From Next to Now: Asian American Youth Culture

Many things about our communities have always been fluid, and they will always continue to change. But one thing that will always stay the same is that one generation has a hard time keeping track of what the next generation is up to. These three films explore Asian American youth culture, from DJ battles and all-night parties to community empowerment and the search for a place to find home. The kids might be alright after all.

Labo’s Last Spin follows our weathered hero, DJ Labo, as he tries one last time to win it all before retiring from turntable battling altogether. (8 mins.)

Yellow Brotherhood is a personal documentary about friendship and finding community through a self-help group turned basketball team that began in the 1960s.  Filmmaker Tad Nakamura met Brett and Khi-min when they were six years old on a community basketball team called the “Venice YB.”  As they grew, they learned that YB stood for “Yellow Brotherhood,” a self-help group formed by a gang called the “Ministers” to help youth get off drugs. Only later did they realize how the tradition of Yellow Brotherhood’s dedication to personal and political development helped them through their own problems and empowered them to carry on its legacy of creating and serving community. (18 min.)

Party explores modern Asian America through the prism of New York’s Asian party scene. Each week, thousands of young Asian Americans receive e-mails for the weekend’s parties held at mainstream or “white” venues. While dozens of promotion groups target New York’s larger Asian population, promoters like MK Productions, SwerveNYC, and BaseNYC have a monopoly on the city’s Korean partygoers. What is the purpose of these parties? What does this scene say about Asian American identity? Party probes beneath the “safe-space” exterior to reveal a mosaic of modern Asian American life in between the parties. (87 mins.)