S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Andrew Bowen in for Jade Hindman. The GI Film Festival is celebrating its 10th year with films from the military community. Then we round out the show with your weekend arts preview. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. For the past ten years , the GI Film Festival has highlighted movies for , by , and about active duty service members and veterans. Some of the films will have their San Diego premiere tomorrow , including the narrative short doldrums. It follows a Vietnam War veteran haunted by the memories of the soldiers he led and the Viet Cong medic who saved his life. Lee Chow is the director of the film and she joins us virtually. Lisa , welcome to Midday Edition.
S2: Thank you for having me. It's an honor.
S1: It's a pleasure to have you with us. And also with me in studio is Keisha Jarvis Jones. She's on the advisory committee for the GI Film Festival. Keisha , welcome to you as well.
S3: Thank you.
S1: So , Keisha , I'll start with you. The GI Film Festival is celebrating its 10th year. Congratulations to you. Congratulations to KPBS. You've been involved for the past five years.
S3: We've made a few changes , one of which has been that we're only doing a three day event this time. But the exciting part is that it's selling out. And so I'm excited that we're going to be able to share 16 films , which is still a lot of films in three short days. But myself being a veteran , I think that the GI Film Festival is just doing such great work bridging , you know , military stories and then allowing the community to come in and see our authentic experiences.
S1:
S3: Obviously , that's what we're here to talk about , mainly because I love the Dei aspect of the GI Film Festival and also just being able to share different areas of service , just like this film here , where we're talking about Vietnam and just making sure that we don't forget the history of the military and the contributions of all men and women in service.
S1: Well , doldrums is going to be premiering tomorrow. Congratulations , lightshow. I watched this film this morning. It was really beautiful. Incredibly moving. Tell us a bit more about this film and how you came up with this story.
S2: So my family has a history with the Vietnam War. My grandparents served back then along with the US soldiers. But after the fall of Saigon , I never spoken with my grandparents about what happened , and they never talked to me about it. But I got a piece of the story of the past through going through the pictures and some of the the diary , like the written pieces that they still kept in the attic of the house. And growing up. I'm a very imaginative child , so I kind of like creating my own pieces of my own world , like the story through those pieces that I found. And then , interestingly enough , before I wanted to be a filmmaker , I had this dream of being a soldier. Maybe because those things are inspirations and the pieces of history that I've been through with my grandparents , through those images and written. And I got a chance to join the US Army National Guard because of Covid , put us in like a pause for a year. So I took one gap year during Covid , I joined , I shipped out for basic and I earned my title as a soldier and then came back. I got into UCLA and then continue my film journey. When I got to UCLA , I knew I had to do a thesis film to graduate , and I had ten years of experience working in the film industry as a self-taught with a determined to be a film director. So I'm like with my history , with the emotional connection with the war and with myself. Being in the Army , I created doldrums from those inspirations and those pieces of my grandparents memories.
S1: What an incredible story. I read a quote from director Martin Scorsese. He once said , the most personal is the most creative.
S2: I think film , at the end of the day to make it authentic and to make it original. It has to come from your very personal experience. Of course , you have those training skills and education that help you to not like losing yourself when you're making the story. But it gotta stem from that personal root. And for me , I relearn a lot about life. When I when I made doldrums. Meaning how do I see trauma through my character's life ? I realized that , oh , this is the way that I recognize drama , and this is the way that I would like to deal with it. And this is the outcome that I would hope that I can also incorporate in my life. And from that very personal standpoint , I feel like I can spread out like the audience when they watch my film. They can they can feel that genuine and that emotion that I put in. And the lesson they also learned learn myself , and I hope to inspire them as well , to face with their trauma and to find a way to come into term with it and live a better life. Just like the message at the end of my film trying to live a better life. But yeah.
S1: Well , let's hear a clip from doldrums that showcases this idea of facing your trauma and confronting it. This is where both veterans in the film are talking about how they each navigate their memories of the war.
S4: It wasn't your fault. Memories. They're like a violent bore. It's hard to write about. Well , poor.
