August at Akiko's
UW Cinematheque 821 University Ave., UW Vilas Hall, Room 4070, Madison, Wisconsin
press release: USA | 2018 | DCP | 75 min.
Director: Christopher Makoto Yogi
Cast: Alex Zhang Hungtai, Akiko Masuda, Kinuko Arakaki
After a period of estrangement, a jazz musician returns to his Hawaiian island home and takes up residence at a retreat run by an older Buddhist woman. Trading therapeutic techniques and music, the two develop a spiritual bond. Director Makato Yogi’s debut is “a soul-deep love letter to a state that Hollywood tends to more glibly romanticize...its breezy, benevolent warmth stays with you after its immediate details begin to fade” (Guy Lodge, Variety). Screening with the support of the 2018 Asian-American Media Spotlight.
Premiere Showcase is the Cinematheque’s effort to bring the boldest and most exciting new cinema back to the big screen. Crafted with the same curatorial acuity we bring to our repertory series, Premiere Showcase presents exciting new work by contemporary directors that would otherwise have no theatrical venue in the area. Our selections for this calendar include two acclaimed films from this year’s Sundance Film Festival: the Zellner Brothers’ Western comedy Damsel and Panos Cosmatos’ visionary revenge fantasy Mandy, starring a delightfully unhinged Nicolas Cage. Also in September, Casting is a new German movie that exposes the sometimes harmful casting process for a remake of a Fassbinder classic. Plus, Egyptian filmmaker Tamer El Said will appear in person to discuss his meta-film about filmmaking In the Last Days of the City, and our annual collaboration with Madison’s Asian-American Media Spotlight brings two films to the Cinematheque: Miao Wang’s documentary Maineland and the contemplative drama August at Akiko’s.
All Cinematheque screenings are free and open to the public.