This April marked the commercial release of Andrew Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet, a Korean-American remake of Ang Lee’s beloved and Oscar-nominated Taiwanese comedy-drama from 1993. Part of our session will compare and contrast these two takes on shared material and highlight past work by Ahn, a remarkable, versatile filmmaker whose work deserves more attention. We will also celebrate The Wedding Banquet as a rare and meaningful course-correct in a U.S. film culture that has alternately desexualized and over-sexualized Asian and Asian American characters, only rarely promoting them as romantic leads.

Recommended viewing: Both versions of The Wedding Banquet and, if time, Ahn’s Fire Island (Hulu) and/or Alice Wu’s Saving Face (multiple streaming platforms).

Please note: The discussion does not include screenings of films.