Quiet laughter, whispers from the peanut gallery and a Q & A session with film director Joe Doughrity were the order of the day when close to 60 students packed into Forum 1 to watch the romantic comedy short “Akira’s Hip Hop Shop.”

De Anza College student Nathalie Hyland, the driving force behind the screening, discovered this independent film about the romance between a Japanese record store owner and a black culinary student while doing research online.

“[The] movie goes beyond the love story,” said Hyland, who thought the film would be a great opportunity for students to discuss interracial communication.

Terell Sterling, a De Anza student in the audience, said he was happy to see that in today’s society, dating patterns have become more diverse.

The students in attendance, some of whom had been offered extra credit by teachers from the social sciences and art departments, chuckled at the comedic bits peppered throughout the film, such as a scene where Akira, the record store owner, bursts out about how his friend Natto “smells like ass.”

Also, the love-making scene, which Hyland said was too steamy for her, earned some animated whispers from the back seats.

Alex Lin, vice president of student rights and campus relations, said he had rarely seen movies about interracial dating between blacks and Asians. Doughrity believes that this is due to the idea that investors have little knowledge about the market for such films. “They’re not sure who the audience is,” he said.

Lin liked the fact that there was a film that touched on the topic because “it raises discussion.”

Discussion, Doughrity said, is what he is looking for.

“I’m not looking for a [politically correct] reaction,” he said. “I want to know why these stereotypes exist.”

On the film’s YouTube trailer, reactions “run the gambit” from applause to open racism, he said. However, Doughrity thinks that younger audiences are more aware and less surprised by interracial dating.

“It’s not even controversial to them,” he said.

“Akira’s Hip Hop Shop” would not have made it to De Anza without Hyland, who worked with Vice President John Swensson and film professor Barak Goldman to secure a screening room and sponsor the event. Goldman hosted an additional open screening and Q & A session the same day.

Hyland, an anthropology and nutrition major, said she found it difficult at times to navigate through the funding process and ran out of time to complete the application that would allow the school to sponsor the event.

“When it comes to paperwork, the school needs things way in advance,” she said. To make up for lacking funds, Hyland secretly paid for Doughrity’s plane tickets herself.

“Joe is the type who wouldn’t let me do that,” she said.

Hyland has no regrets about the lengths she went through to have the film screened.

“I’m happy that I did it,” she said. “This topic was close to my heart.”

Tamara Hahn is a freelance reporter for La Voz.