Center for Asian American Media
TRE Opens in SF
Posted February 15, 2008 by tarogoto in In Theatres
If you’ve been attending SFIAAFF for the last several years, you’re probably no stranger to the name Eric Byler. His first feature, CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES, was one of the hits of SFIAAFF ‘03, and garnered Independent Spirit Award nominations for the film and for lead actress Jacqueline Kim’s performance. His second feature, AMERICANese, was the opening night film in SFIAAFF ‘06. His films stand out among Asian American features for their decidedly adult looks at relationships, and their hard-earned emotional truths.
Byler has a long history with the Festival, dating back to 1997, when he attended the Festival with his friend and writer Jeff Liu, looking to catch some screenings and see what this whole Asian American film movement was all about. That was the year that four Asian American narrative features world premiered at the Festival, from Justin Lin and Quentin Lee’s SHOPPING FOR FANGS to Chris Chan Lee’s YELLOW. Byler met Jacqueline Kim at the Festival, and began discussing ideas for a project. Byler, Liu and Kim drove back to LA together and continued talking about their ideas, which eventually became CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES.
His third feature, appropriately titled TRE, screened at the Festival last year, and won a Special Jury Award. In many ways, it's darker and even more provocative than his previous two works, and for many in the CAAM office, it's his best yet. If you liked Mike Nichols' CARNAL KNOWLEDGE or CLOSER, you'll like TRE.
Here's an illuminating interview with Byler, by Michael Guillen, blogger for The Evening Class. And here's a good review by Dennis Harvey.
Also, check out Byler's latest blog entry about the ordeal he experienced in preparing the 35mm print of the film. It turns out, the SF screening will be the premiere of the print.
The film opens Friday, February 15 at the 4 Star Theatre in San Francisco, with shows starting at 1:40pm and 7:20pm daily. Byler will be at the 7:20 show on Friday and Saturday shows as well as the 1:40 show on Sunday for a Q&A session. Go check it out!
Tags: Eric Byler, SFIAAFF, Tre
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