Winner of the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival Winner of the 2008 Denver International Film Festival Emerging Filmmaker Award. SITA SINGS THE BLUES combines autobiography with a 21st century version of the classic Indian myth, the Ramayana. Filmmaker Nina Paley draws narrative parallels between her own life and Sita’s--Nina is a filmmaker living in San Francisco. Her husband works, ironically, as an animator who, also ironically, indirectly introduced Nina to the Ramayana while they were living in India together. He decides to callously end their marriage via email; Sita, a Hindi goddess and dutiful wife, follows her husband Rama on a 14 year exile to a forest, only to be kidnapped by an evil Sri Lankan king. The end result has her husband thinking she’s unfaithful and therefore, he dumps her. Despite living in completely different cultures separated by multiple centuries, both women’s occasionally undaunted mettles are tested. This modified epic tale is narrated by three extremely entertaining and comedic shadow puppets with Indian accents, who cleverly interpret both the ancient tragedy and the modern comedy. The artistry of this animated film cannot go unnoticed. In addition to the traditional two-dimensional animation, there are scenes with hand-painted watercolors, collages, cut-outs and interesting examples of photography. Viewers will also be hard pressed to forget the flash-animation musical numbers wherein the beguiling Sita sings in a 1920’s Jazz Age style. One of the jurors who nominated Ms. Paley (for one of the myriad of film honors Sita has earned) said it best: “We see so many films, and when you come across one like this, you just feel like you’ve stumbled upon a gem.” Paley unscrupulously weaves a tale of truth, justice, and a woman’s demand for equal treatment. Her animated interpretation of the Ramayana has been dubbed “The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told,” but it’s one in which you just might laugh and nod understandingly more than you cry or ask why.

The quirky appeal of White On Rice is hinted at immediately, via its odd title. It sounds more like the name of someone’s college band, not a feature film. Director Dave Boyle’s off-beat sense of humor pervades the entire 85 minutes of this movie, and the main vehicle for delivering the amusement is its protagonist, Hajime, a.k.a. Jimmy (Hiroshi Watanabe). For this type of comedy to work--one with a Dumb and Dumber sensibility, that is—the film must rely on a main character who is 100% idiotic and ignorant in all social settings, who is physically awkward and who has absolutely no clue when it comes to romance (One has to wonder how he got married in the first place). Boyle scores with Jimmy--a Japanese emigre whose basic English language skills are the least of his shortcomings--whose lingual, light-hearted gaffes score laughs right and left. Forty years old and single, Jimmy works odd jobs as a bit-part actor (a preview is hilariously replayed in a mock samurai commercial). He left Japan and moved to the states when his ex-wife simply stopped taking care of him in Tokyo. He moves in with his beyond-patient and hyper-tolerant sister Aiko and his supersmart nephew Bob, with whom he shares a bunk bed. Jimmy’s freeloading becomes unbearable, and in one scene becomes a health hazardto his brother-in-law, Tak. Tactless, immature, and devoid of both ambition and talent, Jimmy is oblivious to his own cluelessness, and never is this funnier than when he attempts to woo his attractive cousin Ramona. He thinks the answer to all his problems is remarriage, and so he starts a misguided courtship that ends up disastrously funny. In addition to being funny, WHITE ON RICE succeeds in portraying a Japanese family who must confront—like all families--the complexities of romance, parenting and middle age. Although Jimmy's naïveté might not solve all the answers, he does open a little door to happiness. It’s a heartwarming story that the whole family will laugh at and enjoy.