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document
world cinema
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contemporar
Win or Lose: a Summer Camp Story Yang Yang
USA
In this nonfiction coming-of-age story, Louis Lapat, a self-professed
TAIWAN
Taiwanese writer/director Cheng Yu-chieh’s handheld camera never
Director: Louis Lapat misfit, looks at the life lessons learned at summer camp. Through a Director: Cheng Yu-chieh leaves Sandrine Pinna, the actress who plays the titular heroine of this
Producer: Louis Lapat series of humorous animated “letters” home, Lapat recounts how his Producer: Khan Lee engaging character-driven drama, for long. Yang Yang’s an athletic
Screenwriter: Louis Lapat
own far-from-bucolic days at Wisconsin’s Camp Ojibwa for Jewish boys
Screenwriter: Cheng Yu-chieh
beauty whose mixed Taiwanese and French lineage makes her stand
Cinematographer: Louis Lapat
(the inspiration for comedian Alan Sherman’s 1963 novelty hit “Hello
Cinematographer: Jake Pollock
out among her peers. But she does not always welcome the attention.
Editor: Louis Lapat
Muddah, Hello Fadduh”) unfolded in awkward moments, from finding
Editor: Liu Yue-Xing
Yang Yang yearns to connect with her biological father, a photographer
MS: A to Z
a bunkmate to navigating Collegiate Week – the epic end-of-summer
2009 / color / 58 min. Cast:
who has disappeared. When she comes upon a mysterious series of
MS: A to Z
il
Sandrine Pinna, Bryant Chang,
tournament one participant describes as being equal in importance to
Chien-wei Huang
photographs of herself running on the university track at a local exhibit,
il
the Super Bowl.
2009 / color / 112 min.
her suspicion is only piqued.
E F
E F
h h
T LouiS LaPaT
Interviews with campers, coaches, and administrators reveal that the Meanwhile, Yang Yang’s mother has remarried, giving her both a new
T
A native of Evanston, Illinois, Louis pressures of Collegiate Week are felt campwide, as the quest for per- dad – who happens to be her track coach – and a stepsister, Xiao-Ru. At
Lapat received an MFA in film from
sonal greatness becomes a frustration to some, an obsession for others.
Yu-ChiEh ChEnG
first, the siblings are close, but Xiao-Ru’s boyfriend Shawn soon becomes
Columbia University. Win or Lose: A
Winning is paramount – yet losing is what the majority of these young Born in 1977 in Taiwan, Cheng Yu-chieh between them. After Yang Yang and Shawn share one night of illicit
Summer Camp Story is his first feature.
would-be athletes experience.
became interested in film while
sex, a vengeful Xiao-Ru sets Yang Yang up to bring shame to the family.
studying economics at National Taiwan
Yang Yang’s subsequent departure – accompanied by a talent agent
University. In 2006, his first feature, Do
Lapat chronicles every moment of Collegiate Week, from the assignment
Over, was selected for the Venice Critics’
with questionable intentions – makes any chance of a reunion with her
of coaches to the all-important draft lottery to the actual competition
Week and won both the Grand Prix and
family seem far-fetched.
in events ranging from shuffleboard to Stunt Night. Throughout it the Audience Prize at the Taipei Film
all, the insecurities of Lapat’s subjects resonate, whether he turns his
Festival. Yu-chieh is also known as an
For all the family drama, Yang Yang is not an action-packed film,
sympathetic lens on unpopular Adam Korn, a repeat loser finally picked
accomplished actor in his homeland.
emphasizing instead human vulnerability and personal growth thanks
to coach; Andrew Robinson, determined to beat a camp curse; or even
Yang Yang is his second feature.
to Yu-chieh’s understated touch. As for Pinna – currently one of Taiwan’s
In cooperation with:
cynical camper Joel, who dismisses trophies as “just [pieces] of plastic.” most popular young stars – she is definitely one to watch.
Denver Jewish Film Festival/
Mizel Arts & Culture Center and As an inquiry into the psychology of losing, Win or Lose reminds us
Sponsored by:
Spring international language that in the transition to adulthood, sporting events are serious – yet
Center sometimes painfully funny – business.
Preceded by:
replayground
USA
Director: Anna Gaskell
2009 / color / 12 min.
A group of kindergarten children work through a classroom conflict by
staging a play about it.
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