S5: Interesting word choice.
S4: But somehow I learned to. Face the pain. You don't embrace it at work , captain. I've come in peace with my poor.
S5: I'm not sure. If it's possible to be in peace with the poor.
S1: And those were actors Robert Fleet and Alan Perrotta in the short film doldrums. Lightshow.
S2: So I interview one of my neighbor , uh , and he here in , in LA , he happened to serve in the war as a marine corp. And that's actually one of the lines that he said is impossible to deal with the board. He's still living in the past. He's still trying his best every day to to be present and to come into term with what happened in the war himself. And then another piece I interview my NCO like in my team. She used to deal with cancer and she called it a board. And she said , there's no way you can push the board out of your life , trauma or challenges and difficulties , but whenever it's come to your garden , you just let it know it's going to destroy just a part of the garden , and then you will still be able to recover that part of the garden. And once it's gone , you still have your garden , you still have your peace. And I got inspired a lot from those two interviews. And we remember how my grandpa owned. So deal with his own trauma. He tried to cope with those things with just daily life. Um , he , he kind of live with it. I can see it through his eyes. I can see it through the way he carried himself. He would just taking care of his garden. He would just having a T in the front yard , uh , in the front porch of the house. And he just , like , looking far away and trying to come into terms with it internally. So from that , when I wrote dodgems and when I make that scene , I see my grandpa in it , I see my NCO , I see which is my , my kind of like my in charge , uh , in the unit. And then I see my neighbor and the two old men talking about how to come into term with the board. The man character , the the , uh , captain said that it's impossible to come into turn with the board and then his guest , which is his soldier , saying that for somehow just a little bit every day. You can you can come into peace with it. We as human being , we can't just be better after one conversation , but one person every day knowing you allow the board to come. It can do is destroy and it's can do his visit. But after it's gone , you still have a control of your garden. You can still recover. And just knowing that that you can get 1% better every day , just knowing that is already , I think , a reassurance because it's the lifelong battle , right ? It's the lifelong work. Mhm.
S3: Mhm. Can I just say thank you. I'm a combat veteran. I served ten years in the Marine Corps , OIF and OEF. And although your film is about Vietnam veterans , it resonated very well to me in a sense of like wartime things occur , loss happens. And it does it does rear its ugly face and you have to face it every day. But just having a film that really depicts , like you have to continue to work through it and these things will happen. I really appreciated that and it it really did. I was in my emotions watching it , and it definitely reminded me of the work that I've done because I got out ten years ago now. Um , but then also just the work that I have to continue to do. Like you said , for those flowers to keep growing in my garden. And I greatly appreciate you saying that and making this film. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Keisha , I imagine you watch a lot of films when you're selecting , you know what , what to choose for the GI Film Festival , which has really become an important platform for stories like these. Tell me more about what stood out to you about this particular film. Yes.
S3: Yes. So I guess a number of us on the committee , we say , you know , the one thing about the GI Film Festival is that it's authentic. My personal connection serving those many years after Vietnam War , but still having the same struggles it's depicted well. And it also encourages other veterans to talk about their stories. And I think as a committee , that's what we want. We want veterans to sit in the room and feel honored and thanked for their service. But we also want those that might not be having those hard conversations to be encouraged to have them , you know. And this short film is just exactly that. Think about your time and service , everything that you've gone through , but also know that even though you might not be in the best place right now , there's avenues to support you and people in the room will be there to support you. That's also the wonderful thing is that we have those that work at organizations in the room , like Cyc armor , like Cohen Clinic , to actually support the veterans that are in the room. That might have a hard time watching this , and this might be the one way that they say after struggling all these years , I do need to get help and I do need to share what I'm going through.
S1: Question for both of you. I'll start with you , Keisha. What are your thoughts on film as a medium to tell stories from the military community specifically , and stories that might otherwise go untold or unseen ? Yes.
