Sylvie Kim

contributing editor & blogger

Sylvie Kim is a contributing editor at Hyphen. She previously served as Hyphen's blog coeditor with erin Khue Ninh, film editor, and blog columnist.

She writes about gender, race, class and privilege in pop culture and media (fun fun fun!) at www.sylvie-kim.com and at SF Weekly's The Exhibitionist blog. Her work has also appeared on Racialicious and Salon.

CAAMFest 2013 Reviews: Ernesto Foronda and Silas Howard's 'Sunset Stories'

In Sunset Stories,
co-directors Ernesto Foronda and Silas Howard give the LA ensemble film
a relationship comedy twist, giving LA and its quirky denizens
prominent roles in this story of two former lovers randomly thrown back
into each other's lives for 24 hours.

Clap Your Hands to the Geek

Pop cultural emcee Adam WarRock talks rap.

Adam Warrock — the Korean American attorney turned pop culture-obsessed rapper who won 2011’s Kollaboration Atlanta, the city’s annual Asian American talent show — is nothing if not hard to define. Whether rapping about This American Life’s Ira Glass or X-Men, he’s aware of the pitfalls of being boxed into the nerdcore genre, a school of hip-hop that focuses on themes like sci-fi and comics. While he also raps about race and identity, he doesn’t want to be labeled strictly as an Asian American artist either.

Free 'Vincent Who?' Screenings in Honor of Anniversary of Chin's Death

In honor of the 29th anniversary, Curtis Chin and the team behind documentary film Vincent Who? have partnered up with Asian Pacific Americans for Progress to offer free viewings of the film in its entirety through the month of July at Vincentwhomovie.com.

Progress and Regress: A DREAMer Victory in Maryland While Utah and Georgia Copy SB 1070

Governor Martin O’ Malley of Maryland is set to sign a new law which recognizes undocumented students as state residents and qualifies them for in-state tuition rates at public universities, dropping an undocumented student’s tuition from the out-of-state rate of $24,831 to $8,416.

SFIAAFF 2011 Reviews: 'The Taqwacores,' 'Dance Town,' and 'Sampaguita, National Flower'

To celebrate the glory that is SFIAAFF -- which kicks off this Thursday March 10 with the screening of West is West and the swanky Opening Night gala -- Hyphen will be supplying you with reviews of select films screening at the fest this year.

Think Campus Racism is Old Hat? Go Back to School

A week and a half ago, Gawker pulled together a list of racism-related incidents on college campuses across the country that had occurred within days of each other. What seemed so troubling by the Gawker commenter reactions to this post was the sheer amount of reductionism going on: Schools in the South are bound to be racist. Schools in the Midwest are bound to be racist. Frat guys are bound to be racist. Frat guys aren't racist, they're just dumb. College racism is actually just stupidity and immaturity. And of course, racism happens on every campus, every day, all day. Why is this news?

Asian American Gossip Folks

The New York Times recently profiled "nice guy" blogger Jared Eng, creator of snark-free celebrity gossip site JustJared which will purportedly pull in seven-figures in profits this year. Eng, one of five boys in a Chinese American family straight outta Queens, is a Columbia grad who decided that pop culture was more fulfilling to him than the job he was led to via his computer science background. Amen, Jared! Can you explain that to my family please? C'mon, it'll take just five minutes on the phone. Jared?

Win 2 Free Passes to BANANA 2 Conference

You've already heard that Asian Americans are taking over the Internet and if you're reading this post, you're probably one of many wired folks who can name every blog, M. Night Shyamalan protest, and Tiger Mother response currently floating around in cyberspace.  Why not spend a Saturday rubbing elbows with like-minded folks?

SAG Awards Shows Asian Americans a Lil' Love

So the Golden Globe nominations came out, unsurprisingly, with nary an Asian or Asian American nominee in any of the major categories. But for an organization that's pitting Burlesque, Red, and The Tourist against one another in the Best Comedy or Musical field, perhaps we shouldn't take it to heart. Come on, Hollywood Foreign Press. Did Yogi Bear not make the cut-off in time?

DVD Review: Wo Ai Ni Mommy

In the age of Angelina Jolie and Madonna, transnational adoption has become a highly publicized issue, whether it’s being lauded or criticized. Stephanie Wang-Breal’s engrossing documentary seeks to push past that debate and show the transnational adoption process in the raw by following the transition of 8-year-old Fang Sui Yong of Guangzhou, China, as she becomes Faith Sadowsky of Long Island, NY, over the course of 17 months.

'The Biggest Loser' and Getting a Taste of Asian American Shame

Some of the players seem like they're truly looking for a life change which obesity has a hindered for years. Admittedly, I'm fascinated by the current season of The Biggest Loser because of one such contestant who happens to be Asian American. Ada Wong, whose NBC bio says is a 27-year-old project coordinator from San Francisco -- has one of the most compelling backstories of the season.

Music Review: Mondega's 'For the People'

Disclaimer: I am a fan of hip hop, but I am by no means a hip hop writer. I’m still blasting cuts from a 1996 De La Soul album in my car, so from that tidbit alone you can tell roughly where it is that I fall on the hip hop relevancy spectrum.

But when my buddy Lac asked me and others in the Asian American blogosphere to review For the People, the debut album of Vietnamese American rapper Mondega, I had to take it on.

District 10 Supervisor Candidates Visit Asian American Students at SFSU

In a few weeks it will be election time in California and while most residents have their eyes glued to the gubernatorial race between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown -- with Whitman's former undocumented housekeeper thrown into the mix -- a less-publicized but significant election will also be taking place for San Franciscans.

 

2010 Southeast Regional Conference of Asian American Leaders

 

APIA college students from Florida, Georgia, and other areas from the southeast region (though students nationwide are invited to attend) have been gathering at SERCAAL, which serves as an “outlet for social/professional career networking, keynote speeches, captivating entertainment, and hands-on educational workshops,” since its inception in 2004.

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