November 9, 2015

Great interview piece by Suzi Nash at Philadelphia Gay News. This week’s Portrait is about Nikiko Masumoto who’s film, “Changing Season” hits our screen in this year’s festival.   This is a great season for lovers of the silver screen. Last month, New York City had its LGBT film festival, Newfest, showcasing the best and brightest queer films and filmmakers. Philadelphia just wrapped up its International Philadelphia Film Festival, and there’s more to come. Nearby Rehoboth Beach Independence Film Festival starts Nov. 7. While not a gay festival per se, it has a number of really great LGBT films — from documentaries like “Best of Enemies” (Gore Vidal versus conservative William F. Buckley, Jr.) to the thriller “Elephant Song” to the touching drama “Margarita with a Straw.” If you don’t have a way to get down the 95 corridor, the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival is right around the corner, running Nov. 12-22. Again, it’s not a gay festival but offers a number of films focused on LGBT issues or people, not to mention a number of wonderful films we should go see even if they aren’t just about our community. We are all one, after all. This week’s profile is the subject of one of the films being screened in the festival, “Changing Season: On the Masumoto family Farm.” The film chronicles a transitional year in the life of famed farmer, slow-food advocate and sansei David “Mas” Masumoto and his compelling relationship with daughter Nikiko Masumoto, who returns to the family farm with the intention of stepping into her father’s work boots. Interspliced with moments of Masumoto’s razor-sharp meditations on her family’s internment during WWII, “Changing Season” also explores her role as a queer, progressive farmer in the Central Valley. A bubbly character as bright as the sun that ripens the orchards, I had fun talking to Masumoto about her peachy life.