San Diego Asian Film Festival 2009

Some people perform jobs that are considered inspirational. We call these people teachers, doctors and community organizers. Other people perform jobs that are disdained. We call them lawyers and car salesmen. And there are people who do the kind of work that we would prefer not to think about at all. We call them janitors. Director Patrick Shen calls them THE PHILOSOPHER KINGS.

The culture of custodians may be one of invisibility, but that doesn’t mean they are devoid of substance and wisdom. In a nod to Plato, Shen shows us the difference between having an education and possessing knowledge by spotlighting the artists, humanitarians and thinkers who clean up—but do not study at— some of America’s finest institutions of higher learning.

Five people from different backgrounds and different parts of the country invite Shen into their lives and reveal insights gained from both ordinary and occasionally extraordinary experiences of pain, ambition and love. As we move back and forth between their stories, we may come to envy how comfortable they are in their own skin—more comfortable, perhaps, than many of us. So the improbable happens, and a documentary about working people leaves us feeling optimistic and even renewed. With an engaging style and an eye for balancing drama, humor and despair, Shen transforms these personal mini-narratives into a larger conversation about the job of being human. – Silverdocs

Director Patrick Shen to attend Oct 23 screening.

Co-presented by:
CSUSM Asian Pacific Islander Faculty Staff Association