LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL APRIL 27 - MAY 4 presented by Visual Communications

#LAAPFF2017 • 1 THEATER & PROGRAM SCHEDULE VENUE LEGEND ARATANI TAT 7:00 PM | 84 MINS  WILDEST IMAGINATION Aratani Theatre @ THURS APRIL 27 Japanese American DTIND 7:00 PM | 124 MINS  THREE SASSY SISTERS EGY 7:00 PM | 101 MINS  Cultural & FRI APRIL 28 ARATANI 8:00 PM | 94 MINS  GOOK Community Center DTIND 10:00 PM | 88 MINS  TOKYO IDOLS TAT 4:00 PM | 79 MINS  RELOCATION, ARKANSAS- ART AFTERMATH OF INCARCERATION SUN APRIL 30 Art Share L.A. DTIND 11:30 AM | 100 MINS  CINE-DIORAMA DTIND 6:00 PM | 92 MINS  I GOT YOU, FAM CGV TAT 6:30 PM | 49 MINS  HBO APA VISIONARIES CGV3 11:30 AM | 88 MINS  WINDOW HORSES CGV Cinemas ARATANI 8:00 PM | 113 MINS  I CAN, I WILL, I DID TAT 12:00 PM | 81 MINS  THE BIG PICTURE, IN BITE-SIZED Koreatown CHUNKS - APAS AND TAT 8:30 PM | 78 MINS  RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE CGV-BP DTIND 8:30 PM | 105 MINS  BY THE TIME IT GETS DARK WEBISODIC SERIES CGV Cinemas DTIND 11:00 PM | 96 MINS  YELLOW JANM 12:00 PM | 75 MINS  C3 PANEL - BUZZFEED: “IMPACT Buena Park AND VISIBILITY ON THE DIGITAL SAT APRIL 29 DGA TAT 10:00 AM | 45 MINS  ITSY BITSY SHORTS FRONTIER AND BEYOND” Directors Guild DTIND 11:30 AM | 84 MINS  PINK HOUSE, PINK HOME CGV3 1:45 PM | 87 MINS  THE SUM OF MY MEMORY of America JANM 1:45 PM | 75 MINS  C3 PANEL - WRITERS GUILD OF TAT 11:30 AM | 62 MINS  FROM VISION TO REEL DTIND JANM 12:00 PM | 75 MINS  C3 PANEL - DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA,WEST: “WOMEN ON TOP: Downtown AMERICA: “DIRECTING HORROR & MEET THE CREATIVE FORCES Independent BEHIND MARVEL’S AGENTS OF GENRE” EGYPT JANM 1:45 PM | 75 MINS  C3 PANEL - MOTION PICTURE S.H.I.E.L.D., QUEEN OF THE SOUTH, The Egyptian Theatre AND QUEEN SUGAR” EDITORS GUILD: “EDITING FOR GEF DTIND 2:00 PM | 94 MINS  MOTHERLAND ANIMATION AND STOP MOTION” Geffen Contemporary DTIND 2:00 PM | 96 MINS  MIXED MATCH ARATANI 2:00 PM | 81 MINS  DIGITAL HISTORIES 2017: at MOCA PAST INFORMS THE FUTURE TAT 2:00 PM | 57 MINS  WET SAND: VOICES FROM L.A. JANM TAT 2:30 PM | 76 MINS  FINDING KUKAN JANM 3:15 PM | 75 MINS  C3 PANEL - “DIMENSION 404: THE Aratani Central Hall FUTURE OF STORYTELLING IN THE JANM 3:15 PM | 75 MINS  C3 PANEL - SAG-AFTRA: “BETTER @ Japanese American DIGITAL SPACE” LUCK TOMORROW: A National Museum RETROSPECTIVE” TAT 4:30 PM | 82 MINS  A TIME TO SWIM KCC DTIND 4:30 PM | 95 MINS  THE LOCKPICKER CGV3 4:00 PM | 82 MINS  PLASTIC Korean Cultural JANM 4:45 PM | 90 MINS  C3 COMMUNITY PANEL - UCLA DTIND 4:30 PM | 88 MINS  ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL Center TAT 5:00 PM | 65 MINS  MELE MURALS LUSKIN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC TAT AFFAIRS AS PART OF THE MEYER CGV3 6:30 PM | 108 MINS  THE ROAD TO MANDALAY Tateuchi Democracy AND RENEE LUSKIN LECTURE DTIND 7:00 PM | 70 MIN  NORMAN JONES Forum @ Japanese SERIES: “MEDIA & SOICAL CHANGE” TAT 7:30 PM | 95 MINS  REBEL HEARTS American National Museum ARATANI 5:00 PM | 60 MINS  SAVE MY SEOUL DTIND 9:15 PM | 84 MINS  CARDINAL X CGV3 9:15 PM | 102 MINS  POP AYE TGC The Great Company MON MAY 1 THURS MAY 4 GEF 6:00 PM | 68 MINS  TURN LEFT TURN RIGHT DGA 7:00 PM | 104 MINS  COLUMBUS FILM LEGEND CGV3 6:30 PM | 90 MINS  SAVING SALLY FRI MAY 5  DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION DTIND 7:00 PM | 82 MINS  WEXFORD PLAZA CGV-BP 7:30 PM | 114 MINS  SHE’S THE BOSS CGV2 7:00 PM | 57 MINS  UNBROKEN GLASS CGV-BP 10:00 PM | 80 MINS  ENCORE: CHEE AND T  C3 CONFERENCE KCC 7:30 PM | 120 MINS  C3 PANEL - KOREAN FILM SAT MAY 6  INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL: “INDEPENDENT CGV-BP 11:30 AM | 79 MINS  ENCORE: RELOCATION, COMPETITION FILMMAKING IN THE ERA OF ARKANSAS - AFTERMATH OF  NARRATIVE DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION” INCARCERATION COMPETITION TGC 8:00 PM | ~ 80 MINS  TOP 8 CGV-BP 2:00 PM | 78 MINS  ENCORE: RESISTANCE AT  GALA GEF 8:30 PM | 104 MINS  DIAMOND ISLAND TULE LAKE PRESENTATION CGV3 9:00 PM | 98 MINS  FEMINIST AF CGV-BP 4:30 PM | 90 MINS  FATHER AND SON  SHORTS DTIND 9:30 PM | 90 MINS  WHO IS ARTHUR CHU? CGV-BP 7:00 PM | 95 MINS  JACKPOT PROGRAM CGV2 9:30 PM | 89 MINS  WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME CGV-BP 9:30 PM | 90 MINS  ENCORE: WHO IS ARTHUR CHU?  SPECIAL TUE MAY 2 SUN MAY 7 PRESENTATION CGV3 5:00 PM | 68 MINS  RE:ORIENTATIONS CGV-BP 1:00 PM | 66 MINS  ENCORE: MELE MURALS  SPONSORED CGV3 6:30 PM | 91 MINS  THE SOUL OF THE TIGER CGV-BP 3:00 PM | 75 MINS  ENCORE: FINDING KUKAN PRESENTATION DTIND 7:00 PM | 88 MINS  SMALL TALK CGV-BP 5:30 PM | 117 MINS  LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA  LAAPFF BEST OF CGV2 7:00 PM | 78 MINS  JOSHUA: TEENAGER VS. CGV-BP 8:00 PM | TBA  ENCORE: INTERNATIONAL THE FEST IN OC SUPERPOWER COMPETITION WINNER CGV3 9:00 PM | 92 MINS  IN AND OUT OF THE SLIPSTREAM MON MAY 8 DTIND 9:30 PM | 88 MINS  KING OF PEKING CGV-BP 6:30 PM | 104 MINS  ENCORE: DIAMOND ISLAND CVG2 9:30 PM | 92 MINS  GOOD BONES CGV-BP 8:45 PM | TBA  ENCORE: SHORTS WED MAY 3 COMPETITION WINNERS & HBO APA VISIONARIES CGV3 4:30 PM | 84 MINS  ENCORE: CARDINAL X GEF 6:00 PM | 91 MINS  RESEBA - THE DARK WIND TUE MAY 9 CGV-BP 6:30 PM | 68 MINS  ENCORE: TURN LEFT ALL PROGRAMS SUBJECT ART 6:00 PM | 80 MINS  FILAM CREATIONS: TO CHANGE OR TURN RIGHT A FILMMAKER MOVEMENT CANCELLATION WITHOUT CGV1 7:00 PM | 62 MINS  ARMED, LOCKED, & LOADED CGV-BP 8:30 PM | TBA  ENCORE: DOCUMENTARY PRIOR NOTICE. FOR DTIND 7:00 PM | 117 MINS  THE SOWER COMPETITION WINNER UPDATED PROGRAM CGV2 7:00 PM | 86 MINS  95 AND 6 TO GO WED MAY 10 INFORMATION GEF 8:30 PM | 101 MINS  TAXI STORIES CGV-BP 6:30 PM | 88 MINS  ENCORE: KING OF PEKING PLEASE VISIT: FESTIVAL.VCONLINE.ORG CGV1 9:15 PM | 80 MINS  CHEE & T CGV-BP 9:00 PM | TBA  ENCORE: NARRATIVE CGV2 9:30 PM | 70 MINS  GHOST MAGNET COMPETITION WINNER ROACH MOTEL THUR MAY 10 DTIND 9:30 PM | 111 MINS  WTF: WATCH THESE FILMS CGV-BP 7:00 PM | 103 MINS  FANATIC

#LAAPFF2017 • 1 HBO is a proud sponsor of the 2017 LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL

©2017 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO® and related channels and service marks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc. CONTENTS 1 Program Schedule 38 Festival Award Timeline 5 Welcome Letter 42 Narrative Competition Nominees 6 Festival Sponsors 44 Documentary Competition Nominees 8 Community Partners 47 International Competition Nominees HBO 9 Ticketing Information 50 Shorts Competition Nominees is a proud sponsor of the 2017 10 Venues 53 Programmers' Picks 13 Parties & Afterhours 55 Gala Presentations LOS ANGELES 14 About Visual Communications 63 Special Presentations 15 Become A VC Member 71 Narrative Feature Competition ASIAN PACIFIC 16 VC Member & Donors 79 Documentary Feature Competition FILM FESTIVAL 18 C3 Conference 91 International Feature Competition 22 2017 Festival Programming Overview 107 Shorts Programs 27 #StarringJohnCho 131 LAAPFF Best of the Fest in OC 28 Flash Point 2017 137 About Our Art 30 Bronzeville, Little Tokyo 138 Staff List 36 Tigers Roar: Southeast Asian Cinema 140 Special Thanks 37 Spotlight On Taiwan 141 Film Print Sources

©2017 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO® and related channels and service marks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc. #LAAPFF2017 • 3 4 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 WELCOME

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, analyses, experiences, and strat- Standing Rock activists and felt these bookends, we ask our- 2016. I walked into the VC of- egies for resistance not only the sorrow from the parents of selves, how far have we come? fice after a sleepless night. In the became a place of solace, but murdered bodies who gave a And how much further do we Archives sat Duane Kubo, Bob a space for the incitement of wailing call for the Black Lives need to go? Nakamura, and Eddie Wong. The desires. It was at this time that Matter movement. I saw a wom- Interposed is our Centerpiece VC Founders have been in the I started reviewing issues of an in a hijab and felt the exas- film highlights Justin Chon’s office gearing up for a project GIDRA11 on Densho22 to learn perated shriek of the Japanese GOOK, as we commemorate the called “At First Light: Asian Pacific about our histories through the American community as they L.A. Riots on its 25th anniversary. America 1970 to 1990”, a major art and writing. While I appreci- relive internment camps through The film is part of FLASHPOINT, a exhibition of films, photographs, ated the countless illustrations the implementation of a Muslim program series that looks at the and artifacts reflecting the birth featured in the monthly news- ban. Ultimately, I saw the many intersection of place, race, and of VC and the development of paper, it was Richard Tokunaga’s faces of individuals who have class in reflection of what trans- diverse APA communities, to cover of the March 1972 issue tirelessly worked to produce and pired in 1992. As we remember open in Spring 2018. that spoke to me. present a film festival through Rodney King and Latasha Harlins, communities will be immensely As Visual Communications several weeks, months, and we again ask ourselves, how far impacted in the foreseeable fu- turns 50 in three years, it also years. And in these collection of have we come? And how much ture. Though funding to perform means that our VC Founders faces is what gives me courage further do we need to go? our jobs can be taken away, our and their allies and have and hope. I can’t say this enough, but self-determination to keep doing produced and catalyzed move- In the context of a shifting THANK YOU to our VC Mem- what we do will always stay. ments towards change for over America, we proudly present you bers, donors, artists, partners, Now, back to that day in No- 5 decades. For many, the Obama the 33rd edition of the LOS AN- sponsors, friends, and families vember 2016. I asked Eddie how presidency symbolized the insti- GELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FES- for continuing to believe in what he felt after the election and tutionalization of change where TIVAL. Through No.33, we hope we do and what we make hap- what should we do now. He said, many of us enjoyed the fruits to create spaces for connec- pen. With a 2018 Federal Budget “I feel the same as I felt 50 years of the movements. And in one Welcome Let- tions and add to the dialogues of looking to eliminate funding for ago. I feel the need to work to- night, the realities of progress ter (Gidra).jpg change. Opening Night is a intro/ organizations that have histori- wards change and to keep do- became an illusion and decades retrospective look at ’s cally supported Visual Commu- ing what we’ve always done.” of struggles for equality and jus- BETTER LUCK TOMORROW, a nications (such as the Corpo- “What’s that, Eddie?,” I asked. He tice was swiftly taken away. Af- I did not just see a face. I saw landmark for Asian American ration of Public Broadcasting, said, “fight.” ter weeks of processing anger faces. I felt fragmented and cinema in 2002. Closing Night is National Endowment for the and dejection, I reverted back pensive. But I also felt optimism Kogonada’s COLUMBUS featur- Humanities, and the National to Asian American Studies. Its and courage. I saw the faces of ing leading man . With Endowment for the Arts), our

1 During its 1969 to 1974 run, Gidra chronicled the dramatic changes in the Asian American community, and was itself a catalyst for many of these changes. To many, this monthly newsletter was the voice of the #LAAPFF2017 • 5 Asian American Movement. My deepest gratitude to Mike Murase, Evelyn Yoshimura, and Richard Tokunaga for taking the time to speak with me. 2 http://www.densho.org/gidra-now-available-online/ FESTIVALSPONSORS PLATINUM

GOLD

SILVER BRONZE

6 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 STAR GOVERNMENT FOUNDATION

MEDIA

IN KIND RECEPTION VENUES

#LAAPFF2017 • 7 COMMUNITY PARTNERS

#GoodMuslimBadMuslim Center for the Filipino Migrant Center L.A. Chinatown Firecracker Run Royal Thai Consulate Pacific Asian Family Committee, Inc. General Los Angeles 626 Night Market Film Fatales Chinatown Community Little Tokyo Community Council Satrang 8Asians.com for Equitable Flash Cuts Little Tokyo Historical Society Save Music in Chinatown Alliance of Women Directors Development (CCED) GABRIELA USA Little Tokyo Service Silent River Film Festival Artists at Play Chinese American Museum Gallery Nucleus Center (LTSC) South Asian Network (SAN) Advancing Chinese Historical Society of Giant Robot Los Angeles Indonesian Justice | Los Angeles Southern Sustainable Little Tokyo GLAAD Film Festival Asian American Drug CineFile Taiwanese American Forum Media Action Network for Asian Abuse Program, Inc. (AADAP) Professionals (TAP-LA) Coalition of Asian Pacifics of Los Angeles Americans (MANAA) Asian American Journalists in Entertainment (CAPE) Thai Community Arts and imMEDIAte Justice Muslim Public Affairs Council Association - Los Angeles Cultural Center (TCACC) Coalition to Abolish Slavery Chapter (AAAJA-LA) Indian Film Festival of Network of Myanmar (Burmese) And Trafficking (CAST) The LGBTQ Center Los Angeles (IFFLA) American Association Asian Pacific Health Long Beach Consulate General of Care Venture International Secret Agents (ISA) NewFilmmakers LA Belgium in Los Angeles The Nerds of Color Asian Pacific American Labor Iranian American Women Nikkei Democracy Project Consulate General of Traktivist Alliance LA Chapter (APALA-LA) Foundation (IAWF) Canada in Los Angeles Nikkei for Civil Rights Tuesday Night Project Asian Professional Japanese American Cultural and Redress (NCRR) Consulate General of Exchange (APEX) & Community Center (JACCC) UCLA Center for Japan in Los Angeles OCA-GLA EthnoCommunications Asians Doing Everything Jubilee Project East West Players Outfest Forward Vietnamese American Arts and Asians for Miracle Marrow Kizuna Echo Park Film Center Outfest Fusion Letters Association (VAALA) Matches (A3M) Kollaboration Empowering Pacific Islander Pakistan Arts Council of Women in Film Association for Southeast Asian Communities (EPIC) Korean American Coalition USC Pacific Asia Museum Cinemas Conference (ASEAC) Women’s Voices Now Farhang Foundation Korean Churches for Project by Project Los Angeles Cambodia Town Film Festival YOMYOMF Community Development FilAm Creative (KCCD)

8 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 TICKETING INFORMATION

All programs are subject to FESTIVAL CENTERPIECE $25 – Students, Seniors, & into the theatre and will be Japanese American change and/or cancellation at the Aratani Theatre @ Members of VC/JANM (1 day) distributed online and at the National Museum 4/29 – 4/30 without prior notice. For Japanese American Cultural & FREE PROGRAMS: Box Office. First come, first updated program and event Community Center: • ITSY BITSY SHORTS served. • Downtown Independent information, please check our $20 - General (Children’s Media) • HOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS: 4/28 – 5/3 Saturday, 4/29, 10:00 AM, line up at festival.vconline.org $18 - Students & Seniors ONLINE: • CGV Cinemas 4/ 30 – 5/3 Tateuchi Democracy Forum ALL WORKS PRESENTED IN $16 - Members of VC/JACCC • Geffen Contemporary at @ Japanese American The quickest and easiest way THE FESTIVAL ARE UNRATED. MOCA 5/1, 5/3 CLOSING NIGHT at the National Museum to purchase your tickets is PLEASE CONSULT PROGRAM Directors Guild of America by ordering online. Tickets • The Great Company 5/1 DESCRIPTIONS CONTAINED • FROM VISION TO REEL Screening & Gala Celebration: will be available for purchase • Directors Guild of America INSIDE. PARENTAL GUIDANCE (Youth Media) • Saturday, $50 - General 4/29, 11:30 AM, Tateuchi online beginning MONDAY, 5/4 IS SUGGESTED. $45 - Students, Seniors, & Democracy Forum @ 3/ 27. Online ticket sales for Box Office opens one (1) hour NOTE: Please arrive 15 Members of VC/DGA Japanese American individual programs are one minutes before the scheduled prior to the first show of the DIGITAL HISTORIES at the National Museum (1) hour prior to its screening. program. Seating cannot be day. Please purchase tickets Aratani Theatre @ Japanese • WET SAND: VOICES FROM IN-PERSON: guaranteed for ticket holders early as programs may sell American Cultural & L.A. (Special Presentation) Tickets available for all shows who arrive after the program out. Community Center • Saturday, 4/29, 2:00 PM, can be purchased at the begins. Empty seats may be Tateuchi Democracy Forum RUSH TICKETS: $10 - suggested donation following locations during the resold; no refunds will be @ Japanese American In the event of a sold-out Festival. issued. C3: CONFERENCE National Museum program, a limited number FOR CREATIVE CONTENT • FESTIVAL HQ @ Far East ADMISSION: • BRONZEVILLE, LITTLE of seats may become panels are slated for the Lounge 4/28 – 4/30 $14 - General TOKYO (Transmedia) • available immediately prior to weekend of 4/29 & 4/30 at $13 - Students & Seniors Saturday, 4/29, 3:00 PM, • The Egyptian Theatre 4/27 screening. A Rush Line will be the Aratani Central Hall @ $12 - VC Members Historic Nishi Building • • Aratani Theatre @ Japanese formed next to the Box Office. Japanese American National Sunday, 4/30, 3:00 PM, American Cultural & Seating and pre-purchased SPECIAL PROGRAM PRICES: Museum Historic Nishi Building • Community Center tickets are not guaranteed for OPENING NIGHT at the $50 – General (both 4/29 & Sunday, 4/30, 6:00 PM, 4/28 – 4/30 late arrivals. Egyptian Theatre Union Center For The Arts 4/30) • Tateuchi Democracy Forum Screening & Gala Celebration: Courtyard (North of 1st & REFUND/EXCHANGE $40 – Students, Seniors, & @ Japanese American POLICY: $50 – General San Pedro) Members of VC/JANM (both National Museum All Sales Are Final. No refunds. $45 - Students, Seniors, & VC Free to the Public. Tickets 4/28 – 4/30 4/ 29 & 4/30) Exchanges will be only given Members are required for admission $30 – General (One day) • Aratani Central Hall @ for program cancellations.

#LAAPFF2017 • 9 VENUES

EGYPTIAN THEATER DOWNTOWN INDEPENDENT 6712 HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD 251 S. MAIN STREET LOS ANGELES, CA 90028 LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 Parking: Several pay lots are available in the surrounding area. Parking: Several pay lots are available in Downtown LA. The Egyptian does not validate for the Hollywood & Highland There is a 24-hour parking lot behind the theater complex parking lot or any other lot. Visitors can also take the (enter on Spring Street or Harlem Lane). Metro Red Line to the Hollywood/Highland station. CGV CINEMAS (KOREATOWN) ARATANI THEATRE AT THE JAPANESE 621 S. WESTERN AVENUE AMERICAN CULTURAL & COMMUNITY CENTER LOS ANGELES, CA 90005 244 S. SAN PEDRO STREET Parking: Limited parking is available at the LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 Madang parking complex with validation for Parking: Metered street parking and several pay lots are 3 hours from CGV. Enter on Street . available in Little Tokyo. Visitors can take the Metro Gold Line to the Little Tokyo/Arts District station. CGV CINEMAS (BUENA PARK) **ONLY FOR LAAPFF BEST OF THE FEST ENCORE WEEK** TATEUCHI DEMOCRACY FORUM AT THE 6988 BEACH BOULEVARD JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM BUENA PARK, CA 90621 111 N. CENTRAL AVENUE Parking: Limited parking is available at The Source LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 parking complex. Enter on Beach Boulevard. Parking: Metered street parking and several pay lots are available in Little Tokyo. Visitors can also take the Metro GEFFEN CONTEMPORARY AT MOCA Gold Line to the Little Tokyo/Arts District station. 152 N. CENTRAL AVENUE LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 ARATANI CENTRAL HALL AT THE JAPANESE Parking: Metered street parking and several pay lots are AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM available in Little Tokyo. Visitors can also take the Metro 100 N. CENTRAL AVENUE Gold Line to the Little Tokyo/Arts District station. LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 Parking: Metered street parking and several pay lots are HISTORIC NISHI BUILDING available in Little Tokyo. Visitors can also take the Metro Gold 360 E. 1ST STREET Line to the Little Tokyo/Arts District station. LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 Parking: Metered street parking and several pay lots are available in Little Tokyo. Visitors can also take the Metro Gold Line to the Little Tokyo/Arts District station.

10 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 VENUES

UNION CENTER FOR THE ARTS DARREN STAR SCREENING ROOM AT UCLA 120 JUDGE JOHN AISO STREET MELNITZ 1422 LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 235 CHARLES E YOUNG DRIVE Parking: Metered street parking and several pay lots are EAST LOS ANGELES, CA 90095 available in Little Tokyo. Visitors can also take the Metro Gold Parking: Pay-by-space parking is available Line to the Little Tokyo/Arts District station. on the UCLA campus at Lot 3. THE GREAT COMPANY DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA 1917 BAY STREET 7920 SUNSET BOULEVARD LOS ANGELES, CA 90021 WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA 90046 Parking: Street parking is available. Please be Parking: Option #1: Underground parking structure beneath aware of parking restrictions and red zones. DGA (entrance on Hayworth Avenue). Option #2: Overflow parking structure across Hayworth, beneath Sunset-Lofts ART SHARE L.A. development. There is a designated parking level for DGA 801 E. 4TH PLACE patrons. Please arrive early to access complimentary parking. LOS ANGELES, CA 90013 Otherwise, pay lots are available in the area. LAAPFF Parking: Free parking on weekday evenings requests that all patrons DO NOT park in the surrounding and weekends is available in a lot across the street. residential areas. Drive up the ramp by the Aztec calendar. FESTIVAL HQ AT THE FAR EAST LOUNGE KOREAN CULTURAL CENTER 353 E. FIRST STREET 5505 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 LOS ANGELES, CA 90036 Parking: Metered street parking and several pay lots are Parking: Free parking is available at the back available in Little Tokyo. Visitors can also take the Metro Gold of the building. Enter on Dunsmuir Avenue. Line to the Little Tokyo/Arts District station. VIDA BUILDING 249 S. LOS ANGELES STREET FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 FESTIVAL.VCONLINE.ORG/2017/VENUES/ Parking: Several pay lots are available in Downtown LA.

#LAAPFF2017 • 11 PROUD SPONSOR of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and C3: Conference for Creative Content

20 YEARS AND STILL INDIE. SAGAFTRA.org For two decades, we’ve guided independent filmmakers like you through the SAG-AFTRA signatory process so you can cast the best talent to make the best film, regardless of budget. And best of all, we do it for free. www.sagindie.org

ad_AsianPac_2017_v1.indd 1 4/7/17 5:30 PM SAG_Indie_LA APFF.indd 1 4/11/17 1:11 PM PARTIES & AFTERHOURS

LAAPFF 2017 FESTIVAL ARTIST + DIGITAL HISTORIES KICK-OFF PARTY INDUSTRY BRUNCH RECEPTION SUNDAY AT THE FRI APR 7 @ 6-9 PM | $30 presented by COMCAST (invited filmmakers and guests only) UNION CHURCH PICO HOUSE NBC UNIVERSAL SUN APR 30 FREE to the public (invited filmmakers and guests only) 424 N. MAIN STREET @ 12:30-1:30 PM SUN APR 30 @ 6-9:30 PM LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 SAT APR 29 FAR BAR UNION CENTER FOR THE @ 10:30 AM-12 PM 347 E. FIRST STREET ARTS COURTYARD OPENING NIGHT GALA INAHARA GALLERY LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 120 JUDGE JOHN AISO FREE for badge holders and FOYER @ JANM Opening Night film ticket holders STREET 100 N. CENTRAL AVENUE FLASHPOINT ARTIST LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 THU APR 27 LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 TALK RECEPTION @ 9:30-11:30 PM FREE to the public FESTIVAL AWARDS EGYPTIAN THEATRE FLASH POINT 2017 SUN APR 30 @ 3-4 PM CEREMONY 6712 HOLLYWOOD RECEPTION VIDA BUILDING (invited filmmakers and guests only) BOULEVARD (registered guests only) 249 S. LOS ANGELES STREET THU MAY 4 @ 5-6:30 PM HOLLYWOOD, CA 90028 PROUD SPONSOR SAT APR 29 @ 6-7:30 PM LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 DIRECTORS GUILD WEINGART FOYER AND FESTIVAL PUB HUB OF AMERICA ATRIUM HIRASAKI GARDEN @ JANM C3 CONFERENCE 7920 SUNSET BOULEVARD FRI APR 28 - WED MAY 3 of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific 100 N. CENTRAL AVENUE RECEPTION presented LOS ANGELES, CA 90046 @ 4-7 PM by SAGindie Happy Hour specials LT VIBES X LAAPFF FREE to C3 Conference attendees CLOSING NIGHT GALA Film Festival and C3: Conference FAR BAR SAT APR 29 @ 10 PM-2 AM SUN APR 30 @ 5-6 PM FREE for badge holders and Closing Night film ticket holders 347 E. FIRST STREET SEOUL SAUSAGE UNION CENTER FOR THE for Creative Content LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 236 S. LOS ANGELES STREET ARTS COURTYARD THU MAY 4 @ 9:30-11 PM LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 120 JUDGE JOHN AISO DIRECTORS GUILD OF VISIONARIES FRIDAY STREET AMERICA presented by HBO A-DOC RECEPTION LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 7920 SUNSET BOULEVARD (invited guests only) (invited guests only) LOS ANGELES, CA 90046 FRI APR 28 @ 8-10:30 PM SUN APR 30 @ 11 AM-1 PM SEÑOR FISH VIDA BUILDING 155 S. MAIN STREET 249 S. LOS ANGELES STREET LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 LOS ANGELES, CA 90012 SAGAFTRA.org

#LAAPFF2017 • 13

ad_AsianPac_2017_v1.indd 1 4/7/17 5:30 PM ABOUT VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS VISUAL AAPI film, video, and media. ARMED WITH A CAMERA VC ARCHIVES COMMUNICATIONS’ The organization has created (AWC) FELLOWSHIP The VC Archives serves MISSION IS TO award-winning productions, The Armed with Camera as an integral part of Fellowship for Emerging DEVELOP AND nurtured and given voice to our our documentary-based youth and seniors, promoted Media Artists recruits, trains, production activities as we SUPPORT THE VOICES new artistic talent, presented and supports independent have documented various Asian OF ASIAN AMERICAN new cinema, and preserved our AAPI artists in their efforts to American social movements and AND PACIFIC ISLANDER visual history. create artistically and culturally communities in California. FILMMAKERS AND significant short films. LOS ANGELES ASIAN MEDIA ARTISTS Our programming includes: the annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific DIGITAL HISTORIES PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL WHO EMPOWER Film Festival and year-round The Digital Histories video The annual Los Angeles Asian COMMUNITIES screenings and exhibitions; production and digital Pacific Film Festival showcases AND CHALLENGE the Armed With a Camera storytelling program for important new work by PERSPECTIVES. Fellowship for Emerging Media senior citizens is designed for established filmmakers, and older generations to create supports local, emerging Los Visual Communications is the Artists; the Digital Histories and preserve visual stories to Angeles talent. The Los Angeles first non-profit organization media production and digital be passed down to younger Asian Pacific Film Festival is also in the nation dedicated to the storytelling program for senior generations. an Academy Award®-qualifying honest and accurate portrayals citizens; and C3: Conference festival for Short Film Awards. of the Asian Pacific American for Creative Content. Visual C3: CONFERENCE FOR Recipient(s) of the Film Festival’s peoples, communities, and Communications is also home CREATIVE CONTENT Golden Reel Award for Narrative heritage through the media to the VC Archives, one of The Conference for Creative Short Film will be eligible for arts. VC was created with the the largest photographic and Content is a media arts consideration in the Animated understanding that media moving image archives on Asian conference focused to provide Short Film/Live-Action Short and the arts are important Pacific experiences in America. our creative community a space Film category of the Academy vehicles to organize and We see media as a powerful tool to connect content creators Awards®. empower communities, to create and share meaningful through meaningful discourse build connections between perspectives, and our programs on media and entertainment. peoples and generations ensure that our communities through the development of have access to the resources tell their unique stories.

14 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 BECOME A VC MEMBER ATTEND THE FESTIVAL SUPPORTER ($50) • One (1) exclusive LAAPFF • One (1) complimentary copy BENEFACTOR ($1,000) AS A VC MEMBER, 100% of your donation is tax deductible badge granting access to of the LAAPFF Catalog (must $500 of your donation is tax deductible BASIC BENEFITS priority seating before film be picked up during Festival) ALL MEMBER BENEFITS AT AND GET PREMIER • Subscription to VC’s monthly screenings (must be picked THE SUPPORTER LEVEL, plus up during Festival) PATRON ($500) INSIDER BENEFITS, electronic newsletter, with $200 of your donation is tax deductible • Two (2) LAAPFF Festival DISCOUNTS, AND the latest news on AAPI • LAAPFF entry fee waived (1 ALL MEMBER BENEFITS AT Passes ($600 value) SPECIAL INVITATIONS media, community events, per year, $55 value) THE SUPPORTER LEVEL, plus • One (1) exclusive LAAPFF and ticket giveaways TO EVENTS. • Access to apply for 501(c) • Eight (8) LAAPFF regular badge granting access to • Access to exclusive priority seating before film Our VC Members are a (3) nonprofit status, through screening tickets ($100 members-only screenings VC’s Fiscal Sponsorship value) screenings (must be picked community of filmmakers and and advance screenings of up during Festival) (includes one-on-one • Two (2) tickets to LAAPFF filmgoers who champion the theatrical fundraising consultations) Opening Night Gala • One (1) complimentary spirit of diverse, independent • Discount on tickets to all VC • Discounted access to VC (screening & party, $100 LAAPFF tote bag and Catalog Asian Pacific American voices events and VC merchandise facilities for production value) (must be picked up during in film and media. There are Festival) • Donor recognition on the VC shoots, auditions, screenings, • Two (2) tickets to LAAPFF various VC Membership levels website and LAAPFF Catalog or video editing Closing Night Gala • One (1) complimentary copy to suit your ability to give, and a • LAAPFF Program Guide mailed • Discounts on VC production (screening & party, $100 of an Armed with a Camera portion of each contribution is to your home equipment rentals value) DVD, showcasing work from the most recent class tax-deductible. • Members-only priority pre-sale SPONSOR ($250) • One (1) exclusive LAAPFF period for LAAPFF of fellows (mailed to your LEARN MORE AT WWW.VCONLINE. $100 of your donation is tax deductible badge granting access to home) ORG/MEMBERSHIP. FRIEND ($75) ALL MEMBER BENEFITS AT priority seating before film • One (1) complimentary copy STUDENT ($30) $50 of your donation is tax deductible THE SUPPORTER LEVEL, plus screenings (must be picked up during Festival) of a Digital Histories DVD, STUDENT MEMBERS RECEIVE ALL MEMBER BENEFITS AT • Six (6) LAAPFF regular THE SUPPORTER LEVEL, plus showcasing work from the ALL MEMBER BENEFITS AT screening tickets ($75 value) • One (1) complimentary copy most recent class of fellows THE FRIEND LEVEL • Two (2) LAAPFF regular • Two (2) tickets to the LAAPFF of the LAAPFF Catalog (must (mailed to your home) Proof of enrollment required screening tickets ($25 value) Opening Night OR Closing be picked up during Festival) You must submit a photo or FILMMAKER ($125) Night Gala (screening & • One (1) complimentary copy scan of your current student $75 of your donation is tax deductible party, $100 value) of an Armed with a Camera ID each year ALL MEMBER BENEFITS AT • One (1) exclusive LAAPFF OR Digital Histories DVD, showcasing work from the Contact membership@ THE SUPPORTER LEVEL, plus badge granting access to most recent class of fellows vconline.org to purchase • Four (4) LAAPFF regular priority seating before film (mailed to your home) this membership screening tickets ($50 value) screenings (must be picked up during Festival)

#LAAPFF2017 • 15 VC MEMBERS AND DONORS VISUAL $25,000+ Eddie Wong Takashi Fujii & Kathy Tokudomi Ren Hanami Jimmy Lui COMMUNICATIONS Aratani Foundation Gwen Yamasaki Nancy Spiegel Ken Wada Lisa Hasegawa Dom & Saachiko Jeff Furumura Magwili IS A FULL-SERVICE $10,000+ & Dennis Wong Joe Ho MEDIA ARTS Asian Pacific Joanna Lee Warren Furutani Jeanette Wong Mingmei Huang Jeff Man Community Fund ORGANIZATION Glenn Gabisan Steven Wong Lloyd & Tazuko Inui Tim & Marion Manaka Little Tokyo $500+ Jeffrey Gund Suzi Wong Frances & Amber Ito Linda Maram SERVING THE ASIAN Service Center John Esaki & Kyle & Kimberly Kimi Yamada Janet Ito Kimi Maru & PACIFIC AMERICAN SAG-PIACF Amy Kato Harimoto David Monkawa Leslie Ito COMMUNITY Thomas Fitzgerald James Herr Mark & Kathy Masaoka YEAR-ROUND. $100+ Miya Iwataki $5,000+ Jan Fukuhara William & Kenneth T. & OUR PROGRAMS Getty Foundation Yaeko Aihara Vanessa Joe Stephen Gong Denice Hoy Ruby Maya ARE ONLY POSSIBLE John Akahoshi Glen Kanemoto Jodi Long Lewis Kawahara Jeff Mcdonald THROUGH THE $2,500+ Albert Aubin Traci Kato-Kiriyama Vivian Matsushige Maciek Kolodziejczak Soham Mehta SUPPORT OF MANY Henry Chan Keith Lee Akira Boch Glen & Carol Taiji Miyagawa Bruce & Joy Kazahaya VC MEMBERS David Kwan Morimoto Li Lu Ann Borja Alex Munoz Peter Kiang AND INDIVIDUAL Yvonne & Carrie & Walter Morita Sofia Chang Vicky Murakami- Laura Kim DONORS. WE $1,000+ Alan Nishio Mikwe Murase S. Leo Chiang Tsuda & Russel Tsuda Masao Kodani WOULD LIKE TO Doug Aihara Chicky Otani Steve & Patty Nagano Emily Chiu N.J. Nakamura David Kono ACKNOWLEDGE Rose Burton Paul Shishima Teri Nitta Sung Cho Tadashi Nakase Eileen Kurahashi OUR AWESOME Gerald Chow Robert Takahashi Alan & Joy Ohashi Philip Chung Cindy Oda Dan Kuramoto CONTRIBUTORS! Prosy & Enrique Evelyn Yoshimura Glenn Omatsu Luella Costales Alan Ota Delacruz & Bruce Iwasaki Ahree Lee (from April 1st, 2016 to Raymond Sakai Joanne & Johann Diel Candice Ota Clayton Yeung & Keiro Foundation Arthur Dong Grace Lee Celine Parrenas April 1st, 2017) Sam Lucas BoGay Salvador Alan & Ruth Kondo Juliana Lee Shimizu Tulica Singh Laura Fineman Duane & Roselinn (Linn) Lee Robert Shoji Valerie Soe Dianne Fukami Lucien Kubo $250+ Cooke & Elaine Sunoo Larry Furukawa Fang-Li & Gary Lin Tammy Borrero Alena Tabora Robert Nakamura Jeff Liu Glenn Suravech & Karen Ishizuka Michi Tanioka Jeremy Gaudette Peter & Tina Chow H. Chris Taga Nancy Gohata Milton Liu Steve Phillips FIA Insurance Services Minna Tao

16 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 Renee Tajima-Peña Brian Yang Viki Goto John Morihara Sachie Uchida Luana Farrar Scott Okamoto George Takaki Kelvin Yee Carmelita Gutierrez Kris Nakasu Mei Valenzuela Lalithra Fernando Alice Okumura Janice D. Tanaka Janice & John Yen Lenora Hall George Nguyen Steven Wallace Arthur Fong Rumiko Ota Linda Tanamachi Harry Yoon Susan Hayase Janet Nicholson Chanelle Wang Phyllis Hayashibara Vicky Perez Aya Tanimura Scott Holmes Kay Ochi Robert Winn Thelma Hechanova Michael Peskura Casimiro Tolentino $50+ Alvin Ing Ernest Ong Yusuke Yagi Mary Ann Heimann Christine Shin Pamela Tom Wendy Aihara Neil Kaapuni Kathy Pham Ranko Yamada Lance Heruela Leland Simpliciano Karen Umemoto Daniel Bao Kennedy Kabasares Fatimah Tobing Rony Richard Yamasaki Kimberly Hwang Iaian Smallwood Michael Velasquez Jane & Howard Boltz Ann Kaneko Patrick Sakasegawa Iris Yamashita Noelle Ito Judy Soohoo Janice Villarosa Robert Bursick Lori Ann Kanogawa Naomi Sasano Michael & Lily Yanagita Naomi Iwamoto George Su Faroukh Virani Aj Calomay Johnson Jeanne Shannon Janet Yang Gary Jackson Kathria Tizon Kien Vuu Stanley Chandra Dennis Kobata Michael Siv Jessea Young Alyssa Kang Neil Toyota Alvin & Marsha Wakasa Janet Chen Eric Kurimura Leonard Smith & Phyllis Kim Alyce Tzue Chaohua Wang Bessie Chin Barbara Poppy Kwong Jeff Hong <$50 Michelle Kuan Gary Uyekawa Steven Wasserman Annie Choi Jim Lau Elizabeth Stanley Joseph Bernardo Akiko Kuramoto Michael Watanabe Ruth Watanabe Ron Chow Kyle Lau Ryan Suda Ammar Bilgrami Iyin Landre Katherine Wong Yoshiyuki Bill Sam Chow Anderson Le Rea Tajiri Hannah Bower Allison Lee Midori Yamane Watanabe Karen Chu Catherine Lee Carol Takafuji Michael Bowles James Lee Nancy Yap Dean Wong Eurie Chung Megan Lee Ken Takemoto Lucy Burns Sunhoo Lee Gail Yasunaga Donna Wong Susan Degracia Kitty Lew Diane Tan Audrey Chan Amy Lew Chao Ming & Juliet Wong Vera DeVera Jeff Liu Cathy Tanaka & John Chang William Lu Janice Yen Gerald Fukui Jean Wong Jeff Dohzen Thomas Louie Tony Chau Monica Ly David Yoda Kazuko Tanaka Richard Wong Carol Drescher Peter & Phalin Jeff Chop Carolyn Mao Kimberly Zarate Louischaroen Chris Tashima Tamiko Wong & Robert Factor Bridget Cooks Nobuko Miyamoto Maggie Zheng Aaron Lum Raymond Ma Karen Teruya Mike Fong Caroline Davis Roy Nakano Warren Wong Sean Miura Aileen Toshiyuki Kenneth Foster Elaine Dolalas Patricia Nguyen Qris Yamashita & Junko Goda Donna Mori Jasmine Trice Chris Komai Roth Empire Tracy Nichols

#LAAPFF2017 • 17 C3 CONFERENCE 2017: FUTURE FORWARD 7TH EDITION OF C3: THE CONFERENCE for CREATIVE CONTENT at THE LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL!

APRIL 29-30 THE ONLY EVENT OF ITS KIND, this year’s theme for the Conference for Creative Content (C3) is FUTURE FORWARD. ARATANI CENTRAL HALL AT C3 brings together the foremost media professionals in film, THE JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM television, cable, digital and transmedia to create a dialogue 100 N. Central Avenue on the ever-changing media industry, share best practices, network, celebrate and build a collective vision for Los Angeles, CA 90012 SPONSORED BY: MARKETING PARTNER: our community. SAG-Producers Korean Film Council MAY 1 We’re honored to bring the seventh edition of C3 to the Industry Advancement opening weekend of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Cooperative Fund KOREAN CULTURAL Saturday, April 29th and Sunday April 30th at the Japanese CENTER, 3RD FLOOR Nielsen 5505 Wilshire Boulevard American National Museum (JANM), located in the historic Directors Guild of America Little Tokyo district of Downtown Los Angeles. Additionally, Los Angeles, CA 90036 Motion Pictures Editors Guild there will be a free C3 panel on Monday, May 1 at the Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in Mid-Wilshire. The C3 Reception will SAGindie follow at the conclusion of the panels on Saturday, April 29 in Screen Actors Guild- the lobby and the garden of JANM. American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Building off of our previous C3 Conferences, the way we view, UCLA Luskin School consume and create content continues to shift and evolve of Public Affairs rapidly – it’s our goal to dive in and hear from the forerunners Writers Guild of America West of this change, especially from APIs leading the way.

