Producer Roger Garcia on the set of Dae Jang Geum (Jewel
in the Palace) - the incredibly popular historical Korean
television drama.
QUESTION: What are some of your favorite movies?
ANSWER: I am a big fan of martial arts master filmmaker Liu Jialiang and wrote about his work in 1980, as well as visited him on set at Shaw Bros to watch him shooting at that time. Liu Jialiang's film DIRTY HO is one of two masterpieces of Hong Kong cinema. The other masterpiece is Allen Fong's AH YING which is one of the most accurate portrayals of Hong Kong sensibilities and life in the late 20th century. I am also a follower of Wu Ma who is one of the best Hong Kong filmmakers - his DEAF MUTE HEROINE with Helen Ma is a feminist martial arts film like no other and should be required viewing for anyone who has kung fu film pretensions. For European cinema my tastes are mainly French - Claude Lelouch's A MAN AND A WOMAN which many find sappy tackles the eternal dilemma of life: what are you more in love with - the memory or the fact? It's the core of cinema itself. I like FULL MOON IN PARIS which I suspect is Eric Rohmer's confession to self-absorption. Wim Wenders' KINGS OF THE ROAD is a movie I would love to have made myself! It's a discovery of cinema and cultural history. In American cinema there's Alfred Hitchcock whose NORTH BY NORTHWEST ties with VERTIGO as a favorite; and Frank Tashlin - THE GLASS BOTTOM BOAT with Doris Day is a complete deconstruction of mythology. Finally I must mention BLADE RUNNER - still the greatest sci-fi film ever made; and Yasujiro Ozu's LATE AUTUMN which is a monument to cinema as regret.
Q: What are some of your favorite TV shows?
A: CHANGE OF HEART where couples in crisis go on dates with another person who seems to better match their desires. After their dates, each of them and their date, discuss it in the studio. At the end of the show each of them has to choose whether they are going to stay together or split (and maybe go off with the new date). In miniature, it's the perfect teaser and three act structure of a feature film script with quickly established premise, character background and development, differing points of view, conflict, suspense and "resolution." It's a 30 minute TV program that I would use to teach scriptwriting (if I taught scriptwriting which I don't).
Q: What kind of music do you enjoy listening to?
A: I like Ryuchi Sakamoto, Speedometer and some of Sigur Ros. One of my all time favorites is Lesley Duncan especially her "Everything Changes" album; and David Bowie's "Scary Monsters Super Creeps" album. I also like individual songs - "1979" by the Smashing Pumpkins, "Game of Love" by Santana and Michelle Branch, "Oh Babe What Would You Say" by Hurricane Smith, "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" by Pink Floyd, and the beautiful "Tango" (Portuguese version) by Paula Morelenbaum. I've been listening a lot to "Wish You Were Here" which is Pink Floyd's song for their founder Syd Barrett who died last week.
Q: What are your favorite foods?
A: A good curry - Chicken Saag, I can get a good one in my home town of Berkeley. Hainan Chicken Rice - more difficult to find, I had a good one in the street in Singapore. Japanese Ramen with a couple of pork slices - I quite like the one I can get in Menchanko Tei in Honolulu, but I also get a pretty good one in Berkeley (hey, it's gourmet ghetto - that's why I live there!). A good chicken pie - the best one believe it or not, is at Starbucks in Hong Kong.
Q: What do you enjoy most about Hawaii?
A: You. Chuck Boller's sartorial style. The Hawaii International Film Festival programmers and their choice of films!
My wife who is from Maui. All of which is a way of saying what makes Hawaii great are the people!
Q: Where is your hometown? Where would you recommend for people to visit or do there?
A: I live in Berkeley now but originally I am from Hong Kong. In Berkeley I recommend eating, watching films at the Pacific Film Archive, buying books. In Hong Kong, I recommend eating, watching films at the Hong Kong Film Archive, buying books!
Actress Anna May Wong
Q: What would be a dream project of yours?
A: For some time I've been developing a bio pic of the first star of Asian American cinema - Anna May Wong. So have a few other folks. The problem is that in the end, she was something of an enigma with personal successes and defeats that are difficult to capture. I do not want to insult her talent and memory in some sleazy or campy way like "Mommie Dearest." It would be a dream to make such a movie.
Q: What is an experience that you will always cherish?
A: Getting my marriage license the day before I got married in New York City - a pigeon pooped on me. My wife told me it was a good omen...
Q: What are some things that irritate or upset you?
A: People who don't deliver on their commitments.
People who seem distracted when you are talking to them.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring artists?
A: A lot of aspiring artists think they have to be in a center of art like New York, Hollywood or Paris in order to be an artist. There is no center of art. Make your own center.
INFORMATION ON PRODUCER ROGER GARCIA
Roger Garcia was born in Hong Kong and educated there and at Leeds University in the United Kingdom where he graduated in Fine Arts. He writes books and articles about cinema including Hollywood director Frank Tashlin (The Glass Bottom Boat), Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Burbs), Cantonese cinema, and Asians in American cinema (British Film Institute, Cahiers du Cinema, Far East Economic Review, Film Comment, Variety among many others).
His latest book, published in English and Italian, is Asia Sings! A Survey of Asian Musical Films (Centro Espressioni Cinematographiche, Italy, April 2006). He was Director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival and has acted as program consultant for festivals in the US and Europe including London, Berlin, Pesaro, New York Asian American, Hong Kong; he continues to be program consultant for Torino International Film Festival and the Far East Film Festival Udine (both in Italy), Locarno International Film Festival (Switzerland), San Francisco International Film Festival (USA).
CLICK HERE to ORDER the crazy/cool/action/comedy THE BIG HIT!
Produced by John Woo, Wesley Snipes and Roger Garcia
He has produced box-office hit movies in Hollywood (The Big Hit, Columbia TriStar) and independent films in Europe (Macao oder die Rückseite des Meeres) and Asia (recently Happy Berry, Thailand, Grand Prize, Asian Vision, Taiwan Documentary Film Festival; and Sa Ilalim Ng Cogon, Philippines, Best Feature Film, Buenos Aires Roja Sangre Film Festival, Argentina).
Cinema AZN's Host Marie-France Arcilla
He is also a broadcaster on radio and television. He was producer and critic for programs on cinema and the arts for Radio Television Hong Kong; CREATOR AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF THE AWARD-WINNING CINEMA AZN for Comcast Cable's AZN television, THE FIRST WEEKLY SERIES ON ASIAN AND ASIAN AMERICAN CINEMA MADE FOR AMERICAN TELEVISION. He is also creator and Executive Producer of Cinepod a weekly journey through cinema of film festival reports, in-depth interviews and reviews that will debut on cable television and on the internet in the US and Japan in autumn 2006. Roger has been featured on television in Channel 4 (UK), FR3 (France), HR3 (Germany), TVB (Hong Kong) and profiled in publications Screen International (UK), Film Comment (US), South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) among others.
www.azntv.com
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