SAM Films: Terminal USA

“Everything is art. Everything is politics.” – Ai Weiwei

Inspired by the earmark provocation and disruption of artist/activist Ai Weiwei, SAM presents free screenings of four provocative films from Asian filmmakers in conjunction with the exhibition, Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei.

Sundays in April and May, encounter documentary, art film, and full freakout cinema whose unconventional styles tackle art reproduction, surveillance, nuclear war, and the “model minority” myth. Originating from China, Japan, and the US, these films demonstrate the relevance of Ai’s philosophies and decrees across borders and time.

Join us for a roundtable discussion and screening of Terminal USA.

Terminal USA
Dir. Jon Moritsugu

Holly, Marvin, and Katzumi are just your average American teenagers: failing to live up to the perfect image of their family and turning to drugs, sex, and all-out murder and mayhem instead.

Inspired by his stomping grounds of punk and underground music, “bad boy” of Asian American cinema Jon Moritsugu convinced PBS to fund this “freak-out magnum opus” that they later refused to air. For better or worse, the result was a kaleidoscope of technicolor sets, campy editing, and profanity that captures Asian America better than any representation vehicle you’ve ever seen. A perfectly imperfect challenge to the model minority myth, Terminal USA is the sickly-sweet cough syrup of Asian American film.

Join Adrian Alarilla (Programming Director, Seattle Asian American Film Festival), Vee Hua (Director and writer, Reckless Spirits), and LeiLani Nishime (Professor of Communication, Media Studies, University of Washington) for a post-screening discussion of Moritsugu’s explosive take on Asian American young adulthood, the “bad boys” of Asian American cinema, and the hidden history of Asian American political film.

Content Advisory: Sex, drug use, gore.

Asian Provocation is guest-curated by Hannah Baek

This restoration is brought to you by the American Genre Film Archive, the world's largest 501c(3) nonprofit distributor and archive dedicated to preserving, promoting, and protecting the greatest genre films of all time. Learn more at americangenrefilm.com or on Instagram @AGFA.

Films will be screened at Seattle Art Museum
April 6 China's Van Goghs
April 13 Dragonfly Eyes
April 20 Hausu
May 4 Terminal USA

All screenings will be matinees with doors opening at 1:30 pm and films beginning at 2 pm. Join us for community activities accompanying each screening.

SAM Films are generously supported by the Bagley and Virginia Wright Endowment and The Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Film and Education Endowment.