18 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 C3 CONFERENCE DAY 1 SATURDAY, APRIL 29 12:00 PM 1:45 PM 3:15 PM 4:45 PM OPENING REMARKS Motion Picture “DIMENSION 404: UCLA Luskin School of JUSTIN CHON | Director/Actor/ Editors Guild: Public Affairs as part of Writer, GOOK, REVENGE OF 12:15 PM THE FUTURE OF “EDITING FOR STORYTELLING IN the Meyer and Renee THE GREEN DRAGONS Directors Guild Luskin Lecture Series: GAYE THERESA JOHNSON | ANIMATION AND THE DIGITAL SPACE” of America: “MEDIA AND UCLA Associate Prof, African STOP MOTION” Hear from the creative minds of “DIRECTING HORROR SOCIAL CHANGE” American Studies and Chicana/o TO INFINITY AND the new digital-age anthology & GENRE” For better or for worse, Studies BEYOND!!! show DIMENSION 404, bringing DON’T OPEN THAT our community vision and ANANYA ROY | Professor of A contemplative dialogue with their background as digital DOOR!!! self-image has been shaped Urban Planning, Social Welfare the editors from some of the space pioneers and celebrated Join us in a spine-tingling — and in some unfortunate and Geography, and Director of biggest box office animated/ talent to create one of the most conversation with some of the instances, tainted — by the way the Institute on Inequality and stop-motion films in history – talked about shows this Spring. brightest API directing talent in communities of color have Democracy at UCLA Luskin discussing the industry, their film and television today, as they CHERISH CHEN | Producer & been portrayed in mass media RENEE TAJIMA-PEÑA | processes, and their look into discuss their experiences, their Content Creator, ROCKETJUMP and popular entertainment. Filmmaker/UCLA Asian the future of animation. career, and the future of horror STUDIOS, ROCKETJUMP FILM In this special conversation American Studies Professor, and genre. JEFF DRAHEIM | Editor, SCHOOL with filmmakers, scholars, WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN?, MOANA, FROZEN, THE FREDDIE WONG | Filmmaker/ and cultural workers, we will NO MÁS BEBÉS MICHAEL GOI | Director/Cine- PRINCESS & THE FROG Gamer/Co-Founder of assess whether progressive JENNY YANG | Writer/Producer/ matographer, SLEEPY HOLLOW, EDIE ICHIOKA | Editor, ROCKETJUMP STUDIOS, change can be enacted by a Comedian, THE COMEDY AMERICAN HORROR STORY AMUSEMENT PARK, THE BOX DIMENSION 404, VIDEO paradigm shift in how we are COMEDY FESTIVAL: A COMEDY JENNIFER PHANG | Director, TROLLS, TOY STORY 2 GAME HIGH SCHOOL portrayed onscreen, in print, and FESTIVAL ADVANTAGEOUS, MAYSIE HOY, Moderator | Editor, JENNIE YAMAKI | VP of Physical in other forms of commercial PHIL YU, Moderator | Writer/ THE EXORCIST TYLER PERRY’S MADEA GOES Production, LIONSGATE’S and independently produced Speaker and Founder of ANGRY VEENA SUD | Director/Executive TO JAIL, THE JOY LUCK CLUB, DIGITAL STUDIOS communication. ASIAN MAN Producer, SEVEN SECONDS, WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, SUJATA DAY, Moderator | Actor/ THE SALTON SEA, THE KILLING THE PLAYER Director/Writer, COWBOY VIET NGUYEN, Moderator | Di- & INDIAN, INSECURE, THE 6:00 PM rector/Editor, iZOMBIE, CRUSH MISADVENTURES OF THE SKULL, THE FOLLOWING FLASH POINT 2017 RECEPTION AWKWARD BLACK GIRL

#LAAPFF2017 • 19 C3 CONFERENCE DAY 2 & 3 SUNDAY, APRIL 30 MONDAY, MAY 1 12:00 PM 1:45 PM 3:15 PM 7:00 PM OPENING REMARKS Writers Guild of SAG-AFTRA FREE PANEL AT THE KOREAN NATHAN KITADA | Creative America/West: CULTURAL CENTER 12:15 PM “BETTER LUCK Development, YOUTUBE “WOMEN ON TOP: Korean Film Council: ORIGINALS BuzzFeed TOMORROW: MEET THE CREATIVE “INDEPENDENT OWEN SHIFLETT | VP Original “IMPACT AND A RETROSPECTIVE” FORCES BEHIND FILMMAKING IN Development, SHUDDER VISIBILITY ON THE 15 years ago this seminal film MARVEL’S AGENTS OF created a stir at the Sundance THE ERA OF DIGITAL and SUNDANCE NOW (AMC DIGITAL FRONTIER S.H.I.E.L.D., QUEEN Film Festival and went on to be DISTRIBUTION” NETWORK) AND BEYOND” OF THE SOUTH AND the launching point for not only Join this in-depth panel with PHILIP CHUNG, Moderator | Designated as Fast Company's QUEEN SUGAR” the director and cast, but also digital agents, studio execs and Creative Director, YOU OFFEND #1 Most Innovative Company in ME YOU OFFEND MY FAMILY The heads of some of the for conversations on how APIs content buyers focusing on 2016, BuzzFeed is the leading (YOMYOMF) biggest serialized programming were reflected in mainstream emerging filmmakers and how independent digital media on television today will discuss media. Join them in looking to get their projects distributed. company delivering news and running their shows as well as back at what has changed in Partial list of panelists include: entertainment to hundreds of their career paths and the state the importance of diversity in KATRINA FROLOV | Sr. Manager millions of people around the of diversity in the media – past, Hollywood. of Programming, WATCHABLE world. We’re bringing together present and future. their executives and pioneering NATALIE CHAIDEZ | Executive (COMCAST) content creators for a special Producer/Writer, QUEEN OF JUSTIN LIN GARY KING | Director of discussion on impact and story- THE SOUTH, 12 MONKEYS, KARIN ANNA CHEUNG Development, MACHINIMA telling in the digital age. TERMINATOR: THE SARAH (WARNER BROS DIGITAL) CONNOR CHRONICLES RYAN BERGARA MONICA MACER | Executive STEVEN LIM Producer/Writer, QUEEN AARON TAKAHASHI ASHLY PEREZ SUGAR, NASHVILLE JENNIFER RUGGIRELLO MAURISSA TANCHAROEN | Ex- JEN YAMATO, Moderator | Film EUGENE LEE YANG ecutive Producer/Writer, MAR- Reporter, HIEU HO, Moderator | VEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Producer/Executive, BUZZFEED; PANG-NI LANDRUM, Moderator Board of Directors, VISUAL | Writer, Vice Chair Asian Ameri- COMMUNICATIONS can Writers Committee, WGA/w

20 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017

FESTIVAL OVERVIEW

22 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 IT MAY NOT APPEAR THAT or serves as a catalyst for something, whether it be reviewed and, ultimately, programmed for this year’s a call-to-action or a complete cinematic meltdown. Festival. With that, we asked ourselves (and to this day, WAY FROM THE OUTSIDE, We’ll have to see. continue to ask), exactly where are our filmmakers’ heads at? We know that we are in the middle of a BUT SCRATCH THE SURFACE IT IS NOVEMBER 8, 2016, and as I am working long-term battle for onscreen representation and AND IT’S APPARENT THAT THIS on assessing our Open Call entries, I am scanning the visibility — for instance, the accolades accorded online cable new for the Presidential election results. YEAR’S EDITION OF THE LOS recent benchmark achievements as FRESH OFF Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is locked in THE BOAT, DR. KEN, MASTER OF NONE, and the ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM a political and ideological battle with businessman forthcoming CRAZY RICH ASIANS stand in sharp relief Donald Trump for the nation’s top job, yet in the days FESTIVAL FINDS ITS FILMMAKING to recent studio pratfalls as the live-action remake of leading up to the election, it looked like Hillary, the GHOST IN THE SHELL. If anything, the program we COMMUNITY — DIRECTORS, Democratic candidate would win the day. As the night assembled reflects a schizophrenic personality. There AUDIENCES, AND ORGANIZERS wore on, though, the results began to reveal a far more are social-purpose documentaries and narratives different result: Trump, a candidate whose rhetoric and ALIKE — IN A FEISTY, EDGY MOOD. that rail against civil liberties injustices, human actions revealed a outrageously racist, misogynistic trafficking, and environmental justice. There are also and ill-informed candidate, would be our leader for the works that reaffirm our place in American society I’d stop short of characterizing our collective mood next four years. as “truculent,” but clearly, our offerings this year and, through “comfort cinema” themes of immigration and The following day and for many days after, our staff for that matter, last season finds the Asian Pacific acculturation, popular culture, and political activism. walked around as if in a daze; the energy level in the American cinematic community wanting for some And then there are those works that fall outside of office, in fact our motivation for even getting work kind of release. This year, there is clearly a struggle any self-prescribed categories, the ones that reflect a done, was greatly diminished, as if someone close to going on. Whether it is among filmmakers who are nagging sense that the label of “otherness” continues us had died. Yet a couple of days later, we snapped rightly questioning their role as artists in a new age to bother us, even as we advocate that we do not out of our malaise rather quickly: wave after wave of heralded by a presidential administration that (from in fact exist somewhere far along the margins of anti-Trump and pro-immigrant rights rallies throughout the evidence to date) clearly devalues people of American society. We are in fact an inseparable part of Los Angeles and the nation were juxtaposed with a color and our country’s underclass and underserved a larger whole. re-emergence — some would call it a reassertion — of citizenry; or among our own audiences who seem On this last observation, we can be forgiven if we are the racism that bubbled beneath the surface of Barack inured to the roller-coaster ride of changes that have allowed a double-take: when it comes to narrative Obama’s presidency. impacted their place in American society — this year’s feature filmmaking, so little of our works seem willing programming reflects a struggle to make sense out of While the outward manifestations of this new American to break out of established “tropes” as The Asian our place in society. How that is evidenced through “Fourth Reich” has been well-documented in both American Nice Guy, the Kung Fu Savior, Asian Gangster our programming line-up will go a long way towards mainstream and alternative press, the nuances of Number Two, The Tiger Mom, the Prostitute With a determining if this year amounts to “Festival-as-usual,” this new reality are seen more subtly in the works we Heart of Gold, the Asian Sidekick, the…is this beginning

FESTIVAL OVERVIEW • 23 FESTIVAL OVERVIEW to make sense to you? It’s probably little wonder, then, archetype. Seen today, fifteen years and two Middle evidences itself in allegedly misplaced activism that that select directors in this years line-up as Yu Gu, East Wars, an African American President, a whopper conspires to compromise personal, familial, and career Mike Sakamoto, Shinpei Takeda, Nadine Truong, Joyce of a financial crisis, an unending stream of gun-aided priorities. Really…has it been that long since we had to Wong, and others are turning up their noses at making violence, and a return of a more strident, intolerant endure #NotYourAsianSidekick? “APA Cinema As Usual” and instead focusing on stories form of conservatism later, director Lin’s indie Without a doubt, lazy and unengaged means of that matter to them. While I’m pretty sure that none breakthrough comes off as upsettingly appropriate involvement as “hashtag activism” has had multiple of them intend to make political statements with their for this generation of APAs — an unashamedly selfish, antecedents for as long as Asian Pacific American works, there can be no doubt that there is another cynical, and to be honest, mean-spirited portrait of cinema existed. For every APA activista railing against kind of “otherness” at work in their works, that is, the young APAs who only really want to get ahead in life. the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan, we’ve insistence of alternate ideas that bring uncomfortable This image of our community is wildly incompatible endured at least an equal number of APA “opportunists” truths into our room full of ideas. Here, “representation” with the modern-day sense of community promoted blithely overstepping their bounds to stand in as the threatens to get crowded out, as well it should. through gatherings as the 626 Night Market, Anime “official” representative of our communities. By that Expo, K-Con, the Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture, Another matter that has occurred to me in assessing same token, I don’t think we’re totally cognizant of who K-Town Night Market, and just about anything that is this New Normal is the question of, how did us we’re jumping in bed with then it comes to APA and touched by ISA, The Jubilee Project, Kollaboration, or Asian Americans become so mean to one another coalition-building, thus I see that we’re allowing way any number of APA empowerment initiatives that have and so inured to racism and marginalization? And is too many others from outside our communities to act taken root in our communities. that an outgrowth of the acculturation process, of as “our” spokespeople. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t work becoming “American?” That thought re-occurs to me Or is it? I see this cynicism and selfishness in such when we need to raise our voices on all matters that as I watch and re-watch the rarely-seen, “I Got Away recent fare as KTOWN COWBOYS, the web series are impacting us RIGHT NOW, as immigration reform, With Murder” version of Justin Lin’s BETTER LUCK and motion picture both. I saw it in romanticized affordable health care, LGBT equality, reproductive TOMORROW. Back in 2002 at its public unveiling at the fare as 2014’s REVENGE OF THE GREEN DRAGONS health, wage equity,...and yes, even our creative agency , BLT was shocking enough in its (and heaven forbid, it could very well turn up in the to articulate accurate and honest depictions of our casual cynicism toward personal and career success forthcoming SNAKEHEAD, by ). Asian Pacific American communities through cinema — the film’s original tagline, “Study Hard,” means to be And even in important new works as Yu Gu and Scott and all forms of the media arts. not only ironic, but derisive towards the Model Minority Drucker’s WHO IS ARTHUR CHU?, that “new normal”

24 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 BUT THEN, I SEE SOMETHING ELSE • In Kogonada’s COLUMBUS, I am excited to see • In Shinpei Takeda’s GHOST MAGNET ROACH ALTOGETHER in the cinematic offerings we are a film in which the quality of talk is as important, MOTEL, a resolutely punk-rock documentary presenting this year. I may be hallucinating, but could if not more so, than action, CG effects, or exotic masks a story of devotion and camaraderie as it be, that members of our 2017 class of filmmakers are locales. Though the distinct architecture of the members of a performance arts band attends getting back to the basics and shedding the burden of town and the way in which it is photographed to the substance abuse addiction of one of its commercialism? Are they bringing stories to Festival doesn’t hurt. members. Week that we may actually care about? Stories that • In Randall Okita’s award-winning THE • In Nadine Truong’s I CAN I WILL I DID, we can are actually important for us to care about? It’s just LOCKPICKER, I see a youngster on the cusp of feel the director’s own badly-needed creative and a hunch, but I see signs of life in the most unlikely of manhood, debating whether to face up to his spiritual renewal in the soul of a lead character places: weaknesses or escape his self-destructive ways with no family, no future, and very nearly, no way • In Justin Chon’s GOOK, I see the director by leaving town and everybody he knows out of a hopeless situation. executing a 180º pivot away from facile online and loves. • In Angie Wang’s semi-autobiographical videos and his own legacy of “sidekick” roles to • In Dinesh Sabu’s UNBROKEN GLASS, I see both CARDINAL X, I see a first-time filmmaker invoke the spirit of Italian neo-realism to frame honesty and candor in a family story in which exorcising the demons of a past life filled with a monochrome tale that is as resolutely about mental illness — a topic that is considered taboo abandon and excess through the prism of a L.A. as it is about the character possibilities and in our communities — is captured DIY-style using period drama. failings of just-plain people. consumer-grade motion picture equipment. • And in Joyce Wong’s WEXFORD PLAZA, I see • In Ashley Duong’s A TIME TO SWIM, I see a story • In Mike Sakamoto’s NORMAN JONES, I see confident, assured, and complex filmmaking of love and bravery as a family patriarch brings his a dogged devotion to minimalism and no- put into the service of telling the tale of one family to his ancestral home in Borneo to reckon nonsense filmmaking. No VFX, no flashy acting, bad mistake that conspires to screw up a young with his past life as a staunch environmental not even color (literally…it’s a black-and-white woman’s life before it really gets a chance to activist; and as his oldest daughter is in turn movie). Here, it’s just an observant and no-frills take off. spurred to explore her own budding activism. approach to visual storytelling that compels the • In Yu Gu and Scott Drucker’s WHO IS ARTHUR viewer to watch. CHU?, I ache at a bright young man whose passive activism and pursuit of acceptance compromises all that he loves, from members of his own family to his own wife.

FESTIVAL OVERVIEW • 25 FESTIVAL OVERVIEW

The “independent spirit” (to clarify, NOT “indie”) is message of this year’s Film Festival should be. In visual apparent in the incubated works nurtured within form and social import, we gain inspiration from activist Visual Communications’ own Armed With a Camera initiatives of a past generation. And as always, we are Fellowship and Digital Histories initiative, as well heartened and energized by the visions and voices of as in the new works developed through the FilAm APA filmmakers and media artists whose perspectives Creations project. It is further supported through VC’s aspire to a level of honesty that cannot be assailed partnership with HBO, APA Visionaries. And, the sense by the ignorant and the hateful. And — sigh! — there of purpose can be felt in the follow-up to last year’s are those other works, the ones that fall back on tired Interactive Little Tokyo transmedia showcase, the representations and fatuous trope-filled storylines that highly-anticipated interactive showcase BRONZEVILLE make us wonder out-loud if our artists are engaging LITTLE TOKYO. Juxtaposed with a couple of milestones with the world or even watching anything other than that gives us pause — the seventy-fifth anniversary of tired YouTube superstar videos for their film school EO9066 in 1942; and the twenty-fifth anniversary of education. It’s Festival time again…our opportunity to the Rodney King beating verdicts and the resulting L.A. check ourselves and assess how we’re doing, and if our Rebellion — and it is clear that this is NOT Film Festival stories are in line with our realities, or whether we are as usual. It is in fact a time to assess what the goal is stuck in a netherworld of cognitive dissonance from for those who create with our stories and experiences which we can’t get out. It’s Festival time! It’s time to in mind. In these new, meaner, messier, and uncertain find out what’s eating us. It’s time to find out what’s times for us APAs and other people of color, parsing making us tick. out these issues is paramount.

IT IS APRIL 11, 2017. I am late in delivering this ABRAHAM FERRER IS THE EXHIBITIONS DIRECTOR AT VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS, AND HAS BEEN INVOLVED programming overview to our copy editors. And if WITH ORGANIZING THE LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC truth be told, I am conflicted in what the overarching FILM FESTIVAL SINCE 1988.

26 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 #STARRINGJOHNCHO IN THE PROCESS OF ASSEMBLING THIS his versatility as an actor, and honed his persona as a #STARRINGJOHNCHO YEAR’S FESTIVAL WEEK program line-up, we were leading man. Anyone remember the MILF Guy of the A Retrospective Tribute, In Three Parts struck by a variety of works that referenced topical AMERICAN PIE films? Surely, we all remember Harold BETTER LUCK TOMORROW themes that would probably never be addressed in Lee, the stuffed-shirt admin wonk and closet stoner Directed by Justin Lin the mainstream arena, and we’re thankful that our of the HAROLD AND KUMAR films, no? And lest we Thursday, April 27, 7 PM filmmakers have answered the bell. From Jeff Chiba forget, he has successfully inhabited the role of Hikaru Egyptian Theatre Stearn’s poignant MIXED MATCH, Dinesh Sabu’s very Sulu, made famous by one George Takei, in the recent PAGE 56 necessary UNBROKEN GLASS, to evocative works as big-screen reboot of STAR TREK. Anocha Suwichakornpong’s BY THE TIME IT GETS YELLOW Longtime fans of the Film Festival will recall his role as DARK and Yosuke Takeuchi’s THE SOWER, we’re Directed by Chris Chan Lee maverick rich-boy Steve in Justin Lin’s 2002 BETTER heartened by the timeliness of these vital new works. Friday, April 28, 11 PM LUCK TOMORROW; others still will remember his Downtown Independent When it comes to looking into our own front yard, we starring role as John the conflicted lawyer in Michael PAGE 70 are likewise reminded of our ongoing achievement Kang’s WEST 32ND. Film Festival attendees will be COLUMBUS both within and on the near-fringes of the mainstream afforded another, soulful side of John Cho’s onscreen Directed by Kogonada entertainment industry. To that end, we celebrate at the persona in our Closing Night feature, COLUMBUS by Thursday, May 4, 7 PM Film Festival our legion of actors and actresses whose the visual essayist Kogonada. His turn as Jin, a book Directors Guild of America works reflect our visions and experiences in American editor whose prickly relationship with his gravely ill PAGE 60 society. This year, we can’t think of a better person father is called to task by a teenager who is herself whose ongoing career fills that bill better than John suffering from emotional ennui, is soulful and mature, Cho. An alumnus of UC Berkeley, John exploded onto and brings to full circle the full range of our 2017 our collective consciousness in 1997 with Chris Chan Spotlight artist. Our tribute program #StarringJohnCho, Lee’s seminal debut feature YELLOW, and inspired by an online campaign coined by New Yorker and Justin Lin’s SHOPPING FOR FANGS. Unlike his William Yu, celebrates the achievements of one of the fellow actors who sprouted from these two landmark Film Festival’s most venerated artists, and posits the APA features, John’s career has been distinguished by broad range of possibilities…if only Hollywood can sit a string of franchise properties that have burnished up and take notice.

FESTIVAL OVERVIEW • 27 FLASH POINT 2017: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS PART OF THE MEYER AND RENEE LUSKIN AFTER THE 1992 LOS ANGELES UPRISING LECTURE SERIES APRIL 28 - APRIL 30, 2017 SATURDAY, APRIL 29 The city of Los Angeles has not been the same since April 29, 2:00 PM What’s changed? What has Matter, UCLA Activist- 1992. With racial tension peaking and riots sparking across the TATEUCHI DEMOCRACY remained the same? And what in-Residence Winter 2017 city, it became clear that Los Angelenos were demanding a FORUM @ JAPANESE AMERICAN can we say that the “healing TANI IKEDA Filmmaker, drastic change in the relationship between police officers and NATIONAL MUSEUM process” has accomplished? Executive Director of racial minorities. 111 North Central Avenue Dai Sil Kim-Gibson, director of imMEDIAte Justice Los Angeles Little Tokyo WET SAND: VOICES FROM L.A. ROBIN D.G. KELLEY Professor Twenty-five years after the LA uprising, there is still a question SCREENING: and her cinematographer and and Gary B. Nash Endowed of the treatment The events will include two panels featuring WET SAND: collaborator Charles Burnett Chair in U.S. History at UCLA a discussion of the evolution of community organizing as well VOICES FROM L.A. will participate in a discussion DAI SIL KIM-GIBSON Director/ as the role media, particularly film, has played in creating and , 2003) with local community leaders Producer, WET SAND: VOICES to assess the successes and FROM LA. reflecting social change. There will also be a gallery displaying PLEASE SEE PAGE 69 FOR COMPLETE a variety of art inspired by the Uprising with a follow-up PROGRAM DETAILS challenges we face in moving ABEL VALENZUELA (Moderator),

discussion with the artists. toward a more culturally, Professor of Urban Planning and 3:00 PM socially, and politically equitable Chicano Studies, Director of PRESENTED BY TATEUCHI DEMOCRACY society in post-Rebellion UCLA Institute for Research on UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs FORUM @ JAPANESE AMERICAN Los Angeles. Labor and Employment

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIONAL MUSEUM PANELISTS: 111 North Central Avenue, 4:30 PM Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival | Institute on Inequality and AYUKO BABU Founder and Los Angeles Little Tokyo ARATANI CENTRAL HALL Democracy at UCLA Luskin | Ralph J. Bunche Center for African Executive Director, Pan African THE LESSONS OF @ JAPANESE AMERICAN American Studies | UCLA Asian American Studies Center | UCLA Center Film Festival NATIONAL MUSEUM for EthnoCommunications | UCLA César E. Chávez Department of WET SAND AND THE CHARLES BURNETT 100 North Central Avenue Filmmaker Chicana and Chicano Studies | UCLA Department of History | UCLA CHALLENGES OF Los Angeles Little Tokyo ALISON DE LA CRUZ Multi- Institute of American Cultures | UCLA Office of Equity, Diversity and RE-IMAGINING MEDIA AND disciplinary artist, producer, arts Inclusion | Visual Communications COMMUNITY educator and cultural organizer SOCIAL CHANGE Twenty-five years on, what does For better or for worse, our FOR A COMPLETE LINE-UP OF EVENTS, PLEASE VISIT: FUNMILOLA FAGBAMILA HTTP://LUSKIN.UCLA.EDU/FLASHPOINT2017 Los Angeles look like today? community vision and self Original member of Black Lives 28 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 image has been shaped by Comedian Patrick Martinez, discuss their She is a current resident of Miami, and New York to — and in some unfortunate PHIL YU (Moderator) process and how the 1992 Los Koreatown, Los Angeles. the . Martinez’s instances, tainted — by the way Blogger, Angry Asian Man Angeles Uprising influenced GRACE MISOE LEE work has been discussed in communities of color have their work. Grace Misoe Lee is a Korean publications ranging from the 6:00 PM been portrayed in mass media GRACE LEE, Producer, Director American graphic designer that Los Angeles Times, KPCC, KCET and popular entertainment. RECEPTION and Writer. focuses her personal projects Artbound, Fusion, ArtNews, In this special conversation HIRASAKI GARDEN AND Grace Lee is a Korean on communicating authentic, Wired Magazine, KCRW, and with filmmakers, scholars, WEINGART FOYER @ JAPANESE American filmmaker whose honest stories of historical Vice Magazine. In 2017 Patrick and cultural workers, we will AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM work explores questions of people, places, and events. Born will have his first solo museum 100 North Central Avenue assess whether progressive history, race, politics, and in Orange County and raised in show at the Cornell Fine Arts Los Angeles Little Tokyo change can be enacted by a community. She directed Los Angeles, these contrasting Museum in Winter Park, FL. paradigm shift in how we are Martinez lives and works in 8:00 PM the Peabody Award-winning environments shaped her portrayed onscreen, in print, and AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: fascination in blended cultures Los Angeles, CA. ARATANI THEATRE @ JAPANESE in other forms of commercial THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE and her desire to create. FOLDER STUDIO and independently-produced AMERICAN CULTURAL & COMMUNITY CENTER LEE BOGGS (2014), which The Inspired by the exploration of Founded in 2013 by Jon Gacnik, communication. 244 South San Pedro Street Hollywood Reporter called youth culture and music, Grace Takumi Akin, and Wesley Chou, PANELISTS: Los Angeles Little Tokyo ”an entertainingly revealing is always listening, learning, and Folder Studio is a Los Angeles- JUSTIN CHON Director, SCREENING: GOOK portrait of the power of a single experiencing instant realities based design office focusing Screenwriter, and Lead Actor, (United States, 2017) individual to effect change.” that help keep her enthusiastic on visual systems, identities, GOOK Other feature directing credits and curious to propel her work. websites, interfaces, and PLEASE SEE PAGE 58 FOR include THE GRACE LEE She earned her BFA from Art publications for select cultural GAYE THERESA JOHNSON COMPLETE PROGRAM DETAILS PROJECT, JANEANE FROM DES Center College of Design in and commercial clients. Associate Professor, UCLA César E. Chávez Department of MOINES, MAKERS: WOMEN Pasadena and now resides in FROM APRIL 28 THROUGH 30: Chicana/o Studies, Associate SUNDAY, APRIL 30 AND POLITICS and OFF THE Koreatown, Los Angeles. Art gallery featuring the work Professor, UCLA Ralph Bunche MENU: ASIAN AMERICA. Lee PATRICK MARTINEZ of Grace Misoe Lee and Patrick VIDA GROUP BUILDING African American Studies Center co-founded the Asian American Patrick Martinez earned his Martinez, with an interactive 249 South Los Angeles St. ANANYA ROY Director, Institute Documentary Network and BFA with honors from Art display of KTOWN92 by Folder Los Angeles, CA 90012 on Inequality and Democracy at is currently in production on Center College of Design in Studio and Grace Lee. Archived

UCLA Luskin KTOWN92, an interactive online 2005. Martinez’s work has interviews from the 1992 L.A. RENEE TAJIMA-PEÑA ARTIST TALK documentary that explores been exhibited in domestic Rebellion and produced by Don’t miss this opportunity to Director, Center for the 25th anniversary of the and international venues Visual Communications will also hear the featured artists, Grace EthnoCommunications at UCLA Los Angeles Riots through the extending from Los Angeles, be presented at the VIDA Lee, Grace Misoe Lee, and JENNY YANG Writer and greater Koreatown community. San Francisco, Minneapolis, Group Building. FLASH POINT PROGRAM • 29 30 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 We first learned about Bronzeville in 2012 during our production of BRONZEVILLE, “Union”, a documentary about the story of Union Church and how it became Union Center for the Arts. LITTLE TOKYO - Tad Kowta, son of Union Church Pastor, described an over-crowded neighborhood when they returned A THRESHOLD IN from internment and that Union Church became a Social Services center called “Pilgrim House”. Tad’s father was part of re-establishing TIME AND PLACE Union Church upon their return BY MAYA SANTOS INTERVIEWS BY JOEL QUIZON and his few words about it always made me wonder how that EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066, THE NATION-WIDE DEPORTATION OF PEOPLE OF JAPANESE transition occurred and how these ANCESTRY DURING WWII RESULTED IN 30,000 PEOPLE LOSING THEIR HOMES AND BUSINESSES communities responded to each IN LITTLE TOKYO IN 1942. BRONZEVILLE, A NAME FOR TOWNS ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHERE other during the changing of AFRICAN AMERICANS FILLED THE WAR DEFENSE INDUSTRY’S LABOR SHORTAGE WHILE hands, names, and places. What structures are still standing from MIGRATING FROM THE SOUTH RESULTED IN 80,000 AFRICAN AMERICANS AND LATINOS LIVING Bronzeville and how far did it IN LITTLE TOKYO BY 1943. THESE FEW POWERFULLY DYNAMIC YEARS IN THE 1940S HAVE span? Where were these Breakfast BEEN CALLING TO BE REMEMBERED NOW MORE THAN EVER. WITH RACISM, DISPLACEMENT, Clubs where early morning jam AND DEPORTATION EVER-PRESENT, AS PEOPLE OF COLOR, IT IS CRUCIAL THAT OUR SHARED sessions took place and working HISTORIES AND PLACES ARE RECOGNIZED AS ROOTS, A LIFELINE AND LEGACY. class people had a good time?

BRONZEVILLE, LITTLE TOKYO • 31 BRONZEVILLE, LITTLE TOKYO Where were the cornerstones Tokyo. Beginning with a projection JQ: WHY DO YOU THINK YOUR it now is different. Documentaries of community when these two map installation, VR animation, and MEDIUM (ANIMATION) AND THIS now have wonderment and historic moments came together in a live Jazz performance, it grew to PLATFORM IS IMPORTANT IN amazement. There are new forms such turbulent times? include a theatrical play reading, HIGHLIGHTING SUCH HISTORY? for people to have fun and learn We soon learned about Project an altar installation, and a historical JB: In today's world it's not about about the past. Bronzeville, a multi-disciplinary walking tour. That said, the 15 minutes of fame it’s now about 15 seconds of fame. Animation exhibition in 2013 curated by Bronzeville story knows it deserves Q&A WITH EDDY Artist, Kathie Foley-Meyer. Upon to shine and be known. can be thought of as a medium for speaking with Kathie we knew children with short attention spans, VAJARAKITIPONGSE but with VR the experience can there was a collaboration ahead in Q&A WITH Eddy Vajarakitipongse, Technical be more immersive and engaging. Little Tokyo. When the opportunity Director, Experiential Designer, JAVIER BARBOZA It’s a medium that people feel came for FfF Interactive II, she and Audiovisual Installation nostalgic about and is still evolving. joined as us as Project Advisor and Javier Barboza of Kaleidoscope Artist joins FfF Interactive* for a It’s important to push stories in Bronzeville, Little Tokyo began Studio, is an award-winning second year with Memory Bank, new ways with new innovations. to take shape with the support of filmmaker, Creative Director, an audio reactive projection map It’s also valuable to talk about race her research and of many others Animator, Educator, and Artist. He installation & open mic. Activated and gender. before her. It is the pulse of a once joins us as Co-director and Co- with live memories and stories bustling Bronzeville that inspires producer of Bronze, Brass, Jazz, JQ: WHAT MAKES "BRONZEVILLE, about Little Tokyo and Bronzeville, collaboration and creativity to a 3-minute 360 VR animation LITTLE TOKYO" RELEVANT TO this 2-day installation is an shine in order to piece together inspired by fabled stories about OUR CURRENT TIMES? interactive storytelling space that its little-known history. For this jazz great Charlie Parker and his JB: Beyond relevant. It’s exactly will be documented in 360 on reason we invited a talented array memorable stay at the Civic Hotel what is happening now. 75 years April 29th & 30th at the Historic of diverse artists of varied mediums (1st and San Pedro) and brief later we are still experiencing the Nishi Building of JANM. to join us in creating original works residency at the Finale Club (230 same thing. Different kinds of war, that highlight the threshold and 1/2 East First Street). executive orders, history repeating vibrancy that was Bronzeville, Little itself. How people are engaging in

32 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 JQ: WHY DO YOU THINK YOUR ASPECT THAT YOU LEARNED Sunday at the Old Union Church JQ: WHAT MAKES "BRONZEVILLE, MEDIUM AND THIS PLATFORM IS ABOUT THE BRONZEVILLE ERA? on April 30th at Union Center for LITTLE TOKYO" RELEVANT TO IMPORTANT IN HIGHLIGHTING EV: that in a very short time the Arts. OUR CURRENT TIMES? SUCH HISTORY? period, Bronzeville became official DS: THIS EVENT speaks to a JQ: WHY DO YOU THINK YOUR EV: My preferred methods for because it really did have a pulse! myriad of contemporary narratives MEDIUM AND THIS PLATFORM IS communicating through art have including immigration politics, It amazes me how fast we humans IMPORTANT IN HIGHLIGHTING always involved the wondrous can adapt under dramatic political SUCH HISTORY? presidential executive orders, interplay of light and sound. times. My heart also felt heavy for DS: People are entitled to make up sequestering, war, internment, Research and conscious content all the residents that were affected their own minds about the history cultural intersections, prevalence are the backbone and road map. before, during, and after the but this project gives the public of Jazz or American Classical JQ: WHAT ABOUT THE SUBJECT Bronzeville era. a number of media perspectives Music as soundtrack to American MATTER THAT DREW YOU MOST with which to come to some sort Life, etc. INTO DOING THIS PROJECT? Q&A WITH of understanding about this unique JQ: WHAT WOULD BE THE MOST EV: How Bronzeville came to be, DEXTER STORY moment in L.A. history. I admire IMPORTANT THING YOU WOULD the fact that Bronzeville only lasted WANT THE AUDIENCE TO TAKE Dexter Story, a multi- the creativity around telling the a few years, and the impact that AWAY FROM EXPERIENCING instrumentalist, composer, story of Bronzeville, Little Tokyo. still echoes today blows my mind "BRONZEVILLE, LITTLE TOKYO?" arranger, songwriter, producer, JQ: WHAT WAS IT ABOUT THE in so many ways — it embodies DS: That L.A. has profound and music director, is responsible SUBJECT MATTER THAT DREW both an ephemeral and everlasting cultural cache worthy of extensive for the original 40s inspired theme YOU MOST INTO DOING THIS impact into the greater history of academic research and wide- music featured in the virtual reality PROJECT? what Los Angeles is today. reaching public awareness. animation, Bronze, Brass, Jazz. DS: That it speaks to the immigrant JQ: AS YOU WORKED ON THE He also brings together a star- issues that are so pronounced PROJECT AND DID SOME studded quintet under the name in our world culture today and RESEARCH, WHAT WAS THE Bronzeville Union to perform celebrates the music surrounding MOST SURPRISING FACT OR together for the first time at the period.

BRONZEVILLE, LITTLE TOKYO • 33 BRONZEVILLE, LITTLE TOKYO INFO FOODIES, FREE PROGRAM MEMORY BANK This 3-minute VR piece is inspired by late night jam sessions at breakfast “BRONZEVILLE, LITTLE TOKYO” sheds light on an overlooked moment HISTORIC NISHI BUILDING (1st and Central) clubs, and fabled stories about jazz great PLEASE PREPARE in history when Japanese and Japanese Americans were displaced and Charlie Parker, from his memorable stay 4/29, 3-10PM. 4/30, 3-8PM. African Americans moved into Little Tokyo. For this brief period in the at the Civic Hotel (1st and San Pedro) On the 75th Anniversary of Executive to a brief residency at the Finale Club 1940s, this area was known as Bronzeville. To honor this period, FORM Order 9066, an interactive media (230 1/2 East First Street). Be the first to FOR TAKEOFF. follows FUNCTION and Visual Communications present a special two-day installation will capture memories at one experience this 1940s dreamscape of program featuring an interactive media installation, a 360° virtual reality of the evacuation sites in Little Tokyo Bronzeville in this interactive art piece Introducing our Featured Chef Series. which became a Baptist Church during on Saturday & Sunday! presentation, and a live Jazz performance on Historic First Street North. the Bronzeville Era. CO-DIRECTORS: JAVIER BARBOZA OF PLEASE MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT THE BRONZEVILLE LITTLE TOKYO Using projection mapping and KALEIDOSCOPE MEDIA STUDIO & MAYA WEBSITE AT HTTP://WWW.FFFMEDIA.COM/BRONZEVILLE. audio reactive technology in this SANTOS OF FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION historic building, “Memory Bank” is an CO-PRODUCERS: JAVIER BARBOZA, installation that encourages you to share ESEEL BORLASA, JOEL QUIZON SCHEDULE: memories and reflections of Bronzeville EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: VISUAL and Little Tokyo. This 2-day interactive COMMUNICATIONS, ESEEL BORLASA SATURDAY, APRIL 29 open mic will be documented to ORIGINAL SCORE: DEXTER STORY MUSIC at HISTORIC NISHI BUILDING (1st & Central) help share stories and memories of PUBLISHING 3:00-10:00PM 3:00-10:00PM Bronzeville and Little Tokyo as a video VR DIRECTOR: ADRIANA COPETE MEMORY BANK BRONZE, BRASS, JAZZ after the event. Audiences of all ages are VR EDITOR: REGGIE LAMAR FORD Projection Map Installation A Virtual Reality Animation invited to be part of this unique space VR TECH CONSULTANT: VICKI HUANG for storytelling. Experience featured ASSISTANT ANIMATOR: MEEJIN HONG speakers & poets at 5pm on Saturday & 3D MODELER: ERIC PATO SUNDAY, APRIL 30 Sunday! SOUND DESIGNER: ERIC PEPPER at HISTORIC NISHI BUILDING (1st & Central) CONCEPTUAL DESIGN: EDDY 3:00-8:00PM 3:00-8:00PM VAJARAKITIPONGSE OF YAKNOWLIKE SUNDAY AT THE MEMORY BANK BRONZE, BRASS, JAZZ STUDIOS & MAYA SANTOS OF FORM UNION CHURCH FOLLOWS FUNCTION TECHNICAL Projection Map Installation A Virtual Reality Animation ARATANI COURTYARD, DESIGNER: EDDY VAJARAKITIPONGSE UNION CENTER FOR THE ARTS First Class guests on our Mainland-bound flights PRODUCER: MAYA SANTOS SUNDAY, APRIL 30 4/30, 6-9:30PM. will now enjoy culinary delights by Lee Anne Wong at ARATANI COURTYARD, UNION CENTER FOR THE ARTS BRONZE, BRASS, JAZZ Live music by The Bronzeville Union of Koko Head Café, Wade Ueoka of MW Restaurant, (North of 1st & San Pedro) HISTORIC NISHI BUILDING – Bandleader, Composer, Drums: Andrew Le of The Pig & The Lady, Jon Matsubara of Dexter Story; Trumpet: Josef Leimberg; 6:00-9:30PM 6:00-9:30PM (1st and Central) Bloomingdale’s Ala Moana Center and Sheldon Simeon LIVE MUSIC BY THE BRONZE, BRASS, JAZZ 4/29, 3-10PM. 4/30,3-8PM Saxophone: Josh Johnson; Keys: Mark de Clive-Lowe; Upright bass: Trevor Ware of Tin Roof Maui. Hawai‘i-bound flights continue to BRONZEVILLE UNION A Virtual Reality Animation ARATANI COURTYARD, PRODUCER: RANI DE LEON HOSTS: showcase the delicious creations of our Executive Chef UNION CENTER FOR THE ARTS KATHIE FOLEY-MEYER, ALISON DE LA Chai Chaowasaree of Chef Chai at Pacifica Honolulu. 4/30, 6-9:30PM. CRUZ COFFEE: CAFÉ SANTO 34 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 Learn more at HawaiianAirlines.com.

HAWN-15762_Chefs_LAAPFF_HalfPg.indd 1 4/12/17 9:38 AM

JOB#: HAWN-15762 CLIENT: Hawaiian Airlines PUB: Los Angeles Asian Pacific BLEED: n/a COLOR: 4C Film Festival Program SIZE: 4.25"w x 5.5"h RUN DATE: April 27 – May 4th, 2017 LIVE: "w x "h

If you have questions concerning this file, please contact our Production Manager immediately at 808.539.3487|PWee FOODIES, PLEASE PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF. Introducing our Featured Chef Series.

First Class guests on our Mainland-bound flights will now enjoy culinary delights by Lee Anne Wong of Koko Head Café, Wade Ueoka of MW Restaurant, Andrew Le of The Pig & The Lady, Jon Matsubara of Bloomingdale’s Ala Moana Center and Sheldon Simeon of Tin Roof Maui. Hawai‘i-bound flights continue to showcase the delicious creations of our Executive Chef Chai Chaowasaree of Chef Chai at Pacifica Honolulu. Learn more at HawaiianAirlines.com.

HAWN-15762_Chefs_LAAPFF_HalfPg.indd 1 4/12/17 9:38 AM

JOB#: HAWN-15762 CLIENT: Hawaiian Airlines PUB: Los Angeles Asian Pacific BLEED: n/a COLOR: 4C Film Festival Program SIZE: 4.25"w x 5.5"h RUN DATE: April 27 – May 4th, 2017 LIVE: "w x "h

If you have questions concerning this file, please contact our Production Manager immediately at 808.539.3487|PWee TIGERS ROAR: SOUTHEAST ASIAN CINEMA ASEAC-SEACRN SYMPOSIUM Visual Communications is excited to partner with the Association for Southeast Asian Cinemas as it presents the Southeast Asian Cinemas Research Network (ASEAC-SEACRN) Symposium April 28 and 29, 2017 at UCLA’s Darren Star Screening Room, Melnitz Hall 1422. Bringing together filmmakers, scholars, and cultural workers, the Symposium serves as a vital meeting place to consider the means by which we facilitate dialogue on Asian international and diasporic cinema across critical and creative practices.