S3: I think this is one way to keep the history alive. Make us think about the sacrifices of those who serve. And also , like I said , continue to encourage those who might need support to get support. And for those who don't know much about the military service to actually look at these films and acknowledge the hardships. Also acknowledge the good times and the camaraderie that we do build while we're in the military , and also understand it's a challenge for us when we get out. Right ? And I think this is where the community can come in , watch these films and think about new avenues of approach for resources for our veterans and also this is a way of therapy really for our veterans. Rather , it's those who are producing the film or those who are watching them. I think that the more education that we have is specifically like in this situation surrounding mental health , the more people that will continue to get help and we'll see our veterans in better places because of it.
S1: Same question to you , Leisha.
S2: A lot of people in the military are visual learning. And for telling a story with visual , I feel like it's create more , more of like a emotional feeling and connection because films , you're not just seeing you. So here you have music and you have sound designs. All of those make films very unique. It's like a unique medium to communicate emotions , messages , uh , thoughts provoking even. Sometimes it just gives you a path , uh , on your own thought. And at the end of the film , you can cultivate your own emotions and your own feelings through the message that the filmmaker trying to communicate with you. I think that's also one of the reasons I committed myself to filmmaking. It's like a very unique medium for me to express my my emotion and my feeling and unspoken thoughts or feelings that it just like is so hard to explain by words or , or any other medium. And I really hope that film film , for me , it will stay even after my time in this world , after I'm gone. So it's like a thing that I contribute to the human history and hopefully somewhere , somehow in the future , when I'm no longer in this earth , someone watch my film and I can still resonate , they can still find the inspiration , or they can still find the answer or the the path that they've been looking for to ground themselves and to help them a little bit in this world.
S1: Well , I want to congratulate you not just on the story that you told with this film , but also the cinematography , the sound design , the production design. It was all just truly beautiful. Thank you for making it. Keisha , what are some of the other stories that we can expect to see in tomorrow's movie lineup ? Yes.
S3: So there is a number of shorts that you can see made by different directors. And then there's also different eras that are also represented. And I think the best thing about this specific day is that , you know , you don't have to commit to a full featured film , and you're going to get a lot of emotions through all of the shorts.
S1: Well , once again , congratulations to both of you. Lee Chow , congratulations on this film , Keisha. Congratulations on ten years of the GI Film Festival. Doldrums will have its San Diego premiere tomorrow at 730 at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. General admission tickets for the screening will be $15 $10 for military members , veterans and students. I've been speaking with Lei Chao , the director of doldrums , and Keisha Jarvis Jones , an advisory committee member for the GI Film Fest. Thank you both so much for joining us.
S3: Thank you. Thank you for having us.
S2: Thank you for having me. It's it's an honor.
S1: Still ahead , arts reporter Julia Dixon Evans shares her picks for the weekend , including an exhibit from a painter whose art is fueled by dreams.
S6: There's this really rich tradition with the intersection of surrealism and dreams. Like , think about Salvador Dali.
S1: Hear more in your weekend preview when KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back. This is KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Andrew Bowen in for Jade Hindman. In our weekend preview , we have visual art , music , and some creative Mother's Day options for you. Joining me with all of the details is KPBS arts reporter Julia Dixon. Evans. Welcome , Julia.
S6: Hey , Andrew. Thanks for having me. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Glad to have you here. So there's a bunch of new art that's opening up at Bread and Salt in Logan Heights. This is part of the barrio Art Crawl on Saturday.
S6: They do this every second Saturday. Um , there's a handful of new exhibits opening up. First is Lindsay Bloom's , um , video work. It's called pneumatic , and she has sound by composer Judith Herman. It's a staged , erotic encounter between a robot and the artist. So lots to unpack there. Wow. And it was.
S1: That sounds interesting.
