34th Asian American International Film Festival

Aug 29

AAIFF’11 Winners

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS

The One to Watch Award was presented to director Namgyal Wangchuk Trichen Lhagyari for his short film MY COUNTRY IS TIBET. Eligible films screened in the FOR YOUTH BY YOUTH: AGE AIN’T NOTHING BUT A NUMBER shorts program, which featured films directed by young adults ages 15-21. Lhagyari, a seventeen-year-old Tibetan refugee and descendant of the first Tibetan Dharma King, is fueled by a sense of responsibility to his people to present his message through film. 

The Audience Choice Award for Documentary Feature was presented to TALES OF THE WARIA, directed by Kathy Huang. This humorous and touching documentary explores a unique community of men in Indonesia who live openly as women. Known as warias, these individuals must balance their identity with intimacy, and their Islamic faith. 

The Audience Choice Award for Narrative Feature was presented toMY WEDDING AND OTHER SECRETS, directed by Roseanne Liang. Based on the director’s own experience, this film follows Emily as she struggles to hide her forbidden relationship with a Caucasian man from her parents, and discovers that, love cannot persevere on optimism alone.

JURY SELECTION AWARDS

The Emerging Director Award for Documentary Feature Award was awarded to S. Casper Wong for her film THE LULU SESSIONS. More affectionately known as LuLu, the unconventional Dr. Louise Nutter finds out she has the very illness she researches: breast cancer. Best friend and filmmaker S. Casper Wong captures her last 15 months on video as they embark on LuLu’s last and most enlightening adventure. The other two nominees to be considered for this award were ENFORCING THE SILENCE (dir. Tony Nguyen) and TALES OF THE WARIA (dir. Kathy Huang).

 Jurors:

Ariella Ben-Dov, Artistic and Festival Director, Margaret Mead Film Festival (AMNH) 

Suchin Pak, Spokeswoman for uniquely ME!, The Girl Scout/Dove Self-Esteem Program

Josh Siegel, Associate Curator, Department of Film at the Museum of Modern Art

The Emerging Director Award for Narrative Feature was awarded to director Zhang Meng for his film THE PIANO IN A FACTORY. Chen is in a nasty custody battle with his estranged wife. A man of little means, he struggles to obtain a piano at all costs in order to convince his young daughter to stay with him. Other films considered for this award were MY WEDDING AND OTHER SECRETS (dir. Roseanne Liang), SAIGON ELECTRIC (dir. Stephane Gauger), and STRAWBERRY CLIFF (dir. Chris Chow).

Jurors: 

Peilin Chou, President & Co-founder, Lifefilm Entertainment

Jeff Deutchman, Acquisitions Manager, IFC Films

David Schwartz, Chief Curator, Museum of the Moving Image

 The Excellence in Short Filmmaking Award was awarded to SCUMBAG, PERVERT AND THE GIRL IN BETWEEN, directed by Bruce Hwang Chen. The innocence of young love is hilariously corrupted by a stranger’s tawdry actions in this comedic short. A well-intentioned high school boy navigates the fine line between chivalrous champion and pervert after witnessing a girl’s gym shorts being stolen. Other films to be nominated for this award are CROSSING SALWEEN (dir. Brian O’Malley), DREAMGIVER (dir. Tyler Carter), FATAKRA (dir. Soham Mehta), HOTEL 66 (dir. Anthony Chen), LUNCHTIME (dir. Keo Woolford), MASALA MAMA (dir. Michael Kam), PRESCOTT PLACE (dir. Peilin Kuo), and TU& EU (dir. Edward Shieh).

Jurors:

Sean McPhillips, Senior Programmer & Festival Director, Gold Coast International Film Festival

Brian Tee, Actor (THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS 3, TOKYO DRIFT; WEDDING PALACE)

Caroline Tran, Director of Programming Operations & Associate Programmer, Tribeca Film Festival

Aug 15

THANK YOU

The Festival is over, but you can still catch community screenings at Queens Library and Big Screen Plaza! THANK YOU to everyone who attended, volunteered, created or sponsored any of the films or workshops at AAIFF! And let’s not forget our STAFF, who worked 15+ hours for five consecutive days to keep the Festival running. AAIFF ‘11 was a great SUCCESS!