As part of the ASEAC-SEACRN Symposium, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival proudly presents:

BY THE TIME IT GETS DARK OUR SLATE OF NEW AND RECENT ASIAN INTERNATIONAL by Anocha Suwichakornpong FEATURE-LENGTH WORKS confirms once again what we have observed Friday, April 28, 8:30 PM | Downtown Independent though our programming for a number of years now: the cinemas of (SEE PAGE 92 FOR COMPLETE PROGRAM DETAILS) Southeast Asia is among the most dynamic, visionary, and vital in all THREE SASSY SISTERS of world cinema. From U.S.-trained wimmyn cinema artists including by Nia Dinata Ramona Diaz, Anocha Suwichakornpong, and Doris Yeung; to fast-rising Saturday, April 29, 7:00 PM | Downtown Independent young turks as Davy Chou, Avid Liongoren, and Douglas Seok, “tiger” nations including Cambodia, , Macao, Malaysia, the Philippines, (SEE PAGE 68 FOR COMPLETE PROGRAM DETAILS) Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are poised to assert themselves during FOR A COMPLETE ASEAC-SEACRN SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE, Festival Week 2017. Add in the return of past Festival faves Nia Dinata, Sam PLEASE VISIT: WWW.SEACRN.ORG Voutas, Ham Tran, Midi Z, and others, and we have a moist intoxicating brew of new Asian cinema awaiting Festival Week audiences. Explore…and be surprised, entertained, and rewarded! Our selection of Asian international features begins on page 91

36 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 SPOTLIGHT ON TAIWAN THIS YEAR’S PROGRAMMING SPOTLIGHT SHINES A LIGHT ON THE COUNTRY OF TAIWAN, highlighting the best in Taiwanese cinema and the country’s rich culture and history that have shaped the island nation into one of the most dynamic countries in the Asia-Pacific Rim. This year’s spotlight features two award winning feature films — Midi Z’s THE ROAD TO MANDALAY (Venice Film Festival, World Premiere and Best Director at Goldenhorse Film Awards) and SMALL TALK (Berlinale, Teddy Award Winner). Both films represent the pedigree of this nation’s cinema, with the current generation of filmmakers taking the mantle from such cinematic giants like King Hu, Edward Yang, Ang Lee, Tsai Ming-liang, and Hou Hsiao-hsien. Midi Z, like his predecessor Tsai Ming-liang, is an immigrant to Taiwan, hailing from Myanmar. His films are about the transmigration of people in the region, specifically in Southeast Asia along the Chinese-Myanmar border. In THE ROAD TO MANDALAY, he focuses on Burmese migrants who work illegally in Bangkok. The film world premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year and also garnered a Best Director win at the Goldenhorse • A DOLL’S HUG • WHITE TUNNEL Film Awards in . (dir. Rob Chihwen Lo) (dir. Chien Lan-Chi, Chang SMALL TALK from Hui-Chen Huang, is another award winning film, preceding GHOST Chin-Wei) appearing in MAGNET ROACH MOTEL “Wildest Imagination” where it won the Teddy Award at the recent edition of the Berlinale. A personal story, the director sets off on a journey into the past with her • COIN BOY (dir. Chuan-Yang Li) appearing mother, confronting her with questions that have tormented the director in “WTF: Watch These Films” SPONSORED BY THE MINISTRY OF for many years about her mother and their family’s violent history of spou- CULTURE, REPUBLIC OF CHINA • DOTS sal abuse against her by her abusive father. By digging deeper, especially in (TAIWAN) AND TAIWAN ACADEMY (dir. Chen-Wen Lo) appearing IN LOS ANGELES. regards to her mother’s sexuality, the film paints a picture of the changing in “The Sum of My Memory” lives and conditions for women in Taiwan. • I’M FINE In addition, ‘Spotlight on Taiwan’ is presenting five short films that show (dir. Lucretia Knapp) the breadth of diverse work from Taiwan’s emerging filmmakers. We cele- appearing in “Pink House, Pink Home” brate these filmmakers with their latest shorts, in the following programs:

SPOTLIGHT ON TAIWAN • 37 FESTIVAL AWARDS

NEW DIRECTORS/ LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/ HONOR ROLL: OUR PAST NEW VISIONS AWARD NEW VISIONS AWARD ROSEWATER 2002 PERFECTION FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS Dir: Kimi Takasue GOLDEN REEL AWARD Dir: Karen Lin BARRIER DEVICE The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival has conferred AUDIENCE AWARD – JESUS HENRY CHRIST FEATURE-LENGTH FILM Dir: Grace Lee filmmaker awards beginning in 1995, when short films Dir: Dennis Lee ROOTS IN THE SAND NEW DIRECTORS/ were recognized. The impact of short film and video Dir: Jayasri M. Hart (Documentary) NEW VISIONS AWARD AUDIENCE AWARD – FEATURE-LENGTH FILM on the growing Asian Pacific cinematic community was THE QUEST FOR LENGTH FRESHMEN Dir: Gene Rhee KEKA 1995 Dir: Tom Huang (Narrative) Dir: Enrique “Quark” Henares confirmed when, in 1998, the awards were named the HONORABLE MENTION NARRATIVE SHORT (Narrative) King Hu Award (later the Festival Golden Reel Award) ASIAN STUDS NIGHTMARE KITCHEN KATASTROPHE Dirs: Derrick Auyoung, to recognize overall excellence in the short subject Dir: Lawrence “Kip” Fulbeck 2000 Andrew Huang format, and the New Directors/New Visions Award in DOCUMENTARY SHORT GOLDEN REEL AWARD 2005 TURBANS GOLDEN REEL AWARD recognition of innovative and original use of cinematic THE TRAINED CHINESE TONGUE Dir: Erika Surat Andersen 2003 SOPHIE language and vision. The New Directors/New Visions Dir: Helen Hauyoung Lee Dir: Laurie Wen NEW DIRECTORS/ GOLDEN REEL AWARD NEW VISIONS AWARD LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/ Award was augmented in 2004 to recognize the efforts HONORABLE MENTION, THE ANNIVERSARY NEW VISIONS AWARD NARRATIVE SHORT IMAGINING PLACE of former Visual Communications Executive Director Dir: Ham Tran MR. LEE Dir: Anita Wen-shin Chang TAMA TU NEW DIRECTORS/ Dir: Taika Waititi Linda Mabalot to nurture and develop emerging Asian Dir: Greg Pak AUDIENCE AWARD – NEW VISIONS AWARD FEATURE-LENGTH FILM AUDIENCE AWARD – Pacific filmmaking talents. THE ANNIVERSARY FEATURE-LENGTH FILM CONSCIENCE AND Dir: Ham Tran Beginning in 2004, after a five-year break, the Film 1998 THE CONSTITUTION TO YOU SWEETHEART, ALOHA Festival resumed handing out awards for feature-length Dir: Frank Abe (Documentary) REVOLVE Dirs: S. Leo Chiang, KING HU AWARD Dir: Gene Sung Mercedes Coats (Documentary) film and video works. Recognizing the growing tech- DOUBLE SOLITAIRE Dir: Corey Ohama nical accomplishment and vision of our communities’ 2001 NEW DIRECTORS/ 2006 cinematic artists, the Festival in 2006 instituted Grand NEW VISIONS AWARD GOLDEN REEL AWARD GOLDEN REEL AWARD Jury and Special Jury Awards in both narrative and RED PERIL BODY AND SOUL Dir: Puntip Limrungroj MISSING Dir: Khmasea Hoa Bristol Dir: Kit Hui non-fiction feature-length film. Complementing these NEW DIRECTORS/ awards are the Festival Audience Awards recognizing NEW VISIONS AWARD LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/ 1999 CUT CUT RECUT NEW VISIONS AWARD the Festival audience’s favorites in both narrative and Dir: Sara Kealani Takahashi NEW YEAR GOLDEN REEL AWARD 2004 non-fiction, and Special Jury citations for excellence in Dir: Susan Tuan GOLDEN REEL AWARD THE LAST SEVEN DAYS GRAND JURY AWARD – Acting. Here’s the complete list: OF ANNIE ONG ETERNAL GAZE FEATURE-LENGTH FILM Dir: Derek Vertongen Dir: Sam Chen THE MOTEL Dir: Michael Kang (Narrative) 38 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 THE QUEEN FROM VIRGINIA: THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/ WHITE ON RICE GRAND JURY AWARD – NEW VISIONS AWARD FEATURE-LENGTH FILM THE JACKIE BONG WRIGHT Dir: Linda Hattendorf Dir: Dave Boyle (Outstanding (Documentary) SWEAT Screenplay: Boyle, Joel Clark) THE TAQWACORES STORY Dir: Na Hong-jin Dir: Eyad Zahra (Narrative) Dir: David Ngo (Documentary) SPECIAL JURY AWARD – AUDIENCE AWARD – FEATURE-LENGTH FILM GRAND JURY AWARD – FEATURE-LENGTH FILM LAST TRAIN HOME SPECIAL JURY AWARD – FEATURE-LENGTH FILM FEATURE-LENGTH FILM BABY KARMA CALLING Dir: (Documentary) Dir: Juwan Chung (Narrative) OCEAN OF PEARLS Dir: Sarba Das (Narrative) COLMA: THE MUSICAL Dir: Sarab Neelam (Narrative) SPECIAL JURY AWARD – Dir: Richard Wong (Narrative) NA KAMALEI: WHATEVER IT TAKES FEATURE-LENGTH FILM OH, SAIGON Dir: Christopher Wong IN THE MATTER OF JOHN & JANE TOLL-FREE THE MEN OF HULA Dir: Doan Hoang (Documentary) 2009 Dir: Lisette Marie Flanary (Documentary) CHA JUNG HEE Dir: Ashim Ahluwalia GOLDEN REEL AWARD Dir: Deann Borshay Liem (Documentary) (Documentary) SPECIAL JURY AWARD – A GREEN MOUNTAIN SPECIAL JURY CITATION – FEATURE-LENGTH FILM OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER (Documentary - Outstanding AUDIENCE AWARD – AUDIENCE AWARD – ALWAYS BE BOYZ IN THE DRAWER Achievement, Directing) FEATURE-LENGTH FILM FEATURE-LENGTH FILM MICHAEL CHEN Dir: John Kwon Dir: Lee Hwa Jun (Documentary - Outstanding ASIAN STORIES (BOOK 3) AMERICAN FUSION CHILDREN OF INVENTION Achievement, (Narrative – Best First Feature) LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/ CRYSTAL CHIU Dirs: Kris Chin, Ron Oda (Narrative) Dir: Frank Lin (Narrative) NEW VISIONS AWARD Editing: Vivien Hillgrove) OPTION 3 CHILDREN OF INVENTION NEW YEAR BABY Dir: Richard Wong WET SEASON LAST TRAIN HOME Dir: Michael Tay HEE YEON KIM Dir: Socheata Poeuv (Documentary) (Narrative – Technical Achievement: TREELESS MOUNTAIN Dir: Lixin Fan (Documentary - Outstanding SPECIAL JURY CITATIONS–ACTING Richard Wong, H.P. Mendoza) GRAND JURY AWARD – SONG HEE KIM FEATURE-LENGTH FILM Achievement, Cinematography) ESAI MORALES TREELESS MOUNTAIN American Fusion CHILDREN OF INVENTION THE TAQWACORES Dir: (Documentary) Dir: Tze Chun (Narrative) JUSTIN “BOB” KWONG WHITE ON RICE Dir: Eyad Zahra (Narrative - Out- MEREDITH SCOTT LYNN LONG STORY SHORT standing Achievement, Directing) WHATEVER IT TAKES Dir: Christine Choy Dir: Christopher Wong (Documentary – SF STORIES DAVID HUYNH (Documentary) Dir: Raul Jocson (Narrative - (Outstanding Newcomer) Baby Honorable Mention) 2007 SPECIAL JURY AWARD – Outstanding Screenplay) AUDIENCE AWARD – FEATURE-LENGTH FILM GOLDEN REEL AWARD FEATURE-LENGTH FILM KTOWN COWBOYS THE REAL SHAOLIN Dir: Daniel Park (Narrative - THE BLOOD OF OCEAN OF PEARLS Dir: Alexander Sebastien Lee 2008 Dir: Sarab Neelam (Narrative) Outstanding First Feature) YINGZHOU DISTRICT GOLDEN REEL AWARD (Documentary) Dir: Ruby Yang AUDIENCE AWARD – TAILOR MADE: LONG STORY SHORT ALL ABOUT DAD FEATURE-LENGTH FILM LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/ CHINATOWN’S LAST TAILOR Dir: Christine Choy (Documentary) Dir: Mark Tran (Narrative – 2010 THE TAQWACORES NEW VISIONS AWARD Dirs: Leonard Lee, Marsha Newbery SPECIAL JURY CITATION – Outstanding First Feature) GOLDEN REEL AWARD Dir: Eyad Zahra (Narrative) PILGRIMAGE OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER Dir: Tadashi Nakamura GOLDEN REEL AWARD – JIMMY TSAI TREELESS MOUNTAIN BICYCLE Dir: Dean Yamada A VILLAGE CALLED HONORABLE MENTION Dir: So Yong Kim (Narrative GRAND JURY AWARD – (Screenwriting; Acting) LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/ VERSAILLES -Outstanding Achievement, FEATURE-LENGTH FILM THE POSTCARD PING PONG PLAYA NEW VISIONS AWARD Dir: S. Leo Chiang (Documentary) Dir: Josh Kim Directing) THE REBEL TELEVISNU Dir: Charlie Nguyen (Narrative) Dir: Prithi Gowda

FESTIVAL AWARDS • 39 SPECIAL JURY CITATION - Outstanding Achievement, WILL YUN LEE CHINA HEAVYWEIGHT MICHELLE KRUSIEC, SANDY SPECIAL JURY AWARD – CALL TO ACTION AWARD FEATURE-LENGTH FILM Directing - Iris K. Shim) LUKE BRANDON FIELD (Documentary, Best MARTIN, A VILLAGE CALLED Cinematography: Sun Shaoguang) A RIVER CHANGES COURSE VERSAILLES ONE BIG HAPA FAMILY WHERE THE ROAD MEETS THE SUN JOSHUA LEONARD (Documentary - Best Director: (Documentary - Outstanding VALLEY OF SAINTS SUNSET STORIES Kalyanee Mam) Dir: S. Leo Chiang (Documentary) Achievement, Cinematography - (Narrative, Best Director: C3: PROJECT MARKET/ NARRATIVE - Jason Woodford) Musa Syeed) JURY AWARD A RIVER CHANGES COURSE BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING (Documentary - Outstanding (Documentary, Best NAV MANN Achievement, YES WE’RE OPEN SEEING RED Cinematography: Kalyanee Mam) Editing - Jeff Chiba Stearns) (Narrative, Best Screenplay: Liselle Mei, Derek Nguyen THE TAQWACORES HARANA BOBBY NADERI H.P. Mendoza) C3: PROJECT MARKET/ LIVING IN SEDUCED HONORABLE MENTION (Documentary, Best THE TAQWACORES CIRCUMSTANCES MODEL MINORITY | THE DOCTOR Cinematography: Peggy Peralta – DOMINIC RAINS (Narrative - Best Director - TWO SHADOWS Musa Syeed, Nicholas Bruckman Honorable Mention) THE TAQWACORES Ian Gamazon) 2012 (Narrative, Best Cinematography: JAKE SHIMABUKURO: NOUREEN DEWULF John Matysiak) THE TAQWACORES SAIGON ELECTRIC GOLDEN REEL AWARD LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS (Narrative - Best Screenplay - (Documentary, Best Editor: Tadashi Stephane Gauger) NANI SHANGHAI CALLING Nakamura) Dir: Justin Tipping (Narrative, Best First Feature: Daniel Hsia) ABIGAIL HARM WHERE THE ROAD LINDA MABALOT NEW MEETS THE SUN DIRECTORS/NEW VISIONS AWARD AUDIENCE AWARD – (Narrative, Best Director: (Narrative - Best Cinematography - TSUYAKO FEATURE-LENGTH FILM Lee Isaac Chung) Gavin Kelly) Dir: Mitsuyo Miyazaki TWO SHADOWS SAKE-BOMB Dir: Greg Cahill (Narrative) (Narrative, Best Screenplay: BANG BANG HONORABLE MENTION 2013 (Narrative - Best First Feature - GIVE UP TOMORROW Jeff Mizushima) THIEF GOLDEN REEL AWARD Byron Q) Dir: Jay Chern Dir: Michael Collins (Documentary) ADVANTAGEOUS THE HAUMANA 2011 AUDIENCE AWARD – GRAND JURY AWARD – Dir: Jennifer Phang (Narrative, Best First Feature: FEATURE-LENGTH FILM GOLDEN REEL AWARD FEATURE-LENGTH FILM SPECIAL JURY AWARD - Keo Woolford) TEAMWORK RAKENROL HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD LINDA MABALOT NEW VALLEY OF SAINTS DIRECTORS/NEW VISIONS AWARD AUDIENCE AWARD – Dir: Hong Seo Yun Dir: Quark Henares (Narrative) Dir: Musa Syeed (Narrative) GIVE UP TOMORROW FEATURE-LENGTH FILM Dir: Michael Collins PAULINA LINDA MABALOT NEW THE HAUMANA AMONG B-BOYS WHERE HEAVEN (Documentary) Dir: Caylee So DIRECTORS/NEW VISIONS AWARD Dir: Christopher Woon Dir: Keo Woolford (Narrative) FIRECRACKER (Documentary) MEETS HELL SPECIAL JURY AWARD - HONORABLE MENTION YELLOW FACE BEST NEWCOMER: ACTING Dir: Soham Mehta Dir: Sasha Friedlander ORIOLE Dir: Jeff Liu (Narrative) SPECIAL JURY AWARD - (Documentary) Dir: Kaynipa Polnikorn HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD NICHOLE BLOOM GRAND JURY AWARD – ONE KINE DAY JAKE SHIMABUKURO: FEATURE-LENGTH FILM FINDING FACE SPECIAL JURY AWARD – HOW I LEARNED FEATURE-LENGTH FILM LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS LIVING IN SEDUCED Dir: Skye Fitzgerald, Patti Duncan KEVIN WU TO TELL A LIE SEEKING ASIAN FEMALE HANG LOOSE Dir: Guo Shang-Sing Dir: Tadashi Nakamura CIRCUMSTANCES (Documentary) (Documentary) (Documentary - Best Director: SPECIAL JURY AWARD - Dir: Ian Gamazon (Narrative) SPECIAL JURY AWARD - GRAND JURY AWARD – Debbie Lum) BEST ACTOR REMY MARTIN EMERGING BREAKOUT ACTING PERFORMANCE FEATURE-LENGTH FILM THE HOUSE OF SUH FILMMAKER AWARD RYAN GREER WHERE HEAVEN DANTE BASCO ABIGAIL HARM Dir: Iris K. Shim (Documentary) PARADISE BROKEN, HANG LOOSE Dir: Lee Isaac Chung (Narrative) EVAN JACKSON LEONG ONE KINE DAY MEETS HELL Dir: LINSANITY SPECIAL JURY AWARD – NARRATIVE - NARRATIVE - (Documentary, FEATURE-LENGTH FILM BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING WHEN I WALK BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING Best Cinematography: Sasha Fried- THE HOUSE OF SUH Dir: Jason DaSilva (Documentary) ERIC MABIUS lander, Bao Nguyen) SUNG KANG, (Documentary - FERNANDO NORIEGA MONIQUE CURNEN 40 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 SPECIAL JURY AWARD - JEEPNEY WINNING GIRL THERE IS A NEW Dir: Lena Khan (Narrative) BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE: ACTING (Documentary, Best (Special Jury Award: WORLD SOMEWHERE HOOLIGAN SPARROW VERA MIAO Cinematography: Esy Casey Kimberlee Bassford) (Narrative, Best First Feature: Li Lu) Dir: Nanfu Wang (Documentary) BEST FRIENDS FOREVER and Sarah Friedland) JASON TOBIN CHINK ADVANTAGEOUS AUDIENCE AWARD – AUDIENCE AWARD – THE ROAD TO FAME (Narrative, Best Director: FEATURE-LENGTH FILM FEATURE-LENGTH FILM PROJECT CATALYST AWARD (Documentary, Best Editor: Jennifer Phang) HOW TO WIN AT CHECKERS THE TIGER HUNTER RUN THE TIDE Hao Wu and Jean Tsien) (EVERY TIME) Dir: Lena Khan (Narrative) Soham Mehta, Rajiv Shah MISS INDIA AMERICA STORIES FROM TOHOKU (Narrative, Best Screenplay: Dir: Josh Kim (Narrative) BAD RAP PROJECT CATALYST/ (Special Jury Award: Dianne Fukami 2015 THE KILLING FIENDS OF DR. Dir: Salima Koroma (Documentary) HONORABLE MENTION Ravi Kapoor, Meera Simhan) and Eli Olson) GOLDEN REEL AWARD HAING S. NGOR SPECIAL JURY AWARDS NEW GIRL: THE JAR 90 DAYS JASMINE Dir: Arthur Dong (Documentary) – FEATURE-LENGTH HOW TO FIGHT IN (Narrative, Best DOCUMENTARY FILM AND THE BAR Dir: Timothy Yeung SIX INCH HEELS Cinematography: Guy Livneh) LINDA MABALOT RENAISSANCE Viet Nguyen, SPIRIT AWARD NANFU WANG Christopher Dinh Nguyen (Narrative, Best Director: LINDA MABALOT NEW HOOLIGAN SPARROW (Best Director) Ham Tran) DIRECTORS/NEW VISIONS AWARD JASMINE JACQUELINE KIM JULIET JULIET - THE SOUND (Narrative, Best Actor: ADVANTAGEOUS S. LEO CHIANG A PICTURE OF YOU Jason Tobin, Drama) OUT RUN (Best Cinematography) Dir: Ken (Narrative, Best Screenplay: OF LOVE MUSICAL Ochiai MISS INDIA AMERICA MIKIKO SASAKI J.P. Chan) THE GREAT SASUKE (Best Editor) HONORABLE MENTION (Narrative, Best Actor: A LEADING MAN Tiya Sircar, Comedy) SPECIAL JURY AWARD: VISUAL COM- QUYEN MUNICATIONS FOUNDERS AWARD (Narrative, Best Cinematography: Dir: Lucretia Stinnette JASMINE | Robert Lam) TYRUS THICKER THAN WATER ADVANTAGEOUS Pamela Tom, Director FARAH GOES BANG Dir: Seung Yeob Lee (Narrative, Best Editor - Tie: (Narrative, Best Actor: SPECIAL JURY AWARDS – 2014 GRAND JURY AWARD – Chris Chan Lee | Sean Gillane, FEATURE-LENGTH NARRATIVE FILM Nikohl Boosheri) FEATURE-LENGTH FILM GOLDEN REEL AWARD Jennifer Phang) LENA KHAN AUDIENCE AWARD – ABOVE THE SEA JASMINE 2016 THE TIGER HUNTER (Best Director) FEATURE-LENGTH FILM Dir: Dax Phelan (Narrative) K-TOWN COWBOYS Dir: Keola Racela (Narrative, Best Ensemble Cast) GOLDEN REEL AWARD – RYUN YU 100 DAYS SHORT FILM LINDA MABALOT NEW Dir: Henry Chan (Narrative) TWINSTERS THE LAST TOUR (Best Screenplay) DIRECTORS/NEW VISIONS AWARD Dir: Samantha Futerman, Ryan JASMINE THE CHICKEN OF WUZUH QUYEN TRAN 9-MAN Miyamoto (Documentary) (Narrative, Best Sound Design: Dir.: Sungbin Byun MILKYBOY Dir: Ursula Liang (Documentary) Lisa K. Fowle) PALI ROAD (Best Cinematography) Dir: Arnold Arre SPECIAL JURY AWARD – THE LOBSTER KID MICHELLE CHEN PROJECT CATALYST AWARD FEATURE-LENGTH FILM ADVANTAGEOUS GRAND JURY AWARD – Dir.: Joseph Chen-Chieh Hsu PALI ROAD (Best Actress) FEATURE-LENGTH FILM THE TIGER’S CHILD CHANGING SEASON (Narrative, Best Musical Score: Abel Vang, Burlee Vang Timo Chen) LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/ CHRISTOPHER DINH CICADA (Documentary - Best Director: NEW VISIONS AWARD – SHORT FILM Jim Choi) COMFORT (Best Actor) Dir: Dean Yamada (Narrative) PROJECT CATALYST/ MAN UP FATA MORGANA HONORABLE MENTION RACHEL TEJADA (Best Animation in a Dir.: Amelie Wen THE ROAD TO FAME EVERYTHING WILL BE GRASS (Best Editor) CHINATOWN SQUAD (Documentary, Best Cinematogra- Non-Animation Film) Dir: Hao Wu (Documentary) Stephane Gauger, Feodor Chin SPECIAL JURY PRIZE phy: Patrick McLaughlin) – SHORT FILM Cast of THE TIGER HUNTER SPECIAL JURY AWARD – EVERYTHING BEFORE US (Best Ensemble Cast) FEATURE-LENGTH FILM TOP SPIN (Narrative, Best New Actor: COME, THE LIGHT Brandon Soo Hoo) Dir: Chao Koi-Wang KENNETH L. JOHNSON 9-MAN (Documentary, Best Editor: Sara THE UNBIDDEN (Best Sound Design) (Documentary - Newens and Summer Henderson) GRAND JURY AWARD LOVE ARCADIA HAZMADT and Best Director: Ursula Liang) (Narrative, Best New Actor: – FEATURE-LENGTH FILM Anthony Ma) THE TIGER HUNTER JULIUS SANCHEZ VAMPARIAH (Best Visual Effects) FESTIVAL AWARDS • 41 2017 JURY AWARD FINALISTS NARRATIVE NOMINEES

JUSTIN CHON TANUJ CHOPRA KOGONADA RANDALL OKITA Director, GOOK Director, CHEE AND T Director, WINDOW HORSES Director, COLUMBUS Director, THE LOCKPICKER Justin Chon was born in Tanuj Chopra’s first feature Ann Marie Fleming is an Kogonada is a proud Randall Lloyd Okita is a Orange County, California, film, PUNCHING AT THE award-winning Canadian immigrant, born in Seoul and Canadian filmmaker whose and has worked as an actor SUN, a story about South independent filmmaker, writer, raised in the Midwest. He has work often incorporates for over 15 years. As a writer/ Asian teenagers coming of and artist. Born in Japan been noted by Filmmaker elements of sculpture, director, his first feature film, age in Elmhurst, Queens to Chinese and Australian magazine (25 New Faces of drama, and rich, often surreal MAN UP, was distributed by has premiered at Sundance parents, Fleming creates work Independent Film) and The cinematography. His films Lakeshore Entertainment. and Tribeca Film festivals. that addresses themes of New Yorker for his visual have won national and He loves long walks on the Other titles he has directed family, identity, history, and work and film criticism international acclaim and have beach and reading novels by include: CHEE AND T, GRASS, memory. Her latest project commissioned by The been broadcast and screened candlelight. TEACHER IN A BOX, and the is WINDOW HORSES, a Criterion Collection and Sight at festivals around the world. webseries, NICE GIRLS CREW. feature-length animated film & Sound. He currently resides THE LOCKPICKER is his first He is currently part of the about a young Canadian poet in Nashville with his wife and feature film. 2017 Fox Director’s Lab. discovering her family history. two sons. COLUMBUS is his directorial feature debut.

42 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 2017 JURY AWARD FINALISTS NARRATIVE NOMINEES

MIKE SAKAMOTO NADINE TRUONG ANGIE WANG JOYCE WONG Director, NORMAN JONES Director, I CAN, I WILL, I DID Director, CARDINAL X Director, WEXFORD PLAZA Writer/Director Mike Sakamo- A German-born Vietnamese Angie Wang is a first time Joyce Wong is a Toron- to was born and raised in Los filmmaker, Nadine Truong filmmaker. CARDINAL X to-based writer and director. Angeles, and currently resides earned her MFA degree in chronicles her brief stint as an Her previous films include: in the South Bay. His short Directing in 2009 from AFI. In Ecstasy dealer. Her path was THE POWER OF LOVE (CE- films (SECRET ASIAN MAN, 2006 she was a proud fellow a winding one — she worked LINE DION FANS IN KENYA), ROLLINGMAN and BIRDMAN) of the LAAPFF’s ‘Armed With in technology sales, and which screened at Hot Docs have screened in numerous A Camera Fellowship’. Addi- spearheaded the nonprofit, in 2010, and EMBODYING festivals around the country. tionally, she received the San GROW. Her work with at-risk TORONTO, which won WIFT- NORMAN JONES is his first Diego International Asian Film middle school kids ignited T’s “Most Innovative Film by a feature film. Festival’s prestigious George her passion for social change. Female Director Award” at the C. Lin Emerging Filmmaker She believes that film is the Toronto Urban Film Festival Award in 2010. Her feature perfect medium to tell stories in 2009. Wong participated in credits include SOMEONE I that inspire thought, and shift the Berlinale Talent Campus in USED TO KNOW and SENIOR perspective. Her focus is to 2008, and the Toronto Inter- PROJECT. connect and give back. national Film Festival’s Talent Lab in 2016.

2017 JURY AWARD FINALISTS • 43 2017 JURY AWARD FINALISTS DOCUMENTARY NOMINEES

KONRAD ADERER ASHLEY DUONG JASON Y. LEE ROBIN LUNG TADASHI NAKAMURA Director, RESISTANCE AT Director, A TIME TO SWIM Director, SAVE MY SEOUL Director, FINDING KUKAN Director, MELE MURALS TULE LAKE Ashley Duong is a Mon- Jason is a storyteller, activist, Robin Lung made her di- Tadashi Nakamura was Konrad Aderer is a docu- treal-based filmmaker and and entrepreneur. After rectorial debut with WASH- named one of CNN’s Young mentary filmmaker and video multimedia storyteller, who graduating from University of INGTON PLACE: HAWAII’S People Who Rock for being journalist based in New York works to amplify marginalized Pennsylvania with a degree in FIRST HOME, a 30-minute the youngest filmmaker at City. Konrad’s independent voices by telling meaningful finance and management, he film about Hawai‘i’s historic the 2008 Sundance Film documentaries have focused stories in fresh ways. A TIME worked at Bain & Company. governor’s mansion and home Festival. His last film JAKE on resistance arising in immi- TO SWIM is her feature-length In 2010, he founded Jubilee of Queen Lili‘uokalani (aired SHIMABUKURO: LIFE IN FOUR grant communities targeted directorial debut. She has Project a non-profit to tell December 2008). She was the STRINGS was broadcasted by “national security” deten- also recently directed LAND stories to inspire change. associate producer for PATSY nationally on PBS and won the tion and profiling. His first AND LEGENDS, an interactive SAVE MY SEOUL is Jason's MINK: AHEAD OF THE MA- 2013 Film Audience feature documentary ENEMY podcast about the connection first feature-length film. JORITY, Hawai‘i unit producer Award. Nakamura’s trilogy of ALIEN (2011), on the fight to between the landscapes and for VIVAN LAS ANTIPODAS!, films on the Japanese Amer- free a post-9/11 detainee, was myths of the Kelabit. Cur- and unit producer for NOVA’s ican experience, YELLOW honored with a Courage in rently, she is creating a digital Killer Typhoon. In 2015, she BROTHERHOOD, PILGRIM- Media Award from Council for short about Chinese shadow was a documentary fellow AGE, and A SONG FOR OUR- American Islamic Relations puppetry, and a dance film at the NALIP ARC filmmaker SELVES have garnered over 20 (CAIR). about women in sports. residency. awards at film festivals.

44 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 2017 JURY AWARD FINALISTS

DINESH DAS SABU JEFF CHIBA STEARNS SHINPEI TAKEDA KIMI TAKESUE Director, UNBROKEN GLASS Director, MIXED MATCH Director, GHOST MAGNET Director, 95 AND 6 TO GO Dinesh is an independent Jeff Chiba Stearns is an ROACH MOTEL Takesue is an award-winning documentary filmmaker Emmy® nominated and Webby Shinpei Takeda is a Japa- filmmaker and recipient of based in Chicago. UNBRO- award winning animation and nese artist and filmmaker the Guggenheim Fellow- KEN GLASS is his first feature documentary filmmaker. He based in Tijuana, Mexico and ship in Film. Takesue’s films documentary. With Kartem- founded Vancouver-based Düsseldorf, . His have screened extensively at quin Films, Dinesh shot part boutique animation studio works involve a wide range of festivals and museums abroad of AMERICAN ARAB (2013). Meditating Bunny Studio Inc. themes regarding memories including: Sundance, New He also shot WAKING IN in 2001 and has since created and history. His recent proj- Directors/New Films, Locarno, OAK CREEK (2014), about the 9 short and feature animat- ects include ALPHA DECAY, Rotterdam, SXSW, and the 2012 Wisconsin Sikh Temple ed and documentary films. BETA DECAY, and ANTIMON- Museum of Modern Art-NYC; shooting. Dinesh holds a black Jeff’s work has broadcast UMENT. He is also the director and they have also aired on belt in Tomiki Aikido and rides around the world, screened in of GHOST MAGNET ROACH PBS, IFC, and the Sundance a Triumph Bonneville. Dinesh hundreds of international film HOTEL, the punkformance Channel. His acclaimed graduated from the University festivals and garnered over unit from Tijuana and the feature documentary, WHERE of Chicago in 2006. 35 awards. MIXED MATCH is main topic of the movie. ARE YOU TAKING ME? was Jeff’s second feature length commissioned by Rotterdam documentary. and was a Critics’ Pick by Time Out-NYC and LA Weekly.

2017 JURY AWARD FINALISTS • 45 2017 JURY AWARDS 2017 JURY AWARD FINALISTS DOCUMENTARY NOM.

YU GU SCOTT DRUCKER Director, WHO IS Director, WHO IS ARTHUR CHU? ARTHUR CHU? Yu Gu is a filmmaker born Scott Drucker is an in Chongqing, China and award-winning filmmaker raised in Vancouver, Canada. from Chicago. His short She works in narrative and documentary, BETWEEN THE ida is dedicated to building and serving the documentary films, using a HARVEST, screened at 20 lyrical approach to explore festivals (including 3 Oscar® themes of identity, migration Qualifiers). needs of a thriving documentary culture. and artistic freedom. Yu’s A MOTH IN SPRING premiered at Hot Docs and was we educate, advocate, fund projects, distributed by HBO. and foster enthusiastic audiences. documentary.org

46 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 2017 JURY AWARD FINALISTS INTERNATIONAL NOMINEES

DAVY CHOU RAMONA S. DIAZ HUSSEIN HASSAN HUI-CHEN HUANG AVID LIONGOREN Director, DIAMOND ISLAND Director, MOTHERLAND Director, REŞEBA – Director, SMALL TALK Director, SAVING SALLY Davy Chou is a French- Ramona Diaz is an award- THE DARK WIND Born in Taiwan in 1978, at Mr. Avid has no one to Cambodian filmmaker and winning Asian American Hussein Hassan is a Kurdish the age of six she began write a fancy bio for him & producer, born in 1983, filmmaker best known for her director, writer and actor. His supporting her mother in is rather shy about praising and based in Paris and compelling character-driven first feature film NARCISSUS her work as a Taoist priestess himself. He’d rather you Phnom Penh. documentaries that combine BLOSSOM was screened in funeral processions. At check out his personal art a profound appreciation for at the PANORAMA section 20 she became a political at myproject365.com & his cinematic aesthetics and at the 56th Internationale activist and worked with studio’s commercial work at potent storytelling. Her films Filmfestspiele Berlin and at labour organisations and rocketsheepstudio.com. have demonstrated her ability the Toronto International Film unions as well as beginning to gain intimate access to Festival. The film was awarded to make documentary films. the people she films—be with the Amnesty Internation- Her short films, which focus they rock stars, first ladies, al Film Prize at the Berlinale. on the plight of domestic and teachers, or mothers— In 2009 Hassan finished his migrant workers in Taiwan, resulting in keenly observed second feature film as writer have screened at numerous moments and unforgettable and director called HERMAN international festivals. nuanced narratives. which premiered at Busan International Film Festival.

2017 JURY AWARD FINALISTS • 47 INTERNATIONAL NOMINEES

KYOKO MIYAKE DOUGLAS SEOK ANOCHA SUWICHA- YOSUKE TAKEUCHI KIRSTEN TAN Director, TOKYO IDOLS Director, TURN LEFT KORNPONG Director, THE SOWER Director, POP AYE Born in Japan, Kyoko studied TURN RIGHT Director, BY THE TIME Yosuke was born in Japan Kirsten Tan’s work has history at Tokyo University Douglas Seok is a filmmaker IT GETS DARK in 1978. He graduated from screened at film festivals in and then moved to Britain born in Chicago, Illinois. He Anocha Suwichakornpong is Shibaura Institute of Tech- Singapore, Rotterdam, To- to research the history of gained valuable experience a film director and produc- nology in 2000, and went to ronto, and Busan. Spotlighted witchcraft at Oxford. Her film working under acclaimed er from Thailand. Her first to learn painting in by CNN’s “Ones to Watch,” BRAKELESS won a Peabody directors So Yong Kim and feature, MUNDANE HISTORY 2002. In 2003, Yosuke won she has received numerous Award after airing on PBS Bradley Rust Gray. He served won the Tiger Award at Rot- the Jury’s Special Award at international awards, including and BBC. Her first film, MY as an assistant camera for Lee terdam. Her second feature, the exhibition of Academie best Southeast Asian short ATOMIC AUNT, was support- Isaac Chung’s LUCKY LIFE and BY THE TIME IT GETS DARK, de Port-Royal and traveled to film at the Singapore Interna- ed by the Sundance Institute ABIGAIL HARM. He served as won the Prince Claus Fund various places in Europe and tional Film Festival, and Ella Documentary Fund, BBC, Director of Photography for from CineMart, and received before going back to was entered into MoMA’s per- WDR, and NHK, and it was the feature film DREAM LAND financial support from the Japan in 2004. manent film collection. Her recently broadcast on PBS. directed by Steve Chen. He Ministry of Culture (Thailand), debut feature, POP AYE, was HACKNEY LULLABIES won graduated with an MFA in as well as support from the developed at Berlinale Talents the Berlin Today Award at the Digital Cinema from DePaul Hubert Bals Fund and Doha Program, Cannes Atelier, and Berlinale. University in Chicago. Film Institute. TorinoFilmLab.

48 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 SAM VOUTAS JIU-LIANG WANG FRANÇOIS YANG DORIS YEUNG MIDI Z Director, KING OF PEKING Director, PLASTIC CHINA Director, THE SOUL Director, TAXI STORIES Director, THE ROAD An Australian, Sam was raised Wang graduated from Com- OF THE TIGER Doris Yeung was raised in TO MANDALAY in Beijing in the 80s and 90s. munication University of Chi- François Yang was born in Hong Kong and California. Born in Myanmar in 1982, Midi His Chinese language feature na, School of Cinematic Arts Fribourg (Switzerland). He Her first feature film, MOTH- Z arrived in Taiwan at the age film, RED LIGHT REVOLU- in 2007. From 2007 to 2008, graduated from the Cinema ERLAND, starring renowned of sixteen. In 2011, RETURN TION, was recently included he finished a set of photog- Department of ECAL (Ecole Chinese and Canadian actors, TO BURMA, his debut feature, on the British Film Institute list raphy work about Chinese cantonale d’art de Lausanne / Francoise Yip and Kenneth was nominated for the Busan of “10 Great Films Set in Bei- traditional superstitions. He University of Art and Design, Tsang, was named one of the New Currents Competition jing”. That film was released started investigating the land- Lausanne) in 2003, and 10 Best Asian American Films and Rotterdam Tiger Com- theatrically in Canada, the UK, fill pollution around Beijing completed his education at of 2009 by Asian Pacific Arts petition. In 2014, ICE POISON and Singapore, and won the in 2008. In 2011, he finished la Fémis (french national film Magazine. Doris was also won Best International Film People’s Choice Award at the BEIJING BESIEGED BY WASTE, school). He directed several named one of the “filmmak- at the Edinburgh Film Festival 2011 Singapore International a set of photography work documentaries, exploring ers to watch” by the Holly- and represented Taiwan at Film Festival. and a documentary with the both cross-cultural and wood Reporter. A resident of Foreign Language Oscars. same name. intergenerational themes. THE Amsterdam since 2002, she SOUL OF THE TIGER (Emer- founded the CinemAsia Film gence award winner 2012) is Festival, Netherlands. his first feature film.

2017 JURY AWARD FINALISTS • 49 2017 JURY AWARD FINALISTS SHORTS NOMINEES

YUDHO ADITYA JAMES Q. CHAN SHUNSAKU HAYASHI CHUAN-YANG LI YOYO LI Director, PRIA Director, FOREVER, Director, REMEMBER Director, COIN BOY Director, UNDER THE SAME SKY CHINATOWN Yudho Aditya is currently Shunsaku Hayashi is a Jap- Chuan-Yang Li majored in Tired of being censored by pursuing an MFA in directing James is a SF-based film- anese artist mainly working Film and graduated from Shih the Chinese government on at Columbia University in New maker who has collaborated in painting, animation and Hsin University. His graduation what stories she could tell, York. In the summer of 2015 on Emmy and Grammy-win- experimental film. He studied film, NAIL HOUSE, has been Yoyo embarked on her own he left New York and spent ning projects and worked at Goldsmiths, University of screened at Kaohsiung Film journey to L.A. and is currently 5 months in rural Indonesia for 10 years with Academy as a trainee under Festival and Golden Harvest attending Loyola Marymount to do research for the script Award-winning filmmakers the Japan Cultural Ministry Awards Short Film Festival. He University. While receiving her that ultimately became PRIA Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Fried- Abroad Research Fellowship is currently studying motion Masters in Film Production, and another 3 months for its man (THE TIMES of HAR- for up-and-coming artists picture at the National Taiwan she has discovered that her pre-production and principal VEY MILK, THE CELLULOID from 2012 to 2015. His recent University of Arts. voice has been unheard for far photography. His other works CLOSET, PARAGRAPH 175). animation won Golden Horse- Plays in "WTF: Watch These too long and seeks to share include PIPE DREAM, LILIES He is a former SAG/AFTRA man for Animated Film at 28th Films" Shorts Program stories of adversity, gender, and MIDNIGHTS WITH ADAM, Talent Agent and the founder FILMFEST DRESDEN, and it and fantasy. Besides directing which all have screened at of Good Medicine Picture was shortlisted for several and writing, Yoyo is also an LAAPFF. Company. international competitions. award-winning production Plays in "WTF: Watch These Plays in "Cine-Diorama" Shorts Plays in "Wildest Imagination" designer. Films" Shorts Program Program Shorts Program Plays in "Cine-Diorama" Shorts Program

50 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 2017 JURY AWARD FINALISTS

TOMORROW MINGTIAN MAKOTO NAGAHISA MATTHEW VICTOR CHE TAGYAMON CHRISTINE TURNER Director, DEER GOD Director, AND SO WE PUT PASTOR Director, LOLA LOLENG Director, HOLD ON Mingtian means “tomorrow” GOLDFISH IN THE POOL Director, I AM JUPITER I AM THE Che Tagyamon is a 21-year- Christine Turner is a New in Chinese. Mingtian recently Makoto Nagahisa was born in BIGGEST PLANET old animator and filmmaker York-based filmmaker. Her graduated from the University 1984 in Tokyo. He produced MVP was awarded ‘Best Guer- from Manila, Philippines. Che feature documentary HOME- of Miami’s Motion Pictures many character contents, rilla Film’ at the controversial graduated from the University GOINGS, about a funeral MFA program, after discov- including Docomo dake Melbourne Underground Film of the Philippines Film Insti- director in Harlem, premiered ering her passion in narrative mushroom. Currently Makoto Festival for the feature film tute and LOLA LOLENG was at Documentary Fortnight at storytelling through images works as a commercial film Made In Australia (2013). More her thesis film. Her short film the Museum of Modern Art when studying Television planner at an advertising firm. recently he was named Best MUMU (Ghost) was awarded and was broadcast on the PBS Directing and Editing at In 2013, he became the first Director/New Voice Award Best Picture in the Metro Ma- series POV. Her fiction shorts Communication University of Japanese filmmaker to receive (Masters) at the 47th annual nila Film Festival in 2015. include: RUBBER SOLES China. Mingtian shot her the- a medalist price in the Young Victorian College of the Arts Plays in "Wildest Imagination" (SFIFF), YOU CAN GO (Tribeca) sis film, DEER GOD, in minus Lion Film category of Cannes awards for I am JUPITER I Shorts Program and HOLD ON (Sundance). 43 degrees F, long before she Lions International Festival am the BIGGEST PLANET. Plays in front of GOOK knew she would be heading of Creativity. In 2015, he was Coming in 2017 is his new to sunny Los Angeles, where won the best new writer work BUTTERFLY FLOWER, she currently resides. award from Osaka Copywrit- an experimental feature film Plays in "Good Bones" Shorts ers Club. featuring the poetry of Khavn Program Plays in "Feminist AF" Shorts De La Cruz. Program Plays in "Feminist AF" Shorts Program 2017 JURY AWARD FINALISTS • 51 SHORTS NOMINEES

1ALISA YANG CHRISTOPHER RENEE ZHAN JENNIFER ZHENG Director, PLEASE COME AGAIN MAKOTO YOGI Director, HOLD ME (CA CAW Director, TOUGH Alisa Yang is an L.A.-based Director, OCCASIONALLY, I SAW CA CAW) Jennifer Zheng was a con- artist and independent GLIMPSES OF HAWAI‘I Renee Zhan is a graduate of fused Asian kid growing up in filmmaker. Her interdisci- Christopher Makoto Yogi is Harvard University, with a Northern Ireland. Now she is plinary approach is rooted in from Honolulu, Hawai‘i. He degree in Visual and Environ- a BAFTA nominated animation collage across medium; from is a Sundance Institute and mental Studies: Film/Anima- director in London. two-dimensional works to in- Time Warner Fellow currently tion. She likes wearing pretty Plays in "Feminist AF" Shorts stallations and films, her work in development on his first dresses and making ugly films. Program explores themes of language, feature, I WAS A SIMPLE MAN. Plays in "Wildest Imagination" cultural identity, memory, and He is also an IFP fellow and Shorts Program sexuality. She is a one woman a Jerome Foundation artist film crew making experimen- grant recipient. Chris’ most tal documentaries. Her recent recent films include MAKOTO: films have screened at Los OR, HONESTY and OBAKE Angeles Asian Pacific Film (GHOSTS). He is a graduate of Festival, American Documen- USC and participated in Visual tary Film Festival, and Ann Communications’ Armed with Arbor Film Festival. a Camera Fellowship. Plays in "Cine-Diorama" Shorts Plays in "The Sum of My Program Memory" Shorts Program

52 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 PROGRAMMERS’ PICKS

Our intrepid team of clever comedy and heartbreak. interviews with fierce, ARIEL DU is a senior international student creates will get you swaying and outspoken and beloved from China studying Creative Producing and smiling. Festival programmers ESEEL BORLASA loves mixtapes, films & Film Studies. She aims to be culturally community. She brings that passion to her Pakistani activist Sabeen reviewed almost 700 educated, create and support conscious film PAPA’S CLOUDY RESTAURANT work as a publicist at After Bruce PR. 2017 Mahmud. that bridges gaps in our society and offers by Kartik Shah feature-length and short marks her nth year with LAAPFF. more compassionate understanding towards ERICA CHO is an artist/filmmaker, Come dine amongst these fuzzy films this year! Want to independent curator, and Assistant Professor different communities. stop motion creatures that are SUMIKO BRAUN Recommends… of Narrative Media at UC San Diego. not only adorable, but also have know what stood out most JEREMY GAUDETTE CARDINAL X by Angie Wang Recommendations an important message to share. to them? Find out here! Dark, sexy, tragic, and hopeful, ARIEL DU Recommends: SAVING SALLY GENA HAMAMOTO is an assistant editor and CARDINAL X is a “model AND SO WE PUT GOLDFISH producer, with a background in media educa- by Avid Liongoren ESEEL BORLASA Recommends: minority” defying gem inspired IN THE POOL tion. She strives to empower underserved A visually stunning mix of by Wang’s real-life experience by Makoto Nagahisa people through the power of filmmaking. MARIA by Jeremiah Tauamiti live-action and animation, dealing ecstasy to fund her elite Forced to confront the fear of MARIA gracefully celebrates the Saving Sally successfully relies university education in the ‘80s. societal pressure of who a JUNE KAEWSITH Recommends: finer points of family and faith. on the magic of young love. woman should be, four young DAVID AND GOLIATH HOLD ME (CA CAW CA CAW) THE SOUL OF THE TIGER Romantic comedy? Sure, but girls rebel. by Rachel Lee by Renee Zhan by François Yang with monsters, inventions, and DAVID AND GOLIATH is a Winner of the Slamdance Grand An exemplary, nuanced piece of TAG by Patrick Green, heroic encounters. dramatic cinema centering a Steve Tirona documentary that shows it takes Jury prize for Best Animation, A TIME TO SWIM tortured Chinese-French man Through the lens of a Go Pro, a community to stand up this film is a surprising by Ashley Duoung who must reconcile clashing we follow a tagger’s day of against large corporations taking commentary on relationships. .. What happens when a man cultures, family secrets, and leaving their mark. over a Korean family-owned COWBOY AND INDIAN returns home after a 20-year forbidden desires all while COCOON by Living Mei donut shop. by Sujata Day unraveling his brother’s political exile? A story of how It’s slick, forward, and sexy. Set in China during the ‘80s, a frustration yields to a reluctant CALLED HOME mysterious death.. by Jason Piemnoppakao Sujata brings cultural identity young girl is shamed for her first understanding that change SUMIKO BRAUN is a filmmaker, educator, CALLED HOME takes us on a into a different expression of glance into womanhood. happens even after you’re gone. writer, and actor best known for the cult vulnerable journey of reconcilia- style and power.. PRIA By Yudho Aditya classic Sharknado. She is a teaching artist Originally from Maine, JEREMY GAUDETTE tion between a Chinese with artworxLA and also produces digital Filmed in Indonesia, a teenage has called L.A. home for 13 years where he SLEEP TIGHT, MARIA American son and his father's stories for UCLA’s Mapping Indigenous Los boy explores his sexuality before manages two movie theatres in Santa by Monica Vanesa Tedja acceptance of his gender Angeles. his arranged marriage as societal Monica. A delightfully naughty tale of identity during a visit home from what it’s like to have that high pressure crashes down. ERICA CHO Recommends: GENA HAMAMOTO university. school crush. This one is SIT By Yoko Okumura Recommends: JUNE KAEWSITH, also known as "Jumakae", is LOL-in-the-theater funny. THE STREETS ARE OURS: TWO A documentary following a PSYCHEDELIC AFTERNOON a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and LIVES CROSS IN KARACHI by I WON’T MISS YOU Buddhist monk’s family and their by UrumiDelvi organizer based in Long Beach, CA. "Why Michelle Flordaliso by Bernard Badion journey coming to terms with The joy in this film is contagious. Consume What You Can Create?" www. A moving LGBT documentary Badion delivers a new take on feeling lost. The vibrant, magical, musical jumakae.com that includes one of the last HS romance, that’s textured with world that this hippie grandpa

PROGRAMMERS’ PICKS • 53 PROGRAMMERS’ PICKS (CONT.)

