“I believe it is a film that will change hearts and minds and more importantly, save lives.”
—Thomas Howard Jr.,
Education Director, MATTHEW SHEPARD FOUNDATION.
“YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO DEFEND YOURSELF
Against hatred...
AND SELF-HATRED”
THE SENSEI
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY D. LEE INOSANTO
Please join me at the WORLD PREMIERE
of my first feature film "THE SENSEI."
Where?
The 24th LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL
Sunday, May 4th, at 4:00pm.
Hosted by Visual Communications
For ticket information visit www.vconline.org
or call: (213) 680-4462
LOCATION:
Directors Guild of America
7920 Sunset Blvd
(cross street Fairfax Ave.)
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Synopsis:
THE SENSEI is about a lonely gay teen named McClain growing up in a small town in Colorado during the dawn of the AIDS epidemic. Constantly the target of hate and bullying, after a near fatal beating by three school mates, he finds himself the secret student of a woman "sensei" named Karen who teaches him the martial ways to protect himself and the path to inner peace. But there are some lessons in life that don’t come easy.
CAST:Keith David (“CRASH, There’s Something About Mary”)
Louis Mandylor (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding, THE QUEST”)
D. Lee Inosanto (“THE PRODIGY”)
Mike Olaskey (“3 Ninjas, High Noon at Mega Mountain”)
Tzi Ma (“RUSH HOUR, Alpha dog”)
Sab Shimono (“Southland Tales, Waterworld”)
Emily Kuroda (“Gilmore Girls”)
and newcomer...
MARK MCGRAW (son of baseball icon Tug McGraw, and brother of Country Singer Tim McGraw)
ADDITIONAL CAST:
Gina Scalzi, Jonathan Camp, Tim Lounibos, Michael Yama, Michael Auteri, Bryan Frank, and Michael Hake.
DIRECTORS COMMENTS:
My movie mirrors the political and social struggles still happening today. With the recent murder of Lawrence King who ironically lived in my area (http://www.rememberinglawrence.org/) I am glad that I took the path to make this film despite the hardships and politics my producers and myself endured. I was motivated to make my film years ago after the senseless murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming 1998. Lawrence King’s case only bears in mind the need to create more awareness about tolerance and diversity.
Presently, THE SENSEI is endorsed by civil rights groups like the Matthew Shepard Foundation and the Hate Crimes Bill Act (www.hatecrimesbill.org), which was lead by Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Gordon Smith. We’ve also have the support of those involved with Human Rights Campaign, Simon Wiesenthal Center: Museum of Tolerance, and Rainbow Alley to name a few.
However, as a Writer/Director/ Producer, the road to making THE SENSEI was not easy. THE SENSEI made international headline news in 2005 when the Associated Press got wind of our struggles. Two ultra conservative school districts (one of them that governed Columbine High School) would not allow us to film due to "questionable values" as one administrator stated.
As a Writer/Director/ Producer, the road to making THE SENSEI was not easy. THE SENSEI made international headline news in 2005 when the Associated Press got wind of our struggles. Two ultra conservative school districts (one of them that governed Columbine) would not allow us to film due to "questionable values" as one administrator stated. As I have always stated in the press, THE SENSEI is a movie about respect, tolerance and personal growth. Pretty good values to me!
Join The Sensei movement!
--D. Lee Inosanto
www.TheSenseiMovie.com