Jul 31

LIGHTUP FILM’S MUSIC NIGHT OUT

Don’t miss the best party of our Festival! Sponsored by LIGHTUP FILM, we’ll be having a music video showcase PLUS live performances. We’re proud to present the acclaimed hip hop duo BLUE SCHOLARS along with JESSE BOYKINS III, a BET award nominated world soul singer. Check out our music video lineup:

MUSIC VIDEO SHOWCASE

“Fou Lee” - Blue Scholars
Dir. Canh Solo & Jason Hakala

“B4 The Night Is Thru” - Jesse Boykins III
Director: Dr. Woo

“Nobody Greater” - Vashawn Mitchell
Director: Bobby Yan

“Charm City” - Red Datsun
Director: Steven Mallorca

“Sud Kob Fah” - Thaitanium
Director: Kaos

“NY Loves Me” - Public School NYC
Director: LightUp Film

“I Got My” - Magnetic North & Taiyo Na, ft. Jin
Director: Derek Kan

“Sartorial Sounds Live” - Street Etiquette
Director: LightUp Film

DON’T MISS IT! Spread the word. For more information and to buy tickets, visit aaiff.org!

Jul 30

E-bulletin! Don’t miss the latest news

To all of our fans out there -

Thanks for following! If you’d like to get more information on film festival recommendations, grant info, call for entries, screenings, workshops and more, sign up for ACV’s e-bulletin at http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=001-C0KnEtb87dX3RkBP0ZBYA%3D%3D.

Don’t miss out on it! It’s great for filmmakers, actors and movie lovers alike. If you’re directing a film festival, sponsoring a workshop, or holding a casting call, shoot us an e-mail at info@asiancinevision.org and we’ll add your event to our e-bulletin. Thanks for all of your support!

Jul 21

Enforcing the Silence Trailer http://…

Check out our media sponsor’s coverage of ENFORCING THE SILENCE, to screen at the Festival!

channelapa:

Enforcing the Silence Trailer http://ow.ly/1dUhiK

Jul 19

Ticket Special!

We have a 3-for-2 ticket special for general admission running in JULY ONLY, therefore you want to take advantage of this as soon as possible! Visit aaiff.org under “ticket sales” for more information.

Jul 15

FULL LINEUP ON OUR WEBSITE! -

We had a great time last night at the AAIFF’11 Launch party @ Blue Owl. Great drinks, great people, and best of all, the screening of our festival trailer!

Hello everyone! It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for; we’ve released our full lineup for this year’s Asian American International Film Festival! To view the full lineup and information on ticket sales, venues, workshops and more, please visit our website in the attached link. We have incredible films this year, so come out and show your support at AAIFF ‘11!

Jul 07

HOTEL DISCOUNTS FOR AAIFF ‘11!

We’ve got three hotel discounts for all you attendees of AAIFF ‘11 - here’s your chance to save a few bucks while attending one of the greatest festivals in New York. Book them today!

Ace Hotel https://gc.synxis.com/rez.aspx?Hotel=22033&Chain=7231&promo=AAIFF AAIFF guests receives a 15% discount when booked from the link above. Rates: 275$-400$ 

Holiday Inn Chelsea http://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/en/new-york-city/nycvc/hoteldetail Book Directly at Deven Miller/ ph: 718-513-5104/ email: dmiller@hi-nyc.com mentioning AAIFF’11. 15% off. Rates: 225-300$  

Chelsea Savoy Hotel $10 Discount only for these rates booked directly at 212.929.9353 ask for Monika when mentioning AAIFF ‘11. Single Room 125$ + tax per night. Double Room 135$ + tax per night

Jun 06

AAIFF’11 Dates!

With the temperature soaring into the 90’s, we are excitedly gearing up for the start of summer. And here at Asian CineVision, summers mean Asian American International Film Festivals! After some scheduling changes, we’ve revised the dates for this year’s festival. They are now August 10-20, 2011. We have a really exciting line-up planned, so stay tuned for more info!

May 26

the living compilation: How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Asian American Independent Films -

photo courtesy of asianamericansinmedia blog

Now I know there are perfectly good movies and some classic films made using the below elements and I don’t doubt that there are stories to be told that would implement said elements, after all, these are universal themes that we all have…

Something to consider and to make of what you will. Obviously as a film festival, AAIFF sees a ton of Asian/Asian American independent films; it’s what we DO, after all. Luckily for us, most of them are quite original.