`Maceo' Proved Challenge For Filmmaker And Subject

Eight years in the making, John Esaki's "Maceo: Demon Drummer From East L.A." has its local premiere at 7 o'clock tonight at the Seattle Art Museum.

Esaki began shooting the film/video production in 1986. He watched its subject, Maceo Hernandez, grow from a young Mexican-American teenager to a professional drummer who performed in Japan and Europe with the taiko group, Zendeko.

"I started the documentary when Maceo came home from Japan the first time," said Esaki by phone from Los Angeles. He and Hernandez will talk at tonight's screening.

"I had known him and his mother Barbara from before, when he was 5 or 6 years old. When he got involved with taiko, I started to think this would make an interesting topic: an example of someone who was not Japanese getting something out of the Japanese-American culture. In the beginning it was about the interrelationship between the cultures, the overlapping points where people were sharing aspects of their culture."

Tragic accident

First the American Film Institute, then a Los Angeles cultural-affairs group came up with money to get the project moving. Then in 1989, Hernandez lost a leg in a freakish traffic accident in Japan. One year later, he completed the New York marathon.

"His life took some unexpected twists after his accident, and for a time it was difficult to continue the project," said Esaki. "It took awhile for him to come to terms with it, to feel comfortable opening up in front of the video camera."

Esaki, who got his start co-writing the Asian-American feature film, "Hito Hata: Raise the Banner" (1980), was involved in other projects during those years. He worked on Steve Okazaki's Oscar-winning documentary, "Days of Waiting," (1990), and he co-wrote his own production, "Lotusland" (1991), a pilot for a proposed series that he describes as an Asian-American "Northern Exposure."

"Not all the elements were quite there for `Maceo' until last year," he said. Because he didn't have a budget that would take him to Japan, he had to rely on material from Fuji television that dealt with the accident. He completed "Maceo" last August, in time for Visions Communications' annual fund-raiser.

"It's called Chili Visions," he said of the benefit. "It's a cook-off with different groups cooking their own distinctive kinds of chili. In the evening the latest Asian Pacific films are shown. I had the idea that `Maceo' would be a good film for that, and I gave myself a deadline. We were still mixing the sound the day before it was shown."

Films show perseverance

Like much of Esaki's work, "Maceo" deals with a struggle against considerable odds.

"My previous film is about Yuki Shimoda, an Asian-American actor who persevered through obstacles in Hollywood," he said. "There will be difficult challenges no matter what you pursue. It's a subject that has always appealed to me. I admire people who hang in there and confront the challenge, people who don't give in to negativity."

Esaki began shooting "Maceo" in 1986 with a borrowed camcorder, and he feels that can be inspiring to people with similar ambitions and few funds.

"I like to encourage people who have personal concerns or subjects they're intrigued with, even though they may not have a lot of resources at their disposal at the beginning," he said. "You can bring in other sources eventually. It's important that people know they can start something like this on a very low-budget level."

Benefit for film festival

Tonight's screening of "Maceo" is a benefit for the Seattle Asian-American Film Festival, which will take place May 6-9 at the Seattle Art Museum. A tribute to silent star Sessue Hayakawa, who received a 1957 Oscar nomination for "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and died in 1973, will be part of the spring events. Also on the schedule are the West Coast premiere of Arthur Dong's documentary about gays in the military, "Coming Out Under Fire," and Tiana Thi Thanh Nga's "From Hollywood to Hanoi."

"Seattle is such a fertile area for Asian-Pacific culture," said Esaki. "It's nice to know that they're going to do this. If they can raise the money for the festival committee, it will allow them to be more organized for the festival itself."

Ticket prices for "Maceo" are $12 in advance, $14 at the door, and $10 for students and seniors. For information, call 251-1181.