Film+Maker Series
RECORDINGS OF PAST PROGRAMS
BANZAI BABE RUTH! - Baseball, Espionage, & Assassination During the 1934 Tour of Japan (February 24, 2021) - featuring Banazai Babe Ruth! Author Robert K. Fitts and filmmaker Yuriko Gamo Romer
EngageAsia hosted this baseball-focused webinar with author Robert K Fitts and filmmaker Yuriko Romer for a discussion of the book Banzai Babe Ruth! and the 1934 baseball tour of Japan that included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Moe Berg, and Connie Mack. The hope of this tour was that a shared love of baseball would bring American and Japan closer together during a time of increasing tension.
BEYOND THE WALL: EXPANDING INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION FOR UNDERSERVED YOUTH (November 19, 2020) - SPECIAL INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION WEEK EVENT
Beyond The Wall, is a documentary film that tells the story of a group of high school students from DC Public Schools who travel to Beijing in summer 2009 to study Chinese for six weeks.
This one-hour webinar uses the film as a real-world departure point for discussing the importance and the challenges in expanding access to study abroad and language learning for students too often left behind - lower-income, Black and Brown, and geographically disadvantaged.
This is part of EngageAsia's International Education Week activities and this event is co-sponsored by Globalize DC and the National Association for Black Engagement with Asia.
Beyond The Wall is an independent documentary film, produced by CIB Productions, a Beijing-based production company. It tells the story of four DCPS high school students (from Ballou, Anacostia/McKinley, Roosevelt, and Wilson) who were selected for a six-week Chinese language and culture program in Beijing in summer 2009. This opportunity was offered at no cost to the students through Globalize DC's partnership with Americans Promoting Study Abroad (APSA), with partial funding from the US State Department. The film follows the students in their homes, schools, and communities before their summer travel; during the six-week trip; and in the years since their return.
Beyond The Wall makes a powerful statement about the value and impact of global exposure and study abroad, particularly for students in underserved schools and communities. One of the four is now a Foreign Service Officer, headed to his first China assignment next year as a direct result of his participation in this high school program.
Panelists Included:
Dr. LaNitra M. Berger
Senior Director, Office of Fellowships & Affiliate Faculty, African and American Studies Program @George Mason University
Dr. LaNirta M. Berger is Director, Office of Fellowships, Office of Undergraduate Education, George Mason University. She’s also on the Affiliate Faculty, African and African American Studies Program. Of relevance, she is Editor of the recently published book from NAFSA, Social Justice and International Education: Research, Practice, and Perspectives. LaNitra was instrumental in recruiting and supporting two students from the film (Jeffrey and Peter), who both went to George Mason University where they continued their Chinese education and study abroad to China.
Ms. Paula Koda
Co-Founder @Americans Promoting Study Abroad (APSA)
Paula Koda is co-founder of Americans Promoting Study Abroad (APSA), the China study abroad program featured in the film Beyond the Wall. She is now retired as Principal for AWA Management; held positions in Sales and Marketing in AT&T (including Director of Asia Pacific Sales Operations out of Beijing); and did a stint in government during the Clinton Administration as Chief of Staff in the Office of Management, Department of Education. She currently resides in Lancaster, PA. Paula was deeply involved in the creation and design of APSA, while she was based in Beijing, and has interacted a lot with the urban public high school students who were the focus of the program.
Ms. Sally Schwartz
Executive Director @Globalize DC
Sally Schwartz is Executive Director of Globalize DC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding access to global education, language learning, and study abroad opportunities for students in DC public schools. Prior to this role, she was Director of International Programs for DC Public Schools. Beginning in 2008, Globalize DC partnered with APSA to select, prepare, and follow up with students who went on the APSA summer program to Beijing. Sally worked closely with the Beyond The Wall independent filmmaker during filming and post-production.
Mr. Jeffrey Wood
Foreign Service Office @US Department of State
Jeffrey Wood is a Foreign Service Officer in the US Department of State. He will soon depart the United States for his first diplomatic posting in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
In 2009 Jeffrey Wood was a 10th grader at Theodore Roosevelt High School in the District of Columbia when he was selected for a free six-week summer Chinese language and culture program in Beijing, sponsored by Americans Promoting Study Abroad (APSA), with funding from the US State Department’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) Program. He had never studied Chinese, or been on an airplane before. He was invited back to China two years later to participate in APSA’s Booey Lehoo Concert to promote study abroad, sharing the stage with prominent musical artists, such as John Legend and will.i.am.
Jeffrey’s participation in the APSA summer program was documented in the independent film, “Beyond The Wall.” He has spoken at public screenings of the film in local schools, libraries, and on a panel at the US Department of Education’s International Education Week program in 2014.