CHANEL KONG Recommends: in a picturesque fiction, based LINDY LEONG Recommends: TOUGH by Jennifer Zheng pay the consequences. A conversation of history, family, POP AYE by Kirsten Tan on the #oroqentribe. RESEBA - THE DRAK WIND A native of California, MELANIE RAMOS and love between mom and A gentle giant and a mid- PLEASE COME AGAIN by Hussein Hassan attended NYU Tisch Asia in Singapore earning daughter has never been this an MFA in Film. She's directed and shot a dle-aged architect take a by Alisa Yang Hassan examines the fraught visually expressed. handful of short film that played in film journey together in Kirsten Tan’s Raw and insightful storytelling. lives of the Yezidi, an Iraqi festivals worldwide. Her film Deliver Her unsentimental yet graceful story Alisa Yang subtitles her way Kurdish minority, caught in ISIS's I AM JUPITER I AM THE played at the 2013 LAAPFF. on coming to terms with the through Japanese love hotels. crosshairs. A young woman's fall BIGGEST PLANET by Matthew Victor Pastor passage of one’s time in an An old soul fly on the wall. from grace amplifies the RYAN WU Recommends: The Philippines is alive and vivid ever-modernizing society. BAO by Yanqiu Fei collective trauma of war on this visceral tale within the CHEE AND T by Tanuj Chopra Best. Opening. Scene. Ever. I and violence. PLASTIC CHINA red light district. Don’t blink. A Coen-esque comedy about a by Wang Jiu-liang always considered babysitting to GHOST MAGNET ROACH pair of bumbling Indian-Ameri- swiPed by David Chai An ultra-personal perspective on be challenging. That's an MOTEL by Shinpei Takeda can debt collectors, CHEE AND Swipe right on this animated an often discussed topic, understatement for this What's in your head? Takeda T takes you on a unexpected, short bursting with energy, PLASTIC CHINA explores the Chinese flick. plugs us into the manic often hilarious ride through the color, and commentary. repercussions and surprising 626 by Yudho Aditya melancholia of the space darker patches of Silicon Valley. connections created by between creativity and KIRBY PEÑAFIEL is a 2nd year Short Area codes inevitably define SAVE MY SEOUL by Jason Lee consumer culture societies. You addiction. A punkformance tour Programmer for the LAAPFF, his love for film us. They also dangerously Delivering an urgent plea for will never forget the children de force that transcends is only matched by his love for his Lola’s generalize us. Director Yudho filipino cooking. From volunteer, to box action, the faith-based SAVE MY you’ll get to know in this borders. simply suggests life can be office, to veteran programmer – he has his SEOUL is a heartbreaking documentary. roots with LAAPFF. alienating even in familiar LINDY LEONG is a film and media educator, examination on how inhumanity

CHANEL KONG works for film-related routine. archivist, and programmer. She enjoys supporting community building and can take root in a culture festivals, events, forums and cultural MELANIE RAMOS Recommends: indifferent to young girls’ organizations in the U.S., Europe and Asia. REMEMBER advocacy through the arts. Her writing has appeared in various by Shunsaku Hayashi MELE MURALS livelihood. publications such as Sight & Sound. She also Steadman-esque pencil sketch KIRBY PEÑAFIEL Recommends: by Tadashi Nakamura A native of Southern California, RYAN WU works as a translator/interpreter and is trained with artistic nuances that A transformative journey of two spent much of his youth in local repertory TOURING by Dean Yamada in film restoration. She’s currently the Festival quench our imagination. The artist, who set out to paint a Mu- cinemas, where he developed an abiding Manager for the 33rd LAAPFF. Angst and disillusionment ingenuity of each scene can ral, but end up reconnecting to passion for classic Hollywood and illuminates this visceral short of international cinema. When he's not watching stand alone as its own storied their Native Hawaiian Culture divorce through the eyes of movies, Ryan is a class action attorney. KRISTEN LEE Recommends: painting. through the power of modern Asian American kid. DEER GOD KRISTEN LEE is a Chinese Swede Canadian art of graffiti. by Tomorrow Mingtian American from Michigan. Born in Kansas and FOREVER CHINATOWN THE SOWER In the remote tundra of residing in DTLA, she’s answered the 'what by James Q. Chan by Yosuke Takeuchi northeast china, director are you' question more times than POTUS's Community, history, and art are A beautiful and moving story of winning votes. LAAPFF is her platform for mingtian challenges our outlook the themes of this amazing a family torn apart by tragedy. dismantling #whitehollywood and inspiring documentary based on a on gun control. Tradition brown people to express their creative Chie tells a lie to cover up a fatal collides with cultural evolution ambitions. charismatic S.F. Chinatown mistake and her uncle has to resident. 54 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 GALA PRESENTATIONSGALA

GALA PRESENTATIONS Don’t miss these one-of-a-kind events! BETTER LUCK TOMORROW 56 Slated for the Egyptian Theatre in GOOK 58 Hollywood, Aratani Theatre in Little COLUMBUS 60 Tokyo and the Directors Guild of America in West Hollywood, Gala Presentations pay tribute to and celebrate the best and brightest of Asian American & Pacific Islander cinema.

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 • 55 BETTER LUCK TOMORROW (15TH ANNIVERSARY SUNDANCE CUT) United States, 2002 35mm, 101 minutes, Color

GALA PRESNTATIONS THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 7:00 PM Egyptian Theatre

COMMUNITY PARTNER YOMYOMF

56 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 GALA PRESENTATIONSGALA

HERE WE GO AGAIN! A full fifteen experienced the first African American President folk musician and photographer. Jason Tobin years since its electrifying debut at the and all the soaring achievements and disturbing (who broke out as a cast member of Chris Chan 2002 Sundance Film Festival, Justin Lin’s back-slide into a racial and social quagmire Lee’s seminal 1997 indie hit YELLOW, playing sophomore feature directorial effort BETTER that have gone along with it, it’s instructional to elsewhere in this year’s Festival) has similarly LUCK TOMORROW gets the Opening Night revisit BLT (in glorious 35mm, in its rarely-seen, balanced acting and fatherhood in his native “rewind” at Festival Week 33. Inspired loosely “I Got Away With Murder” Director’s Cut) in a Hong Kong. The same is true of Roger Fan, on horrifically true events, the exploits of period that is arguably more cynical and divisive who distinguished himself in Lin’s last indie high-school overachiever Ben Manibag (Parry than when it first debuted. feature, 2007’s FINISHING THE GAME. Sung Shen) and buddies Virgil Hu (Jason Tobin), Daric The special presentation of BLT affords an Kang, who successfully imported his Han Lu Loo (Roger Fan), and Han Lu (Sung Kang) have opportunity to catch up with the wide-eyed persona to the FAST & FURIOUS franchise, passed into canonical status, standing in stark men and women who created it. Director expanded his visibility to include online web contrast to the comparatively genteel portrayals Lin’s career has, of course, been scrupulously series ranging from vintage sports cars to guy- (betrayals?) of Asian Pacific American male documented (FAST & FURIOUS? STAR TREK? talk. And what of rich-boy Steve? The actor archetypes that persists today. In the fifteen SCORPION? Uhh, Hello?!?), but a cursory look who portrayed him, John Cho, has likewise years since, creative forces led by a largely at how fame has touched the lead cast of the gone on to a celebrated career, in the HAROLD DIY generation of self-taught APA filmmakers film is equally instructional. Parry Shen has & KUMAR and STAR TREK franchises. Perhaps have broadened the range of our communities’ continued his acting career, with lead roles fittingly, the special Festival tribute sidebar creative output…and, some would say, in both studio and independent productions. #StarringJohnCho reflects what each of them voluntarily de-clawed themselves of anything Karin Anna Cheung (winsome and mysterious aspire to — just a bit more clear-eyed than resembling incisive and uncompromising love interest Stephanie Van Der Gosh) has when they burst onto the scene fifteen creative vision. In an age in which we juggled acting and parenthood with stints as a years ago. — ABRAHAM FERRER

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DIRECTOR CINEMATOGRAPHY SOUND EDITOR Michael Cole Justin Lin Patrice Lucien Cochet Curtis Choy Justin Lin Troy Craig Poon SCREENPLAY (15th Anniversary MUSIC STARRING Sundance Cut) Michael Manshel Ernesto Foronda Michael Gonzales Parry Shen Gustavo Spoliansky Justin Lin PRODUCTION DESIGN Tobin Mori Jason Tobin & ART DIRECTOR PRODUCER Fabian Marquez Sung Kang Yoo Jung Han MUSIC SUPERVISOR Julie Asato Ernesto Foronda Roger Fan COSTUME DESIGN Ernesto Foronda John Cho Justin Lin Sandi Lieu Karin Anna Cheung

GALA PRESENTATIONS • 57 GOOK United States, 2016 D-Cinema, 94 minutes, B&W in English, Korean, Spanish w/E.S.

GALA PRESNTATIONS SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 8:00 PM Aratani Theatre at JACCC

COMMUNITY PARTNERS Asian American Journalists Association - Los Angeles Chapter (AAJA-LA) Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment Korean Churches for Community Development (KCCD)

PRESENTED BY UCLA LUSKIN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

58 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 GALA PRESENTATIONSGALA

ELI (JUSTIN CHON) IS A MAN CAUGHT inured to the calamity that will soon envelop uncle Keith (Curtiss Cook Jr.), already resentful PRECEDED BY IN A BIND. The proprietor of a struggling the family business. of both Eli and Daniel, explodes when Kamilla HOLD ON shoe store in sleepy Paramount (a Southeast Welcome to Eli’s world in hard-scrabble is discovered hanging out at the shoe store. (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR./ WTR.: CHRISTINE TURNER Los Angeles suburb somewhere west of the Paramount, CA; it’s Wednesday, Hump-Day, Already being pulled towards South Central L.A. Family bonds are 605 Freeway but just east of civilization), he is April 29, 1992. and the promise of “free stuff” in the maelstrom tested when a young under pressure to make an overdue mortgage GOOK, the electrifying sophomore feature following the “not-guilty” verdicts in the King man is left to care for payment by selling a new shipment of effort by multi-threat filmmaking talent beating trial, Keith and his homies foment a his grandmother one overpriced basketball shoes of dubious origin. Justin Chon (MAN UP!, Festival 2015), frames new, lethal plan: head east, to Eli and Daniel’s morning. His layabout younger brother Daniel (David its slow-burning drama against events in a store and teach the two “outsiders” a lesson for D-CINEMA, 9 MINS., COLOR, So) is more interested in macking the female courtroom in faraway Simi Valley, where a supposedly corrupting his young niece. NARRATIVE customers and stoking his own aspirations of predominantly white jury are deciding the A period dramedy that owes as much being a “gangsta” rapper than selling shoes to fates of four officers accused of bludgeoning to Italian neorealism as it does to the a steady stream of finicky customers. Across African American motorist Rodney King. Just monochrome visual template of Charles the street, liquor store owner Mr. Kim (Sang like many Angelenos, in Eli’s family shoe store Burnett’s L.A. Rebellion masterpiece KILLER OF Chon) fights a losing battle with the occasional scant attention is being paid to the events SHEEP, this latest project finds director Chon shoplifters. Complicating Eli’s life further is playing out on local television. Instead, there in full auteur mode, striking a delicate balance Kamilla (Simone Baker), a streetwise tweener is money to be made, a mortgage to be paid, between dark comedy and social-issue tragedy. who regularly ditches school to hang out an insolent brother who must be dealt with, GOOK, an ultra-low budget effort, is a million- with Eli and Daniel. Stressed out, harried, and and a sassy interloper who may be the closest dollar winner, and confirms Chon’s estimable worried about maintaining a business that he thing to a confidante that Eli can ever have. But filmmaking gifts. Never mind Spike Lee…Justin inherited and barely tolerates, Eli presses on, things don’t stay copasetic for long: Kamilla’s Chon has arrived! — ABRAHAM FERRER

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER SOUND STARRING Justin Chon Alex Chi Ante Cheng Michael J. McDonald Justin Chon Datari Turner James Yi PRODUCTION DESIGNER MUSIC David So Alan Pao DIRECTOR Sharon Roggio Roger Suen Curtiss Cook, Jr. Jin Young Lee Simone Baker Justin Chon Jena Serbu EDITOR Pierre Delachaux Sang Chon SCREENPLAY COSTUME DESIGNER Reynolds Barney Eugene Lee Ben Munoz Justin Chon Eunice Jera Lee Rooth Tang Sam Chi Omono Okojie

Maurice Chen Isaiah Jarel

David Joe Kim Kirlen Vilbon

GALA PRESENTATIONS • 59 COLUMBUS United States, 2016 D-Cinema, 104 minutes, Color in English & Korean

THURSDAY, MAY 4, GALA PRESNTATIONS 7:00 PM Directors Guild of America

60 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 GALA PRESENTATIONSGALA

SOMETIMES THE MOST SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS kinship between Casey and Jin to fill in the blanks in each others’ lives, AREN’T ROMANTIC ONES — they’re the ones that hint at to wax poetic on the stories inspired by the local architecture, and — as possibilities, but are more enamored of pulling surprises out of the time goes on — to assess what is important in their respective lives. mundane and everyday. Take COLUMBUS, the Film Festival’s exquisite A visual artist whose career has been built around “visual essays” for Closing Night offering. Set in the Midwest town of Columbus, Indiana — clients ranging from The Criterion Collection to the BFI, Kogonada brings dubiously, the hometown of current Vice President Mike Pence — the his considerable gifts for juxtaposing the nature and quality of “talk” with debut feature of noted visual essayist Kogonada celebrates the power of formalistic, pastoral and meditative imagery to COLUMBUS. At its core, talk and space. Recent high school grad Casey (Haley Lu Richardson, THE COLUMBUS is a love-letter to the vitality and necessity of a father and EDGE OF SEVENTEEN) aspires to study architecture and one day build daughter relationship: Jin gently presses Casey to chase her dream and distinctive, soaring edifices as the ones that dot the landscape of her not confine her ambitions because of her mother, while Casey likewise hometown. In the meantime, she works as a librarian and stays at home, prods Jin to re-dedicate himself to his estranged father. Anyone looking the better to look after her mother (Michelle Forbes), a factory worker to cap our Festival Week tribute to actor John Cho might find his starring in and out of rehab. One day, she meets Jin (John Cho), who has flown role here to be outside of the out-loud rom-com and action franchises into town from Seoul to tend to his father, an architecture professor who that have defined his most recent career achievements. We find that this had collapsed and is hospitalized; complicating matters, the professor’s complicated, utterly human performance is exactly what exemplifies our assistant Eleanor (indie acting icon Parker Posey) is a former paramour spotlight hashtag #StarringJohnCho. The human touch — courtesy of of Jin’s. Cultural customs dictate that the eldest son stays to care for the Kogonada, an exciting, mesmerizing new voice in Asian Pacific American parent until death, yet Jin avoids his filial duties as much as possible, as cinema — is timely, and the appropriate note to conclude Festival Week. father and son have not been particularly close. It is up to the budding — ABRAHAM FERRER

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER PRODUCER DIRECTOR CINEMATOGRAPHER MUSIC STARRING Bill Harnisch Andrew Miano Kogonada Elisha Christian Hammock John Cho Ruth Ann Harnisch Danielle Renfrew Behrens SCREENPLAY PRODUCTION DESIGNER SOUND EDITOR Haley Lu Richardson Max A. Butler Chris Weitz Kogonada Diana Rice Andrea Gard Parker Posey Mattia Bogianchino Aaron Boyd Rory Culkin EDITOR COSTUME DESIGNER SOUND DESIGNER Beatrice Camerana Giulia Caruso Michelle Forbes Kogonada Emily Moran Mac Smith Ki Jin Kim

GALA PRESENTATIONS • 61 PROUD TO SPONSOR Writers Guild of America, West VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS.

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival on its 33rd anniversary and its ongoing efforts in nurturing Asian American writers.

WGAW Diversity: The Future of Storytelling

Contact for information: (323) 782-4589 [email protected]

©2017 MUFG Union Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. Union Bank is a registered trademark and brand name of MUFG Union Bank, N.A. 62 www.wga.org Congratulates SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Writers Guild of America, West

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival SPECIAL on its 33rd anniversary PRESENTATIONS and its ongoing efforts in nurturing Asian American writers. Pay special attention to our ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL 64 Special Presentations as we revisit JOSHUA: TEENAGER VS. SUPERPOWER 65 WGAW Diversity: stories from our heritage, history RELOCATION, ARKANSAS – AFTERMATH OF INCARCERATION 66 The Future of Storytelling and identities, and discover how RE:ORIENTATIONS 67 they still hold true to the stories Contact for information: THREE SASSY SISTERS 68 we try to tell today. (323) 782-4589 WET SAND: VOICES FROM L.A. 69 [email protected] YELLOW 70

www.wga.org The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 • 63 Congratulates ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL United States, 2016 YOU’VE SURELY HEARD — MAYBE FROM not having the documentation to qualify for D-Cinema, 88 minutes, BERNIE SANDERS — that no bankers went one from a traditional bank. Indeed, the default Color to jail despite their industry’s culpability for the rate for Abacus loans, even in the teeth of the in Cantonese, English, economic meltdown in 2008. But have you financial crisis, was exceptionally low. Mandarin w/E.S. heard about that ONE TIME when prosecutors Thomas creates an informal war council with did go after a bank in the meltdown’s wake? daughters Jill, the workaholic bank president; SUNDAY, APRIL 30, That bewildering story, as told in the riveting Vera, a sensible attorney; and Chanterelle, an 4:30 PM

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS documentary ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO idealistic lawyer who’d just quit her job at the Downtown JAIL, is the flip side to “too big to fail” immunity. D.A.’s office. They’re engaging people, and one Independent Instead of taking on Lehman Brothers, the New of the film’s chief pleasures is watching this ac- COMMUNITY PARTNER York DA’s office decided to make an example complished Chinese American family strategize, Chinese Historical of Abacus Federal Savings Bank, a community quarrel, and support one another through the Society of Southern bank serving New York’s Chinatown. strains of a criminal trial. Throughout, James California ABACUS, by esteemed documentarian Steve never loses sight of the central question: Why James (, LIFE ITSELF), follows would the D.A. go so hard after this small bank PRECEDED BY: bank founder Thomas Sung and his family as for a “victimless” crime? While district attorney THE RIDE (USA, 2017) DIR.: JEFF they game out trial strategy. The film tracks Cyrus Vance and his subordinates offer only ADACHI, JIM CHOI the twists and turns of the trial while providing feeble rationalizations for their actions, what San Francisco Public critical context: Abacus thrived because Sung emerges is far more disturbing: that Vance went Defenders Office understood his clients and their culture. The after the Sungs just because he could — be- and head Jeff Adachi fights against racial borrowers are often immigrants, operating cash cause there would be no fallout for going after bias and injustice in businesses, who are safe bets for loans despite immigrants with no political connections. the judicial system. Foregrounding a re- — RYAN WU cent case involving a young African Ameri- EXECUTIVE PRODUCER PRODUCER SOUND can man charged with Chris Clements Mark Mitten Daniel Nidel resisting arrest, Adachi Betsy Steinberg Julie Goldman MUSIC offers viewers a rare DIRECTOR Joshua Abrams Justine Nagan insight into what Steve James EDITOR Raney Aronson-Rath happens behind the CINEMATOGRAPHER John Farbrother scenes in a case with Sally Jo Fifer Tom Bergmann David E. Simpson racial overtones. D-CINEMA, 16 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY

64 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 JOSHUA: TEENAGER VS SUPERPOWER SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS THOUGH BESPECTACLED AND THIN, documentary lets us in at Wong’s first in-person United States, 2017 Joshua Wong is no meek stranger to the public encounter with incumbent Chief Executive CY D-Cinema, 78 minutes eye. As the de facto leader of the Scholarism Leung, setting the tone of dissent that Wong Color, Narrative? movement, to TIME’s Person of the Year in has since taken to greater heights: Wong’s in Cantonese & English 2014, Wong is commonly identified as the success in rallying hundreds of thousands was w/E.S. young vanguard of social activism in Hong key in the eventual indefinite postponement of Kong. Winner of the Audience Award (World the proposal, and his group’s later participation TUESDAY, MAY 2, Cinema Documentary) at this year’s Sundance in pro-democracy protests, Occupy Central, 7:00 PM Film Festival, JOSHUA: TEENAGER VS. and the so-called Umbrella Movement has both CGV Cinemas SUPERPOWER not only takes a closer look at awakened and complicated a new culture of Theater 2

Wong’s trajectory from high school student to free speech and sociopolitical consciousness in COMMUNITY PARTNERS becoming the face and voice of civil dissent; in post-handover Hong Kong. Hong Kong Forum of no uncertain terms, it also speaks to the power Working with producer Matthew Torne, Los Angeles of post-millennial grassroots activism, and its who directed the documentary LESSONS Asian Pacific American pointed relevancy to the times in which we now IN DISSENT (2014), director Joe Piscatella Labor Alliance LA live. JOSHUA begins with following Wong’s weaves candid moments from Wong’s life Chapter (APALA-LA) involvement in organizing students to protest with interviews by fellow activists, academics,

against Moral and National Education proposal journalists and politicians to carve a sharp – a set of reforms that was to introduce profile of a strong-willed, precocious young Chinese nationalist themes in primary and activist whose defiant voice refuses to be secondary school curricula in Hong Kong. The ignored. — CHANEL KONG

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DIRECTOR MUSIC Alex Saks Joe Piscatella Bennet Barbakow PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER Rob Amjarv Joe Piscatella Jonathan Lele Young EDITOR Andrew Duncan SOUND Matthew Sultan Matthew Torne Erik Clabeaux FEATURING Mark Rinehart Joshua Wong

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS • 65 RELOCATION, ARKANSAS: AFTERMATH OF INCARCERATION United States, 2016 FIRST-TIME FILMMAKER VIVIENNE attended ‘whites only’ schools. The film links D-Cinema, 79 minutes SCHIFFER’S RELOCATION, ARKANSAS these various racialized experiences. Schiffer Color, Documentary uniquely focuses on the multigenerational im- looks also to the Takemotos who alternatively pact of Japanese Americans incarcerated in the resettled in Maryland. Growing up isolated from FRIDAY, APRIL 28 racially segregated South during WWII. A native other JAs, third-generation Paul Takemoto 4:00 PM of Rohwer, Arkansas, Schiffer presents a moving struggled with his identity. His mother Alice, a Tateuchi ensemble of internees and their families as they teenager while in camp, kept their family history Democracy SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS Forum @ JANM share the many layers of trauma: broken spirits hidden. Her internalized suffering can be felt and haunting deliriums of the first-generation in the poignant piano pieces she plays, her SATURDAY, MAY 6 issei, the quiet disposal of all-things-Japanese primary passion withheld from her while incar- 11:30 AM by the nisei in effort to be “good Americans,” cerated. The film additionally spotlights Rosalie CGV Cinemas and the treacherous silence and gap in history Gould, former mayor of McGehee, Arkansas, Buena Park that trouble the sansei. As RELOCATION, AR- who advocated to preserve the sites, monu-

KANSAS highlights, families who stayed in the ments, and artwork of incarceration. COMMUNITY PARTNERS East West Players South had to navigate this while also figuring RELOCATION, ARKANSAS is timely as 2017 out their place amid black/white racial tensions. marks the 75th anniversary of Executive Order Nikkei for Civil Rights After being released from the Rohwer and Je- 9066. Post-war resettlement in regions outside and Redress (NCCR) rome camps, Richard Yada’s family along with the West Coast is a rarely shared perspective

the Shingus and Futamachis remained in rural that adds to the complex narrative in under- Arkansas to carve out new lives and work in standing the Japanese American experience. farming. Through stirring archival footage and Ultimately, the film stresses the importance interviews, the film shows how one of the fami- to preserve this history and to prevent similar lies lived in old slave quarters while the children atrocities from happening again. — SUMIKO BRAUN PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER MUSIC Vivienne Schiffer Pablo Bryant Amman Abbasi DIRECTOR John Carrithers EDITOR Vivienne Schiffer SOUND Linda Hattendorf CO-DIRECTOR Matt Crawford FEATURING Dwight Chalmers Johanna Demetrakas Paul Takemoto Amy Sandefur Richard Yada Adriano Bravo Rosalie Santine Gould Jeremy Zunk

66 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS RELOCATION, ARKANSAS: AFTERMATH OF INCARCERATION RE:ORIENTATIONS RE:ORIENTATIONS, Canadian documen- persists unabated in different forms and fuels Canada, 2016 tarian, scholar, and activist Richard Fung’s further misconceptions and stereotyping. The D-Cinema, 68 minutes follow-up to his groundbreaking 1984 LGBTQ chorus of his subjects' experience emphasizes Color, Documentary documentary, ORIENTATIONS (LAAPFF 1989), how other gay men see gay Asians (teacher revisits and checks in on the API LGBTQ and globe-trotter Paul Cheung tells wonderful TUESDAY, MAY 2 community he documented 30 years later. In anecdotes about how he would approach other 5:00 PM CGV Cinemas the original documentary, Fung interviewed 14 gay men), whether at the club or, now, on on- Theater 3 queer people of Asian decent living in Toronto, line platforms, and how queer women of color Canada at a time when there wasn’t much often encounter racism before homophobia. COMMUNITY PARTNERS positive exposure for the LGBTQ community. Fung also speaks with several LGBTQ youth Chinese American He discovers an evolving agenda. It was the (Fung's research assistant, Nathan Hoo pin- Museum desire of LGBTQ people to be included in the points more deep-seated issues on the horizon Outfest Fusion mainstream culture that drove the movement such as class inequality and privilege certain GLAAD but today, with the visibility and progress made, gays have over others) who are currently

LGBTQ people are looking to illuminate their continuing the fight for equal rights and greater differences from mainstream culture and to visibility. Their insight and appreciation of the advocate for that being acceptable. struggles the community has faced provide The documentary’s seven subjects come from proof that outreach organizations have done diverse backgrounds, yet share similar views on amazing work in normalizing the lives of the the need for community, recognition, and ac- queer community. Cultivating raw, one-on-one ceptance. The intersectionality of being queer interviews, Fung elicits an honest appraisal of and Asian continues to impact both contem- the work accomplished in the API LGBTQ com- porary reality and debates in the community. munity and the work that still needs to be done. Racism (especially post 9/11 Islamophobia) — JEREMY GAUDETTE, WITH ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS BY LINDY LEONG

DIRECTOR MUSIC FEATURING Richard Fung Phil Strong Sylvia Alfonso Robert Diaz CINEMATOGRAPHER Thomas Hoy Paul Cheung Ju Hui Judy Han Kwoi EDITOR Gary Joong Nathan Hoo Iris Ng Dennis Day Prabha Khosla El-Farouk Khaki Alan Li Gein Wong

Tony Souza Ponni Arasu SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS • 67 THREE SASSY SISTERS Indonesia, 2016 LONGTIME FILM FESTIVAL FAVE NIA grandma Oma plays matchmaker in an effort to D-Cinema, 124 minutes DINATA (ARISAN!, Festival 2004; CHANTS OF get eldest granddaughter Gendis married off. Color, Narrative LOTUS, Festival 2008) channels the spirit of A uniquely women-centric take on modern- in English & Bahasa legendary Indonesian director Usmar Ismail’s day love, romance, and responsibility, THREE Indonesia w/E.S. 1957 THREE MAIDENS (Tiga Dara) and updates SASSY SISTERS has the unfortunate luck of the story of three sisters and their romantic coming to the Film Festival in the wake of that SATURDAY, entanglements into a modern-day musical recent force-of-nature, Damien Chazelle’s APRIL 29,

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS comedy foregrounding the lives of modern LA LA LAND, a similarly brassy musical that 7:00 PM Downtown women and social attitudes. This new iteration similarly aimed to celebrate the possibilities of of the classic story finds the sisters Gendis (pop romance in the big city. As per the bulk of her Independent singer Shanty Paredes), Ella (Tara Basrol) and career, director Dinata aims her gaze squarely COMMUNITY PARTNER Bebe (Tatyana Akman) oblivious to traditional on the aspirations and struggles of women Los Angeles Indonesian romance — they’re a trio of career women too — well okay, on the surface Gendis, Ella, and Film Festival busy running the family’s beachfront boutique Bebe don’t seem to be struggling. Yet the loss hotel in Maumere to be tied up in relationships, of a mother figure puts a perceived burden much less marriage. Of course, the trio’s on grandma Oma to insure that the three resistance to settling down is nettlesome granddaughters are taken care of. THREE SASSY to their grandmother Oma, who has served SISTERS may be cheesy, but it is an engaging as a surrogate mother to them all. One day, women's empowerment tale that doesn’t Gendis encounters a handsome stranger (Rio play by the rulebook. And that, in the end, is a Dewanto), a hotel guest with ulterior motives satisfying relief. — ABRAHAM FERRER for visiting Maumere. Seeing an opportunity,

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SCREENPLAY MUSIC Rio Dewanto Yoki P Soufyan Nia Dinata Aghi Narottama Reuben Elishama Gery Simbolon Lucky Kuswandi Bemby Gusti Richard Kyle Alex Sihar CINEMATOGRAPHER EDITOR Ray Sahetapy Rizka F. Akbar Yudi Datau Aline Jusria Cut Mini PRODUCER PRODUCTION DESIGNER STARRING Nia Dinata Eros Eflin Shanty Paredes DIRECTOR SOUND Tara Basro Nia Dinata Khikmawan Santosa Tatyana Akman Indrasetno Vyantratra Titiek Puspa

68 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 WET SAND: VOICES FROM L.A. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS FOR AFICIONADOS OF ASIAN PACIFIC Bracketed by a revisit with Jung Hui Lee, whose United States, 2004 AMERICAN CINEMA, Dai Sil Kim-Gibson’s slain teenage son Eddie proved to be a cause Bluray (originated on SA-I-GU remains the quintessential visual célèbre of the Los Angeles Rebellion and whose DVCAM), 57 minutes essay articulating the raw emotions of race grave is lovingly maintained by his mother, WET B&W, Color, relations resulting from the 1992 Rodney King SAND goes well beyond the Korean American Documentary beating verdicts and the Los Angeles Rebellion. community to disprove the characterization in English, Korean, In comparison, WET SAND: VOICES FROM of The Rebellion as a conflict between Korean Spanish w/E.S. L.A. TEN YEARS LATER, is relatively little- Americans and African Americans. A litany of SATURDAY, seen beyond educational and human rights voices, from real estate developers, community APRIL 29, circles. Yet this expansive follow-up — more activists, small business owners, journalists, 2:00 PM of a “check-in” than a sequel — reveals a Los politicians, and Angelenos of various social, Tateuchi Angeles struggling to recover and re-invent economic and racial backgrounds sound off on Democracy itself a decade after — The “Rebellion”? disturbingly familiar themes: lack of equitable Forum at JANM The “Civil Unrest”? The “Uprising”? The opportunities in employment, housing, “Riots”? Those who reference it are in sharp education; scant chance of social upward COMMUNITY PARTNERS disagreement as to what it actually was. All mobility; and persecution by a militaristic, Korean American can agree, though, that the causes are rooted predatory, abusive police force. Director Kim- Coalition in a fundamental disrespect for communities Gibson is crystal-clear in whom she blames for Project by Project of color by the largely white social power the conditions that precipitated the Rebellion. Los Angeles structure. It is this inequity that director Kim- So too is her conviction that in the diverse Gibson and longtime cinematographer and voices she spotlights, there exists the chance SPECIAL producing colleague Charles Burnett (director for cross-cultural unity — a key ingredient for SCREENING AS PART OF of the classic KILLER OF SHEEP, 1977) aim to addressing the ingrained social problems that FLASH POINT 2017 get to the bottom of. threaten to ignite another Rebellion. — ABRAHAM FERRER PRESENTED BY UCLA LUSKIN PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER EDITOR SCHOOL OF Dai Sil Kim-Gibson Charles Burnett Charles Burnett PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR SOUND Richard Kim Dai Sil Kim-Gibson Jon Oh WRITER MUSIC Dai Sil Kim-Gibson Stephen James Taylor

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS • 69 YELLOW (20TH ANNIVERSARY PRESENTATION) United States, 1997 IT SEEMS LIKE ONLY YESTERDAY when the Tse, Francis Ng, Gigi Lai, Sandra Ng, Nicholas 35mm, 100 minutes world first got a glimpse of Chris Chan Lee’s Tse, , Karen Mok, and Shu Qi, among Color, Narrative YELLOW, the brilliant coming-of-age comrade- many others. Yet there was little doubt that the in-arms dramedy that anchored the quartet of core cast of YELLOW were OUR heroes, the FRIDAY, APRIL 28, features that composed the self-styled “Class ones we were rooting so hard for, because their 11:00 PM of 1997." Telling the tale of Sin Lee (Michael stories were our stories. Downtown Chung), a high schooler whose family liquor As if recognizing the perceived limits of his Independent

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS store is robbed as he is closing the shop for story’s own credibility, director Lee populated the night on the way to his graduation party, YELLOW with a complementary set of Asian director Lee’s debut feature introduced us to a American acting luminaries in key supporting whole new generation of Asian American acting roles. Look carefully — there’s Korean American talents — fortuitous, perhaps, as half a world acting veteran Soon Tek Oh as Sin’s overbearing away, a new generation of Asian acting talents father, Amy Hill, Emily Kuroda, Sharon Omi, and were likewise emerging from the maelstrom of Ken Narasaki. YELLOW holds up admirably, even the 1997 Hong Kong handover and the Asian twenty years later. And judging by the sustained banking crisis. In retrospect, it’s debatable notoriety of the film’s cast, particularly , whether young and callow APA discoveries Jason Tobin, and Film Festival Artist honoree as Chung, Burt Bulos, Angie Suh, Mia Suh, John Cho, the film truly deserves its bona fides Mary Chen, Lela Lee, Jason Tobin, and John as an acknowledged classic of Asian Pacific Cho could possibly hold a candle to now-HK American cinema. We’re so glad to share it luminaries as Ekin Cheng, Jordan Chan, Michael here, in glorious 35mm... with director in tow. — ABRAHAM FERRER

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHY STARRING Taka Arai Ted Cohen Soon Tek Oh Ted Kim (PRODUCTION DESIGNER Michael Chung PRODUCER Jeanne Yang Burt Bulos John Cho Chris Chan Lee SOUND Jason Tobin DAVID YANG Curtis Choy Angie Suh DIRECTOR MUSIC Mia Suh Chris Chan Lee Lance Hahn Mary Chen SCREENPLAY EDITOR Lela Lee Chris Chan Lee Kenn Kashima Emily Kuroda Amy Hill

70 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION

Prepare to be challenged, CARDINAL X 72 enlightened, shocked, and CHEE AND T 73 entertained as we proudly roll out COLUMBUS 60 this year’s excellent slate of GOOK 58 narrative feature nominees. I CAN, I WILL, I DID 74 THE LOCKPICKER 75 NORMAN JONES 76 WEXFORD PLAZA 77 WINDOW HORSES 78

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 • 71 CARDINAL X United States, 2016 BEFORE BECOMING A RESPECTED damaged, angry, whip smart, yet resilient D-Cinema, 84 mins SOCIAL SERVICES non-profit professional and highly empathetic young woman. Most Color, Narrative and entrepreneur in the Bay Area, director refreshingly, she presents us one of the most In English, Mandarin Angie Wang led quite a different life as a 80s non-stereotypical media portrayal of a modern college coed fresh off the bus from New Jersey Asian American woman in recent memory. SUNDAY, APRIL 30, but already street savvy building a mini-drug Those in her orbit fall in line to both her allure 9:15 PM manufacturing empire with her brand of and intellect. From college roommate and BFF, Downtown ecstasy. In CARDINAL X, she weaves semi- Jeanine (Francesca Eastwood), a privileged, Independent autobiographical details into this fictionalized straight-laced yet good-hearted white girl from WEDNESDAY, tale of how she came into her own. the 'burbs, college friend and would-be "nice MAY 3, As the daughter of Chinese immigrants, Chinese boyfriend," Tommy (Scott Keiji Takeda), 4:30 PM her acceptance into a top notch West Coast and her young "Big Sisters" charge, Bree NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION FEATURE NARRATIVE CGV Cinemas university meant a tremendous opportunity (Aalyrah Caldwell) to Anita, Bree's mom and Theatre 2 towards better social circumstances. drug addict (Yetide Badaki), her role in their lives

Thousands of miles away from home, young transforms them as much it does her. COMMUNITY PARTNERS Asian Professional Angie Wang (a striking and charismatic Annie Wang elevates this indie youth drama with Exchange (APEX) Q) embarks on a journey of self-discovery committed and nuanced performances traversing highs and lows involving the typical Media Action Network from her cast who all challenge respective for Asian Americans youth experimentation with drinking, drugs, and stereotypes. At its heart, the film's poignant sex. Desperate to pay her college tuition, she exploration of female agency and the social (MANAA) begins synthesizing innovative product after pressures women face every day that impact hours in her college chemistry lab and plying their self-esteem and perception of themselves her wares at local nightclubs. makes this a must-watch in our climate of toxic Wang spares little sentimentality in the masculinity. — LINDY LEONG portrayal of her screen self — a deeply

EXECUTIVE SCREENPLAY PRODUCTION DESIGN MUSIC STARRING PRODUCERS Angie Wang Rodrigo Cabral Pei Pei Chung Annie Q Cassian Elwes DIRECTOR ART DIRECTOR MUSIC SUPERVISOR Francesca Eastwood Lawrence Braitman Angie Wang Andrew M. Trott Louis Ferrara Ron Yuan Scott Takeda PRODUCERS CINEMATOGRAPHY SOUND EDITOR Yetide Badaki Angie Wang Brett Pawlak Bob Gitzen Jeff Castelluccio Rick Bosner Jeffrey Alan Jones Robert Schafer

72 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 CHEE AND T NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION FESTIVAL VETERAN TANUJ CHOPRA’S friends. Chopra and co-writer Chee Malabar United States, 2016 FOLLOW-UP TO LAST YEAR'S GRASS, CHEE inject these wayward sons' comic musings with D-Cinema, 80 minutes AND T is equal parts buddy comedy, road trip hilarity and heart. While Chee and T are all calm Color, Narrative movie, and coming-of-age story as characters and cool, the scrappy Mayunk motor mouths search for their place in a world that’s alienated his way through life. He becomes the one who WEDNESDAY, them in different ways. Set in the bourgeois, loudly (though not so proudly) comes out of his MAY 3, 9:15 PM suburban tech haven of Palo Alto, CA, Chee shell as he fights between what’s best for him CGV Cinemas (Sunkrish Bala) and T (Dominic Rains) work and the wants of his family. Theater 1 for Chee’s Uncle Rob (Bernard White), doing Navigating these changing perspectives on debt collecting by shaking down delinquents what it means to belong to a community while FRIDAY, MAY 5, and ensuring that those who work, rent, or being true to oneself, Chee, T, and Mayunk, 10:00 PM benefit from their uncle, a local "godfather," three brown brothers who don't work in tech, CGV Cinemas Buena Park stay in line. Fall behind on a payment, get a reveal to us a vibrant subculture of outsiders punch in the gut. When Chee’s cousin, Mayunk in the corporate community of Silicon Valley. COMMUNITY PARTNER (Asif Ali) blows into town and the two men are Imbued with a droll sensibility set to a pulsating #GoodMuslim tasked with babysitting and spit polishing him soundtrack, CHEE AND T proves a joyride BadMuslim for his engagement party, the threesome find everybody wants in on. Buzzing off the San themselves bumping heads and running into a Diego Asian Film Festival (where it won Best PRECEDED BY series of scrapes much to the chagrin of their Narrative Feature), it’s easy to see why it has ARRANGED (UNITED STATES, 2016) conservative family and more straight-laced won its admirers. DIR.: KHOLI HICKS — JEREMY GAUDETTE, WITH ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS BY LINDY LEONG Two 20-something Indian Americans are forced into an arranged EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SCREENPLAY SOUND STARRING marriage by their Prakash Janakiraman Chee Malabar Adam Drakewolf Sunkrish Bala parents that neither want, but both need. Melody Peterson CINEMATOGRAPHER MUSIC Dominic Rains Tanuj Chopra Asif Ali D-CINEMA, 11 MINS., Smokey Nelson Brady Cohan COLOR, NARRATIVE Visual Communications Noureen DeWulf PRODUCTION DESIGNER Ross Garren Rebecca Hazlewood PRODUCER Sean Totanes EDITOR Bernard White Sohini Sengupta Karim Lopez ART DIRECTOR Karan Soni DIRECTOR Deanna Dewey Himanshu Suri Tanuj Chopra COSTUME DESIGNER Scott Rogers

Romy Itzigsohn

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION • 73 I CAN, I WILL, I DID United States, 2016 SEVENTEEN-YEAR OLD BEN (MIKE FAIST) I USED TO KNOW, Festival 2013), in some D-Cinema, 113 minutes IS ON THE CUSP OF ADULTHOOD, but that ways mimics a career template from which Color, Narrative isn’t a milestone he is looking forward to. As an this former Visual Communications’ Armed orphan who is about to term out of the system, With a Camera Fellow felt compelled to hit the FRIDAY, APRIL 28, he seemingly has no ambitions in life; he is career “re-set” button. After an extended period 8:00 PM mercilessly bullied by a teenage gang of thugs during which she largely directed stories written Aratani Theatre headed by Dorian (Jack DiFalco), the prince by men, Truong assumes full control of her

of the neighborhood; and outside of a group storytelling here, as both screenwriter as well COMMUNITY PARTNERS Film Fatales home of other teens and tweeners whom he as director. Inspired in part by her encounters barely gets along with, literally has no friends in with Tae Kwon Do Grandmaster Ik Jo Kang Media Action Network life, save for Maria (Selena Leyva) the supervisor and his message of respect and personal for Asian Americans of the group home. And when yet another character, Truong, a practicing yogini when not NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION FEATURE NARRATIVE (MANAA) in an endless stream of beat-downs at the making films, collaborated closely with Kang Women in Film hands of Dorian and his gang lands Ben in the to develop a coming-of-age story that mirrors hospital, partially paralyzed and at his lowest his philosophies. Throw in a sly nod to John point, the possibility of full recovery, much less Avildsen’s 1984 THE KARATE KID, and what you redemption seems daunting. That is, however, have is a work that comes off as a “throwback,” until plucky wheelchair-bound Adrienne but engages the audience through its dual (Ellie Lee) and her taciturn grandfather Kang messages of hope and self-determination. In insinuate themselves into Ben’s life. this day and age, that’s the kind of movie we so I CAN, I WILL, I DID, the third feature-length desperately need in our lives. narrative outing for Nadine Truong (SOMEONE — ABRAHAM FERRER

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER SCREENPLAY STARRING Ik Jo Kang Eugene Koh Nadine Truong Ik Jo Kang Jay Shaw PRODUCTION DESIGNER SOUND Mike Faist PRODUCER Susan Chau Mielle Ezra Selena Leyva Ellie Lee Brian Yang ART DIRECTOR MUSIC Rj Hatanaka Artisha Mann-Cooper Yoko Morishita Aaron Symonds Jack Difalc DIRECTOR COSTUME DESIGNER EDITOR Nadine Truong Kimberly Matela Ben Kim

74 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 THE LOCKPICKER NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION MULTIMEDIA ARTIST AND FILMMAKER the power of the cinematic medium. As Hashi's Canada, 2016 RANDALL OKITA WEAVES A DELICATE, nightmares overwhelm his consciousness, D-Cinema, 95 minutes nuanced tale of depressed teen Hashi (a he contemplates an escape plan, whether via Color, Narrative wonderful Keigian Umi Tang in a breakthrough that summer on the sea youth-work program role), who suffers tremendously in silence after promoted at school or by his own devices. SATURDAY, a close friend's suicide and acts out through Whether he gets away is ultimately besides APRIL 29 4:30 PM self-harm and thievery. As the eponymous title the point as we chart his own intuitive steps Downtown character, he drifts through his daily routine of towards a kind of self-healing. Independent school, part-time job, and home willfully closed The winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the off from the world at large. With headphones 2016 San Diego Asian Film Festival and Best COMMUNITY PARTNERS on, he listens to past recordings of conversa- First Feature at the 2016 Toronto Reel Asian Consulate General of tions engaged in and scribbles in his personal International Film Festival, it recently received Canada in Los Angeles journal observing from a distance, fearful of the inaugural John Dunning Discovery Award Asian American Drug getting involved or making a deeper human at the Canadian Screen Awards. In Tang, Abuse Program, Inc. connection. Through surreal and dreamlike Okita has found a leading man who recalls the imagery and experimental sound design, Okita tortured, delicate soul of a River Phoenix in conveys vividly Hashi's subjectivity— both his RUNNING ON EMPTY and MY OWN PRIVATE suppressed pain and his inner desires. IDAHO. Channeling the auteur spirit As much a coming-of-age story as a tour characteristic of the best of 90s independent de force character portrait, THE LOCKPICKER filmmaking, this is an accomplished feature film commemorates troubled youth in its full bloom debut by a seasoned artist looking to expand through its opening of a mind's inner eye via his creative palette.

