"Talking about sex on camera isn’t easy, but imagine interviewing your dad about it." Show me Shorts feature!

We are stoked that Asian Men Talk About Sex, our 3 minute doco, was chosen as one of Show me Shorts favourite Loading Doc's films!

Here's what they said:

KIWI DOCUMENTARIES: LOCKED AND LOADED

CLAYTON BARNETT

on August 30, 2017 at 1:45 pm

The Loading Docs initiative produces ten short (3-minute) New Zealand documentaries each year. They’ve just unveiled the new films, and our team at Show Me Shorts is super impressed with the boldness and diversity.

I’ve picked my three favourites of this year’s crop for you here. Funny, moving and joyous, these shorts introduce us to real New Zealanders with something to say about culture, conservation, connection, sex, death, fear and hope.

Calvin Sang shoots Yoson An shooting hoops.

Talking about sex on camera isn’t easy, but imagine interviewing your dad about it. Director Chye-Ling Huang had a frank conversation with hers – on the culturally taboo subject of sex. The result is a cracking short full of sparkling energy and wry humour.

All eight men interviewed in Asian Men Talk About Sex provide candid and often hilarious answers to questions about Asian stereotypes in film, TV and real life.

Old and young, straight and gay, they quickly dispel notions of themselves as a homogenous group of sexless math-whizzes with small… um, equipment.

Director Huang is a co-founder of the the Proudly Asian Theatre company. Her first documentary is well-handled, bold and consistently entertaining. We look forward to more.

Check out the full article here:

http://www.showmeshorts.co.nz/kiwi-documentaries-locked-and-loaded/

"We just went for it." The Wireless interview

The wireless caught up with Calvin Sang, DOP and Editor, and Chye-Ling Huang, director, of our new 3 minute documentary!

Asian Men Talk About Sex has been released as part of Loading Docs - a launchpad for short New Zealand documentaries. Watch it here!

The Wireless: DIRECTOR INTERVIEW with Chye-Ling Huang

by Chev Hasset

When did you start getting involved with film?

I run a theatre company called Proudly Asian Theatre. I started off as actor when I did a Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts at Unitec, and the comedian James Roque was in my class. We were the only Asians and we were facing our final year at Unitec.

We were freaking out that there was not much hope for us with representation in the industry. So we started Proudly Asian Theatre, which basically tells Asian stories in the New Zealand landscape, providing positive, truthful and interesting representations for Asian stories.

Huang embarks on her film directing debut with Asian Men Talk About Sex

How did the doc come about?

Loading Docs came along as an opportunity when someone said to us this year’s theme is diversity. Even though diversity is kind of a dirty word these days, I think it has opened up a lot of doors even if it is problematic at times.

We just went for it. We sat down as a group and asked what was missing in film and television especially New Zealand. We were looking at how you can count on one hand the Asian men we saw on TV. So we decided to come up with something that talked about the demasculinisation and desexualisation of Asian men. We wanted to do it simple and truthful; hopefully something incredibly real and readily accessible for everyday people.

How did you find interviews?

I definitely learnt a lot about sex. I consider myself a super sexual and liberal person. I guess I learnt about the world of sex; it is so layered and nuance, there are so many factors. Interviewing ten guys -eight of them will be in the Loading Docs version - listening to their conversations raised a whole bunch of questions.

Chye-Ling Huang interviews Aram for Asian Men Talk About Sex

Lastly, does this film help change the stereotype of Asian men?

I really hope so. This is what the film is kind of about. It has two points: opening a conversation about sex and also debunking a lot of those stereotypes which is truthful. These guys are everyday dudes and I really hope it does change people's’ perceptions about Asian men.

Stuff: Why these Asian men really want to talk about sex

Woo hoo! We've reached over 3000 views on our short and sweet doco this week - Asian Men Talk About Sex!

Stuff.co.nz chatted to Calvin Sang, DOP and editor, and Chye-Ling Huang, director, about how getting all the Asian men we knew into one room and opening up a conversation about sex got the ball rolling into a bombastic new film.

Check it out here! 

Or check out excerpts below:

Why these Asian men really want to talk about sex 

GLENN MCCONNELL

When an email lands offering the chance to interview Asian men about sex, you can't say no. This initial thought is this could be hilarious.

