The Dragon Painter
The Coronado Historical Association, in partnership with the Coronado Island Film Festival, presents The Dragon Painter (1919). This cinematic gem was inducted into the prestigious National Film Registry in 2014 and stars silent-era heartthrob Sessue Hayakawa. In this romance drama, Hayakawa plays an artist desperate to find a sought-after princess muse, played by Hayakawa's wife Tsuru Aoki. This black-and-white film features the exquisite Coronado Japanese Tea Garden as a lush backdrop for the couple’s happy moments with many scenes also filmed in Yosemite National Park. Despite being filmed here in Coronado's Japanese Tea Garden over 103 years ago, this film will be screened for the first time in Coronado at the historic Village Theater. This silent film is accompanied by a complete score by Japanese-American composer Mark Izu. A limited number of The Dragon Painter screening VIP tickets will include a post-screening reception with Q&A with Daisuke Miyao at the Coronado Historical Association (1100 Orange Avenue). VIP tickets cost $40 for Coronado Island Film Festival and Coronado Historical Association members and $35 for non-members. General admission tickets are $15. Tickets can be purchased on the Coronado Film Festival’s website coronadofilmfest.com. Run-time is 53 minutes. The screening of this film is in collaboration with the Coronado Historical Association exhibit Uprooted: The Story of Japanese Americans in Coronado.