— MELANIE RAMOS, WITH ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS BY LINDY LEONG

PRODUCER DIRECTOR ART DIRECTOR MUSIC David Woroner Jason Lapeyre Randall Okita Emma Stoliker Menalon Jordan Gray Randall Okita CINEMATOGRAPHER Stephanie Woodall EDITOR Madi Langdon Robert Fisher Jackson Parrell Ashley Devereux Mike Reisacher Stephne Halliburn Chris Agoston Robert Nolan PRODUCTION COSTUME DESIGNER Jonathan Eagan Tania Thompson Sarah Nelles-McGee DESIGNER Rose Broadbent STARRING Darcy Van Poelgeest Melissa McCann Rosalie Mackintosh SOUND Keigian Umi Tang

Scott Humphries Storie Serres Joshua Peters Venus Saadatmand

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION • 75 NORMAN JONES United States, 2016 TO ALL WHO INTERACT WITH HIM, living primarily through his paintings, Norman D-Cinema, 70 minutes Norman Jones is a nobody. To the flea market (a multiple heart attack survivor who pops B&W, Narrative denizen who is attracted to one of Norman’s handfuls of prescription meds, but still lives his paintings, he is a skinflint who drives a hard life as a curmudgeon) has no friends, not even SUNDAY, APRIL 30 bargain for minor works of art. To the landlady casual acquaintances, nor does he respond 7:00 PM who demands no rent to allow him to live in to the occasional helping hand with anything Downtown a dilapidated trailer in her backyard, Norman approaching gratitude. It is left to those whom Independent is an ingrate whom she is too big-hearted to Norman largely shuns to peel away the layers COMMUNITY PARTNER evict. And to disparate individuals ranging from of his life — the landlady whose late husband CineFile an artist supply store clerk, a neighborhood befriended Norman and invited him home one handyman, and a lonely cleaning woman, day, only to see him stick around for ten-plus PRECEDED BY: Norman registers barely a blip on the radar. Yet years; the movers who clear out his trailer and NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION FEATURE NARRATIVE TWO-SIDED RIDE it is those mostly obscure character quirks that discover just what kind of a character Norman (CANADA, 2016) intrigue director Mike Sakamoto (SECRET ASIAN truly is; to the aforementioned cleaning woman DIR.: JASON KARMAN MAN, Festival 2000; and a series of black-and- whose act of kindness one day is a true rarity in Alex, a gay hopeless white workouts including the expressionistic Norman’s life. Seemingly about nothing at all, romantic, drives 1999 ROLLING MAN). NORMAN JONES is actually something much for a ride-booking In carefully-observed monochrome scenes of more — a carefully-observed L.A. story in which company in hopes of his everyday routine, Norman’s life is gradually characters come and go, but in which memory a love connection in revealed, and it is decidedly bleak: eking out a gives way to the inevitable march of time. the big city. His trials and tribulations lead — ABRAHAM FERRER him to lose his way PRODUCER SOUND DESIGN STARRING until fate takes over. Mike Sakamoto Mike Sakamoto David Z. Stamp Peter Dowd SOUND RECORDIST Joyce Sindel D-CINEMA, 9 MINS., BLACK & Kelli Stokes WHITE, NARRATIVE DIRECTOR Austin Duerst Mike Sakamoto Masami Koyama Harv Popick Carl Turner CINEMATOGRAPHER EDITOR Ed Dyer Len Borruso Mike Sakamoto Matthew Payne SCREENPLAY Mannette Antil Mike Sakamoto Garren Fagaragan Sean Weyer Nick Feller Matt Percival

76 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 WEXFORD PLAZA NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION IT’S A TIME MOST OF US WOULD LIKE deep, abiding empathy for both characters. Canada, 2016 TO FORGET — spinning your wheels at a We first follow the zaftig, awkward Betty as she D-Cinema, 82 minutes dead-end job, nursing a misguided crush, as we befriends Danny. At the mid-point, the focus Color, Narrative stumble our way into adulthood. Joyce Wong shifts to Danny. As Wong fills in the narrative breathes life into those long-buried memories gaps, Danny emerges as a far more complex MONDAY, MAY 1 for her debut feature, WEXFORD PLAZA. Wong’s character than we’d seen — a floater whose 7:00 PM Downtown low-key tragi-comedy, which made its bow at good intentions masks a hurtful inability to Independent this year’s Slamdance Film Festival, plumbs the come clean with those closest to him. depths of our post-teen years for pathos and a Inspired by her own hometown of COMMUNITY PARTNER glimmer of hope. Scarborough, just outside of Toronto, Wong Consulate General of Nineteen-year-old Betty (Reid Asselstine) toils captures the soul-numbing rhythms and the Canada in Los Angeles as a nighttime security guard at a suburban strip dispiriting architecture of modern suburbia. mall. Trying to stave off loneliness with failed Wexford Plaza, as seen in the film, might bids at cyber-flirtation and drunken escapades well be the loneliest place on Earth. The with co-workers, Betty meets and falls for strip mall’s hollowed-out storefronts and Danny (Darrel Gamotin), a well-meaning dilapidated walls, as captured by Wong, only Filipino American bartender. Danny, a bit lost heighten the characters’ alienation. In tone himself, welcomes her attention, and his mixed and style, WEXFORD PLAZA evokes Michael signals sets off a series of events that would Kang’s THE MOTEL (LAAPFF, 2006), another leave them both worse for wear. naturalistic portrait of lonely outcasts aching for While borrowing elements from the connection in a bleak, Hopperesque landscape. coming-of-age cringe comedy, WEXFORD And like that gem, WEXFORD PLAZA sneaks up PLAZA neither mocks these underachievers on you and quietly breaks your heart. nor drowns us in pity. Wong offers instead a —RYAN WU

PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER COSTUME DESIGNER STARRING Matt Greyson Maya Bankovic Sarah Lake Reid Asselstine Harry Cherniak PRODUCTION DESIGNER SOUND Darrel Gamotin DIRECTOR Adam Belanger Ian Reynolds Francis Melling Ellie Posadas Joyce Wong ART DIRECTOR The Post Office Inc. SCREENPLAY Rachel Paarsalu-Parent EDITOR Joyce Wong Darby MacInnis

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION • 77 WINDOW HORSES: THE POETIC PERSIAN EPIPHANY OF ROSIE MING Canada, 2016 THE STICK GIRL — an austere, pliant learns more about the Iranian father whom she D-Cinema, 88 minutes animated doppelganger for veteran had assumed abandoned her family. Color, Narrative experimental and graphic arts filmmaker Ann From her very first Film Festival selection Marie Fleming — goes global in a big way. In in 1994, PIONEERS OF X-RAY VISION (A SUNDAY, APRIL 30, director Fleming’s WINDOW HORSES, a sort of FILM ABOUT GRANDPA), director Fleming 11:30 AM follow-up to her previous feature-length Film has shown a willingness to explore matters CGV Cinemas Festival offering, THE MAGICAL LIFE OF LONG of biracial identity from uniquely formalistic Theater 3 TACK SAM (Festival 2004). Managing a team of angles, the better to examine, in meditative COMMUNITY PARTNERS nearly twenty film animators for this latest opus, and puckish ways, her heritage as a Chinese NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION FEATURE NARRATIVE Gallery Nucleus Fleming’s first all-animated narrative feature Australian living and working in multi-ethnic Farhang Foundation places The Stick Girl, personified here as Rosie Vancouver, British Columbia. Setting this latest Ming, in a heady position: a multi-talented waif story in Shiraz affords her the opportunity to Iranian American living in the great Northwest with her over- examine that city’s ancient heritage and its Women Foundation protective maternal grandparents, Rosie (voiced ages-old connections to literature, the arts, (IAWF) by veteran Canadian acting pioneer Sandra Oh) and cultural antiquity. Voiced by a stellar cast

self-publishes a book of poetry that she ships including the likes of Oh, Nancy Kwan, Eddy off on a whim to a spoken-word festival in Ko, , Omid Abtahi, Don Shiraz, , and subsequently earns a surprise McKellar, and Ellen Page, WINDOW HORSES invitation to read her poetry. Once there, is all-ages programming that really should be she meets a colorful menagerie of poets and seen by everybody (and anyone) with a narrow, writers; a diverse, cosmopolitan community xenophobic perspective of Chinese and Iranian of Iranians; and on a more serious note, finally culture. — ABRAHAM FERRER

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Janet Perlman Louise Johnson VOICE ACTORS Esme Finley PRODUCER Ann Marie Fleming Sadaf Amini Lillian Chen Sandra Oh Eddy Ko Sandra Oh SCREENPLAY Bahram Javaheri SOUND Shohreh Don McKellar PRODUCER Ann Marie Fleming Dominique Doktor Gordon Durity Aghdashloo Ellen Page Elissa Chee Nancy Kwan Ann Marie Fleming ANIMATOR MUSIC Omid Abtahi Shirley Vercruysse Kevin Langdale Michael Mann Taymaz Saba Camyar Chaichian Michael Fukushima Ian Godfrey Jody Kramer Mehdi Darvish Nathaniel Akin Kunal Sen 78 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 DOCUMENTAARY FEATURE COMPETITION

95 AND 6 TO GO 80 DOCUMENTARY FINDING KUKAN 81 GHOST MAGNET FEATURE ROACH MOTEL 82 MELE MURALS 83 COMPETITION MIXED MATCH 84 This year’s Documentary RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE 85 Competition is distinguished by SAVE MY SEOUL 86 emerging artists with exciting untold A TIME TO SWIM 87 stories as well as subjects which UNBROKEN GLASS 88 hold super-apt relevancy to our WHO IS ARTHUR CHU? 89 changing worldview(s) today.

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 • 79 95 AND 6 TO GO United States, 2016 IN THE CHARMING DOCUMENTARY and bittersweet reflections of the people living D-Cinema, 86 mins 95 AND 6 TO GO, filmmaker Kimi Takesue that history. The film’s subject varies widely Color, Documentary turns her camera on her Japanese American from Takesue’s notable Ugandan feature grandfather, Tom Takesue. Tom, a recent WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME? (2010). However, WEDNESDAY, widower and retired postal worker in his 90s her signature contemplative approach as MAY 3 who has lived in Honolulu for nearly a century, a filmmaker pervades as she plays with the 7:00 PM is a seemingly ordinary grandfather. In his daily complex relationship of the observer and the CGV Cinemas habits, he cooks and eats, clips coupons, and observed. There is no semblance of a fourth Theatre 2 watches television, but he surprisingly takes a wall in 95 AND 6 TO GO as Takesue herself COMMUNITY PARTNERS passionate interest in his granddaughter Kimi’s exists as a character both inside and outside Little Tokyo screenplay. Over a multi-year shoot, he offers of the film. This method along with slower Historical Society blunt critiques of Takesue’s story as well as pacing allows each moment to breathe and to Little Tokyo provides suggestions for her title, songs, and be found carefully and thoughtfully rather than Community Council even a happy ending. His past memories of life, forcefully constructed. In 95 AND 6 TO GO, DOCUMENTAARY FEATURE COMPETITION FEATURE DOCUMENTAARY love, and loss bleed through interviews and the viewer does not simply watch but is given informal conversations with his granddaughter intimate entry to the lives of the Takesues and that span over six years. to the production of history in the everyday. On Through the vehicle of “home video,” Takesue a simpler note, the film is an inspiring reminder challenges the notion that history should be that leaves one wishing to connect with their marked solely by big, loud, life-changing events own family’s elders.— SUMIKO BRAUN but also by the quieter moments and humorous

PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER MUSIC FEATURING Kimi Takesue Kimi Takesue Paul Brill Tom Takesue Richard Beenen SOUND EDITOR Ethel Kimi Takesue DIRECTOR Tom Efinger Kimi Takesue Kimi Takesue Jeff Seelye

80 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 FINDING KUKAN DOCUMENTAARY FEATURE COMPETITION KUKAN, featuring stunning 16mm color about his relationship with Li, and eventually United States, 2016 footage of the Japanese bombing of shows precious surviving footage from KUKAN. D-Cinema, 76 minutes Chungking (Chongqing), China in 1940, was Unseen for years, this footage — a relaxed B&W, Color, among the earliest documentaries to have Chiang Kai-Shek playing checkers with Madame Documentary received an (honorary) Academy Award®, but Chiang, the Chinese army on the march, In English, Mandarin with seemingly no extant prints or copies, villagers trying to escape bombing raids, the w/E.S. KUKAN appeared lost to history. bombing of Chungking, and a glimpse of Li In FINDING KUKAN, veteran documentary Ling-Ai — is well worth waiting for. SUNDAY, APRIL 30 2:30 PM filmmaker Robin Lung chronicles her own Intriguing as the KUKAN footage is, Lung Tateuchi dogged pursuit to exhume both KUKAN and is most drawn to Li herself. Funny, defiant, Democracy the fascinating personalities behind its making. playful, and immensely charismatic, Li’s force Forum @ JANM Lung was particularly intrigued by Li Ling-Ai, of personality shines through as she recounts who was credited as a technical consultant her exploits in old interview footage. In an era SUNDAY, MAY 7 but who clearly played a more instrumental of rampant discrimination against Chinese 3:00 PM CGV Cinemas role. FINDING KUKAN digs into Li’s past, Americans, Li tells of a colorful past as a Buena Park assembling evidence showing that she was playwright, socialite, relief worker and even as probably the real “producer” of KUKAN. This a companion and Chinese artifacts consultant COMMUNITY PARTNERS detective story dovetails into Lung’s quest to for Robert Ripley, of Ripley's Believe It Or Not. Chinese Historical recover and restore KUKAN, which takes her While FINDING KUKAN is undeniably impressive Society of Southern into the homes of the descendants of KUKAN’s as a feat of cinematic sleuthing, it’s at its most California principal filmmaker, Rey Scott. As Lung collects compelling in chronicling a woman who lived OCA-GLA surviving print footage of KUKAN from various to the fullest, in a country that wanted little to Women in Film sources, she reconstructs the journey Scott do with her. takes to China (via reenactments), speculates — RYAN WU SPONSORED BY EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SCREENPLAY VISUAL EFFECTS SOUND Loretta Li Douglas K.T. Ho Robin Lung Chris Do Briggs Goddard Daniel Kwok Kimberlee Bassford Shirley Thompson SHADOW SCENE Paul Levitt Ed Carter PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER DIRECTOR Mike Scott Irmgard Hormann Robin Lung Frank Ayala Larry Reed John Zainer Wing Yung Emery Portia Li Shirley Thompson Stanford Chang CHOREOGRAPHER FEATURING Phil Hall DIRECTOR Ron Darby Wan-Chao Chang Robin Lung DeSoto Brown Robin Lung Ann Kaneko Wan-Chao Chang COMPOSER Andrew Li Andrew Truong Clay David Miriam Cutler Christopher Jespersen DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION • 81 GHOST MAGNET ROACH MOTEL Germany/Japan/ VISUAL ARTIST AND MUSICIAN SHINPEI Takeda brings us his own brand of the punk Mexico, 2016 TAKEDA (THE CLOSEST MEXICO TO musical documentary, which he has coined as D-Cinema, 70 minutes JAPAN, LAAPFF 2009) returns to Festival Week "punkformance" (the mixture of punk music and B&W, Color, with a passion project; very much in sync with performance art). Employing use of aggressive Documentary his artistic bent as a global citizen invested in sound design and gritty shot selection along in English, Japanese, breaking down cultural borders and traditions. with fusing together his worlds of punk rock Spanish w/E.S. GHOST MAGNET ROACH MOTEL is not only music and visual artistry, he serves up both a the name of the art punk collective musical one-two punch of both the joys and challenges WEDNESDAY, group he is a part of but also, the documentary of DIY musicianship and the personal demons MAY 3, 9:30 PM he created to chronicle his band's professional of those creative personalities often involved. CGV Cinemas and personal journey as individuals and as a In the humble, grand tradition of guerilla- Theater 2 group. Comprised of a Japanese multimedia style filmmaking and aesthetics, Takeda melds artist, two American musicians, and two and mixes various visual styles in his vérité COMMUNITY PARTNERS Mexican visual artists are based in San Diego camerawork, media formats, and B/W and color DOCUMENTAARY FEATURE COMPETITION FEATURE DOCUMENTAARY Giant Robot and in Tijuana, Mexico. The group's existence shooting flexing to whatever mood he wants Save Music in and work presents us with an intercultural view to convey at any given moment. In doing so, Chinatown of artistic collaboration complete with both he hopes to immerse his audience, both filmic literal and figurative "border-crossing." and music, into a fully sensational, auditory and PRECEDED BY Mixing elements of the road movie, visual experience that should not be missed. A DOLL’S HUG experimental cinema, and the tour film, (TAIWAN, UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: ROB CHIHWEN LO — MELANIE RAMOS, WITH ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS BY LINDY LEONG A Taiwanese boy learns to fight back from the PRODUCER PHOTOGRAPHY MUSIC FEATURING Adriana Trujillo Joey Muñoz Tony Cozano Brian Sweda threatening violence Jose Inerzia Johann Leitner Brian Sweda Daniel Ruanova in his Barbie doll Polen Audio Visual ART DIRECTOR Julio Orozco Tony Cozano world. Shinpei Takeda Daniel Ruanova EDITOR Julio Orozco Shinpei Takeda D-CINEMA, 20 MINS., COLOR DIRECTOR SOUND MIX Shinpei Takeda AND BLACK & WHITE, NAR- Shinpei Takeda Jose Inerzia Margit Bauer RATIVE, IN MANDARIN W/E.S. WRITER

Daniel Ruanova

Shinpei Takeda

82 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 MELE MURALS DOCUMENTAARY FEATURE COMPETITION TADASHI NAKAMURA, prince of Japanese and together with the dedicated students and United States, 2016 American documentary film, returns to the community, they create a breathtaking three- D-Cinema, 65 mins screen with a “cheehoo!” in MELE MURALS. walled mural telling the story of three Hawaiian Color, Documentary Over the last decade and a half, Nakamura has mele (song or chant) and rediscover their own explored Japanese American history, resistance, identities and responsibilities as Native SUNDAY, APRIL 30 and art in films such as PILGRIMAGE (2007), Hawaiian artists. 5:00 PM Tateuchi A SONG FOR OURSELVES (2009), and his first More substantial than a showcase of Hawaiian Democracy feature, JAKE SHIMABUKURO: LIFE ON FOUR graffiti art, MELE MURALS is a visually striking, Forum @ JANM STRINGS (2013). While the latter led him to emotionally touching feature that unexpectedly Hawai’i, MELE MURALS is Nakamura’s first film captures the compelling possibilities of street SUNDAY, MAY 7 to showcase a Native Hawaiian story of cultural art to preserve Native Hawaiian culture and 1:00 PM CGV Cinemas reclamation, transformation, and decolonial identity. For Prime and Estria and for many Buena Park reimagining vis-à-vis graffiti art. young folks, hip hop is a resistant artform MELE MURALS centers around two renowned and replacement for not knowing one’s own COMMUNITY PARTNERS Native Hawaiian street artists, Estria Miyashiro culture. By highlighting the role of art and UCLA Center for and John ‘Prime’ Hina, as they travel from culture in reclaiming that lack of knowing is EthnoCommunications urban Honolulu to begin an outdoor mural a contestation of the U.S. colonial legacy of Kollaboration project with Kanu O Ka ‘Āina, a school in rural Hawai’i. Tadashi Nakamura’s MELE MURALS Empowering Pacific Waimea. Despite their immense talents and defiantly illustrates that Hawai’i is not a tourist Islander Communities positive intentions, they find that mural-making paradise, not a strategic military site, but the (EPIC) is not so simple as local teacher Aunty Pua Case home of a creative and vibrant indigenous raises concerns over the visual representations community fighting for self-determination SPONSORED BY of their sacred subjects. Estria and Prime while preserving a way of living for future realize the necessity to get this project right, generations. — SUMIKO BRAUN

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DIRECTOR ART DIRECTOR FEATURING Keoni Lee Tadashi Nakamura Frank Lin Estria Miyashiro PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER SOUND John "Prime" Hina Tadashi Nakamura Justyn Ah Chong Jon K. Oh Kanoa Castro Pomai Bertelmann Keoni Lee ANIMATION MUSIC Pua Case Leanne Ferrer Daryn Wakasa Sabzi Donald Young Makaki'i Bertelmann Michael Velasquez EDITOR Ku'ulei Guerpo Tadashi Nakamura Kay-ala Kahaulelio Eurie Chung DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION • 83 MIXED MATCH Canada, 2016 AWARD-WINNING JAPANESE diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome D-Cinema, 96 minutes CANADIAN ANIMATION and documentary (MDS) who has been searching for a suitable Color, Documentary filmmaker Jeff Chiba Stearns’ newest blood donor for over nine years; Alexandria documentary delves into the complex struggle Taylor, a multiracial woman who discovered SATURDAY, of multiracial patients searching for bone that she was a donor match for a patient and APRIL 29, marrow donors. With tens of thousands of had undergone a bone marrow harvesting 2:00 PM people in North America diagnosed every year procedure to save a life; and Athena Asklipiadis, Downtown with blood-related diseases, and having only a the founder of Mixed Marrow and Be the Match Independent tiny percentage of suitable registered donors, – two organizations that conduct community COMMUNITY PARTNERS the challenge for multiracial patients to find outreach work to raise awareness about Asians for Miracle a more favorable donor match sometimes multiracial blood donor issues. Marrow Matches (A3M) becomes not only a medical near-impossibility, Integrating his signature animation elements Little Tokyo Service but also a crucial opportunity for people to with personal stories from patients, survivors Center (LTSC) discover and acknowledge their multiracial and other stakeholders in the community, DOCUMENTAARY FEATURE COMPETITION FEATURE DOCUMENTAARY identities. MIXED MATCH offers a visually gorgeous, With multiracial populations growing clear and understandable presentation of the significantly in North America, the issue of medical concepts and processes which form providing suitable blood donors has taken on part of the difficulties encountered by patients. an increasing urgency. Shot over five years, the By exploring how and why race and multiracial documentary team filmed with many patients, identities may play a role in medicine, MIXED donors as well as organizations who have been MATCH becomes an important testimonial and activated around these causes. For example, tribute to the many people who are fighting in there’s Krissy Kobata, a mixed-race woman this matter of life and death. — CHANEL KONG

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DIRECTOR ANIMATION MUSIC Jeff Chiba Stearns Jeff Chiba Stearns Jeff Chiba Stearns Genevieve Vincent PRODUCER WRITER Kaho Yoshida EDITOR Jeff Chiba Stearns Jeff Chiba Stearns SOUND Jeff Chiba Stearns Ruth Vincent CINEMATOGRAPHER Doug Paterson Jeff Chiba Stearns

84 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE DOCUMENTAARY FEATURE COMPETITION LONGTIME VIDEO JOURNALIST AND heavily militarized “segregation camp” where United States, 2017 DOCUMENTARIAN KONRAD ADERER all dissenters were sent because of its high D-Cinema,78 mins makes a critical intervention in films detailing population of “No-No’s,” people who refused to B&W, Color, the Japanese American experience of WWII swear unconditional loyalty to the government Documentary incarceration with his compelling new feature, that was imprisoning them. The U.S. declared In English, Japanese RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE. Aderer’s previous martial law in Tule Lake and the military tortured w/E.S film, ENEMY ALIEN (2009), documented the internees, holding people in an illegal stockade detainment and fight to free Palestinian activist for months without any charges until federal FRIDAY, APRIL 28 8:30 PM Farouk Abdel-Muhti while also linking post- lawsuits were made. These moving stories are Tateuchi 9/11 xenophobia and discrimination facing illustrated with archival footage and photos, Democracy Muslim Americans to the history and treatment and cut between a modern-day pilgrimage to Forum @ JANM of Japanese Americans. With the current Tule Lake led by the descendants of internees racially-charged political climate, RESISTANCE who refuse to allow this moment in history to SATURDAY, MAY 6 2:00 PM AT TULE LAKE is an important and timely film be forgotten. CGV Cinemas that disrupts the myth of a passive Japanese Notably, RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE has Buena Park American population in camp and highlights special resonance as 2017 marks the 75th the abuse those who resisted faced. anniversary of Executive Order 9066. Many COMMUNITY PARTNERS Driven by intimate, first-person accounts, draw parallels between the past and the UCLA Center for RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE captures the present, especially around the xenophobia EthnoCommuncations complexities of WWII for Japanese Americans facing Muslims living in the U.S. to the Nikkei for Civil Rights and explores acts of resistance that have treatment of Japanese Americans, and such a and Redress (NCRR) previously been stigmatized. Tule Lake, located film is a crucial reminder of that past and the Asian Americans in the Klamath Falls Basin in Northern California, dangers of such attitudes in informing policy Advancing Justice just south of the Oregon border, became the and executive decisions. — SUMIKO BRAUN | Los Angeles

PRODUCER MUSIC Satsuki Ina Jim Tanimoto Muslim Public Affairs Konrad Aderer Miles Jay Tetsuden Kashima Mori Tanimoto Council Michelle Chen EDITOR Hiroshi Kashiwagi Jimi Yamaichi CONSULTING PRODUCER Konrad Aderer Sadako Kashiwagi Junichi Yamamoto JT Takagi Ruth Schell Toru Bill Nishimura Morgan Yamanaka Hiroshi Shimizu DIRECTOR FEATURING Konrad Aderer Wayne Merrill Collins Barbara Takei Roger Daniels Sachiko Takita-Ishii WRITER Jeanne Mioko Tanaka Konrad Aderer Grace Hata DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION • 85 SAVE MY SEOUL United States, 2017 BACK IN 2012 when social philanthropy agree to be their key interview subjects, buoy D-Cinema, 60 mins entrepreneurs Jason and Eddie Lee made the power of this work. Color, Documentary BACK TO INNOCENCE, their short film on sex Interspersing Crystal and Esther's stories In English, Korean trafficking, as part of The Jubliee Project, their with talking head interviews with key experts w/E.S. fledgling social justice media making non-prof- in academia and activist organizations, the it, they unknowingly planted the seed for this filmmakers fashion a high octane, participatory SATURDAY, insightful and unflinchingly bold documentary documentary straddling the balance between April 29 feature on in Korea today. Com- hard-hitting and empathetic that would put 5:00 pm missioned by Pastor Eddie Byun (who serves as key practitioner Michael Moore on alert. Asking Aratani Theatre executive producer), the brothers, with tremen- individuals their respective feelings about pros- COMMUNITY PARTNERS dous assistance from writer and producer Jean titution in Korea, the various reactions provoked Jubilee Project Rheem, conceived of this investigative journal- — from offence, shame, apathy, to condem- Kollaboration istic project. Embedding themselves in the heart nation — strike at the heart of the conflicted of Seoul's red-light districts, the filmmakers go zeitgeist they are determined to explore.

DOCUMENTAARY FEATURE COMPETITION FEATURE DOCUMENTAARY International Secret Agents (ISA) sleuthing for subjects to interview often finding Despite this sensitive subject matter, Lee and themselves fleeing the scene from belligerent company temper the proceedings with humor OCA-GLA pimps who don't take kindly to their truth seek- and levity when they let the girls take their

ing. In other instances, they employ, at great cameras and shoot them, even advising them security risk to themselves, hidden cameras on how to mask their identities or when they in recording clandestine conversations with capture casual moments of the girls talking police, employees, clients, bouncers, about their favorite Hollywood actors (can you and various members of prostitution rings they remember if you were Team Edward or Jacob?) encounter. Most significantly, their befriending over bubble tea and snacks. of two working girls, Crystal and Esther, who — LINDY LEONG

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER WRITER SOUND FEATURING Eddie Byun Jason Y. Lee Sung Rok Choi Crystal PRODUCERS Jean Rheem Kyle Lane Esther Jason Y. Lee W.A. Fulkerson MUSIC Eddie Byun Jean Rheem CINEMATOGRAPHER Samuel Kim Dr. Nayoung Lee Lee Dong-Yeob Edward Lee Ray Huang EDITOR Kang Wol-Goo DIRECTOR Jean Rheem Cho Jin-Kyung Jason Y. Lee Kim Yuna 86 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 A TIME TO SWIM DOCUMENTAARY FEATURE COMPETITION MUTANG URUD LEFT HIS HOME and community service around their children. Canada, 2017 IN SARAWAK on the Isle of Borneo in This attempt to pass the torch over to the next D-Cinema, 82 mins Malaysia more than two decades ago after his generation, in fact, characterizes the heart Color, Documentary In environmental and political activism got him of Mutang's present activist work as we see English, Malay w/E.S. into hot water with the government. Living him going about Long Napir with recording in exile in Montreal, Canada all these years, equipment in hand, interviewing all the elders SATURDAY, APRIL 29 his longing to return and the dire urgency — all part of his extended family by blood — 4:30 PM and frustratingly, at times, trying to galvanize to document village life before the elder Tateuchi generation dies off ignites this fabulous and the younger generation to be proactive in their Democracy inspirational documentary by director Ashley community. The drama escalates when his Forum @ JANM Duong. cousin, Morris, a U.S.-trained civil engineer, Along with his Canadian family, wife Natasha, leads a development project funded by the young son Agan, and his teen daughter, Chinese, to take over their remaining lands Noeli (who lends an air of youthful, informed under the auspices of a logging contract optimism as the film's narrator), Mutang returns promising new jobs to the region. as a "cultural researcher" with the knowledge Whether with his family in tow or in the that any overt political activity would send the company of elders or youngsters, Mutang authorities back on his trail. guides us with a bird's eye view through the Going back and forth between these two verdant, still pristine forest lands by foot or "homes," we witness Mutang the global citizen through rugged waves by riverboat, and and see how truly "the apple doesn't fall far shows us just why this original beauty must be from the tree" as he and his activist-wife safeguarded at all costs. naturally reinforce a culture of social justice — LINDY LEONG

PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER MUSIC FEATURING Katarina Soukup Vincent Gonneville Olivier Alary Mutang Urud Ashley Duong SOUND EDITOR Agan Urud DIRECTOR Cyril Bourseaux Hannele Halm Maxime Mir-Orefice Florence Urud Ashley Duong Tobias Haynes NARRATION Morris Kapong WRITER Richard Spiegel Noeli Urud Ashley Duong Catherine Van Der Donckt Richard Spiegel Jean Paul Vialard

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION • 87 UNBROKEN GLASS India, United States, FILMMAKER DINESH SABU MAKES HIS bows out of further interviewing. Sabu weaves 2016 DIRECTORIAL DEBUT with this engrossing, together photographs, interviews, and cinéma D-Cinema, 57 mins taboo-shattering, revelatory documentary. A vérité scenes of his family dealing with still Color, Documentary multi-year spanning project shot across the raw emotions and the consequences of his In English, Hindi w/E.S. United States and in India, UNBROKEN GLASS parents’ lives and deaths decades after the fact. is a touching low-key assemblage poignantly In the search of understanding and through MONDAY, MAY 1 capturing Sabu’s journey in making sense conversations with extended family members 7:00 PM of the trauma tied to losing both his South and friends, surprising and disturbing truths are CGV Cinemas Asian immigrant parents at only age six and revealed. But perhaps, the greatest discovery is Theatre 2 the silence concerning his mother’s mental that which the filmmaker makes in himself. COMMUNITY PARTNERS illness. Raised by his older siblings with all eyes “I hope that telling my family’s story will raise South Asian Network and efforts on sheer survival, Sabu came into awareness and reduce the stigma of mental (SAN) adulthood without much sense of who his illness, while at the same time empower East West Players parents were and why their lives transpired in suicide survivors and families of the mentally DOCUMENTAARY FEATURE COMPETITION FEATURE DOCUMENTAARY such complex ways. ill to share their stories,” said Sabu in a recent UNBROKEN GLASS begins with Sabu on a interview. Offering a distinctive story on one train looking into a mirror through a camera, family’s ordeal with mental health and suicide,

PRECEDED BY a fitting opening image for the vulnerable and UNBROKEN GLASS not only renders visible the SIT self-aware film. His four siblings express mixed pain and suffering that comes with silence, but (UNITED STATES, 2016) emotions of suddenly speaking about their also how speaking out and storytelling itself are DIR.: YOKO OKUMURA family history on camera and one brother even key to healing from the past. — SUMIKO BRAUN Shohaku, a practicing Buddhist monk, finds EXECUTIVE PRODUCER PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER MUSIC his 22-year-old son Gordon Quinn Dinesh Das Sabu Ian Robertson Kibbe Joshua Abrams Masaki struggling to Justine Nagan R. Patrick Lile Dinesh Das Sabu COMPOSER find his own purpose Melissa Sage Fadim DIRECTOR MOTION GRAPHICS Joshua Abrams Leslie Simmer in life. Dinesh Das Sabu Jenna Caravello EDITOR Betsy Steinberg SOUND Matt Lauterbach D-CINEMA, 12 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY Another Country

88 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 WHO IS ARTHUR CHU? DOCUMENTAARY FEATURE COMPETITION MIDWEST-BORN AND BRED, insurance him around to speaking engagements at United States, 2017 analyst Arthur Chu achieves unprecedented universities, conventions, and events where D-Cinema, 90 minutes notoriety as a polarizing 11-time JEOPARDY! he dazzles audiences as a natural orator while Color, Documentary champion in 2014. After winning almost 300 also capturing more intimate, vulnerable mo- in English, Cantonese grand by ‘jumping all over the board,’ instead ments with his family and his wife, Eliza. Most w/E.S. of running through each category. Arthur’s significantly, the filmmakers highlight how star power on quickly rose with a love Arthur's prickly personality and laser-sharp MONDAY, MAY 1 9:30 PM him/hate him fan base. Realizing he now had a intellect potentially rub many the wrong way Downtown platform, Arthur began writing pieces for The and in turn, has categorically labeled him as a Independent Huffington Post and The Daily Beast, calling "bad Asian," one who doesn't play nice out various social injustices ranging from toxic for a change. SATURDAY, MAY 6 masculinity, Black Lives Matter protests to WHO IS ARTHUR CHU?, fresh off its 9:30 PM #GamerGate. "This is not your country. You can premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, CGV Cinemas Buena Park live here, you will never ever belong." That arrives at a moment when this country is declaration from his father was about more grappling, head against wall, with heightened COMMUNITY PARTNERS than fitting into society as an Asian American. sensitivity around issues of racism, sexism, Asians Doing Everything Festival veteran Yu Gu and co-director Scott homophobia, and a multitude of conflicts Center for the Pacific Drucker illuminate an important perspective wherein the public discourse often takes a Asian Family on nerd culture and its place in America. nasty turn. While this incredible documentary Arthur's meteoric rise signals the emergence offers unfiltered access into a young man’s The Nerds of Color of nerd culture as part of mainstream culture private life, the bigger picture it seems to be and he as its latest folk hero. They follow asking is "Who is America?" — JEREMY GAUDETTE, WITH ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS BY LINDY LEONG

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DIRECTOR SOUND DESIGN FEATURING Mark Jonathan Harris Scott Drucker Sung Rok Choi Arthur Chu Rocque Trem Yu Gu COMPOSER Eliza Blair PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER Alex Zhang Hungtai Ang-Ling Chu Shirley Chu Yu Gu Scott Drucker EDITOR Tam Pham Scott Drucker Yu Gu Christopher Makoto Yogi Alex Trabek SOUND MIX Rocque Trem Sung Rok Choi

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION • 89 SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT Warmly Salutes VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS

2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

www.sonypictures.com © 2017 Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved. INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION 4 6 9 2 7 02 106 9 93 9 95 9 9 98 9 100 101 1 103 104 105

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 • 91 The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

DIAMOND ISLAND NARRATIVE THEBY TIME IT GETS DARK AYE DIAMOND KING OF PEKING POP SALLY RESEBA - THE DARK WIND THE MANDALAY TO ROAD SOWER SAVING STORIES THE SOUL OF THE TIGER THE TAXI TURN LEFT TURN RIGHT CHINA DOCUMENTARY TALK MOTHERLAND IDOLS PLASTIC SMALL TOKYO

COMPETITION our U.S. Premieres, several Featuring CompetitionInternational films offer documentary both of a smorgasbord explore works which and narrative time. our of the stories reflect and best the you bring to excited We're cinematic provocative most and diaspora. the and Asia from voices INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

All Rights Reserved. www.sonypictures.com © 2017 Sony© 2017 Pictures Entertainment Inc.

SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT Salutes Warmly VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Film Pacific Asian Angeles Los 2017 INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - NARRATIVE BY THETIMEITGETSDARK COMMUNITY PARTNERS and Cultural Center CommunityThai Arts Royal ThaiConsulate (ASEAC) Cinemas Conference Southeast Asian Association for Independent Downtown 8:30 PM FRIDAY, APRIL28, w/E.S. In Thai Color, Narrative D-Cinema, 105minutes Qatar/Thailand, 2016 France/Netherlands/

92 •The LosAngelesAsian PacificFilmFestival 2017

Maenum Chagasik Guillaume Morel writer whoexperiencedtheeventfirst-hand to make afilmabouttheevent,and Taew, a prologue: Ann,afilmmaker whois attempting of characters whoare topicallyrelated tothe sanctioned forces. Viewerssoonmeetapair protesters were killedbygovernment- University massacre of 1976, where student a painful national trauma,theThammasat offers multiple avenues towards articulating The film’sprologue, aseries of vignettes, upon thepossibilitiesandlimitations of cinema. film’s delicate layers respond toand reflect and truth.At timessurreal andinscrutable,the at theintersticesbetweenreality, imagination reenactments, dreams orotherwise—toarrive GETS DARK takes narrative passageways— style withexquisite visuals,BY THETIMEIT Suwichakornpong’s evolvingstorytelling Anocha Suwichakornpong. Exemplifying feature from award-winning Thaidirector permeate thehighlyanticipated second and thespectre of contemporarylife POLITICAL HISTORY, socialmemory EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Anocha Suwichakornpong DIRECTOR PRODUCER Pithai Smithsuth Edward Gunawan Chayamporn Taeratanachai

Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr SOUND MIXER Vikrom Janpanus Parinda Moongmaiphol PRODUCTION DESIGNERS Ming KaiLeung CINEMATOGRAPHER Anocha Suwichakornpong SCREENPLAY

Soraya Nakasuwan Inthira Charoenpura Atchara Suwan Arak Amornsupasiri Visra Vichit-Vadakan STARRING Machima Ungsriwong Lee Chatametikool EDITOR or maynothave yetremembered. experienced it,butalsouponotherswhomay of national traumauponthosewhohave THE TIMEITGETSDARK portraystheeffects experience. Initsdelicate, patient beauty, BY convincingly hauntedbythesimulacraof state inwhichcharactersare deeplyand blur fictionwith reality, evokingadreamlike Suwichakornpong presents scenarioswhich Byusingthetoolsof filmlanguage, lines from ascript. another momentthat peoplemaybereciting conversations unfold, butviewersdiscoverat time, from otherfilms,oranother“present”; scenes interspersedwithimagesfrom another unnamed woman—moveinandoutof identities. Theseguises—inparticular, an sometimes livenon-singularexistencesand series of mundanescenesinwhichcharacters (and byproxy, ourprotagonist) seguesintoa its representation andarticulation —thefilm confront theimpossibilityof trauma—both when shewasayoungwoman.Inorder to

Natdanai Wangsiripaisarn Waywiree Ittianunkul Apinya Sakuljaroensuk Penpak Sirikul Rassami Paoluengtong — CHANEL KONG

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - NARRATIVE

Cambodia, France, France, Cambodia, 2016 Germany, mins D-Cinema, 104 Narrative Color, In w/E.S. Khmer 1 MAY MONDAY, 8:30 PM Geffen Contemporary at MOCA 8 MAY MONDAY, 6:30 PM Cinemas CGV Buena Park

PARTNER COMMUNITY a Town Cambodia Town Film Festival

YAN WU YAN — R Batham Oun Hang Sreyleap Phon Phara Pouch Van Chirm Tang Hem Sarann Chorn Sreynou

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION • 93 COMPETITION FEATURE INTERNATIONAL

Cheanick Nov Cheanick Nov Madeza Chhem Mean Korn Samnang Nut Samnang Khim Meng Sophyna Min Jany Dom Sreyroth

DIAMOND ISLAND DIAMOND

courtship of the fetching Aza (Madez Chhem), Chhem), Aza (Madez the fetching of courtship brother upon his long-lost, older he stumbles worldly Nov). Comparatively Solei (Cheanick Bora to loaded, Solei introduces and seemingly He comes of nightclubs. surreal Phnom Penh’s in a drab, world — laboring age in this whiplash partying in by day and dirty condo development in saturated bathed clubs and amusement parks neon by night. stark of While set against this backdrop heart, a DIAMOND ISLAND is, at inequality, it’s Hou Hsiao- hang-out movie — dreamy but GOODBYE SOUTH, Hsien’s GOODBYE best teens. And Chou, with innocent, likeable his documentary valentine to classic known for SLUMBERS Cambodian cinema, GOLDEN plot momentum for (Festival 2012), forsakes in painterly pastels, the moody lyricism. Awash with exquisitely paired film’s striking palette is passages. DIAMOND ISLAND, orchestrated the Cannes Film Festival, at which premiered gives us a tantalizing glimpse Critics’ Week, the new — and of Cambodia of into the future Cambodian cinema. MUSIC Arcache Jérémie Musset Christophe EDITOR Leveneur Laurent STARRING Sobon Nuon

SET DECORATOR SET Samnang Pak DESI- COSTUME GNER Samphors Chorn SOUND Villa Vincent

ART DIRECTOR ART Kanitha Tith SCREENPLAY Chou, In Davy With Collaboration Maugendre Claire

DIRECTOR Chou Davy CINEMATOGRAPHER Thomas Favel Vincent Charlotte PRODUCER PHNOM PENH IS TRANSFORMING. AS AS TRANSFORMING. PENH IS PHNOM NEW SKYSCRAPERS cast an ever-expanding of generation a fresh the city, shadow over to document seeks filmmakers Cambodian them is change. Among pace of this frenetic Chou, who Davy helmer Cambodian-French (Festival 2016), DREAMLAND co-produced a luxury apart- of travails about the romantic The symbolic in Phnom Penh. ment realtor this setting — with shimmering richness of over the luxury condominiums looming below — proved impoverished denizens to this milieu Chou, who returns for irresistible debut, DIAMOND feature his narrative for his attention But this time, Chou turns ISLAND. day-laborers— on the downtrodden squarely these glass towers. the ones who actually build on nineteen-year- DIAMOND ISLAND focuses heads to the city old Bora (Sobon Nuon), who a job transporting and eventually settles into metal scraps to luxury developments on the Phnom Penh. In the evenings, he outskirts of horse young workers innocent of and a group and flirt a nearby fairground, at often around, with young women. As Bora begins an innocent KING OF PEKING Australia/China/United “A HEARTWARMING STORY ABOUT secretly records movies after hours, giving States, 2017 MOVIE PIRACY,” just doesn’t gel well at a film rise to a nascent bootleg DVD empire. At first, D-Cinema, 88 minutes festival where the theatrical experience is the Little Wong has a good head for this business, Color, Narrative enterprise’s bread and butter. Yet in the case which they name ‘King of Peking’. But as In Mandarin w/E.S. of Sam Voutas’ sophomore directorial feature business booms, Little Wong soon develops a KING OF PEKING, this tagline fits the story to crisis of conscience over the moral and ethical TUESDAY, MAY 2, a tee. Set in late ‘90s China, KING OF PEKING implications of this scheme. 9:30 PM evokes CINEMA PARADISO in its depiction Like his first film RED LIGHT REVOLUTON Downtown Independent of a country at the cusp of a socio-cultural (Festival 2011), Voutas’ stories capture working- explosion into a new century of economic class heroes trying to buck the system, infusing WEDNESDAY, prosperity. them with inherently Chinese nuances (thanks MAY 10, Big Wong and Little Wong are a close- in part to his many years living and working in 6:30 PM knit father-son duo. They travel around as a China, along with his producer/partner Melanie CGV Cinemas mobile cinema projecting Hollywood movies Ainsley). KING OF PEKING is an ode to cinema Buena Park for local villagers. When Big Wong’s ex-wife that eschews the sappy histrionics on the magic COMMUNITY PARTNERS demands he start paying child support, he and inspiration of the movies. This gritty take on 8Asians.com realizes he may lose custody of his son. In a movie pirate’s desperate attempt to keep his CineFile order to raise enough money, Big Wong takes son brims with inflections of Hollywood movie up a job as a janitor in an old Beijing movie plots and characters that permeate into their

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - NARRATIVE COMPETITION FEATURE INTERNATIONAL theater. Happening upon an old DVD recorder everyday lives. It is an endearing love letter to at a pawnshop, he hatches a plan. Setting up cinema, populated by pedicab drivers, factory shop in the basement of the theater, Big Wong workers, fathers and sons. — ANDERSON LE

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DIRECTOR SOUND STARRING Lisa Chang Sam Voutas Weidong Kang Zhao Jun Jesse Veverka CINEMATOGRAPHER EDITOR Wang Naixun PRODUCER Seppe Van Grieken Sam Voutas Han Qing Si Chao Jane Zheng PRODUCTION DESIGNER Geng Bowen Melanie Ansley Liu Xinmin

LINE PRODUCER ART DIRECTOR

Maxine Zheng Shan Changbin

94 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 POP AYE INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - NARRATIVE THANA, a middle-aged architect, was once disappointment; and other people whose lives Singapore/ known for his work on Gardenia Square, a intersect with and influence each other in ways Thailand , 2017 grand building in central Bangkok during its that perhaps not only deepens the mystery of D-Cinema, 102 minutes heyday in the 1990s. Now, he’s in a deep human relationships and the passage of time, Color, Narrative personal crisis, spurred by the upcoming but also reminds us of the wondrous elegance in Thai w/E.S. demolition of the signature from his life’s work of memory, embodied by a gentle giant. as well as the slow but sure dishevelment of his In her feature debut, director Kirsten Tan — SUNDAY, APRIL 30, marriage. Wandering in urban Bangkok and lost winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Special 9:15 PM in thought, he encounters an elephant whom Jury Award for Screenplay at this year’s CGV Cinemas Theater 3 he identifies as his long-lost childhood pet, Sundance Film Festival — expertly composes

Popeye. This discovery inspires Thana to take an ensemble piece that evokes the rhythms COMMUNITY PARTNERS a long road trip across the country to return to of a road trip film without recalling its formal Royal Thai Consulate Loei, the rural village where they grew up. rigidity. While the emotional and even spiritual Thai Community Arts Trekking across Thailand, the unusual duo undertones of this piece may sound familiar — and Cultural Center encounter tragedy, mishaps and surprising a search for love, understanding, reconciliation

moments of grace and absurdity along the and closure — POP AYE effectively and way. They meet fellow sojourners such as Dee, beautifully recaptures an innocence in its a sort of saintly transient with a painful past; viewership, and a sophistication to visual Jenni, a transgender working at a pit stop bar storytelling, both which now find rare parallels who has been weathered by experience and in contemporary Asian cinema. — CHANEL KONG

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER MUSIC Anthony Chen Chananun Chotrungroj Matthew James Kelly PRODUCER PRODUCTION DESIGNER EDITOR Lai Weijie Rasiguet Sookkarn Lee Chatametikool Soros Sukhum ART DIRECTOR STARRING DIRECTOR Manop Chaengsawang Penpak Sirikul Kirsten Tan SOUND Thaneth Warakulnukroh SCREENPLAY Sarawuth Panta Bong Kirsten Tan

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION • 95 REŞEBA - THE DARK WIND Germany, Iraq, Qatar, AS THE FULL REPERCUSSIONS OF respective families, and their community are 2016 PRESIDENT TRUMP'S TRAVEL ban come forced to flee from gunfire and an uncertain D-Cinema, 91 mins. to light in the States, the refugee crisis in the fate. Cinematographer Touraj Aslani lenses with Color, Narrative Middle East continues unabated and its com- documentary precision scenes of masses and In Arabic, Kurdish w/E.S. plex nature perpetually maligned in the global lone figures in landscape shots to intimate mo- media. What gets lost in the mix is a portrait of ments on real locations (actual refugee camps WEDNESDAY, the people actually affected and that is precise- in Iraqi Kurdistan were used as sets with the MAY 3, ly what director Hussein Hassan and co-writer/ participation of the Yezidi community). Reko's 6:00 PM Geffen producer Mehmat Aktas grace us with in this journey through different war zones into Syria Contemporary heart-wrenching "ripped from the headlines" to find Pero takes the curtain back for us to at MOCA indie narrative drama. reveal unexpected influential players in an ab- Based on true events in 2014 when ISIS ter- surd war game while action set-pieces and taut COMMUNITY PARTNER rorists invaded the Shingal region in Iraqi Kurd- suspense give the prestige Hollywood political Coalition to Abolish istan and persecuted the Yezidi, a non-Muslim action thriller (THE HURT LOCKER, ZERO DARK Slavery and Trafficking ethnic minority, razing their community and THIRTY) a serious run for its money. (CAST) kidnapping their young women to sell at slave The couple's reunion, however, sets into markets, Hassan forgoes abstracted, mac- motion the crux of the story: the revelation and ro-level storytelling in favor of the concentrat- escalation of Pero's deep-seated trauma. Here, ed microcosm of a family melodrama and a the actors' various looks and the intimate cam-

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - NARRATIVE COMPETITION FEATURE INTERNATIONAL love story, illuminating the unfaltering resilience erawork convey brilliant, epic-scale emotions of a people long sidelined as collateral damage. nearly rendering dialogue superfluous. Despite We feel the tremendous stakes on the line Reko and her family's unwavering love, this when the community affair of Reko and Pero's shell of her former luminous self serves as an bittersweet betrothal is disrupted by a terrorist indictment of war's unequivocal cruelty. takeover in which the couple along with their — LINDY LEONG

PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER SOUND EDITOR Nalin Kobani Mehmet Aktas Touraj Aslani Hadi Saed Mohkram Ebrahim Saeedi Hassan Hussein Hassan DIRECTOR ART DIRECTOR Sahram Amedyian STARRING Helket Idris Hussein Hassan Jalal Saed Panah Umut Şenyol Rekesh Shahbaz Mesud Arif Sherzad Abdullah Ebrahim Saeedi COSTUME DESIGN MUSIC Diman Zandi Shahin Kivork SCREENPLAY Gül an Özer Mustafa Biber Adil Abdulrahman Mehmet Aktas Meryem Boobani Hussein Hassan Abdullah Tarhan

96 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 THE ROAD TO MANDALAY INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - NARRATIVE MIDI Z HAS BECOME THE CURRENT into Bangkok, the illegal migrants are on their France/Germany/ TORCHBEARER for Taiwan’s arthouse cin- own. Lianqing (Ke-Xi Wu, who has become Myanmar/Taiwan, 2016 ema. Born in Myanmar, he moved to Taiwan Midi Z’s unofficial muse, appearing in previous D-Cinema, 108 minutes as a teen, eventually earning a MA in design works ICE POISON and POOR FOLK) is one of Color, Narrative at National Taiwan University of Science five migrants who travels this route. Along the in Burmese & Thai and Technology. His breakthrough film, ICE way, a fellow migrant called Guo (Taiwanese w/E.S. POISON (Festival 2014), set the tone for his heartthrob Kai Ko in a game-changing perfor- still burgeoning filmography in exploring the mance) shows her kindness, and their fates later SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 6:30 PM lives of migrant workers who work within the become entwined. Once in Thailand, Lianqing CGV Cinemas Chinese-Myanmar underground. His characters finds “underground” jobs, saves money, and Theater 3 share a constant thread — the desire to escape discovers where to buy fake identity papers to harsh economic and social circumstances for reach Taiwan. But Guo has different ambitions… COMMUNITY PARTNERS a better life. They’re the “invisible” people that After a respite from fiction narratives to work on The Network of serve our food, take out our garbage, manufac- documentaries set in his hometown including Myanmar (Burmese) ture our clothes, deal our drugs, all as cogs in JADE MINERS and CITY OF JADE, THE ROAD American Association the globalization machine. TO MANDALAY is perhaps Midi Z’s most pol- THE ROAD TO MANDALAY continues these ished work to date. As a fellow trans-migrant SPONSORED BY themes in a Thai clime. The human traffickers himself, the director has cornered the stories of have a well-established route: from Burma into other migrant workers in creating a neo-real- Thailand, across the Mekong River at Tchilek, ist Asian oeuvre of the voiceless millions who and along quiet country roads. After bribing vacillate between high and low worlds. police at numerous checkpoints to gain entry — ANDERSON LE

PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER MUSIC Patrick Mao Huang Tom Fan Lim Giong Midi Z PRODUCTION DESIGNER EDITOR DIRECTOR Akekarat Homlaor Matthieu Laclau Midi Z SOUND STARRING SCREENPLAY Tu Duu-Chih Lo Kai Midi Z Wu Ke-Xi

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION • 97 SAVING SALLY France, Philippines, WHEN MARTY (ENZO MARCOS) MEETS Will Marty finally win the apple of his eye in 2016 SALLY (Rhian Ramos) after she rescues him both reality and his imaginary world? What are D-Cinema, 90 mins from a bully, he finds the perfect companion those unexplained marks on Sally's body? Will Color, Narrative to share his wondrous world of monsters and he find the courage to profess his true feelings English, Filipino w/E.S. everyday comic book imaginary. Both aspiring and confront some real-life monsters on her creative types — he as a comic book art- behalf? MONDAY, MAY 1, ist-writer and she as a gadget inventor — they From Sally's steampunk-inspired gadgetry 6:30 PM first need to graduate high school, get into to Marty's Japanese manga-influenced comic CGV Cinemas art school, and probably grow up a bit more. art, SAVING SALLY offers up a fully rendered, Theatre 3 Their adventures transpire in a live action-an- internationalist leap forward for both Filipino COMMUNITY PARTNER imated world that spans the wide gamut from film and animation. More akin to Disney's WHO FilAm Creative video game topography, Japanese anime, to FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? than their recent American cartoons with surrealistic sequences BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, director Avid Lion- reminiscent of Michel Gondry's THE SCIENCE goren, screenwriter Charlene Sawit-Esguerra, OF SLEEP and MOOD INDIGO. and their artistic team at Rocket Sheep Studios Marty lives with his kooky, inventor father worked steadfastly to bring this passion project (Bodjie Pascua) and his doting "Tita" of a to fruition over the past decade. Assisted by mother (Carme Sanchez) while Sally's home French production funds and personal sacrific- life remains rather mysterious other than her es made by those involved, the film triumphant-

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - NARRATIVE COMPETITION FEATURE INTERNATIONAL parents' Catholic conservatism and tyrannical ly debuted at this past year's Metro Manila rule over her. When Sally takes up with the Film Festival and has been building a steady, handsome, older alpha male Nick (TJ Trinidad), local and international fan base thanks to the Marty's fury unleashes itself in his art as he un- social media campaign (#SaveSavingSally), wittingly becomes a Cyrano to Sally's Roxane. good word-of-mouth, and festival play. — MELANIE RAMOS, WITH ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS BY LINDY LEONG

PRODUCER SCREENPLAY ART DIRECTOR MUSIC STARRING Avid Liongoren Charlene Sawit- Jether Amar Pablo Pico Rhian Ramos Herve Pennequin Esguerra Jethro Razo EDITOR Enzo Marcos Catherine Jaques Carlo Ledesma Joshua Panelo Avid Liongoren T.J. Trinidad Alain de la Mata Avid Liongoren SOUND Juliette Haubois Peejo Pilar DIRECTOR CINEMATOGRAPHER Mikko Quizon Jether Amar Avid Liongoren Rommel Sales Deborah Stauffer Jethro Razo Oddessey Flores 98 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 THE SOUL OF THE TIGER INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - NARRATIVE SOUL OF THE TIGER IS A FASCINATING paramour, and finding himself mediating a HYBRID. Using the observational, low-key rupture between his Chinese father, who seeks Belgium, France, Swit- style of contemporary French cinema (think Mia refuge in rituals, and his inconsolable French zerland, 2016 Hansen-Løve or Oliver Assayas’s CLEAN), the mother, who wants to grieve privately. D-Cinema, 91 mins Chinese-Swiss helmer Francois Yang tackles a THE SOUL OF THE TIGER, which first Color, Narrative subject familiar to this Festival’s audiences in his screened at the Zurich Film Festival, is infused In French, Mandarin feature debut: the Asian émigré torn between with autobiographical details. Alex’s internal w/E.S East and West. turmoil reflects the Swiss-born Yang’s own TUESDAY, MAY 2 The film opens with handsome, athletic Alex youthful rebellion against his Chinese heritage 6:30 PM Chen (Frédéric Siuen) rock-climbing with his and the epiphanies Yang had while mourning CGV Cinemas girlfriend, Eloane (Audrey Bastien). Their blissful the death of his own younger brother. And Theatre 3 weekend escape is interrupted by shocking while plenty of films squeeze the protagonists news: Alex’s brother, Jun, suddenly drops dead. in a cross-cultural pressure-cooker, Yang COMMUNITY PARTNER As Alex returns to Paris to mourn and investi- handles this familiar trope with remarkable Consulate General of gate the mysterious circumstances surrounding subtlety. Yang keeps his camera close to his Belgium in Los Angeles Jun’s death, he begins confronting his long- characters, observing Alex as he sorts out his ignored Chinese heritage. Believing that Jun’s own confusion and his troubled relationships. fate is tied to visits to China, Alex enlists his Chi- Avoiding the crude signifiers and heavy-handed nese cousin, Lili (Xin Wang) as a kind of cultural symbolism that frequently plague films about emissary/translator to find out more. As he digs identity, SOUL OF THE TIGER is an artful deeper, Alex becomes enmeshed in cultural exploration of a Chinese-Frenchman’s conflict, torn between Lili and his steady French struggle to straddle both worlds. — RYAN WU

PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER COSTUME DESIGN MUSIC STARRING Xavier Grin Daniel Miller Delphine Jaquet Benjamin Violet Frédéric Siuen Joseph Rouschop SET DECORATION Laurence Garret EDITOR Audrey Bastien DIRECTOR Stéphane Lévy SOUND Daniel Gibel Xin Wang François Yang Anne-Carmen Jürg Lempen Bing Yin Marianne Basler SCREENPLAY Vuilleumier Gabriel Hafner Yves Yan François Yang François Musy Shue Tien Marcel Beaulieu Franco Piscopo Ariane Wang

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION • 99 THE SOWER Japan, 2016 THREE YEARS AFTER THE GREAT After a terrible accident, for which Mitsuo is D-Cinema, 117 minutes EARTHQUAKE HIT JAPAN, Mitsuo is released blamed, his rehabilitation is thrown into Color, Narrative from a mental hospital where he had been disarray. As the eponymous title character, he in Japanese w/E.S. placed after the strain of clearing rubble and copes by planting seeds into the ground in aiding displaced families was too much for him. hopes of cultivating new life. The film proceeds WEDNESDAY, Welcomed with open arms by his family, Mitsuo methodically to chart the unraveling of the MAY 3, works to piece his life back together and begins family unit in the fallout. Partially inspired by 7:00 PM to live comfortably with his younger brother, true events in Takeuchi’s own life and the Downtown Yuta, sister-in-law, Yoko and their two young tumultuous one led by Dutch artist Vincent Independent daughters, Chie and Itsuki, the younger daugh- van Gogh, THE SOWER is a heart-wrenching COMMUNITY PARTNERS ter born with Down Syndrome. Yuta captures examination on how the fear of difference can Consulate General of the happy occasion of the family unit coming spawn deep roots. Japan in Los Angeles together on video camera and we witness a Garnering awards at the Thessaloniki Japanese American teary Mitsuo while playing in the background, a International Film Festival and the Stockholm Cultural & news reportage on earthquake victims profiles Film Festival, THE SOWER, which treads the Community Center one who says frankly," I have nothing but I have familiar, hollow grounds of familial bonds under Little Tokyo my family. That is a massive difference." Herein, stress so central to the cinema of Hirokazu Ko- Community Council Takeuchi sets up the framework of this subtle, reeda, makes its North American premiere here yet powerful indictment of the trauma wrought at Festival Week. The film, with tension building

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - NARRATIVE COMPETITION FEATURE INTERNATIONAL by both environmental and economic crises piece-by-piece, is an insightful look into the lies and immediately, proclaims his sympathies. we all tell ourselves. — JEREMY GAUDETTE, WITH ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS BY LINDY LEONG

PRODUCER COSTUME DESIGN STARRING Uekichi Yosuke Takeuchi Yosuke Takeuchi Kentaro Kishi Mie Sasaki DIRECTOR Yukari Mori Tomomitsu Adachi Yosuke Takeuchi SOUND Arisa Nakajima Suzuno Takenaka SCREENPLAY Ryoma Ochiai Kaworu Kishi Yosuke Takeuchi Jun Minamikawa Chizuko Sugiura EDITOR CINEMATOGRAPHER Kosuke Suzuki Yosuke Takeuchi Kentaro Kishi Fukiko Hara

100 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 TAXI STORIES INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - NARRATIVE TAXI STORIES FOLLOWS THE LIVES OF her posh flat. These mobile moments evolve China/Hong Kong/ SEVERAL CHARACTERS who come from into transformative brief encounters that open Indonesia/Netherlands, very different social classes and remind us up our fixed ideas about identities and social 2017 that money and status are blind to our basic infrastructures. Each story, each character, D-Cinema, 101 minutes human need — a sense that we belong, that and each city comment on the complex Color, Narrative we are appreciated, and that we are loved. A state of globalization and its enforcement of in Bahasa, Chinese, teenage slum kid, a poor Beijing taxi exploitative practices, human and material. English w/E.S. driver, and a wealthy HK pregnant trophy wife Director Doris Yeung’s second feature, TAXI WEDNESDAY, anchor tales of three Asian metropolises in a STORIES is a compelling drama that smartly MAY 3, globalized ecosystem of bodies and goods. In shines a light on how we are inextricably linked 8:30 PM this networked narrative — think CRASH and in a global community. Whether we like it or Geffen BABEL by way of NIGHT ON EARTH — these not, our initial instincts to stay within our social Contemporary characters and their respective networks structures are natural though may not always at MOCA of family and friends desperately search for be fulfilling. These characters struggle with personal happiness in the hustle and often find this idea as their search for human connection themselves stymied by internalized notions become mediated by their engagement with of class and race. Adi drives his uncle's bajaj their city and its environs. Yeung has a keen eye one day and meets up with foreign traveler for this human contradiction and it shows in the Samantha, Zhang picks up wealthy and sensitive way she deals with each story allowing handsome Jack in his cab, and Monica jumps each actor to play with the vulnerabilities of the into one to go shopping and to escape from characters she’s compassionately written.

— JEREMY GAUDETTE, WITH ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS BY LINDY LEONG

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SCREENPLAY SOUND STARRING Joe Lau Doris Yeung Peter Stoel Aji Santosa Doris Yeung CINEMATOGRAPHER Banny Ng Nazyra C. Noer PRODUCER Martijn Van Veen Xiao Peng Thomas Chow Fan Popo Tze Lung ART DIRECTOR Lastanto Fitroni Nathan Chu Nova Sy Shirley Yung Dimas Dimas Jayasrana EDITOR Wen Chao MUSIC Martijn Van Veen Coralin Cao DIRECTOR Florian Sonnleitner Petrina Fung Doris Yeung Florian Knapp Aaron Chow

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION • 101 TURN LEFT TURN RIGHT Cambodia// ACCOMPANIED BY THE BEATS OF A ‘60S the work of Apichitpong Weerasethakul. The United States, 2016 CAMBODIAN POP SONG, TURN LEFT TURN Thai master’s influence can also be felt in this D-Cinema, 68 minutes RIGHT opens with a shaggy-haired young film’s collapsing of dream life with reality. As Color, Narrative woman posing amid picturesque ruins of Kanitha drifts into her own little world, her drab in Khmer w/E.S. Angkor Wat. The scene, called “Track 1” by the existence is interrupted by delightful interludes. title card, plays a bit like a K-TV music video, Coming without warning or obvious cues MONDAY, MAY 1, and it sets the tone for what Korean-American (besides the “Track” title), these pop music 6:00 PM director Douglas Seok describes as a “concept fantasias and abstract reveries (such as images Geffen Contemporary at album,” a cinematic experiment blending of waves superimposed over Kanitha’s dancing) MOCA music, dance, and neo-realism. infuse the film with sheer joy. The narrative proper tracks that flighty young TURN LEFT TURN RIGHT is Seok’s feature TUESDAY, MAY 9, woman, Kanitha (Tith Kanitha), as she fumbles debut, but he’s no stranger to the festival, 6:30 PM her way through menial jobs in Phnom Penh. having lensed Steve Chen’s beautiful DREAM CGV Cinemas While her mother wants her to settle into a LAND from last year’s festival. Both films, as well Buena Park traditional family life, she dreams of music as Davy Chou’s DIAMOND ISLAND, part of this COMMUNITY PARTNERS and dance. Quiet and seemingly disaffected, year’s program, are produced by Anti-Archive, Cambodia Town Kanitha shows herself to be devoted to her a collective young Asian American/Asian Euro- Film Festival dying father, taking him on a road trip to relive a pean filmmakers creating Cambodian art films. childhood memory. TURN LEFT TURN RIGHT is the group’s boldest, Traktivist

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - NARRATIVE COMPETITION FEATURE INTERNATIONAL Seok tells this simple, moving story un- most challenging film, and it will reward viewers

hurriedly, with a meditative rhythm evoking looking for fresh new voices in Asian cinema. — RYAN WU

PRODUCER SOUND STARRING Douglas Seok Sok Ny Kanitha Tith Steve Chen Som On Pov Thavy DIRECTOR Min Eun Seo Bo Vanthoeun Douglas Seok Jean-Baptiste Haehl Dy Saveth Seam Sreynouch SCREENPLAY MUSIC Bong Deoung Douglas Seok Mihyun Lim Yon Socheata CINEMATOGRAPHER EDITOR Sok Visal Steve Chen Douglas Seok

102 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - DOCUMENTARY MOTHERLAND FRESH OFF ITS PREMIERE AT THIS YEAR'S as they negotiate their new roles as mothers Philippines/United SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL, where it won or get tough love from hospital staff on what States, 2017 the World Cinema Documentary Special they need to do in order to be better mothers D-Cinema, 94 minutes Jury Award, Festival veteran and award- and citizens. Many mothers, already with Color, Documentary winning documentarian Ramona Diaz brings several children, when advised to get an IUD in English, Filipino us her latest project which takes us into the or a ligation to prevent future pregnancies, w/E.S. Philippines' (and one of the world's) busiest bulk at the idea, often due more to fear than maternity wards — Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial religious belief. Not surprising in a stalwartly SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2:00 PM Hospital in Metro Manila — and follows the lives Catholic nation but Diaz suspends any or all Downtown of several different women, Lea, Aira, Lerma, judgment as she shows how each woman Independent among them, as they enter the hospital to grapple with such a choice. Poor funding and give birth till they are discharged. Enacting a infrastructure plague the hospital so all mothers COMMUNITY PARTNERS fly-on-the-wall, purely observational approach (and fathers) need to take turns as "human Asian Pacific as seen in Frederick Wiseman's HOSPITAL incubators" (babies are tucked into a tube-top Healthcare Venture and his canon of American feature docs on strapped around their parent's body and heat GABRIELA USA social institutions, Diaz brings a similar verve is generated between bodies). It's a sight that to the proceedings here in a decidedly Filipino both poignant and potentially sad. Diaz, a context. chronicler of Filipino social and cultural issues From family planning, poverty, abuse, to in IMELDA, THE LEARNING, and DON'T STOP general preventative health maintenance, BELIEVIN': EVERY MAN'S JOURNEY, keeps us her camera captures raw and unadulterated looking even when we want to look away. footage of these low-income to poor women — MELANIE RAMOS, WITH ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS BY LINDY LEONG

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DIRECTOR EDITOR Brillante Ma Mendoza Ramona S. Diaz Leah Marino Sally Jo Fifer CINEMATOGRAPHER FEATURING Justine Nagan Nadia Hallgren Lea Lumanog Chris White Clarissa De Los Reyes Lerma Coronel PRODUCER SOUND Aira Joy Jubilo Ramona S. Diaz Mark Laccay Rey Cuerdo

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION • 103 PLASTIC CHINA China, 2016 ELEVEN YEAR OLD YI-JIE PLAYS WITH for his own peasant-rooted family. D-Cinema, 82 minutes HER YOUNGER BROTHERS in piles of used Director Wang Jiu-liang spent years investi- Color, Documentary plastic materials, often made into wondrous gating the post-consumer waste industrial sys- in Mandarin w/E.S. simulacra of modern life. Sheets of confec- tems which link China to the rest of the world tionery wrapping become colorful wallpaper; (and vice versa), beginning with his renowned SUNDAY, APRIL 30, old newspapers and grocery store leaflets take photography work and documentary BEIJING 4:00 PM flight, either as a superhero cape or an English BESIEGED BY WASTE (2011). His unique CGV Cinemas lesson. While her family lives and works along- approach to the award-winning documentary Theater 3 side their employer in the ever-continuous task PLASTIC CHINA, however, remains far from COMMUNITY PARTNERS of sifting, processing, melting and reformatting didactic or inflammatory. Closely following two 8ASIANS.COM the vestiges of the first world, Yi-Jie takes care families over six years, this work invites us to of the household. Being put to task by her see the universal in the ultra-personal: we may ne’er-do-well father, a Yi minority man who witness difficult family conversations, take stock brought his family to a small industrial town in the banality (and toxicity) of their work, deci-

that is thousands of miles away from home, pher divisions along ethnic and social classes, Yi-Jie remains ever willful and perspicacious, and even rejoice at the miracle of life. Coming stealing moments away to learn a new word full circle, then, the film may even prepare us to or concept — or to observe the parallel lives of answer the question: How are we personally Kun, their family’s employer, while he aspires connected to one girl’s dreams of going to and works hard towards achieving a better life school, and what are we doing about it? — CHANEL KONG INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION FEATURE INTERNATIONAL

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER EDITOR Ben Tsiang Wang Jiu-Liang Jean Tsien Jean Tsien SOUND Bob Lee Chang Chao-Wei Yan Zou FEATURING Hsu Hsiao-Ming MUSIC Kun Wang PRODUCER Tyler Strickland Wen-yuan Peng Ruby Chen Jia-mi Yu DIRECTOR Jiu-Liang Wang

104 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - DOCUMENTARY SMALL TALK POLITICAL ACTIVIST AND DOCUMENTAR- act of trus–a remarkable feature from a woman Taiwan, 2017 IAN, Hui-Chen Huang hits a raw nerve in this whose always had to withhold a part of herself D-Cinema, 88 minutes feature documentary about her mother Anu, from those she loved the most. Color, Documentary who for many years, as a closeted lesbian in Embarking on a journey back to Anu's in Taiwanese w/E.S. traditional Taiwanese culture and society led a hometown, the filmmaker, with her own young double life unbeknownst to all. In this autobi- daughter, Ping by her side, delves into the his- TUESDAY, MAY 2, ographical documentary reminiscent of TAR- tories and secrets of her mother's life through 7:00 PM Downtown NATION and , the filmmaker, excavated home video footage, on-location Independent as a grown-up, harnesses the power of the intimate interviews with extended family, close camera as a tool of interrogation to sort out friends, and yes, her mother's former lovers, COMMUNITY PARTNERS and make sense of both the facts and fiction who, perhaps, fill in best the missing puzzles Taiwanese American of what s/he thought was her parent and this and offer the positive in what is otherwise, Professionals (TAP-LA) person in the world. In a matter-of-fact man- some dark and heavy revelations. The LGBTQ Center ner, Huang initiates this delicate conversation A winner of the Teddy Award at the 67th Long Beach over the family dining table, the most common Berlinale and the Audience Choice Award at safe space in a household, by asking Anu a the 53rd Golden Horse Film Festival, this gem SPONSORED BY battery of random questions from abstract ("Do of a character portrait that blossoms into a you think anyone understands you?") to direct poignant, multi-generational family melodrama ("Were you always a 'tomboy'? "Did the family was executed produced by Taiwanese new know you had girlfriends?") From this modest wave auteur Hou Hsiao-Hsien and offers up intervention, Anu slowly acquiesces opening up another international perspective on the LGBTQ on camera to her daughter and us in a radical experience that is really universal and relatable.

—LINDY LEONG

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SOUND Hou Hsiao-Hsien Kiwi Inc. PRODUCER MUSIC Diana Chiawen Lee Lim Giong DIRECTOR EDITOR Hui-Chen Huang Jessica Wanyu Lin CINEMATOGRAPHER Che Lin

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION • 105 TOKYO IDOLS Canada/Japan/United THRONGS OF ADULT MEN BLISSFULLY she’s live-streaming, hand-packaging branded Kingdom, 2017 WAVE glow sticks in unison as they gaze upon goods, or working meet-and-greets. At many D-Cinema, 88 minutes, the object of their devotion. “It’s like a religion,” of these events, she is cheered on by the irre- Color, Documentary a man observes in voiceover. As the camera pressible Koji, 43, who admits to attending over in Japanese w/E.S. pulls out, it’s clear these men are not wor- 700 shows in a year, draining his entire savings shipping a deity promising an eternal afterlife. on idol-related activities. But his worship of Rio, SATURDAY, Rather, they’re genuflecting before nymphets as presented in the film, is Travis Bickle-like, APRIL 29, offering heaven through a vacuous song-and- at once disturbingly obsessive but also oddly 10:00 PM Downtown dance routine. chaste. Koji’s a true otaku, part of a lost gener- Kiyoko Miyake’s TOKYO IDOLS is a deep-dive ation of Japanese men who’ve traded in a shot Independent into this twisted, only-in-Japan subculture, at real relationships for mediated fantasies. COMMUNITY PARTNERS exploring the symbiotic relationship between Making its West Coast debut after its Sundance Consulate General of otakus, the name for emotionally stunted super bow, TOKYO IDOLS offers sharp commentary Japan in Los Angeles fans, and their young female idols. The film about the misogynistic roots and pernicious ef- Giant Robot focuses on a minor idol named Rio and her fects of idol culture. Director Miyake, however, most fanatical supporter, Koji. Nearly aging out avoids mocking the sad fans as nothing more Women in Film of the idol game at 20, Rio grinds out a life of than creeps and losers. Instead, TOKYO IDOLS fan service with an infectious enthusiasm that aspires to something greater: finding com- her fans adore, hoping for that last shot for the passion for these oddballs who’d sooner give big leagues. When she’s not performing pop everything up just for one minute with a girl routines in dingy venues for several dozen fans, who could be their daughter. — RYAN WU INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION - DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION FEATURE INTERNATIONAL

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER WRITER FEATURING Mila Aung-Thwin Kiyoko Miyake Rio Hiiragi CINEMATOGRAPHER Koji Yoshida PRODUCER Van Royko Rio Rio Brothers Koichiro Mitsui Felix Matschhke MUSIC Bob Moore Dave Drury Kiyoko Miyake EDITOR DIRECTOR Anna Price Kiyoko Miyake

106 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 SHORTS PROGRAMS

ARMED, LOCKED, AND LOADED 108-109 SHORTS THE BIG PICTURE, IN BITE-SIZED CHUNKS: APAS AND WEBISODIC SERIES 110 PROGRAMS CINE-DIORAMA 111 Our Shorts Programs – some of DIGITAL HISTORIES 2017: PAST INFORMS THE FUTURE 112-113 which showcase our prestigious FEMINIST AF 114 Shorts Competition nominees FILAM CREATIONS: – range over a wide scope of A FILMMAKER MOVEMENT 115 stories and expressions. From FROM VISION TO REEL 116-117 stories of distinctly local flavors GOOD BONES 118 to tales from faraway worlds, our HBO APA VISIONARIES 119 selection of shorts offer a variety I GOT YOU, FAM 120 of urban, rural, and alternative IN AND OUT OF THE SLIPSTREAM 122-123 perspectives. ITSY BITSY SHORTS 121 PINK HOUSE, PINK HOME 124 REBEL HEARTS 125 THE SUM OF MY MEMORY 126 TOP 8 115 WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME 127 WILDEST IMAGINATION 128-129 WTF: WATCH THESE FILMS 130

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 • 107 ARMED, LOCKED, AND LOADED

TRT: 57 minutes HUM (1) (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR.: CRYSTAL JOWAN WEDNESDAY, MAY 3 experimental sand animation of a man struggling to find inner peace before entering the afterlife. 7:00 PM The transition states prepping for death refer to the three “bardos” from the Tibetan Book of 1 CGV Cinemas the Dead: ego lost, hallucination, and re-entry.

SHORTS PROGRAMS Theater 1 D-CINEMA, 2 MINS., BLACK & WHITE, EXPERIMENTAL ANIMATION

The VC Digital Posse rides DISINTEGRATION 93-96 (2) off into places unknown, (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR.: MIKO REVEREZA and into the void steps A pop culture meditation on the Filipino American undocumented experience, a new, uncouth class DISINTEGRATION 93-96 is a deconstruction of ‘90s home movies and the traditional family models. of ruffians hailing from D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, EXPERIMENTAL DOCUMENTARY, IN ENGLISH AND TAGALOG W/E.S. 2 Visual Communications’ PHETMIXAY MEANS FIGHTER (3) vanguard Armed With (UNITED STATES, 2016)DIR.: RITA PHETMIXAY a Camera Fellowship Through the lens of his daughter, Rita Phetmixay, Phoutone Phetmixay reflects on his past journey and UCLA’s Center for to the United States from Laos that entails resiliency, self-reflection, and determination.Phoutone ultimately Ethnocommunications. At pursues his calling in life through his timeless commitment to the Royal Lao Airborne military turns callow and visionary, D-CINEMA, 12 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY 10 this collection of short works is poised to inspire, THE OTHER SIDE (4) 3 surprise, and delight. (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: NANCY KIM — ABRAHAM FERRER Kara identifies as transgender and Taiwanese American. D-CINEMA, 4 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY

COMMUNITY PARTNERS 127 MINUTES (5) Tuesday Night Project (UNITED STATES, 2017)DIR.: TUAN QUOC LE NewFilmmakers LA A man decides to go on a journey of self discovery and finds exactly what he was looking for. Nikkei Democracy Project D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE 4

108 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 5 SHORTS PROGRAMS

SHUT IT ALL DOWN (6) 6 (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR.: LYA LIM A Story of the 2015 Porter Ranch Gas Blowout. D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY

MUSCLES & MASCARA (7) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: MICHAEL CHANG, TIFFANY WONG, JANELLE SANGALANG, RYAN RODRIGUEZ Powerlifting saved Cynthia Leu's life. D-CINEMA, 6 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY 7 THE COGMILL KIDS (8) (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR.: ALICE HSIEH A teenager is abducted from their homeland, and forced into labor at an institution called the Cogmill. D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, ANIMATION

NUWA (9) 8 (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR.: JOSH LIM A young human/robot hybrid must learn to harness the computer virus growing inside of her to save her people from oppression. D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, COMPUTER-GENERATED ANIMATION

A TIME TO BLEED (10) (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR.: SHAUN VIVARIS 9 A young man has an existential debate with a fomer teacher in his head, as he bleeds out in his bathtub. D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE

EMMA AND THE BUTT (11) (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR.: CARMEN LIANG, STEVEN LIANG Imaginative little Emma tries to get the love and attention of her overworked father. D-CINEMA, 3 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, ANIMATION AND LIVE-ACTION 10

SHORTS PROGRAMS • 109 11 THE BIG PICTURE, IN BITE-SIZED CHUNKS: APAS AND WEBISODIC SERIES

TRT: 81 minutes ALMOST ASIAN (1) 1

(UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: JESSICA SANDERS,CHRIS MCPHERSON, JOEL KNOERNSCHILD; SCR.: KATIE MALIA SUNDAY, APRIL 30, SHORTS PROGRAMS 12:00 PM ALMOST ASIAN is a short-scripted comedic digital series from creator, Katie Malia, Tateuchi Democracy that follows a woman's life in Los Angeles as a half-Asian mix. D-CINEMA, 10 MINS. TOTAL, COLOR, NARRATIVE, WEB SERIES Forum @ JANM

CACA: TELL YOU JOKES! SEASON 1, 2, 3 (2) We stopped, looked, (MACAO, 2016) DIR./CREATOR: ANGELA EN-YU LAO blinked, and couldn’t Angel lives in a small city, Macau. Caca is her motivation to study, work, believe what we saw: a 2, and dream. Love, sorrow, and humor link everyone in this century of networks. whole new generation D-CINEMA, 3 MINS. TOTAL, STOP-MOTION PAPER ANIMATION, WEB SERIES of aspiring APA feature filmmakers who have GEETA’S GUIDE TO MOVING ON (3) found a creative outlet (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: PUJA MOHINDRA through episodic Geeta Gidwani is an all-American girl, who’s hopelessly in love with her Indian American Prince Charming...until one storytelling. Is this a day he dumps her. She’s totally heartbroken, moves in with her Indian family, and wackiness ensues. Geeta’s forced short-cut for feature to learn to move on, and find self-acceptance with the help of her family and her best friend. filmmaking? Or have D-CINEMA, 13 MINS. TOTAL, COLOR, NARRATIVE, WEB SERIES 3 our artists found a new, PEOPLE LIKE US (4) unexploited means of (SINGAPORE, 2016) DIR./SCR.: LEON CHEO telling complete stories? Following four gay men in Singapore, PEOPLE LIKE US is a poignant reflection and This showcase will insightful look into the lives of Joel, Ridzwan, Rai, and Isaac navigating lust, love, and life. include a post-screening D-CINEMA, 11 MINS. TOTAL, COLOR, NARRATIVE, WEB SERIES conversation with many of the creators behind these BEFORE I GOT FAMOUS (5) inventive new works. (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: GIOVANNA SARQUIS; SCR.: Q. ALLAN BROCKA 4 — ABRAHAM FERRER Meet Alex. Son. Friend. Dreamer. Budding acting career. Disastrous love life. You might see him at your

next audition, but he won’t be up for the next stereotype. Gay. Asian. Cast. He is so much more than COMMUNITY PARTNERS what society defines him as. He is the next big thing. This is BEFORE I GOT FAMOUS. Asians Doing Everything D-CINEMA, 36 MINS. TOTAL, COLOR, NARRATIVE, WEB SERIES Tuesday Night Project 110 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 5 CINE-DIORAMA SHORTS PROGRAMS

1 1. SAMPAGUITA LOVE 5. PLEASE COME AGAIN TRT: 100 minutes (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: GAIL GUTIERREZ (UNITED STATES/JAPAN, 2016) DIR./WTR.: ALISA YANG The professionalization of nursing in the Philippines Narrating the collective and personal memory SUNDAY, APRIL 30 originates from early twentieth century American of three generations of Asian women through the 11:30 AM Downtown colonialism. SAMPAGUITA LOVE explores a lens of Japanese love hotels. Independent sisterhood of Filipina nurses, and honors the D-CINEMA, 9 MINS., COLOR, EXPERIMENTAL DOCUMENTARY

2 beauty in their resilience. Recall those grade school D-CINEMA, 20 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY 6. THE LAST TIP (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: PATRICK CHEN projects where we had 2. UNDER THE SAME SKY During the course of his meal, a loyal patron to construct stories in a (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: YOYO LI reminisces into his past memories at his favorite shoebox? These directors During the Chinese government's national campaign restaurant one last time. ignite our affective 3 on "equal" education, the different realities of a city D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, HYBRID DOCUMENTARY, memory with miniature IN CHINESE W/E.S. boy and a countryside boy are revealed as they both scenery, childhood

go to school. innocence and vapor 7. FOREVER CHINATOWN D-CINEMA, 19 MINS. , COLOR, DOCUMENTARY, IN MANDARIN W/E.S. tea pots. (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: JAMES Q. CHAN — KRISTEN LEE FOREVER, CHINATOWN is the story of unknown, 3. SINGLE MOTHER ONLY DAUGHTER 4 self-taught 81-year-old artist Frank Wong who has (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: ELLIE WEN COMMUNITY PARTNERS A personal documentary capturing a conversation spent the past four decades recreating his fading memories by building romantic, extraordinarily Chinatown Community for between a mother and daughter that brings Equitable Development (CCED) detailed miniature models of the San Francisco them closer. Flash Cuts Chinatown rooms of his youth. D-CINEMA, 9 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY D-CINEMA, 32 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY 5 4. SEMIOTICS OF SAB (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: TINA TAKEMOTO An oblique portrait of gay Japanese American actor, Sab Shimono, whose work on stage and screen spans more than five decades. The grammatology 6 of his career attests to conflicting lexicons of race, representation, and selfhood. D-CINEMA, 6 MINS., BLACK & WHITE, EXPERIMENTAL DOCUMENTARY

7 SHORTS PROGRAMS • 111 DIGITAL HISTORIES 2017: PAST INFORMS THE FUTURE

TRT: ~ 75 mins. STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES (1) 1 (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR./WTR.: TRACY QUAN-NICHOLS SUNDAY, APRIL 30, SHORTS PROGRAMS The phrase, "Stop and smell the roses," is heard by many. But how many of us experience it first hand? 2:00 PM D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY Aratani Theatre @ JACCC A MATTER OF TRUTH (2) (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR. /WTR.: STEVE NAGANO The stories from the past, Incarceree’s words stand in sharp contrast help inform the future. with the government’s propaganda shedding light upon what really happened in the concentration camps. 2 The Digital Histories D-CINEMA, 10 MINS., COLOR AND BLACK & WHITE, DOCUMENTARY program engages the passion of our elders to IN PLAIN SIGHT (3) tell their stories and learn (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR. /WTR.: ROBERT SHOJI the craft of filmmaking. IN PLAIN SIGHT is about the surprising discovery of missile installations in the director’s own backyard. This year the Digital D-CINEMA, 7 MINS., COLOR AND BLACK & WHITE, DOCUMENTARY

Histories filmmakers not RETURNING TO HEART MOUNTAIN (4) only told their stories 3 (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR. /WTR.: FRAN ITO through the documentary RETURNING TO HEART MOUNTAIN chronicles the director’s journey with former internees and form but as well as friends to attend the dedication of Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center in Wyoming. experimental and narrative D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY shorts. — GARY GABISAN WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS (5) (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR. /WTR.: JEANNIE WONG COMMUNITY PARTNERS While on vacation in Puerto Rico, we saw a beautiful waterfall. We stopped to take a Filipino Migrant Center better look. Some people decided to climb up. 4 Sustainable Little Tokyo D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY

112 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 5 SHORTS PROGRAMS

WASTEFUL (6) PRECEDED BY: A STEP FORWARD (11) 6 (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR./SCR.: GEORGE TAKAKI In an alleyway in Little Tokyo, a conflict arises between two segments of society. (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR./SCR.: ERIC TANDOC The conflict escalates, until one of the antagonists quickly settles things. Filipino senior citizens in D-CINEMA, 4 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE Westside Long Beach find

community by forming a INSIDE NIHON BUYO (7) weekly Walking Club. (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR. /WTR.: NJ NAKAMURA D-CINEMA, 20 MINS., COLOR, 7 Nihon Buyo is Japanese Classical Dance. What is the future for the 17th century DOCUMENTARY Azuma style of dance in modern day Los Angeles? D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR AND BLACK & WHITE, DOCUMENTARY

TIFFANY - THE ART OF COMING OUT (8) (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR. /WTR.: MICHI TANIOKA A courageous young woman shares her journey of how she 8 tried to hide her gayness and her eventual coming out. D-CINEMA, 8 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY

MY CHINESE SOUTHERN ROOT - BEFORE LYNWOOD (9) (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR. /WTR.: GERALD CHOW Calvin Chow was a classmate of mine at Lynwood High School from 1968 to 1971. He was born and raised in Mississippi at the peak of the civil rights movement. Calvin describes 9 living in a society where he was "not black and not white, but somewhere in between." D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR AND BLACK & WHITE, DOCUMENTARY

OUR TORRANCE FARM - LIFE BEFORE LYNWOOD (10) (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR. /WTR.: GERALD CHOW Ed Kanemoto describes his idyllic life growing up on a farm in Torrance, California in the late 1940s and '50s. He and his family eventually left their farm because of rapidly encroaching housing developments in the area, 10 and relocated to Lynwood, California, where they opened a gardening and nursery business. D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR AND BLACK & WHITE, DOCUMENTARY

11 SHORTS PROGRAMS • 113 FEMINIST AF

TRT: 98 minutes I AM JUPITER I AM THE BIGGEST PLANET (1) (PHILIPPINES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: MATTHEW VICTOR PASTOR 1 MONDAY, MAY 1 Silence in the red light district of Manila. 9:00 PM D-CINEMA, 14 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE CGV Cinemas

SHORTS PROGRAMS Theater 3 MARIA (2) (PHILIPPINES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: JAIME TABAC JR. An intersectional glance When the whole family confronts her 14-year-old daughter of a suspected at the many facets of pregnancy, a 50-year-old woman gives birth to her 22nd child. 2 women’s experiences. D-CINEMA, 11 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN TAGALOG W/E.S. This collection features incredibly badass females SLEEP TIGHT, MARIA (3) from different cultural (INDONESIA, 2014) DIR./SCR.: MONICA VANESA TEDJA backgrounds. We hope A 17-year-old high school student named Maria V, has to share her room at the church camp you leave empowered with Maria P, the most prestigious and beautiful student in her high school. She has trouble and feeling like you can falling asleep after not being able to masturbate beforehand. 3 conquer the world. D-CINEMA, 15 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN INDONESIAN W/E.S.

