2016 YOUR WINDOW TO THE ASIAN WORLD VARIETY PODCAST SERIES INTRODUCING OUR NEW WEEKLY PODCAST aitysh film THE FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY ‘AITYSH FILM’ WAS FOUNDED BY PUBLIC FIGURE, PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR SADYK SHER- NIYAZ IN 2006 IN BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN AS A BRANCH OF AITYSH PUBLIC FUND. Today Aitysh Film is one of the leading production studios in Kyrgyzstan, which is fully equipped with modern material and technical base, corresponding to world standards. Studio employees are experienced and creative professionals who have repeatedly proved their level of professionalism not only in Kyrgyzstan, but also abroad. The studio consists of a cinematography, sound recording, dubbing and editing, post-production workshops. The studio is engaged in the production of feature, animated and Insights on the year in film, reflections on the documentary lms for television, as well as high-quality and popular audio ups and downs of awards season and in-depth interviews with leading industry talent. video products, such as social, image, commercials, music videos, video presentations, audio clips and dubbing. EPISODE 5 EPISODE 6 EPISODE 7 @ [email protected] JEFF BRIDGES AARON ECKHART ANDREW GARFIELD f www.facebook.com/aityshlm www.youtube.com/aitysh film LISTEN NOW ON www.instagram.com/aityshlm TO ADVERTISE CONTACT JASON GREENBLATT 646 5242668 [email protected] WE ARE YOUR WINDOW TO ASIAN WORLD CINEMA The Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) brings the best of a broad selection of Asian World cinema to Los Angeles in order to draw greater recognition to the region’s wealth of filmmakers, strengthening ties between the Asian and Hollywood film in- dustries. ABOUT THE FESTIVAL Uniting through cross-cultural collaboration, our Festival champions films from 51 countries across Asia spanning from Turkey to Japan and Russia to India. Asian World Film Festival is organized under Aitysh USA, a non-profit organization. Welcome Note 6 Honorary & Advisory Board 11 Honorees 12 Jury Members 14 Asian World Industry Forum 16 Our Partners 17 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE Opening Night Film 18 Closing Night Film 20 Competition 21 Official Selection 39 Festival Team 62 Acknowledgements 62 SPONSOR 1285 Dealy Lane Napa, CA 94559 | 707.253.1615 www.kieuhoangwiner y.com Dear Festivalgoers, Greetings Friends and Film Enthusiasts! I would like to extend a very sincere and warm welcome to everyone attending our second Asian World The Asian World Film Festival is only in its second year, but we have already grown so Film Festival, here in Culver City. much! Last year's inaugural Festival was an outstanding success, attracting 30 films from 27 Asian countries The Asian continent consists of 51 unique countries-- from the mysteries of the Middle which included 17 Oscar® submissions, 10 Golden Globe ® submissions and an Oscar® nomination! It East to the magic of the Far East, by way of the fascinating Great Silk Road, colorful also hosted over 7,000 festival participants, and I am confident that this year's Festival will be an even Russia and the Caucasus. greater success. Party Sponsors Party Sponsors Our Festival is your window to the wealth of film talent that continues to be born be- I am delighted to announce that this year theHalf Festival page has partnered with the Hollywood Foreign Press tween Heaven and Earth. We celebrateHalf page these Filmmakers. We celebrate the culture of Association and that we will be presenting the official screenings of many of the Asian films submitted the East that meets the West. I hope in our Festival you will discover far off regions you to the Golden Globes® for Best Foreign Language Film. have never heard of, such as Yakutia, Buryatia, Tuva and Bashkhortistan. We are also extremely honored to welcome Lighthouse Worldwide Solutions and CJ Entertainment as We are here to share our passion with you and with Hollywood. That is why it is so be- our Presenting Sponsors, Variety as our Media Partner and Etihad Airways as the Official Airline Part- fitting that our Festival is located in Downtown Culver City, historically the very heart ner. of screenland. I would like to thank Culver City, as well as all our existing and new partners for supporting the Fes- My team and I will be there for you, to welcome you with open heart and arms, to get to tival. I would also like to thank everyone from Culver City and beyond for attending our Festival. I know you and live the 'moment' with you. We warmly welcome you to the Festival as part of our growing family. So come and promise you that we will continue to screen only the very best of Asian cinema to as wide an audience share the love and passion of the seventh art and let cinema be the language of peace! as possible. I trust that this year you will all enjoy the tremendous