ViFF 2013 Opening Night film. Director and Cast in attendance. Join us for exciting Q & A after the movie.
View trailer and more info: http://www.vietfilmfest.com/beyond-the-mat.html
Synopsis by Ethan Nguyen:
For almost as long as he can remember, Aaron Miller (John Wynn) has been friends with Bo Sanders (Mark Hapka) and has loved wrestling. The two are top of their respective weight classes, and dream of entering college together on full-ride scholarships. They are as close, and as alike, as an adopted Vietnamese kid in Middle America and his white best friend can be. In their junior year championships, however, Bo loses his match to wrestling rival Dominic Bradshaw, on a bad call. Bent on a rematch against Dominic at next year’s finals, Bo ousts Aaron from his spot on the team. The rift in their friendship is further widened by the arrival of Linh Tran (Teresa Michelle Lee), a new student at the high school, who exposes Aaron to his Vietnamese heritage and causes him to question what he truly knows about himself.
Beyond the Mat delivers everything you want in a sports movie—solid action scenes, the deserving underdog, the unscrupulous rival, even the good and evil coaches—along with a side of identity politics, and more than a little love for Mr. Miyagi. Watch out for some charming winks to The Karate Kid in this well-acted, tightly scripted film. And look out for Lee as Elisa in The Crumbles, also screening at ViFF this year.
Director Van M. Pham holds an MFA in Film & Television from Chapman University, and his my documentary “A Different Corner” won Best in Show as well as First Place Documentary in the CSU Summer Arts Media festival. Beyond the Mat was an official screenplay selection for the Tribeca Film Festival All-Access Program.