After graduating from Roosevelt in 2011, Jeffrey attended the Honors College, George Mason University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages, with a concentration in Chinese in 2015. He wrote his Honors Thesis on migrant education in China.
While at George Mason, Jeffrey won a Gilman Scholarship from the US State Department and a Boren Scholarship from the National Security Education Program. These funds supported an academic year in Harbin, China (through CET Academic Programs), where Jeffrey earned a Certificate in Chinese language and literature from Harbin Institute of Technology.
During his year in Harbin, he was selected to interview then First Lady Michelle Obama for Discovery Education, as part of a White House cross-cultural exchange initiative in Beijing, China.
While an undergraduate, he also participated in the Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute program at University of California, Berkeley, where he spent seven weeks taking graduate courses in economics, statistics, and public policy.
In 2015, Jeffrey was selected for the highly prestigious Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship, which set the stage for his future career. He returned to China for his first year of graduate work at the Johns Hopkins SAIS – Nanjing Center, where he studied International Affairs and China Studies. He continued his graduate studies in Washington, DC at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, where he received a Masters of Arts in International Economics and China Studies in 2017.
As a Pickering Fellow, Jeffrey interned at the US Embassy in Oslo, Norway, working on US-Norwegian political and economic issues, as well as in the China and Mongolian Affairs Office at the US Department of State.
Throughout his academic career, Jeffrey continued to serve his community as an advocate for study abroad. He served as Ambassador for the US China Strong Foundation (formerly 100,000 Strong Foundation) and for Globalize DC to promote diversity in study abroad and encourage youth to consider international exchange.
Jeffrey was invited to testify as part of a panel before the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs on “A National Security Crisis: Foreign Language Capabilities in the Federal Government.” He has also testified numerous times with Globalize DC before the DC State Board of Education in support of global education and critical language learning for DC public school students.
Co-Sponsored by the National Association for Black Engagement with Asia.
See the Film Here
An Apprentice Boatbuilder in Japan: A Discussion with Douglas Brooks (September 22, 2020)
Douglas Brooks, master-builder of traditional Japanese wooden boats, joins EngageAsia for a discussion of this craft, its uniqueness and disappearance as traditional teachers pass away leaving no disciples.
Douglas Brooks is a boatbuilder, writer, and researcher specializing in traditional wooden boats. Since 1996 he has been documenting traditional Japanese boatbuilding. He has apprenticed with nine boatbuilders from throughout Japan. He is the sole apprentice for six of his nine teachers. His work has been honored by the Japanese Ministry of Culture and he was awarded the 2014 Rare Craft Fellowship from the American Craft Council. He has authored four books on Japanese boatbuilding and numerous articles published in the US, UK, and Japan. He has taught and lectured across the United States and Japan. His latest book, Japanese Wooden Boatbuilding, is the first comprehensive survey of the craft. He lives in Vergennes, Vermont.
Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard - a discussion with the film’s producer, director, and colleagues on the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Japan (August 5, 2020 / August 6, 2020 in Japan)
On the 75th Anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, EngageAsia, in partnership with the MIT Japan Program and the Aligned Center, held a live interactive discussion with Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard Producer Shizumi Shigeto Manale, Director Bryan Reichhardt, leaders from All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC, artists from Hiroshima, and other key individuals involved in the film.
About the film: A collection of surprisingly joyful drawings created by school children living among the ruins of Hiroshima in 1947 becomes the heart and soul of this true, inspiring story about an exchange of gifts between Americans and Japanese after a devastating war. This powerful documentary about reconciliation and the power of gift, introduces the children artists (now in their late 70s) who reflect on their early lives amidst the rubble of their destroyed city and the hope they shared through their art. In 2010, the newly restored drawings, buried for decades deep inside All Souls Church in Washington DC, are taken back to Japan where they are reunited with the artists and exhibited in the very building where they were created.
Filmmaker Regge Life and the Cast of Cocktail Party (July 17, 2020)
A live interactive roundtable with acclaimed filmmaker Reggie Life and the Cast of the film Cocktail Party focused on the film, U.S.-Japan relations, racial tensions, and the continued legacy of World War II and the Battle of Okinawa. Cocktail Party is based on the Akutagawa Prize-winning novel of the same name by Tatsuhiro Oshiro.
The Series
In 2019, EngageAsia began the Film+Makers Series in partnership with The Aligned Center in Irvington, NY, to engage audiences in discussions about Asia with filmmakers and creatives.
Paper Lanterns
The inaugural film in the series (August, 2019) was Paper Lanterns, a film about Shigeaki Mori and his quest for reconciliation after Hiroshima. Filmmakers Barry Frechette and Peter Grilli spoke at the event and engaged with the audience in a powerful discussion.
2022 VIRTUAL series
The 2022 EngageAsia Film+Makers Series will present an array of exciting films, book talks, and dialogues. Event schedule to be posted in the Spring of 2022.