Choice of laughs or leg sweeps

Deepa Bharath

They range from screen-splitting martial arts action to

side-splitting comedy.

Asian films featured in this year’s Newport Beach Film Festival

certainly do run the gamut, senior programmer Keiko Beatie said. At

one end is “Water Boys,” a Japanese comedy about a swim coach who

desperately tries to turn a hopeless team of misfit high school boys

into graceful synchronized swimmers.

“It’s actually the best comedy we have in this year’s festival,”

Beatie said. “It’s a very cute film.”

“Water Boys” is scheduled to be screened on Wednesday at the Lido

Theater.

At the other was “Red Trousers -- The Life of the Hong Kong

Stuntsmen” starring Robin Shou of “Mortal Combat” fame. Its Saturday

screening was a big hit, Beatie said.

Thursday will feature “Small Voices” at the Lido Theater, which

was Phillipines’ 2003 Oscar submission for Best Foreign Film. The

film is about a small town music teacher who enters her students in a

music contest, giving the poverty-stricken townsfolk hope and the

spirit to pursue and fight for their dreams.

Also playing in Lido Theater on Thursday will be “In the Name of

Buddha,” a film that sends out a plea to the island nation of Sri

Lanka, ravaged for decades by ethnic war between the native Sinhalese

and the Tamil settlers who came from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The controversial film was banned in India and Sri Lanka, but was

screened in the Oslo Film Festival in Norway.

Producers Sai George and K. Shanmughathas of London attended the

opening night of the film festival on Thursday.

“We’re very happy to get this opportunity to screen our film in

Newport Beach,” George said. “This film is basically our call to all

the countries and people involved in the civil war in Sri Lanka to

embrace peace in the name of Buddha.”

Shanmughathas said they faced several challenges as producers in

marketing the film because of its sensitive subject matter.

Beatie said she has always been impressed by the “enthusiasm of

Asian filmmakers.”

“They put in a lot of work on their story line,” she said. “And

they are very dedicated to the technique of filmmaking.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].