selection of films that we have to offer from across the Asian continent. Yours cinematically, I very much look forward to seeing you all at the Festival. Georges N. Chamchoum Executive & Program Director Sadyk Sher-Niyaz Asian World Film Festival Founder of the Asian World Film Festival Founder of Aitysh Film, Kyrgyzstan 6 7 37297EYUS_US_NK3_Asian World Film Fest_Mag_10.875x8.375w_#150.indd 1 3/10/16 10:34 am AMRA BALJINNYAM HON. ROY PAUL Actor Judge for the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California PETER BELSITO International Film Consultant and Producer STEVEN SEAGAL Actor HRH PRINCE GHARIOS OF GHASSAN Filmmaker and Heir of the Ghassanid Dynasty CHUL SHIN South Korean Film Producer and Distributor HANY HADDAD Immediate Past Chair of Board of Directors - West Holly- SRILA SINGH wood Chamber of Commerce Philanthropist HONORARY BOARD HONORARY MAYA IBRAHIM ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA Lebanese Philanthropist Former Mayor of Los Angeles MARIO KASSAR FERRIS WEHBE Executive Producer, Carolco Pictures Community Leader and Co-Founder of the Holly- wood Schoolhouse KEVIN JAMES - Director and Chief Liaison, Mayor’s Office of Film and Television Production, City of Los Angeles MURRAY WEISSMAN (in memoriam) Chairman and Co-Founder, Weissman/Markovitz AMIN MAALOUF Communications Member of the French Academy and Best-Selling Author JEAN-MARC VALLEE VLADIMIR MENSHOV Director of Oscar Nominated Film Dallas Buyer’s Club Oscar®-Winning Director GRACE YOO ANDRE MORGAN Korean Activist and Public Figure Oscar®-Winning Film and TV Producer GEORGE OVASHVILI Filmmaker from the Republic of Georgia DR. TAE YUN KIM THOMAS LIM President of the Advisory Board - CEO of Lighthouse Director, Actor & Producer Worldwide Solutions & Philanthropist & Ambassador to the Nations BRAD LITTLEFIELD Film Producer JEFF ANDRICK Film Producer CHRIS NASSIF Film Producer PEGGY HOVSEPIAN Producer JAKE SEAL Film Producer MEDHA JAISHANKAR ADVISORY BOARD ADVISORY Film and TV Producer KEON SEOP PARK South Korean Film Producer IMRAN KHAN Actor ELIYAS QURESHI Film Producer JEREMY KAGAN Emmy-Winning TV and Film Director, Writer and Producer NICK N. RASLAN Film Producer IGOR KOKAREV Scholar and Expert on Soviet and American Film History THOMAS SMALL Writer and City of Culver City Council Member SYDNEY LEVINE International Film Consultant and Indiewire columnist, SydneysBuzz www.berriscafela.com | 8412 W 3rd St Los Angeles, CA 90048 | (323) 852-0642 11 Tyrus Wong - Lifetime Achievement Award TYRUS is Tyrus Wong, a living legend. Nearly all of America, if not the world, has seen his work, and most likely has been deeply moved by it. But few could tell you his name. Even fewer are aware of the impact his work has had, and continues to have, on American art and popular culture. At 105, he is America’s oldest living Chinese American artist and one of the last remaining artists from the golden age of Disney animation. “Tyrus Wong’s story is a prime example of one of the many gaping holes in our society’s narrative on art, cinema, and Western history. By telling his story, I hope to shine light on one of America’s unsung heroes, and to raise awareness of the vital contributions he’s made to American culture,”ex- plains filmmaker Pamela Tom. Tyrus Wong was born in Canton (now Guangzhou), China in1910, right before the fall of the Chinese Empire. In 1919, he and his father immigrate to America, never to see their family again. Like other Chinese immigrants, Tyrus’s adventure to the “Gold Mountain” begins in a locked cell at the Angel Island Immigration Station, where a frightened nine-year-old Tyrus is interrogated and detained for over a month. It’s a time of miserable suffering, yet it does not break Tyrus’s spirit. “As a descendant of an Angel Island paperson, I know that the real story is not just what the immigrant experienced on the island, but what the immigrant accomplished afterwards. Because the art of Tyrus Wong has touched so many people, I saw his story as “Exhibit A” to illustrate the con- tribution of Asian immigrants in America,”notes executive producer Buck Gee. Tyrus’s only interests are to paint and draw. Too broke to afford ink or paper, his father fosters his son’s artistic talents by having Tyruspractice calligraphy by dipping brushes in water and leaving an impression on old newspapers. Although he is a self-proclaimed “lousy student,” Tyrus earns a scholarship from the Otis Art Institute while in junior high school and also takes advantage of the nearby Los Angeles Central Library, where he studies the art of the Sung Dynasty in his free time. But it isn’tan entirely academic, intellectual path: Tyrus takes on a number of odd jobs to make ends meet, from serving as a waiter in the bohemian underground Chinatown restaurant Dragon’s Den to picking asparagus in the fields. “The plight of the Chinese was very different in the early 1900s.