MEDIA CONTACT: Nadine Jolson 310-614-3214 Desirae Vivian 310-989-8944 Email: JolsonCreativePRgroup.com

Asian World Festival Snags East West Artists’ Jaeson Ma as Director of International Relations to Help the Festival’s Mission to Bridge the Gap Between the Asian and Hollywood Film Communities.

LOS ANGELES, CA (8/11/15) - The Asian World Film Festival (AWFF), which is dedicated to bringing the best of a broad selection of Asian World cinema to , has added East West Artists (EWA) Co-Founder Jaeson Ma as Director of International Relations. The Festival slate will consist of select foreign language that have been officially submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) as their country’s Oscar® hopeful and those submitted to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) for Golden Globe consideration. AWFF has also enlisted several notable industry executives for its Honorary Board, including former studio executive Teddy Zee and executive producer (, ) as well as the former Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa. With TheWrap serving as the official media partner, AWFF will take place October 26- November 2, 2015 and is based at ArcLight Cinema in downtown Culver City and the luxury iPic Theaters in Westwood.

After recently teaming up with Ma on The Shack, starring Octavia Spencer, Sumire and Sam Worthington, producer Lani Netter secured Ma, recognizing his ability as a strategic consultant and producer, cultivating global Asian talents at EWA, (which is in partnership with Untitled Entertainment), and since his expertise directly aligns with AWFF’s goal of drawing greater recognition to an underrepresented region of talent and filmmakers.

“Jaeson Ma is an ideal partner and asset to AWFF because of his long established relationships with the Hollywood and Asian filmmaking industries. He's a trusted ally and invaluable addition,” said Netter, who serves as the Festival’s Director of Development and Philanthropy.

On joining the AWFF Board, Ma shared, “AWFF will showcase films and talents from the fastest growing region for entertainment, which is very exciting. There are many incredible films in that are not realized by the international marketplace but now they have a fighting chance to be recognized and celebrated at the highest level through AWFF."

The Festival’s Advisory Board welcomed producer Stefan Brunner, Shoreline Entertainment producer, Alex Flores, producer Medha Jaishankar, Emmy-winning TV and film director Jeremy Kagan, Igor Kokarev, scholar and expert on Soviet and American Film History, producer Brad Littlefield, producer and Founder and CEO of the Hollywood Film Academy Gia Noortas, South Korean film producer Keon-Seop Park, producer Eliyas Qureshi, producer Nick N. Raslan and Thomas Small, writer and Cultural Affairs Commissioner to the City of Culver City.

International film consultant and producer, Peter Belsito, His Royal Highness Prince Gharios of Ghassan, Hany Haddad, immediate Past Chair of Board of Directors at the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Lebanese philanthropist Maya Ibrahim, Amin Maalouf, best-selling author and member of the French Academy, Oscar®-winning producer Andre Morgan (Million Dollar Baby), director George Ovashvili, Hon. Roy Paul, judge for the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, South Korean film producer and distributor Chul Shin, community leader and Co-Founder of the Hollywood Schoolhouse, Ferris Wehbe, Weissman/Markovitz Communications Chairman and Co-Founder Murray Weissman and Korean activist and public figure Grace Yoo will serve on this year’s Honorary Board.

AWFF will open with a red carpet awards gala on Monday, October 26, recognizing celebrities and well-known foreign talent and filmmakers who have been major contributors throughout the Asian world film community, followed by seven days of films at ArcLight Cinema and the iPic Theater and with the closing night Festival Awards presented along with the closing night film on Monday, November 2. Throughout the week there will also be expert panels on subjects like film financing, distribution, PR, marketing and awards campaigns, editing for a global audience and more to be announced.

Films that will be accepted by the Festival include those from the 50 countries recognized by the Academy and HFPA. Priority will be given to those in the Best Foreign Language Film categories at the 88th Academy Awards and 73rd Golden Globes. In rare cases, the Asian World Film Festival will consider other outstanding films that are not in contention for the Oscars® or Golden Globes, but which have received critical acclaim on the international film festival circuit. More detailed guidelines are available at www.asianworldfilmfest.org/submissions.

The prizes given out are of significant value to enhance the awards campaign and will feature top prizes for Best Film, Jury Selection and Audience awards including TheWrap’s Awards Special Screening Series and full page ads in the Foreign Film and Oscar Wrap issues valued at over $50,000.

Media Contact: Nadine Jolson 310 614-3214 [email protected]

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About the Asian World Film Festival: We Champion, Recognize and Unite Through Cinema. The Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) brings the best of a broad selection of Asian World cinema to Los Angeles in order to draw greater recognition to the region's wealth of filmmakers, strengthening ties between the Asian and Hollywood film industries. Uniting through cross-cultural collaboration, our festival champions films from 50 countries across Asia spanning from Turkey to Japan and Russia to India. All films that participate in the Festival will have a unique chance to be guided through the challenging awards season, showcasing their foreign films to the Oscar® Academy, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and all Guilds for enhanced exposure, media attention and awards consideration. AWFF is a non-profit organization under Aitysh USA. www.AsianWorldFilmFest.org