The Shangri-la Cafe

The Shangri-la Cafe is a 2000 film written and directed by Lily Mariye. The film is about a Japanese American family who conceal their identity and reluctantly adopt discriminatory practices in order to operate a Chinese restaurant within the hostile cold war climate of Las Vegas in the late 1950s.
Reviews.
"“It’s an impressive directing debut for actress Lily Mariye. Heartfelt and unusually sensitive to the heightened experience of children, “The Shangri-la Cafe” is a strong showcase for Mariye’s directing talents. It deserves to be expanded into a feature.”"
-Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
""An extraordinary debut by a unique new voice in American filmmaking." " 
-Jonathan Kaplan, Director, The Accused, Over the Edge
"... Lily is a director with vision." -Anthony Edwards, Actor/Director
"A compelling and emotional story, superbly told, Lily Mariye has much to say and this is a powerful beginning"-Lesli Linka Glatter, Director, The Proposition, Now and Then, State of Emergency
"A stirring evocation of a very personal place and time, 'The Shangri-la Cafe' serves up a tender, bittersweet childhood recollection of a not always glittering Las Vegas past."-Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter