amenities like public parks, public spaces that they can enjoy with their friends and family. Secondly, really just again honoring that history of individuals, friends and families coming together. I have a soft spot seeing a lot of intergenerational connection and bonding happening. I’ll see grandparents bringing their grandchildren or child, parent, and grandparent all coming together to enjoy something- It’s something that, regardless of your age, you will enjoy and have a good time.” The festival will begin at 5:30pm on August 26th, rife with games and activities, followed by performances and martial arts demonstrations to honor those origins. Every night, the feature film will begin at 8pm and the air will be filled with the history, family, and hear that brings people together for this festival every year.