Pieces of a Dream
1974
Dir. Eddie Wong, 16mm Color Sound 00:30:00
Page Contents
Description
A lyrical, expressive film history of Asian Pacific Americans on the Sacramento River delta. Through archival photos we see the pain and anger written on the walls of Angel Island, and the arrival of immigrant farm laborers to the Delta. First the Chinese, then the Japanese, then the Filipino manongs, who came to America to work the land. Their stories are told through a montage of voices from the past, adapted from Victor Nee and Brett de Bary's LONGTIME CALIFORN'. Delta life is captured in lush, pastel colors and presented to the music of Hiroshima. PIECES OF A DREAM is shot intimately: faces, apples lining a conveyor belt, the loving details of manong's shelf of belongings (his whole life is there--snapshots of his brother, cigarettes, a carton of Quaker Oats, an English language book). A visit to the historic town of Locke brings us to the sharp realities of the present. the crumbled wooden Chinatown looks like a quaint tourist landmark, but actually remains low-income housing for the Delta's poor. A Japanese American farmer talks about the pressures of the large agribusiness on small farmers. A thoughtfully and beautifully crafted film
Other Credits
Dan Kuramoto