Queer Asian-Canadian American filmmaker Quentin Lee and his Los Angeles-based production company Margin Films will celebrate 30 years of independent production with a week-long retrospective, Cinemasia America, at Laemmle Royal from May 1-7.
The series streams daily worldwide on Asian American Movies (AAM.tv).
Seven titles from Lee’s career will be screened over the course of the show, with the opening May 1st featuring his 1997 debut feature “Shopping for Fang,” co-directed with Justin Lin, who would go on to direct multiple films in the “Fast and Furious” series. The film also marked the theatrical feature debut of actor John Cho, and premiered in the Perspective Canada section of the 1997 Toronto Film Festival. Most screenings, including opening films, include Q&A sessions.
Subsequent nights will include “Ethan Mao” (May 2nd), “The People I’ve Sleeped With” (May 3rd), “The Unbidden” (May 4th), “Lesbian Comedy” (May 5th) and “Nathan Lee’s Last Summer” (May 6th). The series concludes on May 7th with a preview of three episodes of the upcoming series “Comedy InvAsian III” with a Q&A.
“I’m excited that new audiences will rediscover my work, especially Shopping for the Fangs, which marks the theatrical feature debut for myself, co-director Justin Lin, and actor John Cho,” said Lee. “When I started Margin Films in Los Angeles as a graduate student at UCLA in Canada, I never expected to be here 30 years later.”
Margin Films was founded in Los Angeles in 1996 with a mission to bring stories from underrepresented communities, including LGBTQ+, Asian, Latinx, Black, and Indigenous peoples, into mainstream entertainment. Our Canadian affiliate, Margin Films Ltd., was established in 2021. The company’s first Canadian television series, Comedy Invasion, won the 2024 Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Special.
