Quentin Lee’s Margin Films Marks 30th Anniversary With ‘Shopping for Fangs’ Leading L.A. Screening Series (EXCLUSIVE)

Queer Asian-Canadian-American filmmaker Quentin Lee and his Los Angeles-based production banner Margin Films will mark three decades of independent production with Cinemasianamerica, a week-long theatrical retrospective at the Laemmle Royal running May 1–7.

The series will stream globally day-and-date on Asian American Movies (AAM.tv).

Seven titles spanning Lee’s career will screen across the run, opening May 1 with “Shopping for Fangs,” his 1997 debut feature co-directed with Justin Lin – who would go on to helm multiple entries in the “Fast & Furious” franchise. The film, which also marked actor John Cho‘s theatrical feature debut, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 1997 in the Perspective Canada section. Q&A sessions will accompany most screenings, including the opener.

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Subsequent nights will feature “Ethan Mao” (May 2), “The People I’ve Slept With” (May 3), “The Unbidden” (May 4), “Rez Comedy” (May 5) and “Last Summer of Nathan Lee” (May 6). The series closes May 7 with a preview of three episodes from the forthcoming series “Comedy InvAsian III,” accompanied by a Q&A.

“I am excited for a new audience to rediscover my work, especially ‘Shopping for Fangs,’ marking the theatrical feature debut of myself, co-director Justin Lin, and actor John Cho,” Lee said. “When I started Margin Films as a Canadian UCLA graduate student in Los Angeles, I certainly did not expect to be here 30 years later.”

Margin Films was founded in Los Angeles in 1996 with a mandate to bring stories from underrepresented communities – among them LGBTQ+, Asian, LatinX, Black and Indigenous audiences – into mainstream entertainment. Its Canadian affiliate, Margin Films Ltd., was established in 2021; the company’s first Canadian TV series, “Comedy Invasion,” won the 2024 Canadian Screen Award for best comedy special.