The Silk Screen: Asian American Film Festival returns for a second week of screenings. Highlights this week include "Dark Matter," starring Meryl Streep and Aidan Quinn, and a series of Japanese Nikkatsu action films from the '60s, screening at the Andy Warhol Museum.
TODAY
• "Santa Mesa" (USA/Philippines) -- 7:30 p.m., Regent Square. A beautiful coming-of-age story about a young Filipino American who must return home after the death of a loved one.
• "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" (USA) -- 9:30 p.m., Regent Square. A nuanced portrait of a young Korean adoptee who has become estranged from her family, trying to regain a sense of home by exploring ties with the Asian Americans in her apartment building.
• "Dark Matter" (China) -- 7:30 p.m., Harris. See accompanying review.
• "Ploy" (Thailand) -- 8 p.m., Melwood. A psychological drama that begins with three strangers locked in a hotel room, where suspicions and jealousies get pushed past the breaking point.
• "The Warped Ones" (Japan, 1960) -- 7:30 p.m., Andy Warhol Museum. A strong example of Japanese '60s Nikkatsu film -- a violent gangster film shot with French New Wave stylishness.
• "Glass Johnny: Looks Like a Beast" (Japan, 1962) -- 9 p.m., Andy Warhol Museum. Also in Silk Screen's Nikkatsu series of lost Japanese crime films from the '60s -- a melodrama about lowlifes struggling to survive in the middle of nowhere.
FRIDAY
• "Never Forever" (South Korea) -- 7:30 p.m., Regent Square. Set in New York City, a bold portrayal of women's desire and self-awareness through passion between a housewife and a Korean immigrant.
• "Option 3" (USA) -- 9:30 p.m., Regent Square. A meditation on lost love in the form of a dark, puzzling urban thriller from director Richard Wong.
• "Valu" (India) -- 7:30 p.m., Harris. A humorous, fable-like film about a wild bull, a forest officer and a small Maharashtra village.
• "The Edge of Heaven" (Turkey) -- 8 p.m., Melwood. A family drama about the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters and fathers and sons, among Turkish families living in Germany.
• "A Colt Is My Passport" (Japan, 1967) -- 7:30 p.m., Andy Warhol Museum. Japanese Nikkatsu Action Cinema Series. A gangster-noir film about a cool-headed killer desperate to get out of town.
• "Plains Wanderer" (Japan, 1960) -- 9 p.m., Andy Warhol Museum. Japanese Nikkatsu Action Cinema Series. Japanese Eastern-Western about a cowboy-drifter who rolls into town to take on the local bad guys.
SATURDAY
• "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" (USA) -- 5 p.m., Regent Square.
• "Ping Pong Playa" (USA) -- 7 p.m., Regent Square. A young Chinese-American slacker is born into a family of ping-pong champions, but yearns to play in the NBA. When his parents are injured in an accident, he is forced to defend his family's ping-pong dynasty.
• "Tuya's Marriage" (China) -- 4 p.m., Harris. A quirky romantic comedy set in the Mongolian desert, about a woman's search for a reliable man who can support her.
• "The Home Song Stories" (Australia/Singapore) -- 6:30 p.m., Harris. A glamorous nightclub singer from Hong Kong (Joan Chen) struggles to regain her footing in Australia.
• "Ploy" (Thailand) -- 8 p.m., Harris.
• "Half Moon" (Iran) -- 6:30 p.m., Melwood. Kurdish-Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi tells the story of Mamo, a renowned old musician granted permission to play a concert in Iraqi Kurdistan, bringing together his 10 musical sons for a magical trip through a majestically beautiful landscape.
• "Takva: A Man's Fear of God" (Turkey) -- 8:30 p.m., Melwood. A man of faith is rewarded for his devotion, only to find his beliefs threatened by his newfound prosperity in this drama from Turkish filmmaker Ozer Kiziltan.
SUNDAY
• "Santa Mesa" (USA/Philippines) -- 3 p.m., Regent Square.
• "Option 3" (USA) -- 5:30 p.m., Regent Square.
• "Never Forever" (South Korea) -- 8 p.m., Regent Square. A question-and-answer session will follow the screening.
• "Chop Shop" (USA) -- 6 p.m., Harris. A Q&A session will follow the screening.
• "A Gentle Breeze in the Village" (Japan) -- 6 p.m., Melwood.
• "5 Centimeters per Second" (Japan) -- 9 p.m., Melwood.
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