CTFF 2024 Official selection: Home court
Home Court
2024 | Drama, Documentary | USA | 92 min I English, Khmer
Featuring: Ashley Chea, Jayme Kiyomura Chan, BunBaov Chea, Lida Chea, Ethan Chea, Kevin Kiyomura
Directed by: Erica Tanamachi
Cinematography by: Brian Hsu Inocencio
Edited by: Jean Kawahara
Produced by: Jenn Lee Smith, Brandon Soun, Erica Tanamachi
Screening: * CTFF 2024 OPENING FILM
Saturday, September 14th, 11am at Art Theatre Long Beach
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Synopsis: Ashley Chea is a Cambodian American basketball phenom. HOME COURT, filmed over three years, is a coming-of-age story that relays the highs and lows of her immigrant family, surmounting racial and class differences, as well as personal trials that include a devastating knee injury. Despite the intensity of basketball recruiting, Ashley’s humor shines through and her natural talent inspires the support of those around her.
The film opens in Ashley’s sophomore year of high school. She shuttles between her home in a lower-income neighborhood in Los Angeles and her private school, Flintridge Prep, while traveling to youth basketball tournaments and visiting colleges around the country. Ashley’s parents work long hours at their donut shop, so her coach, Jayme Kiyomura Chan, steps in where they cannot, taking Ashley to doctor visits and helping her get her driver’s permit. Her mom, Lida, says that no one in her family supported Ashley playing basketball, but they know that this avenue gives her the opportunity to be the first in her family to attend college.
With the pressure of being one of the top basketball recruits in the country, tensions rise as Ashley decides between college offers. Her dad favors nearby UC Berkeley, but she chooses Princeton University, feeling more at home with the coaches and players there. During her senior year, Ashley leads her basketball team to victory in an upset against their rivals, with her family, friends, and Princeton’s head coach cheering her on from the sidelines. The film culminates in the bittersweet moments of Ashley leaving for college with her family.
Erica Tanamachi‘s (Director) most recent film, “Winn”, premiered at the 2022 Atlanta Film Festival and won a Reel South Shorts Award, Special Jury Mention, and distribution deal with PBS. “Winn” also won “Best Short Documentary” from the 2022 Justice on Trial Film Festival. Erica was Creative Producer for the feature documentary “Motherload” (2019) which garnered the HERO award from Better Cities Film Festival and “Best International Documentary” from the Hollywood North Film Awards. She also won “Best Documentary” from The Sonoma Film Festival, Silverlake Film Festival, and The Documentary Foundation for her short documentary, “Living Poets.” Erica is an MFA Cinema graduate of San Francisco State University (2007) and has been producing and directing independent documentaries for over 17 years.
Director’s Statement
Throughout my 18-year career as a filmmaker, I’ve made short films and commercial work, refining the craft of telling impactful stories with concision. I’m thrilled to be directing HOME COURT, my first feature-length film.
Four years ago, fellow filmmaker, Jenn Lee Smith asked if I knew anything about the Asian American basketball leagues. Her daughter was invited to join and she discovered that its history began in the 1920s with Japanese Americans forming their own leagues due to discrimination. My husband and his family played in these leagues. His cousin, Jaime Hagiya, was a star player at USC and introduced us to Jayme Kiyomura Chan and Ashley Chea. Jenn and I understood quickly that this was the story we wanted to tell: one of holding space for joy and heartache that explores the high stakes of following the American dream.
I see pieces of Ashley’s story echoed in my own Japanese -Jewish American children. Cultures and identities sacrificed as each generation assimilates in America. I didn’t even know I was Jewish until I was an adult, due to anti-semitism when my ancestors immigrated. My great grandmother erased our Jewish ancestry from our family story to protect her son from being beaten in the streets of Chicago. The pain of the generational shame remained until I reclaimed my Jewish identity as my own.
-Erica Tanamachi