It isn't really that funny, though. There are laughs, but the documentary Asian Men Talk About Sex has a serious core.

It all stated as a potluck dinner party, where the subject of conversation was sex. Chye-Ling Huan, a Chinese-Pākeha director, had pulled together all the Asian men she knew to get their thoughts on sex.

Yoson An, Han Huang and James Roque talk sex

Her dad was there, sitting next to her friends from drama school, and she passed round a basket filled with questions about sex.

"It was surprisingly not that awkward when we got everyone in the room," she said. The gathering was literally every Asian man Huang could find. At the table, crunching down on a broccoli sesame seed salad, fried rice and a pile of other foods, was one of the most diverse groups you could find.

James Roque (centre) sits next to Chye-Ling Huang's father during the dinner party that started it all.

Gay Asian men, fathers and a Singaporean man who had made it past his half century sat talking with a cast of creative types to keep the conversation following. "That was the first time I'd ever talked to my dad about sex," Huang recalled.

Huang held the gathering because she believed there was a serious problem in the media, where Asian men were severely desexualised. 

"When you are desexualising someone, you're dehumanising them too because you're putting them in a box," she explained.

The documentary Asian Men Talk About Sex features the stories of a diverse cast of Asian men living in Auckland.

She teamed up with editor Calvin Sang to create a short documentary featuring interviews with Asian men wanting to talk about sex.

Kelly Gilbride, Calvin Sang and Chye-Ling Huang at the launch of the Loading Docs films for 2017

The men featured opened up about having sex in a portaloo. Huang's father told her about having sex against a wall to keep the door closed.

Their film was aimed to combat the traditional representations of Asian men by showing a diverse cast talking about sex, Huang said.

Chye-Ling Huang invites all the people she can find to kick-start a discussion about the sexual representations of Asian men.

As a young actor starting out, Huang said she looked around the industry and saw only stereotypes. She co-founded the Proudly Asian Theatre Company with comedian James Roque to foster acts that went against that tide.

"We realised if we didn't create our own work then we weren't going to have work because we're Asian actors," she said.

Their latest documentary, the company's first stab at film, was about showing accurate portrayals of Asian men and sex. "That's not what we see a lot, we see a lot of caricatures and stereotypes," she said.

Sang, a filmmaker of Chinese descent, said it was inexcusable for New Zealand to be showing the same stereotypes as the rest of the world - especially as there was such a strong Asian community here.

"Shortland St, where are all the Asians? How many Asians are in real life hospitals versus how white Shortland Stis," he asked.

Trying to list Asian men in the media, Sang came up with comedian Raybon Kan and "the spray and walk away guy". 

The documentary team spent 45 minutes interviewing each Asian man willing to tell his story.

He said the under representation was bad enough, as it created a sense that the Asian community didn't contribute to New Zealand. The problem compounded, Sang said, when Asian actors managed to get a role that was stereotypical and often harmful.

"The common stereotype I hear a lot of is that Asian dudes are quite nerdy, they spend a lot of their time at gaming cafes," musician Tristan Hemi Colenso explained in the film.

"All the stereotypes I encounter as an Asian guy are things like I am sexually or romantically inept," Roque continued. 

Asian Men Talk About Sex was published as part of the Loading Docs project, and received $4000 of funding while raising about $2000 of its own funding. The crew behind the short film said they hoped to create an extended play, or series, based of the many interviews they filmed.

How to watch ten documentaries in your lunch break

“The weirdest place I’ve had sex was a portaloo. I can’t say it was aromatic.”

Asian Men Talk About Sex gets an awesome shoutout on the spinoff!

Check it out here!

BFM interview with James Roque and Chye-Ling Huang

We talk to BFM to talk about the launch of Asian Men Talk About Sex, PAT and Loading doc's brand new doco.

James Roque, one of the stars of Asian Men Talk About Sex

Directed by Chye-Ling and starring James, co-founders of Proudly Asian Theatre, hear them spill the beans on this cheeky little film here!

Fun fact - James Park and Tristan Hemi are both musicians that are regularly played on bfm - James of Miss June fame and Tristan as the bassist in Clap Clap Riot.

Check out the doco itself here: https://vimeo.com/229068040