S6: Originally shot on 16 millimeter film and then kind of transposed into this video work that will be on loop in Bread and Salts video gallery. And then in the main gallery , artist Liz Stringer has sculptures and flat works. They're going to be on view in her new exhibit called The Tellings. She's based in Long Beach , and some of her sculptures are really , like monumental , including one that's this , like 14 foot tall Gothic column made up of all these like individual separate columns. It's about like thinking about the collective. And then the new artist in residence is Philip Del Rey , and he's going to have his first open studio of his residency , which will continue through July. And he does a lot of really great text based art. Some of it is humorous , some of it is more disruptive with like found objects like signage or print. And that's all from 5 to 8 on Saturday. And then also at the Athenaeum Art center , which is also in Bread and Salt. There's going to be a mother's day pop up art show that was based on an open call for submissions , and that's on view Friday afternoon and then all day Saturday. But then that's it. Wow.
S1: Wow. Well , I'm putting that on my calendar. And , uh , true public radio fans will be excited about this one.
S6: Was this American Life ? Or maybe it was this National Public Radio , but he's also known for his books and these humor essay collections like Me Talk Pretty , One Day , Santaland Diaries , and He's in Town Tonight to share more stories , including some already published pieces , some of his favorites , and then some works in progress. And he'll also sign books afterwards. If you've ever been to one of his readings. He's he's actually notorious for these signings and the things that he writes , but also how much time he spends with each person in line. It's tonight at 730 at Balboa Theater , and there's still tickets available.
S1: And on Sunday , of course , it's Mother's Day , and you've got some great options for families if you'd like to do something artistic together for the occasion. Right.
S6: Right. So the Museum of Contemporary Art , San Diego , they have a monthly play day. Um , it's this Sunday and the museum is free all day. And they have some family friendly programming that's kind of like in the middle of the day this month. The theme is music on the inside , and they're going to have this art making activity that's painting a tambourine and making paper instruments with some musicians from Project Blank , and then everybody can join in with their little handmade instruments on a play along mini concert. And then , just like every month , they're going to have a kid friendly tour of the museum at 11 and then a book nook with some book recommendations and a storytime at 1:00.
S1: Some great family fun there. Big news for Broadway fans. The Broadway touring production of Hamilton is back in San Diego. Are people still able to get tickets ? Is the big question.
S6: Yes , I believe so. So it's in town through May 18th and yes , it is hard to find tickets. But right now there are some like verified resale tickets that are available for most of the shows , but they're also doing a digital lottery. This is every Friday morning at 10 a.m. for $10 tickets. And then the winners are announced the following Thursdays. So tomorrow is technically the last week of the lottery. You have to download a special app through the touring production itself , and then you can have a chance to get two tickets , and it's here at the Civic Theater for the next two weeks. And this is the room where it happens from the original Broadway cast recording.
S7: I wanna be in the room. The room where it happens. I wanna be in the room where it happens. The room where it happened. I wanna be in the pool where it happens. I wanna be in the room where it happens. It. Happens to be I wanna be in it.
S1: Well , that'll be a great show , I'm sure.
S6: Two concerts. They're going to do Chin's cello concerto. This is the fourth movement. So it is such this unique and dynamic piece and very , very technically impressive. And the orchestra will also perform a really lovely piece by composer Anton Bruckner. And the bonus is a pre-concert talk this year. It's by composer Techsoup Kim , who is professor of music at San Diego State , and that talk will start an hour before each show. He is really wonderful and really knowledgeable about music , so that should be fun. The shows are 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday at Jacobs Music Center downtown.
S1: And finally , there's an exhibit currently on view at Oceanside Museum of Art. And you featured this artist in the latest episode of your podcast , The Finest. Tell us about Mary Jane. Yeah.
S6: Yeah. So her exhibit is called In Losing Sleep. I painted , and for decades she's painted these , like , silhouettes of girls inspired by her dreams. Um , she lost her ability to dream when she recently started using a CPAp machine for her sleep apnea. And her dreams had informed her art a lot. Like she's a surrealist artist. And there's this. I learned this even though it seems kind of obvious when you think about it. There's this really rich tradition with the intersection of surrealism and dreams. Like , think about Salvador Dali , and we have an excerpt from our episode here where we learn about Mary's relationship to her dream life. Mary is not just obsessed with the aesthetics of her dreams. She's incredibly well read on the psychology of human dreaming , and has done a ton of research surrounding herself with literature that fed her fascination with dreams.
