• Source: The Shangri-la Cafe

      • The Shangri-la Cafe is a 2000 short film written and directed by Lily Mariye. The film is about a Japanese American family who conceal their heritage and reluctantly adopt discriminatory practices in order to operate a Chinese restaurant in Las Vegas in the late 1950s. The Los Angeles Times calls the film well-reviewed, and it won awards at festivals such as the Brussels Independent Film Festival and Nashville Independent Film Festival.
      The director began working on the film in 1998, working with the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women.


      Cast


      Montana Tsai as Annie Takashi
      Joanne Takahashi as Emiko Takashi
      Sam Anderson as The Man
      Christopher Chen as Tad Takashi
      Albert Chien as Jimmy Takashi
      Cedric Harris as Reverend Charles Osteen
      Montae Russell as George Brooks
      Margaret Laurena Kemp as Mildred Brooks
      Kelli Kirkland as Helen Osteen
      Charles 'Brick' Tilley Jr. as Man #2
      Bob Bergen as Television Announcer (voice)


      Reception


      The Los Angeles Times calls the film well-reviewed, and it won awards at festivals such as the Brussels Independent Film Festival and Nashville Independent Film Festival. It was positively reviewed for its portrayal of 1950s racism by SFGate, which called it "unusually sensitive to the heightened experience of children." The Chicago Reader wrote that Mariye set "a preachy tone" in the film. Edward Guthmann from the San Francisco Chronicle, Jonathan Kaplan, and Lesli Linka Glatter praised Mariye's directing debut. The Hollywood Reporter's Michael Rechtshaffen described the film as a "tender, bittersweet childhood recollection of a not always glittering Las Vegas past."


      Awards


      Filmmaker of the Year (Lily Mariye), National Organization for Women
      Best Short Film Award, Moondance International Film Festival
      Best Screenplay Award, Brussels Independent Film Festival
      2nd place, Best Short Film, Nashville Film Festival
      2nd place, Best Short Film, Woodstock Film Festival


      Official selection


      BBC British Short Film in London, England
      Seattle International Film Festival
      Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films
      Hamptons International Film Festival
      American Cinematheque at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood, California
      Athens International
      Sepia Women of Color at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
      Big Bear
      Los Angeles Asian Pacific American Film and Video
      New York Asian American International
      San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
      Women of Color in Berkeley, California
      Sedona Film Festival
      Shades of Power in San Francisco, California
      Chicago Asian American Showcase
      San Diego Asian Film Festival
      Slant in Houston, Texas
      University of Iowa
      Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
      Portobello Film Festival
      Woodstock Film Festival
      Blue Sky International Film in Las Vegas, Nevada
      Magnolia Festival
      Yale Women in Film Festival


      References




      External links


      Official website
      Shangri-la Cafe at IMDb

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