— ARIEL DU AND SO WE PUT GOLDFISH IN THE POOL (4)

(JAPAN, 2016) DIR./SCR.: MAKOTO NAGAHISA COMMUNITY PARTNERS One summer day, 400 goldfish were found in the swimming pool of a secondary school. Alliance of Women Directors This is a story about four 15-year old girls who released the fish there. imMEDIAte Justice D-CINEMA, 28 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN JAPANESE W/E.S. 4

COCOON (5) (PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA/UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: LIYING MEI; SCR.: LIYING MEI, XU ZHANG China, 1997. An unhappy marriage, a love affair, and a child who holds all the secrets. D-CINEMA, 25 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN MANDARIN W/E.S.

TOUGH (6) (, 2016) DIR./SCR.: JENNIFER ZHENG 5 Some things can only be understood with maturity. New light is shed on childhood cultural misunderstandings when a Chinese mother and her British-born daughter speak as adults for the first time. D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, EXPERIMENTAL DOCUMENTARY/CEL ANIMATION, IN ENGLISH AND MANDARIN W/E.S.

114 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 6 FILAM CREATIONS: SHORTS PROGRAMS

1 7 A FILMMAKER MOVEMENT

THE LAST STRAW (1) UNCLE EDDY (7) TRT: 129 mins. DIR.: VINCE CRUZ, STANLEY WONG DIR.: ROMMEL ANDAYA WEDNESDAY, MAY 3

COLORED HEARTS (2) MISS UNDERSTANDING (8) DIR.: GABE PAGTAMA 6:00 PM DIR.: ROBIN JOHNSON, SOMLIT INTHALANGSY

Art Share L.A. THE LEGEND OF THE MADEIRA (9) 2 8 DIR.: KAITLYN FAE BASKETBALL GHOST (3) In an effort to inspire, motivate and mobilize DIR.: GABE PAGTAMA the Filipino-American and Filipino filmmaking MAN OF MY DREAMS (10) DIR.: JOHN CRUZ, MARK DORMITORIO community, we challenged them to create PLAZA BLVD. (4) DIR.: CASSANDRA PIMENTEL short films to premiere at The Los Angeles Asian FINDING RONWE (11) Pacific Film Festival 2017. As a result, filmmakers I DON’T LOVE YOU (5) DIR.: ANGELA PAVIERA of various levels of experience stepped up to DIR.: MARA DE LA ROSA

3 9 LOLO PEPE (12) share their artistic voice and storytelling. We are DIR.: CRAIG WILSON WHAT YOU DON’T SAY (6) proud to present their efforts to all of you! DIR.: ROMMEL ANDAYA — CRAIG WILSON TOP 8 4 10 The #WeOwnthe8th Short Film Program held at the creativity-inducing TRT: 80 mins. venue The Great Company, #WeOwnthe8th stems from the grassroots movement spearheaded by actor/artist Dante Basco (THE DEBUT, MONDAY, MAY 1 HOOK) and showcases its nationwide API filmmaking talent. Conceived 8:00 PM as a response to the API community’s current role within the creative The Great Company industries, this movement seeks to foster creation of opportunities while providing a platform for supportive and positive mutual growth. 5 11 FOR UPDATED PROGRAM INFORMATION: WEOWNTHE8TH.COM; TWITTER: #THE8TH FOR DIRECTIONS TO THE GREAT COMPANY, PLEASE SEE PAGE 19 OR WRITE: INFO@ THEGREATCOMPANY.COM

6 12 SHORTS PROGRAMS • 115 FROM VISION TO REEL

TRT: 62 minutes PERFECT IMPERFECTION (1) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: CIANNA PLATT SATURDAY, APRIL 29 A teenager talks about her past struggles with Anorexia Nervosa. 1 11:30 AM D-CINEMA, 5 MINS. COLOR, DOCUMENTARY Tateuchi Democracy

SHORTS PROGRAMS Forum @ JANM LIVING IN FREEDOM (2) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: EVAN NGUYEN From Vision to Reel A Vietnam War refugee discusses first coming to America, what she's missed about her showcases short films home country, and what she hopes for the future of both the U.S. and Vietnam. created by emerging D-CINEMA, 4 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY filmmakers of Asian American and Pacific DAVID AND GOLIATH (3) 2 Islander descent. Films (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: RACHEL LEE range from topics related In a small, suburban neighborhood, a mom and pop donut shop comes face-to-face with to immigration, family one of the largest donut corporations in America. history, gender identity, D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY, IN ENGLISH AND KOREAN W/E.S.

sexuality, struggles and MOTHERLANDS (4) resiliency in this current (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: WINTER SMILEY political and economic Split into three chapters, MOTHERLANDS follows the stories of seven Filipina women as climate. 3 their tales interweave across generations, borders, and bloodlines. — JUNE KAEWSITH D-CINEMA, 13 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY

COMMUNITY PARTNERS CALLED HOME (5) Artists at Play (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: JASON PIEMNOPPAKAO Outfest Forward A college student returns to his traditional Taiwanese home after coming out to his father, and is forced to re-live the silence and repression he thought was behind him. D-CINEMA, 7 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE 4

116 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 5 SHORTS PROGRAMS

HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE (6) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: MARIA GONZALEZ, SARAI MCKENZIE, ERIC TANDOC HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE is an introduction to understanding homelessness. Through Adele's "Hello" and 6 people's real-life experiences common misconceptions about homelessness are debunked, voices that have long been silenced are heard, and for most folks, despite their trauma and shame, have began their journey of healing. D-CINEMA, 6 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY

DOLLAR TREE (7) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: CECILIA ROBORDY, ARIEL HYMAN, JOSH SOARES, NATASHA MANDT-RAUCH DOLLAR TREE is a student short film by Cecilia Ribordy, Natasha Maundt-Rauch, Ariel Hyman, and Josh Soares. It highlights the harsh realities of deforestation by personifying its driving force. This film is a powerful look into the 7 justice aspect of the environment. D-CINEMA, 3 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE

DROGA! (8) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: MIKO REVEREZA DROGA! is a personal meditation about the experience of the Filipino diaspora. It explores both the physical and emotional spaces of many immigrants who are living in a state of exile in the U.S. The filmmaker documents his grandparents, and his own assimilation to American life to reveal a larger colonized mentality in a personal and 8 historical context. D-CINEMA, 8 MINS., COLOR, EXPERIMENTAL NARRATIVE

STORY OF SELF (9) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: SETH RONQUILLO One undocumented immigrant's story of self. D-CINEMA, 3 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY

BASTARD (10) 9 (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: MARA DE LA ROSA After a long night in, Andrea Peron and Mary Hadid prepare for the arrival of Mary's parents. As the clock ticks away, Andrea is forced to reveal her true identity, unraveling a dark history between them of jealousy, infatuation, and love deeper than passion. D-CINEMA, 8 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE

10 SHORTS PROGRAMS • 117 GOOD BONES TRT: 92 minutes DEER GOD (1) 1 (PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA, 2016) DIR.: TOMORROW BORN BONE BOON (5) TUESDAY, MAY 2, MINGTIAN; SCR.: SHUOFANG WANG, TOMORROW MINGTIAN (JAPAN, 2016) DIR./SCR.: GORI 9:30 PM Old Guan, a native Oroqen hunter, goes into the Hitoshi has returned to his hometown of Agunishima, CGV Cinemas woods to shoot "donkey deer" before his family Okinawa to introduce his wife, Yuko, to the family. But

SHORTS PROGRAMS Theater 2 leaves for America. Yuko is furious when she’s told the reason for the trip D-CINEMA, 14 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN MANDARIN W/ E.S. home. The true purpose was for the senkotsu ceremony 2

Film is an archival — Agunishima’s continuing custom of cleansing the MARIA (2) tool that reflects and bones of the dead. This is a heartwarming comedy preserves our memories, (NEW ZEALAND, 2016) DIR.: JEREMIAH TAUAMITI; SCR.: TAOFIA PELESASA of a disconnected family discovering their true selves artistic evolution and An ailing Polynesian matriarch must find the strength through the ceremony of cleansing bones. world events. This D-CINEMA, 20 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN JAPANESE W/E.S. to lead her family one last time. selection of stories 3 D-CINEMA, 14 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN SAMOAN W/E.S. explores how tradition INVISIBLE POINT (6) creates foundation for HO’OMAU (3) (IRAN, 2016) DIR./SCR.: TANIN TORABI multiculturalist nations. (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: LAYLA HANOHANO-TRIPP Dance is prohibited in Iran. While it is said to be a sin, — KRISTEN LEE HO'OMAU takes a glimpse into the life of Kapualei there are still many dancers dancing with passion, who bear the restrictions and continue dancing. Hanohano-Tripp, a passionate Hawaiian language 4 D-CINEMA, 6 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN PERSIAN W/E.S. COMMUNITY PARTNERS teacher dedicated to the revitalization of the Hawaiian

Tuesday Night Project culture. This short documentary showcases Kapualei’s WATER! (7) devotion to education in and out of the classroom. (PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA, 2016) DIR./SCR.: YI ZHONG D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, EXPERIMENTAL DOCUMENTARY A young city couple who just moved to the Inner Mongolian steppe one morning find their well PERSIMMONS (4) 5 (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: HUAY-BING LAW completely dried up and their 300 animals A father and daughter look at assisted living facilities waiting to be fed. D-CINEMA, 20 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN MANDARIN W/E.S. after she finds him wandering on the side of the road. D-CINEMA, 12 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE

6

118 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 7 HBO APA VISIONARIES SHORTS PROGRAMS

WONDERLAND (1) TRT: 49 minutes (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: TIFFANIE HSU Stranded in Sin City for Christmas, 12-year-old Adeline struggles to keep her mother’s FRIDAY, APRIL 28 6:30 PM gambling under control, all for the promise of a perfect family holiday once her father arrives. D-CINEMA, 14 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE Tateuchi Democracy TIFFANIE HSU’S FIRST SHORT FILM, SUTURES, WAS MADE IN AFI’S DIRECTING WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN AND WON Forum @ JANM SEVERAL AWARDS, INCLUDING BEST SHORT AT THE ASIAN AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. HER LATEST FILM WONDERLAND STARS JOAN CHEN AND DEBUTS HER DAUGHTER, AUDREY HUI. TIFFANIE IS A RECIPIENT In a unique filmmaker OF THE PAUL AND DAISY SOROS FELLOWSHIP. CURRENTLY, SHE IS DIRECTING A FEATURE DOCUMENTARY FOLLOWING CHILDREN’S STRUGGLES WITH WATER ALONG SIX MAJOR RIVERS OF THE WORLD. support initiative between 1 Visual Communications TOENAIL (2) and HBO, we present the (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: JINGYI SHAO winning entries from the Frank, a career obsessed yuppie, has never seen eye to eye with Chang, his perpetually APA Visionaries Short Film fresh-off-the-boat father. But when a broken toenail sends his father to the hospital Competition, in which on the eve of his big promotion, Frank comes to learn what is truly important. Asian Pacific American D-CINEMA, 17 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN ENGLISH AND KOREAN W/E.S. artists bring to light their JINGYI SHAO IS A CHINESE-AMERICAN COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR WORKING EXTENSIVELY IN CHINA AND THE worlds, their visions, and US. A GRADUATE OF USC’S SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTS,JING HAS WORKED WITH BRANDS LIKE LEVI’S, JOHNNIE WALKER AND HONDA, AND HAS BEEN FEATURED IN AD PUBLICATIONS SUCH AS SHOTS, SHOOTONLINE AND their voices. ADWEEK. HIS PSA, TEXT HISTORY OF JANE, RECEIVED AWARDS AT CANNES, D&AD AND THE AICP SHOW. JING’S — ABRAHAM FERRER DREAM IS TO TELL STORIES THAT BRIDGE CHINA AND THE US.

MONDAY (3) COMMUNITY PARTNERS (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: DINH THAI Coalition of Asian Pacifics in 2 In the culturally diverse world of Los Angeles, a young hustler navigates through various cliques Entertainment while facing racism, danger, and a moral struggle with his illicit occupation. And it's only Monday. D-CINEMA, 18 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE DINH THAI WAS BORN IN VIETNAM, PITSTOP IN FRANCE, RAISED IN LA, TRYING TO TELL STORIES EVERYDAY.

SHORTS PROGRAMS • 119 3 I GOT YOU, FAM TRT: 92 minutes 626 (1) FRAGILE (5) 1 (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: YUDHO ADITYA (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: NILO BATLE FRIDAY, APRIL 28 Justin, a parachute kid who is dropped off to live and Artist Gil Batle was raised in San Francisco and spent 6:00 PM attend school in the United States while his wealthy 20 years of his life in five different California prisons Downtown parents remain in Asia, must deal with the fact that his where his artistic abilities protected him from violence.

SHORTS PROGRAMS Independent older sister is leaving to start a new life in the east He now finds sanctuary and solace on an island in the

coast without him. Philippines, where he uses his talents to carve haunting 2 We’ll be just fine, D-CINEMA, 12 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE images onto ostrich eggs. pretending we’re not, D-CINEMA, 10 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY we’re far from lonely, LOS ANGELES, 1999 (2) and it’s all that we’ve (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: PAUL LEE LITTLE LIGHTS (6) got. Whether in the city, A short film following different people as they roam (PHILIPPINES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: RIVELLE MALLARI or the suburbs, these around the city minutes before the turn of the century. LITTLE LIGHTS examines the concepts of weakness, 3 stories behind and front D-CINEMA, 7 MINS., BLACK & WHITE, NARRATIVE unity and hope, as its characters are confronted with of the camera showcases challenges that stem from the individualistic pursuit of families in their elements; FLOAT (3) personal agendas. However, as the film’s end shows, antagonizing, struggling, (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: TRISTAN SENIUK, VOLEAK SIP everything that the characters have gone through overcoming, supporting, FLOAT is a short film set in Seattle in the mid-1990s, eventually works together for a greater purpose. 4 and loving. following the day-to-day trials and tribulations of D-CINEMA, 10 MINS., COLOR, ANIMATION — KIRBY PEÑAFIEL Cambodian-American hustler, Rocky Mang. D-CINEMA, 24 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE LOST DOGS (7)

(UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: CULLAN BRUCE; SCR.: COMMUNITY PARTNERS FLIP THE RECORD (4) CHRIS LEE, CULLAN BRUCE FilAm Creative (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR./SCR.: MARIE JAMORA A woman ridiculed by her family longs to escape. 626 Night Market In this 1980s coming-of-age story set to pulsing Striking a deal with her brother to clear his illegal debt, 5 Traktivist hip-hop music, a Filipino American teen discovers her she delves deeper into darkness. identity through a budding talent for turntablism. D-CINEMA, 15 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, D-CINEMA, 15 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE IN ENGLISH AND KOREAN W/E.S.

6

120 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 7 ITSY BITSY SHORTS SHORTS PROGRAMS

1 PSYCHEDELIC AFTERNOON (1) FUNKY PAWA (5) Running time: 30 minutes, (JAPAN, 2013) DIR.: URUMADELVI (INDIA, 2014) DIR.: KARTIK SHAH Activities to follow Seiji is tormented by tsunami-flashback Following the lively sound of a flute set to a SATURDAY, APRIL 29 dreams, but one night his beloved funky beat, villagers young and old dance, 10:00 AM grandfather appears. With a strum of his laugh and play in this joyful invocation of the Tateuchi Democracy grandfather's guitar, Seiji is transported to a Divine Mother by the band Maati-Baani. Forum @ JANM 2 dreamy, colorful, psychedelic world. D-CINEMA, 3 MINS., COLOR, MUSIC VIDEO

D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR, ANIMATION After a brief hiatus, the “Itsy Bitsy SUGAR PLUM DREAMS (6) Shorts” program is back! This WELCOME TO MY LIFE (2) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: KAT THOMPSON morning program will showcase (UNITED STATES, 2007) DIR.: ELIZABETH ITO Inspired by her family’s annual outing to see In this mockumentary short, a family of “The Nutcracker,” a young dancer dreams of films for the littlest film lovers. 3 Kids will also explore movie magic monsters tries to lead a normal American life. becoming the Sugar Plum Fairy. D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., BLACK & WHITE, D-CINEMA, 1 MINS., COLOR, STOP-MOTION ANIMATION through interactive activities, PENCIL-TO-PAPER ANIMATION including an appearance by the CALL ME MISTA COOKIE JAR (7) Echo Park Film Center’s Filmmobile, SNOWBERT MEETS THE MOON (4) (UNITED STATES, 2014) DIR.: C.J. PIZARRO a school bus transformed into a (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: ALLISYN RUTTLE A young lady peaks inside an old fashioned mobile media classroom. 4 On a quiet evening, Snowbert the snowman mutoscope to find herself swept away Itsy Bitsy interactive activities meets the moon and learns that friendship in the magical, musical world of Mista Cookie include the Echo Park Film Center’s can reach far across the sky. Jar and the Chocolate Chips. Filmmobile, a film petting zoo that D-CINEMA, 1 MINS., COLOR, ANIMATION D-CINEMA, 6 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE; gives children close-up access

MIXED-MEDIA ANIMATION to film equipment, hands-on film PAPA CLOUDY’S RESTAURANT (4) and animation activity stations, 5 (UNITED STATES, 2014) DIR.: AKIKO MCQUERREY and a “Photo Booth of Change” When an octopus escapes the chopping animation workshop. Come for the block to sing a heartfelt song about filmmaking, stay for the snacks! overfishing, Papa Cloudy decides to change — GENA HAMAMOTO the menu at his fancy seaside restaurant . AND HELEN KIM D-CINEMA, 6 MINS., COLOR, STOP-MOTION ANIMATION 6 COMMUNITY PARTNERS Echo Park Film Center (EPFC) Project by Project Los Angeles

7 SHORTS PROGRAMS • 121 IN AND OUT OF THE SLIPSTREAM

TRT: 92 minutes IF I WERE ANY FURTHER AWAY I’D BE CLOSER TO HOME (1) (SRI LANKA, 2016) DIR./SCR.: RAJEE SAMARASINGHE TUESDAY, MAY 2 Memories of a family business, seen from a child’s height, are told through the 9:00 PM 1 dream-like distance of silence. CGV Cinemas D-CINEMA, 14 MINS., BLACK & WHITE, EXPERIMENTAL NARRATIVE, SILENT

SHORTS PROGRAMS Theater 3 DEATH IN A DAY (2) From rigorously (PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA/UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: LIN WANG meditative to annoyingly Evan, a young Chinese boy, must come to grips with the impending death falling upon talky, the quality of his family after visiting his comatose father, and witnessing his mother’s struggle. talk — or in some cases D-CINEMA, 14 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN MANDARIN W/E.S. the absence of it — 2 distinguishes this set of LILY (3) uniquely visionary short (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: ANGELA PARK works. At turns deeply Lily forms a bond with a plant after moving out from her home. Her imaginary personal to pointedly world takes on a life of its own that Lily’s mom discards. political, how the D-CINEMA, 4 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE

characters in these works BEST BUDS (4) “talk it out” invites one (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: NAOMI IWAMOTO and all to follow along. 3 Grace and Danny have been best friends since kindergarten, and there is nothing — ABRAHAM FERRER about each other they don’t know. That is, until one night, they are forced to confront a secret which puts their long-time friendship at stake. D-CINEMA, 9 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE

BLOOMING NIGHT (5) (PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA, 2016) DIR./SCR.: BELL ZHONG Mesmerized by a pair of red heels, a lonely street guy in Shanghai follows its owner into a forbidden club. There, he discovers something that challenges, yet awakens his mind. 4 D-CINEMA, 9 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN MANDARIN W/E.S.

122 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 5 SHORTS PROGRAMS

PROM (6) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: IMRAN J. KHAN; SCR.: IMRAN J. KHAN, PRASHANTH VENKATARAMANUJAM An uncomfortable moment of casual racism makes Hasan's prom night one he'll never forget. D-CINEMA, 13 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE 6 PLEASE HOLD (7) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: JERELL ROSALES Fearing he may have HIV after the condom breaks during sex with a stranger, a young gay Asian American unexpectedly befriends the condom company's customer service rep over the phone as he waits for his HIV test results. D-CINEMA, 15 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE

SELFIE (8) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: KEVIN SHIH 7 A friendship examined through its selfies. D-CINEMA, 4 MINS., COLOR, EXPERIMENTAL NARRATIVE

THE PURSUIT OF A HAPPY HUMAN LIFE (9) (SINGAPORE, 2016) DIR.: GLADYS NG Steph Chan is leaving Singapore for good. Yokes struggles to say goodbye. The two girls spend their last moments together, before they begin their separate journeys in the pursuit of a happy human life. D-CINEMA, 10 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN CANTONESE W/E.S.

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9 SHORTS PROGRAMS • 123 PINK HOUSE, PINK HOME

TRT: 84 mins. SEMIOTICS OF SAB (1) THE STREETS ARE OURS: (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: TINA TAKEMOTO TWO LIVES CROSS IN KARACHI (4) 1 SATURDAY, APRIL 29 An oblique portrait of gay Japanese American actor, (UNITED STATES/PAKISTAN, 2017) DIR.: MICHELLE FIORDALISO 11:30 AM Sab Shimono, whose work on stage and screen When Fawzia Mirza, an American actress meets Sabeen Downtown spans more than five decades. The grammatology Mahmud, a world-renowned Pakistani activist and

SHORTS PROGRAMS Independent of his career attests to conflicting lexicons of race, founder of a progressive cafe (T2F) in Karachi, Mirza’s

representation, and selfhood. life purpose gets defined. In private living rooms, D-CINEMA, 6 MINS., BLACK & WHITE, EXPERIMENTAL DOCUMENTARY D-CINEMA, 16 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY, within community art IN ENGLISH AND URDU W/E.S. 2 spaces, on city streets, and SOUNDS LIKE THE SOUND OF MUSIC (2) I’M FINE (5) across moviescapes, trans (UNITED STATES/PERU, 2005) DIR.: BRUCE YONEMOTO and queer folk dare to SOUNDS LIKE THE SOUND OF MUSIC engages the (TAIWAN/UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: LUCRETIA KNAPP dream of home. Peruvian culture by translating an iconographic A poetic documentary that brings the viewer into the — ERICA R. CHO American musical song into the indigenous Incan household of two people who share an apartment, but express their own histories within different Tongzhi language of Quechua. This representation will, offer (LGBTQ) communities. COMMUNITY PARTNERS an insight to a colonized culture that has successfully 3 D-CINEMA, 23 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY, IN MANDARIN W/E.S. coexisted to this day with the dominant societies of Satrang Europe and the US. The Quechua language is spoken by Pakistan Arts Council at SEPARAR (6) USC Asia Pacific Museum 13 million people across the Andes and South America. (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: MAINAK DHAR Sadly, Star Wars' disgusting villain, Jabba the Hut speaks A clean home, a few drinks, and a long overdue Quechua. conversation. Where does a relationship go when it has D-CINEMA, 4 MINS., COLOR, EXPERIMENTAL nowhere else to go? 4 D-CINEMA, 11 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN SPANISH W/ E.S. ESCAPING AGRA (3) (UNITED STATES/INDIA, 2016) DIR./WTR.: PALLAVI SOMUSETTY Naveen Bhat is trapped in India after their parents find out about their gender and sexual orientation. ESCAPING AGRA documents their journey to battle their parents in court, and piece their life back together. Please note: Naveen, whose gender is non-binary, uses 5 they/them pronouns. D-CINEMA, 23 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY

124 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 6 REBEL HEARTS SHORTS PROGRAMS

TOURING (1) THE DRONE AND THE KID (4) TRT: 95 minutes 1 (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: DEAN YAMADA; SCR.: JEFFREY SCHULDER (UNITED STATES/SINGAPORE/PAKISTAN, 2016) DIR./SCR.: IMRAN J. KHAN After his parents' divorce, a teenager meets an A lonely Pakistani boy finds the camera device SUNDAY, APRIL 30 enigmatic kid with a love for destruction and together from a crashed U.S. military drone, and is finally 7:30 PM Tarteuchi Democracy they set off to release their anger. able to get the attention he craves when he Forum @ JANM D-CINEMA, 15 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE discovers it is still able to transmit to the American

drone operator on the other side. The only thing that ARRIVAL: A SHORT FILM BY ALEX MYUNG (2) D-CINEMA, 13 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN URDU W/E.S. 2 (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: ALEX MYUNG matters, is just following Written, directed, and animated by Alex Myung, this BAO (5) your heart, and eventually 2D-animated film tells the journey of how one young (PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA, 2016) DIR.SCR.: YANQIU FEI you’ll finally make it right. boy's personal discovery affects the long-distance When a rookie drug mule encounters an abandoned These films involve relationship he keeps with his mother. ARRIVAL baby girl, they become an unlikely team as they individuals breaking explores his struggle to face the truth of his life and embark on a train journey through China. the rules, defying love, and reveal it to the person he cares about most. D-CINEMA, 18 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN MANDARIN W/E.S. expectations, and trying to 3 D-CINEMA, 23 MINS., COLOR, CEL ANIMATION find their place in a world I WON’T MISS YOU (6) they believe they don’t TAG (3) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: BERNARD BADION; SCR.: JOY REGULLANO belong to. Young hearts, (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: PATRICK GREEN, 17-year-old Janey’s best friend, Tim, begins to appear be free tonight. STEVE TIRONA; SCR.: PATRICK GREEN in her bedroom at night after dying in a car crash; and — KIRBY PEÑAFIEL A colorful day in the secret life of their awkward undeclared feelings begin to surface.

a budding graffiti artist. D-CINEMA, 20 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE COMMUNITY PARTNERS 4 D-CINEMA, 6 MINS., COLOR, EXPERIMENTAL NARRATIVE Jubilee Project Pakistan Arts Council at USC Asia Pacific Museum

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6 SHORTS PROGRAMS • 125 THE SUM OF MY MEMORY

TRT: 87 minutes IM/PERFECTION (1) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: ANDREW HIDA SUNDAY, APRIL 30 Immigrating from Japan to Honolulu, Hawaii in 1961, Hitoshi Hida struggled to learn English, as he excelled 1 1:45 PM in math and painting during high school. Abandoning his desire to be an artist, Hida pursued architecture CGV Cinemas and found a creative outlet in hand-rendering for nearly 40 years. In a digital world, Hida, 72, is one of the

SHORTS PROGRAMS Theater 3 last remaining designers to create hand-drawn architectural renderings in Hawaii.

D-CINEMA, 12 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY What do you select to build your memories? DOTS (2) Is it the color of your (TAIWAN, 2016) DIR./SCR.: CHEN-WEN LO childhood home? Is it A teenage girl whose vision is fading goes on a solo journey to gather the textures of light the scent of your favorite before going completely blind, and shares her new way of "seeing" with her mother. 2 dish? Is it the bassline of a D-CINEMA, 15 MINS.,COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN MANDARIN W/E.S. song? Explore the process of memory with these OUR TIME (3) films and learn how stories (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: ARPITA KUMAR build with glimpses of the Through fragmented recordings on devices such as iPhones and iPads, past. a child discovers the rupture in her family, and is forced to make a difficult choice. — ESEEL BORLASA D-CINEMA, 10 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE 3 OCCASIONALLY, I SAW GLIMPSES OF HAWAI’I (4) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: CHRISTOPHER YOGI A film essay looking at 100 years of Hawai‘i in film, explores issues of representation and gender. This filmic deconstruction is a lively, often infuriating examination of Hollywood's portrayal of the islands, highlighting the essential necessity of homegrown filmmaking. D-CINEMA, 15 MINS., COLOR AND BLACK & WHITE, EXPERIMENTAL DOCUMENTARY

IN THE MOUNTAINS (5) (UNITED STATES,2016) DIR./SCR.: MENGXUE XIAO 4 A man cuts trees in the mountains day and night, not knowing that his wife's decomposed body has been found by the police. At the same time, his son who he hasn't seen for 20 years is coming to visit him... D-CINEMA, 35 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN ENGLISH AND MANDARIN W/E.S.

126 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 5 SHORTS PROGRAMS WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME

SEPPUKU (1) TRT: 89 minutes

(HONG KONG/UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: DARYN WAKASA; SCR.: DARYN WAKASA, PETER PARSHALL JENSEN MONDAY, MAY 1 SEPPUKU is a Japanese-American cinematic folk tale that chronicles the ritual death and rebirth of Mari 1 9:30 PM Yoshimori. It looks through the lens of a psyche molded through generations by the Japanese American CGV Cinemas concentration camps—a tragic event tucked away in the dark corners of America’s past. It is a soul- Theater 2 searching journey to recalibrate a spiritual compass, and find new purpose in life.

D-CINEMA, 25 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE One character seeks

escape from an unsavory THE ROBE (WIT YONE) (2) destiny. Another character (MYANMAR, 2016) DIR.: WE RA; SCR.: WE RA, AUNG MIN In 2007, during the Saffron Revolution in Myanmar, thousands of people took to the streets to protest cluelessly walks into 2 against the oppressive military regime. Thi Ha, a young Buddhist monk, runs for his life when soldiers a hopeless situation. brutally disperse their demonstration. He finds himself at the doorstep of a Muslim girl, Salabi, where his Yet others experience profound breakdowns fate lies in accepting that people are not always as they seem. in communication. This D-CINEMA, 18 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN BURMESE AND ENGLISH W/E.S. quintet of new works COWBOY AND INDIAN (3) seeks an understanding (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: SUJATA DAY of the social situation, In an unlikely encounter in the desert, a cowboy chances upon a young Bengali bride and the two though we know that in 3 develop a dynamic where both come to realize that things should not be taken at face value. some cases, “agreement” D-CINEMA, 9 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE is impossible. — ABRAHAM FERRER SHE JANG (4)

(UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR.: RICHARD SIMON CHUNG; SCR.: RICHARD SIMON CHUNG, JONGMAN KIM, LEO SEO COMMUNITY PARTNERS In the shadows of Koreatown, ambition connects the lives of two struggling actresses and a gangster. Silent River Film Festival When Skye doesn’t return home from a callback, a concerned Soon-Mi looks into the whereabouts of Kizuna her friend. Will Skye eventually turn up to allay Soon-Mi’s worries, or are her fears justified? D-CINEMA, 22 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN ENGLISH AND KOREAN W/E.S. 4

SANTA CLAUS (5) (UNITED STATES, 2017) DIR./SCR.: JEFF MAN Two lonely neighbors come together to share a Christmas dinner. D-CINEMA, 15 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE

5 SHORTS PROGRAMS • 127 WILDEST IMAGINATION

TRT: 84 minutes WHITE TUNNEL (1) (TAIWAN/JAPAN, 2016) DIR./SCR.: CHIEN LAN-CHI, CHANG CHIN-WEI SATURDAY, APRIL 29 A person experiencing the vicissitude in the long life confronts the vague predicament in 7:00 PM 1 the white tunnel. Tateuchi Democracy D-CINEMA, 22 MINS., BLACK & WHITE, ANIMATION, IN MANDARIN W/E.S.

SHORTS PROGRAMS Forum @ JANM CHELLA DRIVE (2) From a humble (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: ADELE HAN LI combination of line, A disembodied memory of adolescence in a California suburb. The stuck-stillness of movement, and sound, endless summer is punctured only by a passing El Niño. we find some of the most D-CINEMA, 3 MINS., COLOR, STOP-MOTION ANIMATION spectacular films. These 2 animated works soar into THE TREES OF EDEN (3) the heavens; discovering (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: DWIGHT HWANG new ways to tell universal An animated journey that explores the power of love over hatred. Inspired by Leo stories. Tolstoy's classic short story, "Esarhaddon, King of Assyria." — ESEEL BORLASA D-CINEMA, 15 MINS., BLACK & WHITE, PEN-AND-INK ANIMATION

HOLD ME (CA CAW CA CAW) (4) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: RENEE ZHAN 3 HOLD ME (CA CAW CA CAW) is an 11 minute animated film about the troubled relationship between a large bird and a small boy. The film features hand-drawn 2D animation, as well as ink and watercolor painted backgrounds. D-CINEMA, 11 MINS., BLACK & WHITE, ANIMATION

INSECT BITE (5) (UNITED STATES, 2015) DIR./SCR.: GRACE NAYOON RHEE A tiny bug tries to figure out what he wants to be. D-CINEMA, 3 MINS., BLACK & WHITE, ANIMATION 4

128 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 5 SHORTS PROGRAMS

LOLA LOLENG (6) (PHILIPPINES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: CHE TAGYAMON Grandma Loleng suffers from dementia. Her distant granddaughter tries to get to 1 know her, only to unearth Grandma Loleng’s darkest wartime experiences. D-CINEMA, 8 MINS., COLOR, CEL ANIMATION, IN TAGALOG W/E.S.

MONKEY (7) (PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA, 2015) DIR./SCR.: SHEN JIE One of the three monkeys died. D-CINEMA, 5 MINS., COLOR AND BLACK & WHITE, ANIMATION

2 CELL’S AMUSEMENT PARK (8) UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: LI ANG, CAIBEI CAI An animated football match against the backdrop of microscopic cells. D-CINEMA, 4 MINS., COLOR, ANIMATION

REMEMBER (9) (JAPAN, 2016) DIR./SCR.: SHUNSAKU HAYASHI Leaving home, "I" receives a phone call. As "I" answers it, the house explodes. "I" goes to work and continues as normal… 3 D-CINEMA, 9 MINS., COLOR AND BLACK & WHITE, PENCIL-AND-INK ANIMATION

SWIPED (10) (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./SCR.: DAVID CHAI Texters texting, tweeters tweeting, likers liking, posters posting, Googlers Googling, Amazonians Amazoning, webheads surfing, snappers chatting, pinners pinning, tubers tubing, tenders tindering, Netflixers chilling…are we binging too much? More connected than ever, but more distant by the day. Is humanity being swiped away? D-CINEMA, 4 MINS., COLOR, CEL ANIMATION 4

5 SHORTS PROGRAMS • 129 WTF: WATCH THESE FILMS

TRT: 111 minutes PRIA (1) COIN BOY (4) (INDONESIA, 2016) DIR.: YUDHO ADITYA; SCR.: BARBARA (TAIWAN, 2016) DIR./SCR.: CHUAN-YANG LI 1 WEDNESDAY, MAY 3 CIGARROA, YUDHO ADITYA, DEA KULUMBEGASHVILI A true story based on the director's own experience 9:30 PM A teen living in rural Indonesia struggles between when he was in elementary school. Growing up, Downtown the traditions of his upbringing and his romantic we all face authorities as unique individuals in many

SHORTS PROGRAMS Independent idealization of the freedom of the West. ways to learn what we should and should not do. The DIGITAL, 21 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN INDONESIAN W/E.S. enforcement of regulations protects the social orders, These films all differ in but takes away the uniqueness of each individual. themes, but they are here DIVINE XY (2) This is a story about confronting one’s self when 2 because they make you (PHILIPPINES, 2016) DIR.: RUELO LOZENDO; SCR.: IVY UNIVERSE BALDOZA facing authority. want to say “WTF” after Gender troubles and bureaucratic intricacies plague DIGITAL, 24 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN MANDARIN W/E.S. watching. Not because a hopeful overseas worker. How far will Divine go to they are bad, but because F**KED UP (5) leave her country? you may be shocked, (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR.: KEVIN LAU; DIGITAL, 15 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE, IN TAGALOG W/E.S. SCR.: PRATHI SRINIVASAN, JOSHUA LEVY angry or too emotional A know-it-all Asian American teen tries to prove herself after viewing. ONE EIGHTIETH OF ZHANG TIANYI (3) 3 by losing her virginity on the first day of college. — ARIEL DU (UNITED STATES/PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA, 2016) DIGITAL, 17 MINS., COLOR, NARRATIVE DIR.: SHUHAN FAN Zhang Tianyi, a 25-year-old Mao Zedong fan, is COMMUNITY PARTNERS SLEEPING WITH THE DEVIL (6) 626 Night Market thrust into China’s overpopulated job market after (UNITED STATES, 2016) DIR./WTR.: ALISA YANG graduating from Peking University Law School. Based on a recorded Skype exorcism and found After learning to cook for 5 minutes, he creates a footage, the filmmaker confronts her past growing up communist kingdom by selling his Hunan hometown 4 in the Evangelical prophetic and deliverance ministry. food: rice noodles. DIGITAL, 15 MINS., COLOR, EXPERIMENTAL DOCUMENTARY DIGITAL, 19 MINS., COLOR, DOCUMENTARY, IN MANDARIN W/E.S.

