Jon Kung

Third Culture on the Outer Cape: Chef Jon Kung Demo & Fiesta

May 14, 2023 at the Hawthorne Barn, Provincetown, MA

Jon Kung is a content creator and self-taught chef hailing from Detroit, Michigan. A self taught Third Culture cook, Jon combines his lifelong experiences growing up in Toronto and Hong Kong as well as his life lived in his adoptive home of Detroit to create a cuisine her truly sees as Chinese American. His current focus is on creating content and teaching people on new media platforms like Tiktok and Youtube how to express themselves in the kitchen. His cookbook is expected to be released this fall. 

Julian Saporiti

May 12, 2023 at the Hawthorne Barn, Provincetown, MA

No-No Boy is an immersive multimedia concert work blending original folk songs, storytelling, and projected archival images all in service of illuminating hidden American histories. Curated archival images sync up with folk songs about the aforementioned histories. The subject matter of these songs is taken from the artist’s family’s history living through the Vietnam War, as well as many other stories of Asian American experience such as Chinese Exclusion, Japanese American Incarceration, and today’s refugee crises.

Dr. Julian Saporiti is a Vietnamese Italian American songwriter and scholar born in Nashville, Tennessee. His multi-media work "No-No Boy" has transformed his PhD research on Asian American history into concerts, albums, and films which have reached a broad and diverse public audience. His latest album "1975" released through Smithsonian Folkways has been hailed by  NPR as "one of the most insurgent pieces of music you'll ever hear" which "re-examines Americana with devastating effect" and American Songwriter called it "insanely listenable and gorgeous." By using art to dive into highly divisive issues such as race, refugees, and immigration, Saporiti aims to allow audience members to sit with complication as music and visuals open doorways to difficult histories.  

Saporiti currently lives in Portland, Oregon. As a teacher, he has taught courses in songwriting, music, literature, history, Asian American Studies, and ethnic studies at the University of Wyoming, Colorado College, Brown University and has served as artist/scholar in residence at many universities and high schools across the country. Saporiti holds degrees from Berklee College of Music, University of Wyoming, and Brown University and has been commissioned by cultural institutions such as Lincoln Center, the LA Philharmonic, the National Parks, and Carnegie Hall. 

Kit Zauhar

"Actual People": Film Screening + Conversation with Kit Zauhar

May 13, 2023 at the Hawthorne Barn, Provincetown, MA

Kit Zauhar is a Chinese-American writer, director, and actress originally from Philadelphia. She attended NYU Tisch School of the Arts where she majored in Film & Television Production and minored in creative writing and philosophy. Her work explores intimacy, sex, belonging, and the everyday victories and humiliations we all experience.  

Kit’s first feature, Actual People, was a microbudget indie that she wrote, directed, produced, and starred in. Made for only ten thousand dollars, the film has had a remarkable festival run. After premiering in competition at Locarno’s cineasti del presente, it went on to win the Aprile Award  at Milano Film Festival, Best Screenplay at Indie Memphis, and also screened at Jeonju Film Festival, Slamdance, New Hampshire Film Festival, and BAMcinemaFest, to name a few.  

It was lauded as:  

“[capturing] actual truths about the ways that young people behave.” 

“an auspicious start to a very promising career for someone who is likely to become an essential  voice in contemporary cinema.” 

“...an ironic and illuminating film, which captures the anxieties and enthusiasm, intimate desires, and loneliness of contemporary youth with incredible authenticity and involvement.”  

It is being distributed by Factory25 (North America/Europe), Parallax Films (Asia), and will stream worldwide through MUBI in January 2023. She is also in development for a television show of the same name. Both works follow a bi-racial young woman coming of age between New York and her hometown of Philadelphia, as she navigates her early-twenties with messy sincerity, dark humor, and moments of quiet grace and humanity.  

Her second feature, This Closeness, is currently in post-production. The film was made in collaboration with Neon Heart Productions (Shiva Baby, Palm Trees and Power Lines), and  Discordia Cine.