From mid 1979 through the beginning of 1981, during the peak of first wave punk in Los Angeles, The Hong Kong Cafe was the place to be. Yet the story of what happened there is little known. The feature length documentary "Upstairs, Downstairs, Night & Day" aims to bring that history to wider recognition. The film presents an in-depth exploration of the historical conditions and the people at the heart of the Hong Kong Low restaurant and Hong Kong Cafe venue.

The Hong Kong Cafe gave a home to outcasts and artists who were not welcome elsewhere. It provided a safe space for people to explore a new, experimental, non-conformist culture. Within the freedom of this environment, new modes of music and art flourished.

Christy Shigekawa, a photographer/video artist, began the project with musician/artist David Beard as a freeform exploration of her grandparents' restaurant, Hong Kong Low, which hosted the Hong Kong Cafe nightclub in their banquet hall.

Following the arc of history from the earliest Chinese immigration to Los Angeles through to the current era, the film weaves together historical facts with vivid first-person accounts through extensive interviews with Shigekawa’s family, restaurant staff, artists, musicians, club promoters, members of the punk scene, and Los Angeles Chinatown residents. It explores the parallels and intersections of cultures and subcultures and reveals how a history of marginalization and exclusion helped create the conditions where creativity could thrive.