Film series pays homage to ‘Giant Robot,’ influential magazine founded by UCLA alumni

UCLA Film & Television Archive | October 18, 2024

A film festival beginning Nov. 1 will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of “Giant Robot,” the Asian and Asian American culture magazine co-founded by UCLA alumni Eric Nakamura and Martin Wong.

The festival, A Film Series for You: Celebrating Giant Robot’s 30th Anniversary, is presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive in partnership with the Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities at UCLA. The festival will be held over seven nights through Nov. 17, with all events taking place at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum at UCLA.

From its first print issue to its last in 2011, “Giant Robot” elevated Asian and Asian American popular culture with sharp, smart writing on art, film, music, television, food and politics, and its influence still reverberates through the cultural landscape.

Nakamura, who earned a degree in East Asian studies from UCLA in 1993, is serving as co-curator of the festival. Wong, who graduated in 1990 with a degree in English, will participate in a Q&A during the Nov. 1 event.

“Giant Robot” magazine began as a Xeroxed zine, simply enough, as a vehicle for Nakamura to write about the stuff he liked. Its first three issues featured articles on sumo wrestling, underground filmmaker Jon Moritsugu, Hello Kitty, Pizzicato Five and Southern California’s Cambodian-run donut shops. Steeped in Nakamura’s DIY punk ethic, Giant Robot quickly attracted a like-minded readership.

By the time it published its final issue, what Giant Robot thought was cool when no else did — ramen, Jackie Chan, Japanese candy — was suddenly everywhere.

“Cinema and television are a huge part of our lives and are among the building blocks of Asian and Asian American pop culture,” Nakamura said. “The pages of ‘Giant Robot’ magazine are represented by the choices of what’s on screen and the guests, some of who broke new ground and became part of cinematic history, and some who acted, directed, and also contributed to ‘Giant Robot’ magazine.”

Screenings include the iconic “Chungking Express” (Hong Kong, 1994) on Nov. 1, and the cult-classic telefilm “Voyage Into Space” (U.S., 1970) on Nov. 10, which features footage from episodes of the 1967–68 Japanese TV show “Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot / Giant Robo.”

“Having been an avid reader of ‘Giant Robot’ during its print run and having seen its influence grow over the years, it was a tremendous honor and pleasure to work with Eric on this series,” said Archive senior public programmer Paul Malcolm. “Asking Eric to sum up everything the magazine has meant to so many people as a film series felt a little unfair, but he put together an amazingly fun lineup of screenings and guests that I can’t wait to share with audiences.”

Scheduled to appear live at the events are Nakamura (all seven programs); Martin Wong (Nov. 1); filmmakers Dylan Robertson (Nov. 1), Jon Moritsugu (Nov. 2) and Michael Arias (Nov. 8); actor-filmmaker Daniel Wu (Nov. 1 and 17), actress Tamlyn Tomita (Nov. 1, schedule permitting) and actor Ayako Fujitani (Nov. 16).

Admission to all screenings is free. No advance reservations are available; seating will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.