The Shangri-la Cafe

The Shangri-la Cafe is a 2000 short film written and directed by Lily Mariye. The film is about a Japanese American family who conceal their heritage and reluctantly adopt discriminatory practices in order to operate a Chinese restaurant in Las Vegas in the late 1950s.[1] The Los Angeles Times calls the film well-reviewed, and it won awards at festivals such as the Brussels Independent Film Festival and Nashville Independent Film Festival.[2]

The director began working on the film in 1998, working with the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women.[2]

Cast
  • Montana Tsai as Annie Takashi
  • Joanne Takahashi as Emiko Takashi
  • Sam Anderson as The Man
  • Christopher Chen as Tad Takashi
  • Albert Chien as Jimmy Takashi
  • Cedric Harris as Reverend Charles Osteen
  • Montae Russell as George Brooks
  • Margaret Laurena Kemp as Mildred Brooks
  • Kelli Kirkland as Helen Osteen
  • Charles 'Brick' Tilley Jr. as Man #2
  • Bob Bergen as Television Announcer (voice)

Reception

The Los Angeles Times calls the film well-reviewed, and it won awards at festivals such as the Brussels Independent Film Festival and Nashville Independent Film Festival.[2] It was positively reviewed for its portrayal of 1950s racism by SFGate, which called it "unusually sensitive to the heightened experience of children."[3] The Chicago Reader wrote that Mariye set "a preachy tone" in the film.[1] Edward Guthmann from the San Francisco Chronicle, Jonathan Kaplan, and Lesli Linka Glatter praised Mariye's directing debut. The Hollywood Reporter's Michael Rechtshaffen described the film as a "tender, bittersweet childhood recollection of a not always glittering Las Vegas past."

Awards

Official selection

References
  1. Asian American Showcase, Chicago Reader, April 19, 2001, retrieved May 3, 2023
  2. Elber, Lynn (August 9, 2002), ‘ER’ Nurse Pulls a Shift as a Film Writer-Director, Los Angeles Times, retrieved May 3, 2023
  3. Guthmann, Edward (May 10, 2002), 'The Shangri-La Cafe' a good place to stop / Short KQED movie ably captures '50s racism, SFGate, retrieved May 3, 2023


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