S8: When I was 18 , I came across a surrealist manifesto , and that was kind of the key opener for me , for feeling good about the thing that I do every night , which is a dream. Like I didn't , I knew I liked dreams , but I didn't really find the importance of the human experience that in the depths of dreams , until I picked up that book. And so when I read that , and also being interested in psychology and Freud and Carl Jung , um , I was able to find the importance of those dreams more so now. And so dreams have always been so inspiring for me to become a surrealist. Only because I felt like my day to day was answered when I slept and had those kind of revelations. And it's like a storybook , I think , because I'm able to reflect on , oh yeah , why did I dream that ? Or how did that make me feel ? Or oh man , I didn't realize I was thinking about that yesterday until I had that dream like so. I answered so many things for me. So because I always think if I'm at a sleep state and I'm not fully controlling my dreams and my brains or my brain is just firing off , I always think that my dream is like telling me what I need in a kind way. Like it's like tough love in the form of dreams. And so whether that is , um , I feel bad about something I did and it's taking it's taking a hold as this very beautiful , chaotic , dune like dream where you know you're in the sands by yourself and you know , it's because you have to apologize or something.
S6: With decades of practice , Mary has some pretty wild descriptions of her dreams. In theory , we all have these intricate movies playing in our heads every night. Mary is just really good at paying attention to and remembering them.
S8: Sometimes I feel like I'm a ghost and I'm watching things happen. A lot of the times , too. Yeah , I just remember that sort of tangible feeling of those dreams. And that's kind of the most important part for me is the sound , the colors of the dreams , not necessarily the full objects. Um , because a lot of times it alters like something looks so jagged. And then I'll turn around as as the dreamer , and all of a sudden everything is , like , rounded. You know , it's just it keeps changing and it's just so fun.
S6: So Mary's dreams have been a key window into her subconscious , and her art has been her way of recording and understanding them. It's always been her and the girls bouncing back and forth between dreams and art like a surreal feedback loop. They've helped her persist through every major challenge in her life.
S1: Wow , that's so cool. I mean , as someone who doesn't remember his dreams very much. I'm just so envious and fascinated. So tell us what these paintings look like.
S6: Yeah , so they're usually silhouettes in profile of the girl's faces and often , like , sprouting with botanicals or machinery and sometimes entire houses growing out of the head. And she also has this really intentional use of color. Each series that she does has a sort of color palette to it. And this one , since it's so connected to air and the actual CPAp machine is in some of these paintings , So blue plays a really big role , like the blue medical tubing and then the air and the sky. There's a lot of really vivid blues in these paintings. And at Oceanside Museum of Art , she also has a giant mural covering two entire walls at the exhibit. And you can see that through June 15th.
S1: And ultimately , spoiler alert , she did find her way back to dreaming , didn't she ? Right.
S6: And for her , it was this big question of like having to choose between something that's unhealthy but fuels her art. And , you know , for her , that was the bad , restful sleep of sleep apnea. But for other artists , it's things like alcoholism or , you know , other other things like that. And then she was choosing between that and her health or using the CPAp machine. But yeah , she told us about some of the ways that she's been able to sort of like , hack back into her dreams or find ways to fully remember her dreams. Like as soon as she wakes up , if she has dreamt without like opening her eyes. She starts a voice memo and and writes it down. And there's also , like bedtime snacking. Healthy fats , apparently. Or one way to dream. Mm.
S1: Mm. Well , you can listen to the rest of that episode about Mary Jane on The finest , wherever you get your podcasts. I've been speaking with KPBS arts reporter and host of the finest , Julia Dixon Evans. Julia. Thank you.
S6: Thank you. Andrea. This was fun.
S1: And that's our show for today. I'm your host , Andrew Bowen , in for Jade Hindman. Thanks for listening to Midday Edition. Have a great day.
