Fwd: Educational Documentary: AOKI

[K.F.]

I'm in it!

-Kei

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Aoki Film <aoki...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 8:48 PM
Subject: Educational Documentary: AOKI
To: Aoki...@gmail.com


To all educators,

On November 12, AOKI, a documentary film on the life of Richard Aoki, a third-generation Japanese American who became one of the founding members of the Black Panther Party, will premiere at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland.  We encourage you to spread the word to your students about this important event.  It's a great opportunity to educate on issues of social justice, solidarity and community activism.  Making announcements in class, providing extra credit to your students and/or using this as a time to teach about the life and legacy of Richard Aoki and the work of the Black Panthers, are all ways you can help take part in this effort.

Tickets are currently on sale at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/87178.  Information on the film along with how to purchase tickets are below.  Please feel free to pass this message along to other educators and community.

Thanks in advance,

Ben Wang & Mike Cheng, Filmmakers

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World premiere of the documentary film 

AOKI

November 12

8PM

Grand Lake Theater

3200 Grand Ave., Oakland
A 30 minute Q&A panel with the filmmakers will follow

Tickets:

Online pre-sale tickets can be purchased for $8.50 (general admission) or $7 (students) at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/87178. A small service fee will be added by Brown Paper Tickets. 

Tickets can also be purchased the night of the premiere at the Grand Lake Theater's box office for $10 (general admission) or $9 (students).

Film description:

AOKI is a documentary film chronicling the life of Richard Aoki (1938-2009), a third-generation Japanese American who became one of the founding members of the Black Panther Party. Filmed over the last five years of Richard’s life, this documentary features extensive footage with Richard and exclusive interviews with his comrades, friends, and former students. Viewers will learn about Richard’s childhood in a WWII Japanese American concentration camp, growing up in West Oakland, and serving eight years in the U.S. military. The film explores previously unknown facts about the formation of the Black Panther Party such as how Richard became intimately involved in its founding and contributed the first two firearms to the Party. AOKI highlights how Richard’s leadership also made a significant impact on individuals and groups in the contemporary Asian American Movement. Richard's contributions to the groundbreaking organization Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) and its involvement in the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) student strike led to the formation of ethnic studies at U.C. Berkeley. Above all else, AOKI is a film that demonstrates the incredible dedication to justice that one man's life has had and how the lessons of solidarity, commitment, and discipline can carry on from one generation to the next.

Check the www.AokiFilm.com for more details, trailers, and excerpts from the film.