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130 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 6 SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS - CGV BUENA PARK LAAPFF BEST OF THE FEST IN OC MAY 5-11 | THE FESTIVAL GOES CARDINAL X 72 TO ORANGE COUNTY! CHEE AND T 73 Join us at CGV Cinemas Buena Park DIAMOND ISLAND 93 for the extended version of the Festival. FANATIC 132 Come see the best of the Festival and FATHER AND SON 133 a focus on Vietnamese films at CGV FINDING KUKAN 81 Cinema’s new location at The Source in JACKPOT 133 Buena Park. Housed with eight theatres, including 4DX and ScreenX, and signature KING OF PEKING 94 popcorn from The Popcorn Factory and LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA 134 premium selection of beer and wine MELE MURALS 83 from The Bar, CGV Cinemas Buena Park RELOCATION, ARKANSAS: delivers the highest standards in a movie AFTERMATH OF INCARCERATION 66 experience. RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE 85 FOR MORE INFO VISIT FESTIVAL.VCONLINE.ORG! SHE’S THE BOSS 135 TURN LEFT TURN RIGHT 102 WHO IS ARTHUR CHU? 89

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 • 131 FANATICFAN CUONG Vietnam, 2016 CHARLIE NGUYEN RETURNS TO THE who was huge in the 1990s, until he abruptly D-Cinema, 103 minutes FESTIVAL exactly ten years winning the Grand abandoned the scene because of a broken Color, Narrative Jury Award for the martial arts epic THE REBEL, heart. Thai blames this incident as a turning in Vietnamese w/E.S. which also closed Festival 2007. One of the point of rock music appreciation and wished he pioneers of the “Viet New Wave,” a group of could travel back in time to stop its downfall. THURSDAY, primarily Orange County based filmmakers who But, that’s just a fanatic’s dream… until one day, MAY 11 have returned to the homeland to produce a time machine appears right in front of him! 7:00 PM movies, Nguyen has developed a successful You can say FANATIC is a film ahead of its time, CGV Cinemas and varied career vacillating between Vietnam- especially in a very young Vietnamese film in- Buena Park ese local productions and Hollywood. dustry that is still feeling out commercial genres COMMUNITY PARTNERS Nguyen’s latest film, another reunion with that have been pigeonholed for Hollywood Vietnamese American Johnny Tri Nguyen and Thai Hoa, is truly a movies only. When the film was released, it Arts and Letters unique film for the Vietnamese film industry, a garnered rave reviews but only respectable box Association (VAALA) hard rock-infused time travel romantic drama office returns. This is by no fault of the film- or on the flip side, a rocker bro mission to re- makers nor the audience. However, like a true

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS - CGV BUENA PARK - CGV SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS vive rock music in Vietnam! Thai Hoa plays Thai, pioneer, Nguyen continues to challenge the au- a rock fanatic who tries to keep the rock flame diences just like he did over a decade ago when alive. He’s also a big fan of rockstar Giai Nghia he directed THE REBEL, making a true martial (played by Johnny Tri Nguyen channeling both arts classic that is revered worldwide. FANATIC Jim Morrison and Jon Bon Jovi in a permuta- is following the same path of recognition. tion of an aloof glam rocker this side of Mr. Big), — ANDERSON LE

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SCREENPLAY SOUND Jimmy Nghiem Pham Mike Vo Hieu To PRODUCER Duc Nguyen MUSIC Jenni Trang Le PRODUCTION DESIGNER Christopher Wong CINEMATOGRAPHER Mona Nahm Dominic Pereira

132 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS - CGV BUENA PARK

CHA CÕNG CON FATHER AND SON EXECUTIVE PRODUCER THIS VIETNAMESE POSTMODERN FABLE, augmented by the ethereal cinematography of Vietnam, 2016 Nguyen Chi Dung Ly Thai Dung, conjures the spiritual beauty of the familial bond depicted in Alexander Sokurov's D-Cinema, 90 minutes POST PRODUCER MOTHER AND SON and it's sequel of the same name. Director Luong Ding Dung's portrayal of Color, Narrative Nguyen Thi Huong the family unit, however, extends tactilely beyond to the community at large. Moc and Ca live in a in Vietnamese w/E.S. DIRECTOR small fishing village where neighbors and friends eat together, talk about what is going on in their Luong Dinh Dung lives, and share advice freely. They conduct their lives seemingly in tune with the rhythm of their SATURDAY, MAY 6 CINEMATOGRAPHER natural environment, which while untainted by the cares of the modern world, proves treacherous 4:30 PM Ly Thai Dung CGV Cinemas and merciless. Residing in the heart of hurricane terrain and subject to its constant whims, casual- SCREENPLAY Buena Park Bui Kim Quy ties to life and property remain commonplace yet folks persist in their goal to live a peaceable life. COMPOSER All is disruptive when Ca falls ill and his father whisks him away to the big city where his prognosis COMMUNITY PARTNERS Lee Dong June bodes doom not just for child but maybe, as we may infer, a way of life. Evoking a nostalgia for Vietnamese American EDITOR 1980s post-war films like WHEN THE TENTH MONTH COMES by Dang Nhat Minh, the core values Arts and Letters Julie Beziau of that iconic Italian neorealist film, BICYCLE THIEVES, live on here. — LINDY LEONG Pham Thi Hao Association (VAALA)

TRÚNG SÔ JACKPOT DIRECTOR VIETNAMESE AMERICAN ACTOR DUSTIN NGUYEN (21 JUMP STREET), who made his Vietnam, 2015 Dustin Nguyen directorial debut with the fantasy action film ONCE UPON A TIME IN VIETNAM, takes a surprising D-Cinema, 95 mins PRODUCER leap into a rural-set comedy melodrama. Revolving around a group of characters whose lives are Color, Narrative Bebe Pham transformed by Vietnam’s state-run lottery JACKPOT is a moral tale about how money doesn’t In Vietnamese w/E.S. SCREENPLAY Manh Tuan Nguyen necessarily guarantee happiness. Tu Phi (popular comedian Chi Tai) is a middle-aged con man, fresh out of a 15-year prison sen- SATURDAY, MAY 6 CINEMATOGRAPHER tence. Only minutes into his new found freedom, he meets a lottery-ticket hawker named Thom 7:00 PM Dominic Pereira CGV Cinemas EDITOR (Ninh Duong Lan Ngoc), a young woman from his village. She convinces him to put his pride aside Buena Park Quoc Bao Tran and return to his ex-wife. From here, they form a unique friendship. One fine day, Tu Phi wins the STARRING big jackpot. And this sets off a chain of events through their small peaceful village. Jayvee Mai The Hiep Based on a true story of a ticket vendor who gave up a winning stub to a customer she promised Ninh Duong Lan Ngoc Dustin Nguyen to sell the ticket to, JACKPOT connected with local audiences when it saw a successful release Chi Tai during the competitive Lunar New Year holiday. The film would become Vietnam’s official entry to the Foreign Language Film category for the Academy Awards in 2016. — ANDERSON LE

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS - CGV BEUNA PARK • 133 LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA India, 2016 THE WOMEN'S FILM STILL GETS A BAD RAP. arranged marriage with upwardly mobile Manoj, D-Cinema, 116 mins An extensive examination of its various histories Leela carries on a secret affair with photog- Color, Narrative and traditions reveals its vital subversive work rapher Arshad complete with sex tape antics. in Hindi w/E.S. in representing women's inner desires and An abusive, absentee husband and a brood of ambitions. In her sophomore project, director children to care for, feisty and put upon Shirin SUNDAY, MAY 7, Alankrita Shrivastava carries on this important takes a job as a salesgirl and quickly ascends 5:30 PM tradition in this indie comedy-drama which the ranks thanks to her natural cleverness and CGV Cinemas examines the intersecting lives of four different go-getting attitude. Finally, Usha's loneliness Buena Park women living in Bhopal, a small town repre- finds a welcome release when she begins ladies' COMMUNITY PARTNERS sentative of contemporary, rural India. Despite swimming lessons with hottie coach Jaspal. South Asian Network extolling itself as a free and democratic country Imbuing these narrative arcs with both humor (SAN) in step with Western industrialized nations, and pathos reminiscent of Almodóvar, a mosaic Indian Film Festival of India's patriarchal culture persists and of women's subjectivities are represented from a Los Angeles (IFFLA) Shrivastava explores this regressive reality distinctly female point of view. through the individual challenges faced by In the contemporary Indian cinema and indus-

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS - CGV BUENA PARK - CGV SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS college student and aspiring pop singer Rehana, try, all forms of women's sexuality continues to engaged beautician Leela, neglected housewife be a target for censorship and at press time, the and saleswoman Shirin, and pious, middle-aged Central Board of Film Certification has refused widow 'Auntie' Usha. to clear this indie film. A winner of the Spirit of Sporting a burkha and shoplifting a tube of lip- Asia Prize and the Oxfam Award for Best Film stick at the local mall, Rehana sheds this symbol on Gender Equality, this Indian women's film of her Muslim faith before running off to school delights with its defiance of traditional in jeans and Converses. Forced into a traditional, expectations. — LINDY LEONG

PRODUCER CINEMATOGRAPHER SOUND STARRING Konkona Se Prakash Jha Akshay Singh Akshay Patil Shashank Arora Sharma DIRECTOR PRODUCTION DE- Abhinav Agnihotri Plabita Borthakur Jagat Singh Rahul Badwelkar Sonal Jha Sushant Singh Alankrita Shrivastava SIGNER Aahana Kumra Gazal Dhaliwal Vikram Singh MUSIC Vaibbhav Tatwawdi Suhani Kanwar Zebunnisa Bangash Vikrant Massey COSTUME DESIGNER Ratna Pathak SCREENPLAY Mangesh Dhakde Rohit Chaturvedi Alankrita Shrivastava EDITOR

Charu Shree Roy

134 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS - CGV BUENA PARK

BAN GÁI TÔI LÀ SÊP SHE’S THE BOSS VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN DIRECTOR HAM the hammer when a violation pops up against D-Cinema, 114 mins TRAN IS ONE OF OUR MOST PROLIFIC company policy, specifically the “no dating” Color, Narrative FESTIVAL ALUMNI, having brought ground- policy among co-workers. However, Oanh her- In Vietnamese w/E.S breaking features to Los Angeles such as self does not practice what she preaches by se- (Festival Opening cretly dating subordinate Cuong (An Do). They FRIDAY, MAY 5 Night 2006), HOW TO FIGHT IN SIX INCH are a passionate, yet highly competitive couple. 7:30PM CGV Cinemas HEELS (Festival 2014), HOLLOW (Festival 2015), Oanh soon tires of all the cloak and dagger Buena Park and BITCOIN HEIST (Festival 2016). This list shenanigans, while Cuong wants to make their does not include the quartet of short films that relationship work. He suggests that one of them COMMUNITY PARTNERS he directed as a UCLA graduate film school stu- quit, but neither wants to budge. Hence, a bet is Vietnamese American dent. As one of the many Vietnamese children wagered where the loser has to quit! Arts and Letters of refugees who have returned to the moth- A challenge is set: either Oanh or Cuong Association (VAALA) erland, Tran has staked his claim as one of the must quit the company if they don’t complete a most celebrated and successful film directors corporate task involving a malfunctioning ATM working in Vietnam today. and track down the culprits. This hair-brained In his latest film SHE’S THE BOSS, an adap- scheme ensnares two competing lovebirds tation of the 2012 Thai hit film ATM ER RAK into an elaborate obstacle course of a rom- ERROR, Tran once again tackles the romantic com that director Ham Tran populates with comedy, in a battle of the sexes set in today’s crazy characters and situations, imbuing the Vietnamese workforce. Miu Le (SWEET 20) proceedings with great fervor. SHE’S THE BOSS plays Oanh, every employee’s worst night- is a fun and heartfelt film that is also his most mare — stern, harsh, and ready to throw down accomplished commercial film. — ANDERSON LE

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER WRITER SOUND STARRING Dinh Thi Thanh Huong Ham Tran Truong Quang Cong Do An PRODUCERS CINEMATOGRAPHER Doan Ngoc Tan Pho Dac Biet Nguyen Ngoc Lam Trang Cong Minh Giang Tieu Ho Tuan Khai Khanh Le Trinh Thi Thanh Tam- PRODUCTION DESIGNER MUSIC Mui Le SCREENPLAY Ngoc Quoc Bao Tran Huu Tuan Bach Thanh Pham Justin Khuong Cao Ha Tra Da ART DIRECTOR Ngoc Thao DIRECTOR Nguyen Tan Tuan EDITOR Ham Tran Ham Tran

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS - CGV BEUNA PARK • 135

ABOUT OUR ART BY ERIKA VAZQUEZ In 1969 a group of students formed the Asian American ABOUT THE ARTISTS community newspaper Gidra, which raised awareness RICHARD TOKUNAGA (1951 – ) was introduced to Gidra by staff member Jeff of the Asian American Movement and activism in Asian Furumura, when he was 21 years old. “We were working in the student book- American communities. The newspaper began at the Asian store while I studied at UCLA, and he got me involved with doing a few news- American Studies Center at UCLA, covering the fight for paper covers. He knew that I was in art school and he liked my art.” Tokunaga ethnic studies on college campuses. Artist Richard free hand drew a self-portrait right in the Gidra office, which became Gidra’s Tokunaga’s self-portrait was on the cover of the March 1972 March cover issue. 1972 issue, and today, his self portrait is the inspiration for “I think it was during the period that I was evaluating who I was,” Tokunaga explains. At the time, he enjoyed listening to soul music; specifically, James Brown, and became the key art of the 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film significantly interested in Picasso’s artwork in art school. Tokunaga wanted to combine the two Festival, designed by Jacky Tran. art forms in his self-portrait. “It’s broken down with different angles and shading in the face, and the background is like soul music. It’s kind of a blending.” The color of the shading inside the face of the self-portrait was inspired by the calligraphy in Tokunaga’s Japanese name. Since most signature stamps use a red-orange ink, the shading is a symbolic imprint of his signature on the original art piece, which makes it that much more unique to Tokunaga. Born in Hilo, Hawaii, Tokunaga and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1954 when Disneyland opened. He graduated from UCLA in 1974 with a BFA. Tokunaga worked in freelance graphic work before becoming Lead Production Artist at Parker & Son Printing, and became the Art/Vid- eo/Facilities Artist with GM Hughes Electronics until 1993. He is currently developing a product line for internet sales from Hawaii Island.

JACKY TRAN (1993 – ) is the artist behind this year’s Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival key art. “I immediately got the vibe that it was from Gidra – very activist – it was really enlightening and it literally gave a face to Gidra.” To de- sign the Festival art using Tokunaga’s self-portrait, Tran had to scan the original newspaper image and digitize it in Photoshop. “It took more time to do digitally than by hand. It took me 5-6 hours to finish the image, when by hand it would taken 20 minutes.” A recent graduate of Pomona College, Tran works in the intersection of social engagement, print, and art. He recently published a fake lifestyle magazine inspired by Martha Stewart and Oprah called Transcendence, featuring a variety of articles and recipes that he writes himself. If you would like to learn more about Tran’s work, visit his website at jackytran.net.

#LAAPFF2017 • 137 STAFF LIST

VISUAL Dorothy Xiao, PROGRAM INTERNS GUEST SERVICES COORDINATOR Ryan Wu Dexter Story Tim Toyama MEMBERSHIP & Jazz Kiang Rachel Sine Eric Pato Trevor Ware COMMUNICTIONS COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER PROGRAM CURATORS STAFF Brian Kohaya PRINT TRAFFIC COORDINATOR Erica Cho (LGBT SHORTS) Eric Pepper PRESS & PUBLICITY FESTIVAL STAFF Hoi Leung Quyên Nguyen-Le Gary Gabisan Eseel Borlasa DAVID MAGDAEL & (DIGITAL HISTORIES) BOARD OF Janna Wang MEDIA PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Javier Barboza ASSOCIATES, INC. EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Gena Hamamoto COMMUNITY Joel Quizon DIRECTORS Francis Cullado Kirby Peñafiel (ITSY BITSY SHORTS) David Magdael PARTNERSHIPS COORDINATOR Jodi Long, BOARD PRESIDENT Meejin Hong Elisha Gustafson FESTIVA L ADMINISTRATION BOX OFFICE MANAGER June Kaewsith Sofia Chang Maya Santos Phil Yu, BOARD VICE PRESIDENT Anderson Le Yosilu Chen (YOUTH MEDIA) Barbara Thompson COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS ASSOCIATE Maysie Hoy, GUEST CURATORS Reggie Ford Abraham Ferrer BOX OFFICE ASSOCIATES Francisco Sanchez BOARD SECRETARY Lennox Chaiveera Vicki Huang Chanel Kong Allison Algoso FilAm Creative Benny Magdael Douglas Aihara, OPERATIONS MANAGER WeOwnThe8th BOARD TREASURER David Magdael Cathrina Dulay MEMORY BANK FESTIVAL KEY ART Alvin Nuval CURATORIAL ASSISTANTS COLLABORATORS: Richard Tokunaga Alison Chin FESTIVAL MANAGER Marco Juarez PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Christina Chou Chanel Kong Maricel Roque Christine Balance Eddy Vajarakitipongse Jacky Tran Sultankazy Pirzhan (DIGITAL HISTORIES) of yaknowlike studios PROGRAM CALENDAR Hieu Ho FESTIVAL ARTISTIC CONSULTANT TECHNOLOGY MANAGER uulu Juli Kang (ITSY BITSY SHORTS) Maya Santos of Form AND CATALOG DESIGN David Kwan Anderson Le Mark Mangoba VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR Helen Kim (ITSY BITSY SHORTS) follows Function Alfie Ebojo Walt Louie ART & DESIGN PRESS & PUBLICITY DIRECTOR Krystle Tabujar Michelle Ko Michelle Roque Clayton Yeung David Magdael Alfie Ebojo (ITSY BITSY SHORTS) SUNDAY AT THE OLD SPECIAL EVENTS ASSOCIATES FESTIVAL TRAILER Francis Cullado Michelle Roque Azusa Oda UNION CHURCH DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC Janet Chen (ITSY BITSY SHORTS) Noha Khashoggi, PARTNERSHIPS Richard Tokunaga COLLABORATORS: ANIMATOR STAFF Lauren Jones ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN Tracy Nguyen-Chung Jacky Tran Aaron Woolford Kirby Peñafiel, EDITOR Rachel Kuria CINEMA/SOUTHEAST ASIAN CINEMA Francis Cullado, SPONSORSHIPS & FESTIVAL SENIOR PROGRAMMER RESEARCH NETWORK Alison De La Cruz EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Daryn Wakasa, MARKETING MANAGER RECEPTION MANAGER Abraham Ferrer Jasmine Nadua Trice CeCelia Antoinette CREATIVE DIRECTOR Abraham Ferrer, Eseel Borlasa Susan Soohoo SYMPOSIUM ORGANIZER EXHIBITIONS DIRECTOR Clarence “Chazz” Ross FESTIVAL TRAILER MUSIC SPONSORSHIPS & C3 CONFERENCE DIRECTOR Philippa Lovatt Gary Gabisan, DIGITAL Café Santo "We are the Children" MARKETING ASSOCIATE PROGRAMMING SYMPOSIUM ORGANIZER HISTORIES MEDIA INSTRUCTOR Milton Liu DubLab by Chris Kando Iijima, Annie Liang Eseel Borlasa BRONZEVILLE, Chanel Kong, MEMBERSHIP & Dexter Story Joanne Nobuko Miy- FESTIVAL MANAGER Sumiko Braun LITTLE TOKYO! PROGRAM COORDINATORS COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Jennifer Gutierrez amoto, "Charlie" Chin Milton Liu, DIRECTOR OF Ariel Du Elaine Dolalas Udval Altangerel Dorothy Xiao Morgan from the recording en- PROGRAMS & ARTIST SERVICES Jeremy Gaudette Eseel Borlasa Ashley Lin SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR Josef Leimberg titled A Grain of Sand: Mark Mangoba, Chanel Kong Joel Quizon TECHNICAL MANAGER PROGRAM ASSOCIATES Ngoc Anh Ha Josh Johnson Music for the Struggle Anderson Le Rani De Leon Rachelle Samson, Peter Chen COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATES Mark de Clive-Lowe by Asians in America, DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Kristen Lee Vicki Huang Sabrina Im Reynaldo Culannay Rani de Leon PAR01020, courte- Susan Soohoo, Lindy Leong Lanca Li Lemuel Lan BRONZE, BRASS, JAZZ Robey Theatre sy of Smithsonian OFFICE MANAGER Kirby Peñafiel Ivan Mok Erika Vazquez COLLABORATORS: Company Folkways Recordings. Nathan Yoo Melanie Ramos Adriana Copete

138 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 (p) (c) 1973. Used by Milton Liu Roger Fan PHOTOGRAPHER DIRECTORS GUILD Cheryl Au Kristin Nomura permission. Ivan Mok Katrina Frolov Steven Lam OF AMERICA STAFF Jacob Blumenfeld Connie Oh PHOTOGRAPHER Quyên Nguyen-Le Michael Goi Frank Gonzalez Skye Buzzatto Emma Pek Charlie Van Lee Gabe Kahsay FESTIVAL.VCONLINE. Alvin Nuval Gaye Theresa Johnson PHOTOGRAPHER Sandra Castro Dorothy Pham ORG Kirby Peñafiel Gary King Patrick Nan Mayra Ocampo Nakorn Chaisri Jacklyn Phu Joel Quizon Hieu Ho PHOTOGRAPHER Tim Webber Chris Cheng Genevieve Sawicz WEBMASTER Melanie Ramos Maysie Hoy Yan Ng, BJ Serviss Jennie Cheng Albin Thomas Dorothy Xiao PHOTOGRAPHER Maya Santos Edie Ichioka DOWNTOWN Nirvan Chitnis Jenny Tong CONTENT DEVELOPMENT/WRITERS Brandon Okumura Erika Vazquez Sung Kang INDEPENDENT STAFF Shashwat Chitnis Erika Vito Udval Altangerel PHOTOGRAPHER Ryan Wu Nathan Kitada James Kirst Vishwa Chitnis Catalina Vu Peter Chen Lucy Truong Dorothy Xiao Pang-Ni Landrum PHOTOGRAPHER Laura Stokes Mani Cruze Billy Wing Ngoc Anh Ha PROOFREADER Steven Lim Stephanie Yee Mary Kay De Guzman Frank Woidzik Chanel Kong PHOTOGRAPHER EGYPTIAN Monica Macer Jacy Duan Christina Wong Ashley Lin Udval Altangerel Hubert Cheng THEATRE STAFF Viet Nguyen Ryan Fung Pamela Yamzon Mark Mangoba Lindy Leong VIDEOGRAPHER Udval Altangerel Ashly Perez Lailanie Gadia Wing Yan Ng Erika Vasquez Minette Lew McCabe Richard Chung Leo Enticknap Ashley Lin Jennifer Phang VIDEOGRAPHER Barry Jones Junko Goda Kevin Yee Erika Vazquez Ananya Roy Russell Fung Nancy Winters Linda Hagens Lawrence Yoo PROGRAM CATALOG VIDEOGRAPHER DESIGN AND PRODUCTION Jennifer Ruggirello Jean Hendrik Grace Zhu WRITERS Lance Heruela JAPANESE AMERICAN Michelle Roque Parry Shen VIDEOGRAPHER NATIONAL MUSEUM Kimian Herrera Eseel Borlasa Owen Shiflett Stephanie Hughes PRINTING Lanca Li STAFF Sumiko Braun VIDEOGRAPHER Kerr & Associates Veena Sud Elizabeth Lim Dan Huynh Lennox Chaiveera Renee Tajima-Peña Bryan Santos Alan Juarez Sofia Chang VIDEOGRAPHER MOCA GEFFEN Aaron Takahashi CONTEMPORARY Nicholas Karoglu Yosilu Chen C3: THE ARATANI THEATRE/ Maurissa Tancharoen STAFF Jihye Kim Erica Cho CONFERENCE FOR JACCC STAFF Jason Tobin Woody Schofield Brian Kohaya Francis Cullado CREATIVE CONTENT Leslie A. Ito Freddie Wong Jodi Shapiro Jennifer Lai Milton Liu, DIRECTOR Alison De La Cruz Ariel Du Jenny Yamaki Iyin Landre C3 PANELISTS & MODERATORS Rani de Leon THE GREAT Abraham Ferrer Jen Yamato Joyce Lee Ryan Bergara Carol Onaga COMPANY STAFF Gary Gabisan Eugene Lee Yang Philo Leung Natalie Chaidez Helen Ota Carl Choi Jeremy Gaudette Phil Yu Emily Liu Cherish Chen Ray Lin Gena Hamamoto CGV CINEMAS STAFF Monica Ly Karin Anna Cheung C3 PROGRAM DESIGN June Kaewsith Chace Kim Amanda Mendoza Justin Chon Mayta Lor VOLUNTEERS Chanel Kong Peter Kim Patrick Nan Phil Chung DOCUMENTATION (AS OF APRIL 7, 2017) Anderson Le Shane Valencia Anne Nguyen Sujata Day Reece Cambra Tanapon Arunde- Kristen Lee PHOTOGRAPHER Jason Kim Anthony Nolan Jeff Draheim chachai Lindy Leong Florante Ibanez Kyu Ho Lee #LAAPFF2017 • 139 SPECIAL THANKS

Dennis Amith Johneric Concordia, LAIKA ENTERTAINMENT AIR SUPPLY COMMUNICATIONS Tawny Nguyen, Southwest Offset Craig Wilson, FILAM CREATIVE THE PARK'S FINEST CHANH PHUONG FILMS Christine Araquel, Glenn Heath, Elizabeth Lim, Printing Jeffrey Winter, PACIFIC ARTS MOVEMENT JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL THE PARK'S FINEST Deborah Cook, Masashi Niwano, Farrah Su THE FILM COLLABORATIVE LAIKA ENTERTAINMENT MUSEUM CENTER FOR ASIAN AMERICAN MEDIA Athena Asklipiadis, A3M Hieu Ho, BUZZFEED Darren Wong, PCA Michelle Sugihara, Trevor Dalmer, Justin Lin Anthony Noceda, Christine Balance Brian Hu, PACIFIC ARTS COALITION FOR ASIAN PACIFICS IN Joann Wong LAIKA ENTERTAINMENT PACIFIC ARTS MOVEMENT MOVEMENT Ray Lin, THE GREAT COMPANY ENTERTAINMENT Dante Basco, Steven Wong, Alison De La Cruz, Jason Nou WEOWNTHE8TH Ellen Huang, SAG-AFTRA, Cho Liu, CNEX ArianneSuttner, CHINESE AMERICAN MUSEUM JAPANESE AMERICAN CULTURAL & DIRECTOR EEO & DIVERSITY Mayra Ocampo, DGA LAIKA ENTERTAINMENT Arnaud Bélan- COMMUNITY CENTER Tery Lopez, WGAW Telly Wong, IW GROUP VIcki Huang Michael Okamura, Takao Suzuki, geon-Bouaziz, URBAN Remy De La Peza Nelson Lowry, Nancy Yap, LEAP LITTLE TOKYO HISTORICAL SOCIETY LITTLE TOKYO SERVICE CENTER GROUP Soo Jin Hwang, KOFIC LAIKA ENTERTAINMENT Nia Dinata, KALYANA SHIRA FILM Clayton Yeung, NIELSEN Carol Onaga, JAPANESE Graham Swindoll, Alexa Bergman, Florante Ibanez Karla Lozano, Elaine Dolalas, AMERICAN CULTURAL & COMMUNITY KINO LORBER FILMS James Yi FOCUS FEATURES HOME BOX OFFICE INC. #COLORYOURTROUBLESAWAY Ollie Jones, CENTER Tania Thompson, Kevin Yim, HAWAIIAN AIRLINES Kevin Berlandi, DGA LAIKA ENTERTAINMENT Li Lu Lisa Dosch, MPEG Fumi Kitahara Otto REDEFINERY Joe Bernardo Mike Hirano Culross, Marissa Kitazawa Marvin Yueh, KOLLABORATION Jesse Dubus, CAAMFEST Tim Owen Mini Timmaraju RAFU SHIMPO Kimberly Zarate, Jessica Borges, David Magdael, DAVID Ellen Endo Eunhye Kang, CGV CINEMAS MAGDAEL & ASSOCIATES Erin Owens, PBS DISTRIBUTION Fatimah Tobing Rony, CHINESE AMERICAN MUSEUM Tammy Borrero, UC IRVINE Moises Esparza, Tom Oyer, ACADEMY OF Lise Zipci, FILMS DU LOSANGE UCLA LUSKIN SCHOOL Traci Kato-Kiriyama, Dean Matsubayashi, SAN DIEGO LATINO FILM FESTIVAL MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES Corey Tong OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS TUESDAY NIGHT PROJECT LITTLE TOKYO SERVICE CENTER Mason Eways, Anna Page, Christine Tran Luke Brawley, DOGWOOF Ernest Kerr, KERR & ASSOCIATES Colleen McAbee, A-MARK 3 ARTS ENTERTAINMENT HAWAII INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL GLOBAL Jennifer Kim ENTERTAINMENT Mai Tran-Lanza, WGAW Kathie Foley-Meyer Catherine Park, GIANT Giulia Caruso, Jason McLagan Ham Tran, OLD PHOTO FILMS Jingon Kim, CGV CINEMAS ROBOT NONETHELESS PRODUCTIONS Kristin Fukushima, LITTLE Dai Sil Kim-Gibson Brian McLean, Ivy Tseng, TAIWAN ACADEMY Chris Chan Lee TOKYO COMMUNITY COUNCIL LAIKA ENTERTAINMENT Dan Pascall, Gary Gabisan Chace Kim, CGV CINEMAS LAIKA ENTERTAINMENT Jean Tsien Christine Minji Chang, Courtney Miller, Daniel Pasquini, CONSULATE Opal Tsui KOLLABORATION Salvatore Gatdula Heejeon Kim, HOME BOX OFFICE INC. CJ ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA GENERAL OF CANADA IN LOS ANGELES Dominique Miller, Brian Udovich, ROCKETJUMP Tammy Chang, CNEX Carroll Gelderman, Dwain Perry CINETIC MEDIA Jennifer Kim, IW GROUP LITTLE TOKYO SERVICE CENTER Meriden Villanueva, Jennifer Chau, OCA-GLA Johnnie Giles Mika Kimoto, KIMSTIM Sean Miura, Jimmy Pham Nghiem, FILAM CREATIVE Janet Chen, UCLA CENTER FOR CHANH PHUONG FILMS TUESDAY NIGHT PROJECT A.D. Valderrama, ETHNOCOMMUNICATIONS Ikki Ginoza, GALA COLLECTION James Kirst, DOWNTOWN INDEPENDENT Nobuko Miyamoto Jana Piontkovska, CONSULATE GENERAL OF JAPAN IN Sophia Cheng, UCLA ASIAN Stephen Gong, MITOS FILM LOS ANGELES AMERICAN STUDIES CENTER CENTER FOR ASIAN AMERICAN MEDIA Travis Knight, Estria Miyashiro LAIKA ENTERTAINMENT Dino-Ray Ramos, Vinanda Vannasin, Alex Chi Will Griffin, Bob Moore, EYESTEELFILM OFF WHITE PODCAST ROYAL THAI CONSULATE GENERAL Anthony Koo, EYEBANNER S. Leo Chiang SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS Grace Borrero Moss, Larry Rattner LOS ANGELES Ben Guillory Steven Kung, DGA NBCU TIPS Tony Velarde, WGAW Diana Chiawen Lee Danny Rettig, FOCUS Jane Gutteridge, Lily Kuo Mike Ichiro Murase FEATURES Katie Wang Minji Cho, IW GROUP NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA Beejal Lakhavani Gwen Muranaka, RAFU Paul Richardson, CGV Elke Wauters, CONSULATE Carl Choi, THE GREAT COMPANY SHIMPO Clement Hanami, JAPA- Ysa Le, VAALA CINEMAS GENERAL OF BELGIUM IN LOS ANGELES Davy Chou, ANTI-ARCHIVE NESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM Grace Lee Sudarat Musikawong Brad Schiff, LAIKA ENTER- Tim Webber, Eurie Chung, FLASHCUTS Jameson Hargear TAINMENT DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA Minette Lew McCabe Martha Nagawa Philip Chung, YOMYOMF Georgina Hayns, Jimmy Ng Torsten Schulze, M-APPEAL Ryan Werner, CINETIC MEDIA Wanda Li, 140 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 FILM PRINT & DIGITAL FILES SOURCES

626 ARRANGED BORN BONE BOON CHELLA DRIVE DIVINE XY FINDING KUKAN GHOST MAGNET Andrew Ng Mayank Bhatter Aragaki Sondai Adele Han Li Ruello Lozendo Robin Lung ROACH MOTEL [email protected] Mm Buttered Panini Productions, [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Nested Egg Productions Shinpei Takeda www.dtfpictures.com [email protected] Ph.: +810988615141 Ph.: (626) 233-4885 Ph.: (632) 714-2889 [email protected] [email protected] 95 AND 6 TO GO Ph.: (310) 849-3636 BY THE TIME www.adelehanli.com DOLLAR TREE Ph.: (808) 258-7874 www.shinpeitakeda.com Kimikat Productions www.arrangedshortfilm.wix.com/ IT GETS DARK COCOON Cecilia Ribordy www.findingkukan.com GOOK [email protected] arranged KimStim Mei Liying [email protected] FLIP THE RECORD Jill Karole Ph.: (646) 327-7323 ARRIVAL: A SHORT FILM [email protected] [email protected] Ph.: (310) 745-8164 Indie Pop Films Samuel Goldwyn www.95and6togo.com BY ALEX MYUNG Ph.: (718) 510-2804 www.cocoonthefilm.com DOTS [email protected] [email protected] A DOLL'S HUG Amy Benaroya www.kimstim.com COIN BOY Chen-Wen Lo Ph.: (518) 879-6688 Ph.: (310) 860-3123, WondeROBuLOus [email protected] CACA: TELL Stella Lin [email protected] www.IndiePopFilms.com HELLO FROM [email protected] Ph.: (917) 257-6287 YOU JOKES! PTS Ph.: (845) 598-9315 FOREVER, THE OTHER SIDE www.arrivalshortfilm.com Ph.: (310) 880-2563 Angels Sky [email protected] DROGA! CHINATOWN Sarai McKenzie www.wonderobulous.com BAO [email protected] Ph.: (886) 2 26301125 Miko Revereza Good Medicine Films [email protected] A STEP FORWARD Yanqiu Fei Ph.: 85366381358 www.pts.org.tw [email protected] [email protected] HOLD ME Eric Tandoc [email protected] www.caca-angelssky.com COLUMBUS Ph.: 510-371-1177 Ph.: 415-305-5086 (CA CAW CA CAW) Ph.:(86) 13858197836 www.foreverchinatown.com [email protected] CALL ME MISTA Nonetheless Productions ESCAPING AGRA Renee Zhan www.vimeo.com/yanqiufei Ph.: (562) 355-3690 COOKIE JAR kjkim@nonethelessproductions. Pallavi Somusetty FRAGILE (A PORTRAIT [email protected] A TIME TO SWIM BASTARD C.J. Pizarro com Chandi Films OF GIL BATLE) Ph.: (832) 282-9587 Katarina Soukup Mara De La Rosa [email protected] www.nonethelessproductions.com [email protected] Nilo Batle www.reneezhan.com [email protected] Becky and Baldwin Ph.: (818) 212-9518 DEATH IN A DAY Ph.: (510) 304-4257 [email protected] HOLD ON Ph.: (514) 419-8590 [email protected] www.MistaCookieJar.com Lin Wang www.chandifilms.com FLOAT Christine Turner Ph.: (707) 569-4721 www.catbirdproductions.ca CALLED HOME [email protected] F**KED UP Onkalo Films” [email protected] www.beckyandbaldwin.com ABACUS: SMALL Jason Piemnoppakao Ph.: (714) 856-6076 Kevin Lau [email protected] www.peraltapictures.com ENOUGH TO JAIL BEFORE I GOT [email protected] www.darlin.wang [email protected] Ph.: (206) 372-6148 I AM JUPITER I AM THE Erin Owens FAMOUS Ph.: (805) 704-5979 COWBOY AND INDIAN Ph.: (310) 309-0853 www.onkalofilms.com BIGGEST PLANET PBS Distribution Vasco Xu CARDINAL X Sujata Day www.kevinlaufilms.com FUNKY PAWA Matthew Victor Pastor Walking Legend [email protected] Angie Wang cowboyandindianfilm@gmail. FANATIC Kartik Shah [email protected] [email protected] Ph.: (917) 940-1687 [email protected] comPh.: (310) 888-3200 My Ky Maati Baani Ph.: (61) 412290207 Ph.: (310) 880-5282 www.pbsdistribution.org Ph.: (650) 218-1016 www.cowboyandindianfilm.com Chanh Phuong Films [email protected] I CAN, I WILL, I DID www.walkinglegend.us/before-i- ALMOST ASIAN CELLS' AMUSEMENT DEER GOD [email protected] Ph.: +91-9930110204 Brian Yang got-famous/ Katie Malia PARK Tomorrow Mingtian Ph.: +84946828680 www.maatibaani.com 408 Films [email protected] BEST BUDS Ang Li [email protected] www.chanhphuongfilms.vn GEETA'S GUIDE [email protected] Naomi Iwamoto katiemalia.com [email protected] Ph.: (651) 252-5501 FATHER AND SON TO MOVING ON I WON'T MISS YOU [email protected] AND SO WE PUT GOLD- Ph.: (86) 18762673380 www.mingtianfilm.com Huong Nguyen Puja Mohindra Bernard Badion FISH IN THE POOL. BLOOMING NIGHT CHEE AND T DIAMOND ISLAND Tuvan Television Advertising Rainbow Productions [email protected] GALACOLLECTION Sol Ye Chops Films Bérénice Vincent Company Limited [email protected] Ph.: (408) 242-2352 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] FILMS DU LOSANGE [email protected] Ph.: (310) 975-5242 www.nuno.media Ph.: (323) 236-3718 www..com/chicagopuja Ph.: 81-368055088 www.cheeandt.com [email protected] Ph.: +84 4 3773 4868 I'M FINE www.facebook.com/blooming- www.galacollection.com tuvanmedia.com Lucretia Knapp nightfilm/ [email protected]

#LAAPFF2017 • 141 FILM PRINT & DIGITAL FILES SOURCES

IF I WERE ANY FURTHER AWAY LIPSTICK UNDER MIXED MATCH PAPA CLOUDY'S RELOCATION, ARKANSAS- SAVING SALLY I'D BE CLOSER TO HOME MY BURKHA Meditating Bunny Studio Inc. RESTAURANT AFTERMATH OF Rocketsheep Studio Rajee Samarasinghe Torsten Schulze [email protected] Studio Creature INCARCERATION [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Ph.: (778) 991-4533 [email protected] Vivienne Schiffer Ph.: +639178314319 Ph.: (949) 836-1439 Ph.: (49) 3061507505 www.mixedmatchproject.com www.studiocreature.com [email protected] www.rocketsheepstudio.com www.rajeesamarasinghe.com LITTLE LIGHTS MONDAY PEOPLE LIKE US Ph.: (281) 799-4359 SELFIE IM/PERFECTION Regie Espiritu Art and State, Inc. Leon Cheo www.relocationarkansas.com Kevin Shih Andrew Hida [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] REMEMBER Table For One [email protected] Ph.: (562) 348-8832 www.ArtandState.tv Ph.: (323) 518-9741 Shunsaku Hayashi [email protected] Ph.: (206) 290-8069 www.regieespiritu.com MONKEY www.leoncheo.com [email protected] Ph.: (949) 885-6358 www.andrewhida.com LOLA LOLENG Jie Shen PERSIMMONS www.shunsakuweb.com SEMIOTICS OF SAB IN THE MOUNTAINS Che Tagyamon [email protected] Huay-Bing Law REORIENTATIONS Tina Takemoto Mengxue Xiao [email protected] Ph.: (86) 13122606941 [email protected] Wanda Vanderstoop Queer Camp Productions [email protected] Ph.: (63) 9777028175 MOTHERLAND PLEASE COME AGAIN [email protected] [email protected] Ph.: (86) 13071185917 LOS ANGELES, 1999 Luke Bralwye Alisa Yang Ph.: (416) 351-1317 Ph.: (415) 510-9076 INSECT BITE Paul Lee [email protected] [email protected] www.vtape.org SEPARAR KIAFA[AniSEED] [email protected] Ph.: +442072536244 Ph.: (408) 691-6067 RESISTANCE AT Pablo Velazquez-Martin [email protected] Ph.: (609) 947-0197 wwwdogwoofglobal.com PLEASE HOLD TULE LAKE [email protected] Ph.: (82) 2-313-1030 www.tinypaul.com NORMAN JONES Jerell Rosales Konrad Aderer SEPPUKU www.kiafa.org LOST DOGS Mike Sakamoto [email protected] [email protected] Daryn Wakasa INVISIBLE POINT Chris Lee [email protected] Ph.: (310) 617-2035 Ph.: (347) 262-9646 Foment Films Inc. Tanin Torabi [email protected] Ph.: (310) 561-2891 www.jerellrosales.com www.resistanceattulelake.com [email protected] [email protected] Ph.: (818) 280-7437 www.mikesakamoto.com POP AYE RIDE, THE Ph.: (323) 828-0560 Ph.: 353897048020 www.lostdogsareneverfound.com OCCASIONALLY, I SAW Graham Swindoll Jeff Adachi www.seppukufilm.com JOSHUA: TEENAGER MARIA GLIMPSES OF HAWAI‘I [email protected] [email protected] SHE JANG VS. SUPERPOWER Jaime Habac Jr. Christopher Makoto Yogi PRIA SAMPAGUITA LOVE Richard S. Chung Jackie Berkowitz TBA Film Productions [email protected] Valerie Castillo Martinez Gail Gutierrez Korepino Thinktank Prod. [email protected] [email protected] Ph.: (808) 561-0820 Indieflip [email protected] [email protected] KING OF PEKING Ph.: 639173118144 www.nahwave.com [email protected] Ph.: (323) 813-4245 Ph.: (626) 807-8862 Melanie Ansley www.tba.ph ONE EIGHTIETH OF www.priashortfilm.com SANTA CLAUS SHE'S THE BOSS [email protected] MARIA ZHANG TIANYI PROM Jeff Man Anderson Le Ph.: (310) 733-0693 Karin Williams Shuhan Fan Imran J. Khan [email protected] Old Photo Films www.pekingpictures.com [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Ph.: (240) 447-7497 [email protected] LILY Ph.: (64) 21-02312344 Ph.: (224) 420-6846 Ph.: (650) 440-8936 SAVE MY SEOUL SINGLE MOTHER www.multinesia.com www.shuhanfan.com Angela Park PSYCHEDELIC Jubilee Project ONLY DAUGHTER [email protected] MELE MURALS OUR TIME AFTERNOON [email protected] Ellie Wen Ph.: (310) 850-7479 Tad Nakamura Arpita Kumar UrumaDelvi Productions Inc. www.jubileeproject.org [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Ph.: (310) 666-7858 Ph.: (415) 860-4808 Ph.: (813) 6804-7264, www.arpitakumar.com www.urumadelvi.info

142 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017 FILM PRINT & DIGITAL FILES SOURCES

SIT SWIPED THE ROAD PERPETUATE UNDER THE SAME SKY WONDERLAND Chris Ruiz David Chai TO MANDALAY Layla Hanohano-Tripp Yoyo Li Tiffanie Hsu [email protected] [email protected] UDI [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Ph.: (213) 400-8014 Ph.: (408) 813-8919 [email protected] Ph.: (808) 345-2249 Ph.: (310) 486-0207 Ph.: (917) 412-9265 www.suzuproductions.com www.houseofchai.net Ph.: +33148704656 TOENAIL WATER! wonderlandshort.com SLEEP TIGHT MARIA TAG www.urbangroup.biz Jingyi Shao Yi Zhong Film Production YELLOW Kalyana Shira Films Patrick Green THE ROBE [email protected] [email protected] Chris Chan Lee [email protected] [email protected] We Ra Aung Ph.: (973) 986-1847 Ph.: (86) 13520656360 [email protected] Ph.: +622122715850 Ph.: (323) 356-4195 [email protected] www.jingyishao.com WELCOME TO MY LIFE www.chrischanlee.com SLEEPING WITH TAXI STORIES Ph.: (959) 501-7517 TOKYO IDOLS Megan Nairn www.greenagefilm.com THE DEVIL Avalon Films EyeSteelFilm [email protected] FROM PACIFIC Alisa Yang [email protected] THE SOUL OF bob@.com, www.cartoonnetworkstudios.com ARTS MOVEMENT: [email protected] Ph.: (31) 648617964 THE TIGER Ph.: +15149374893 WET SAND: VOICES DAVID AND GOLIATH Ph.: (408) 691-6067 www.avalonfilms.nl Xavier Grin www.eyesteelfilm.com FROM L.A. www.sleepingwiththedevil.com THE DARK WIND P.S. Productions.ch TOUGH Dai Sil Kim-Gibson LIVING IN FREEDOM SMALL TALK Mîtosfilm [email protected] Jennifer Zheng [email protected] MOTHERLANDS Ph.: (41) 21-922-03-72 Gene Merker [email protected] [email protected] Ph.: (917) 521-2954 PERFECT IMPERFECTION www.ps-productions.ch The Film Collaborative Ph.: 00493054719462 Ph.: +44(0)7828623062 WEXFORD PLAZA [email protected] [email protected] www.mitosfilm.com THE SOWER www.jenniferzheng.co.uk Highway 401 Films Inc. Ph.: (949) 842-4190 Ph.: (213) 841-2748 THE DRONE Yosuke Takeuchi TOURING [email protected] www.PacArts.org SNOWBERT MEETS AND THE KID K-Zone Dean Yamada www.wexfordplazafilm.com [email protected] THE MOON Imran J. Khan [email protected] WHITE TUNNEL FROM THE UCLA Ph.: +81(0)7065784583 Allisyn Ruttle [email protected] TURN LEFT Bicycle Studio CENTER FOR [email protected] Ph.: (650) 440-8936 THE STREETS ARE OURS: TWO TURN RIGHT [email protected] ETHNOCOMMUNICATIONS: SOUNDS LIKE THE THE LAST TIP LIVES CROSS IN KARACHI Anti-Archive Ph.: +886933062209 MUSCLES & MASCARA Fawzia Mirza SOUND OF MUSIC Patrick Xi Hao Chen [email protected] www.cobilin123.wixsite.com/bicy- PHETMIXAY MEANS FIGHTER Bruce Yonemoto [email protected] [email protected] Ph: +855-85-666-035, cle-films-studio THE OTHER SIDE [email protected] Ph.:(312) 399-7981 Ph.: (347) 774-1838 www.antiarchive.com WHO IS ARTHUR CHU? Janet Chen Ph.: (213) 804-5688 www.fawziamirza.com www.twitter.com/chenxihao TWO-SIDED RIDE Arthur Chu Film, LLC. Center for EthnoCommunications bruceyonemoto.com THE TREES OF EDEN THE LOCKPICKER Jason Karman [email protected] UCLA Asian American Studies Center Dwight Hwang STORY OF SELF Lockpicker Productions Inc. [email protected] Ph.: (213) 284-6928 Ph.: (310) 206-8889 [email protected] Set Hernandez Rongkilyo [email protected] Ph: 604-329-9099 www.arthurchufilm.com [email protected] Ph.: (949) 600-3730 [email protected] Ph.: (416) 788-2289 www.jasonkarman.ca WINDOW HORSES www.aasc.ucla.edu/ethno/default.htm Ph.: (818) 792-3688s THE PURSUIT OF A THREE SASSY SISTERS UNBROKEN GLASS Jane Gutteridge, SUGAR PLUM DREAMS HAPPY HUMAN LIFE Kalyana Shira Films Diane Quon National Film Board kat thompson Gladys Ng [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Ph.: +622122715850TO www.unbrokenglassfilm.com Ph.: (416) 954-3396

Ph.: (626) 975-4623 www.nfb.ca www.katthompson.tumblr.com

#LAAPFF2017 • 143 FILM PRINT & DIGITAL FILES SOURCES Pechanga Resort & Casino FROM VISUAL TIFFANY - THE ART COMMUNICATIONS OF COMING OUT (ARMED WITH A CAMERA): WASTEFUL is proud to be the 127 HOURS WITH A LITTLE HELP A TIME TO BLEED FROM MY FRIEND DISINTEGRATION 93-96 Visual Communications 120 Judge John Aiso Street EMMA AND THE BUTT Los Angeles, CA 90012 “Presenting Sponsor of the HUM Ph. (213) 680-4462 NUWA [email protected] SHUT IT ALL DOWN www.vconline.org THE COGMILL KIDS Visual Communications FROM FILAM CREATIONS: Closing Night Gala” 120 Judge John Aiso Street A FILMMAKER MOVEMENT: Los Angeles, CA 90012 COLORED HEARTS Ph. (213) 680-4462 FINDING RONWE [email protected] I DON'T LOVE YOU www.vconline.org LOLO PEPE FROM VISUAL MADEIRA COMMUNICATIONS MAN OF MY DREAMS (DIGITAL HISTORIES): MISS UNDERSTANDING A MATTER OF TRUTH PLAZA BLVD IN PLAIN SIGHT THE LAST STRAW INSIDE NIHON BUYO THE LEGEND OF THE MY CHINESE BASKETBALL GHOST Play on Another Level VOTED #1 U.S. CASINO SOUTHERN ROOTS - UNCLE EDDY BEFORE LYNWOOD WHAT YOU DON'T SAY OUR TORRANCE FARM - filamcreative.wordpress.com by USA Today LIFE BEFORE LYNWOOD CASINO | RESORT | DINING | ENTERTAINMENT | SPA | GOLF RETURNING TO .S. CA T U SIN ES O HEART MOUNTAIN B STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES

Management reserves all rights. Must be 21 or over to gamble. P E O C N Problem Gambling Help Line 800.522.4700. H I A S N A G C A T & 10Best.com ©2016 Gannett-10Best.com RESOR 877.711.2WIN | PECHANGA.COM | 45000 PECHANGA PARKWAY | I-15 • TEMECULA 144 • The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2017

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Play on Another Level VOTED #1 U.S. CASINO by USA Today CASINO | RESORT | DINING | ENTERTAINMENT | SPA | GOLF .S. CA T U SIN ES O B

Management reserves all rights. Must be 21 or over to gamble. P E O C N Problem Gambling Help Line 800.522.4700. H I A S N A G C A T & 10Best.com ©2016 Gannett-10Best.com RESOR 877.711.2WIN | PECHANGA.COM | 45000 PECHANGA PARKWAY | I-15 • TEMECULA

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VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS Connecting Communities Through Media Arts 120 Judge John Aiso St. Los Angeles, CA 90012