2008 dc apa film festival selections announced

Last week, you got the sneak preview, but now it's official: the films for the Ninth Annual DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival have been announced! The 2008 festival press release follows, with links to the films added for easy browsing.

August 21, 2008 - Washington, D.C. APA Film Presents the 9th Annual DC Asian Pacific American (APA) Film Festival Sept. 25 through Oct. 4, 2008 at locations throughout the Washington, D.C., area including Landmark's E Street Cinema, Navy Memorial Theater, Goethe-Institut, and Freer Gallery of Art. The festival will showcase 14 features and over 45 short films. A complete schedule of films and descriptions is available at http://www.apafilm.org.

The Opening Night Presentation on Sept. 25th is Amal, a complex drama involving a family’s dispute over their father’s will and his connection to a humble auto-rickshaw driver in New Delhi, India. Director Richie Mehta and lead actor Rupinder Nagra are scheduled to attend.

On Sept. 27th, the festival presents a day of programs at the Freer Gallery of Art, including the documentary The Siamese Connection about Chang and Eng, the famous conjoined twins of the 19th Century from Thailand; and Long Story Short, profiling Larry and Trudie Long, a popular Chinese American husband-and-wife nightclub act of the '40s and '50s.

Several other documentaries will make their DC premieres. Maui Boyz follows ten local men from Maui as they live, work and play according the "Aloha Spirit" of Hawaii. Dr. Sharadkumar Dicksheet, a Nobel Prize nominee and wheelchair-bound doctor, is the tenacious star of Flying on One Engine (SXSW 2008), traveling to India every year to perform hundreds of free operations for children with facial deformities. A pair of documentaries investigate the human rights struggle of Korean comfort women who were forced into military sexual slavery during World War II (Behind Forgotten Eyes, The House of Sharing.).

A number of films feature ensemble casts of new and veteran Asian and American actors, including the romantic comedy Kissing Cousins (starring Samrat Chakrabarti, Gerry Bednob (40 Year Old Virgin), Jaleel White, and David Alan Grier); and Filipino drama Santa Mesa (starring Jaime Tirelli (Bella, Girlfight), Melissa Leo, and introducing Jacob Shalov).

Two programs will be presented in partnership with the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Anne Kaneko's Against the Grain explores the lives of working artists amidst political and economic unrest in Peru; and Sita Sings the Blues is a modern retelling of the Ramayana through spirited animation and blues music.

The Closing Night Presentation is Killing of a Chinese Cookie, Derek Shimoda's offbeat documentary that ponders the life and meaning of the fortune cookie in American pop culture.

The 2008 DC APA Film Festival and is supported by Scion Motors, Prudential, and a number of private corporations and nonprofit organizations. The DC APA Film Festival is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit arts service organization. For more information, visit http://www.apafilm.org, or email apafilm [at] apafilm.org. For press and media inquires, contact Anna Petrillo, anna [at] apafilm.org, (202) 330-5496.

Sneak Preview of this year's features

For loyal readers of our blog, here's a list of this year's features scheduled to appear at the festival, listed in the order they will appear at the festival. Check out the links to the websites of the films so you can get a head start on finding out what they're all about and mark your calendars. You won't want to miss their one-time-only screenings in our area!

thursday AMAL (OPENING NIGHT, SEPT 25)

friday MAUI BOYZ (SEPT 26)

saturday SIAMESE CONNECTION (SEPT 27)

saturday LONG STORY SHORT (SEPT 27)

saturday SANTA MESA (SEPT 27)

saturday KISSING COUSINS (SEPT 27)

sunday FLYING ON ONE ENGINE (SEPT 28)

wednesday AGAINST THE GRAIN: An Artist's Survival Guide to Peru (OCT 1)

wednesday SITA SINGS THE BLUES (OCT 1)

thursday BEHIND FORGOTTEN EYES (OCT 2)

friday 62 YEARS 6500 MILES BETWEEN (OCT 3)

saturday HOUSE OF SHARING (OCT 4)

saturday VINCENT WHO? (OCT 4)

saturday THE KILLING OF A CHINESE COOKIE (CLOSING NIGHT, OCT 4)

SHORTS at the festival- sneak preview

We love short film programs-- in 90 minutes you can see a doc, animated films, an experimental piece, a musical, a comedy, and an artsy drama-- oh the variety! Here's the list of short films that are scheduled to appear at the festival this year. We'll let you know our staff picks in our next newsletter. You won't want to miss any of the FIVE short film programs that we have planned for this year.

1-on-1
Anatomy of a Kiss
Anjali
Bookie
Beijing Haze
California King
Centennial
Cookies for Sale
Crossing Lines
Damn the Past!
Dandelion
Dream of Me
False Friends
God Only Knows
Interval
Jump
Key Tumi?
Ku Klux Kornea
Light Years
Love to Hate, Hate to Love
Lucky 8
Manoj
Noh-Chim
One
Pierre Pierrot
Potluck
Recollections
Red Yellow Blue
Rock Garden
Silence
Since You've Been Ong
Snapshots: Six Months of the Korean Male
Southern Exposure
Souvenirs From Asia
Sports and Diversions
Superhero Training Center
The 8.5 Minute Biography of Bianca Smith
The Bastard
The Chestnut Tree
The Pain with Being Thirsty
The Postcard
The State of Sunshine
What Happened on the Fourth Date
What is a Hapa?
Wind
Yellow Sticky Notes

Call for entries: SFIAAFF 2009

Center for Asian American Media Presents 27TH SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL March 12 - 22, 2009

*** CALL FOR ENTRIES ***

Postmark Deadlines:
Early -- September 5, 2008
Late -- October 3, 2008

ATTENTION ALL FILMMAKERS:

The San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) is now accepting submissions for the 2009 Festival. A presentation of the Center for Asian American Media (formerly NAATA), the SFIAAFF is the largest event in the nation dedicated to screening Asian American and Asian films. The Festival accepts films and videos of all lengths and genres that are made by and/or about Asian Americans and Asians of any nationality. To submit online, to download an entry form or for more information, visit asianamericanmedia.org

Help Wanted with the Festival!

We're currently recruiting volunteers to help promote the DC APA Film Festival! We need help in marketing and promotions to help get the word out to the public about the great program of films we'll be showing at the end of Sept. We'll be showing short films, features, and documentaries, from all around the world, about issues from race and identity to activism and entertainment. Marketing is especially in need of volunteers to help distribute information to the South Asian community. We offer great benefits to volunteers including free screenings and the chance to connect with the guest filmmakers! Contact anna@apafilm.org if you are interested.

Trailer Contest Deadline

Work well under pressure? You've got six days are left before the deadline of our 30 second festival trailer contest, sponsored by Scion. We've got a fantastic jury that is ready to judge the submissions and the public is ready to vote. Check out last year's finalists, read the rules and submission info for this year here. Good Luck!