Terminal USA
Terminal USA (1993) is a controversial film by Jon Moritsugu that explores themes of family, drugs, violence and Asian American stereotypes. Its run time is 54 minutes and it is estimated to have had a budget of $365,000.[1]
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Terminal USA started out as an entry for a script competition for PBS. The script won 12,000 from that competition and the film was shown on television and created quite an uproar. "I was pushing the envelope trying to get crazy shit on TV. For a while we thought we were going to get a lawsuit. The producer said, ‘Let's work it. This is our publicity.'"(Director Jon Moritsugu) [2] When people were questioning the National Endowment for the Arts for funding projects considered controversial, Terminal USA was one of the films used as an example for one of the controversial projects funded. Terminal USA was almost put on Japan/US flights for Northwest Airlines, but they decided against it at the last minute.[3]
Museum of Modern Art, NYC Toronto Film Festival Rotterdam Film Festival Goteberg Film Festival Copenhagen Film Festival V'iennale, Austria The Fringe Fest , Australia Musee d'Art Moderne, Paris Institute of Contemporary Arts, London Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, SF Microcinefest, Baltimore SF Asian American Film Festival [4]