White on Rice


White on Rice is a 2009 comedy film directed by Dave Boyle and starring Hiroshi Watanabe, Nae Yuuki, Mio Takada, James Kyson Lee, and Lynn Chen. The film had its world premiere at the 27th annual San Francisco Asian American Film Festival on 17 March 2009.

Plot

Jimmy loves dinosaurs and sleeps on the top bunk. Unfortunately, Jimmy is 40 and shares that bunk with Bob, his 10-year-old nephew. Freshly divorced, Jimmy lives with his sister Aiko and her family while boldly searching for a new wife. His brother in-law, Tak thinks he’s a disaster. And although Jimmy may lack social grace, he is convinced the best years of his life are just beginning. His plan seems like it’s all falling into place when Tak’s beautiful niece Ramona moves in. But once Jimmy sets his sights on stealing her from his best friend Tim, he sees his intentions go hilariously awry.

Cast

White on Rice became a festival favorite during the festival season of 2009. Its festival screenings included the Cleveland International Film Festival, the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Woodstock Film Festival and the São Paulo Film Festival. It was especially well received at Asian themed film festivals such as the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival where Dave Boyle and Joel Clark received awards for their screenplay and 13-year-old Justin Kwong received an award for his acting, and the San Diego Asian Film Festival where it won the Audience Award.

Release

The film was self distributed through director Boyle's company Tiger Industry Films and Variance Films and premiered on September 11, 2009 in Los Angeles, California at the Laemmle Sunset 5 and in Irvine. The film subsequently traveled throughout the country playing in theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area, Hawaii, Salt Lake City, Denver, San Diego. A DVD release was scheduled for 2010.