What is it with certain Western dudes obsessing over Asian women? Filmmaker Debbie Lum asked around, and the answers she got from one odd-duck airport-garage cashier went beyond creepy, straight to crazy fascinating.
With Lum’s camera watching, Steven, a 59-year-old white guy, went online and imported a 30-year-old Chinese bride to his Burlingame apartment. Soon enough, Lum, who’s Chinese-American herself, wound up in awkward service as the couple’s translator. Things only got weirder from there, but the film Lum came away with is a marvel of humility and humanity. It’s a standout among this year’s locally made offerings at CAAMFest (formerly the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival).
Seeking Asian Female screens March 15 at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley and March 20 at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.
Originally published in the March 2013 issue of San Francisco.
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