VAFF announces 2006 Festival line-up

Oct 20, 03:24 PM by administrator


For Immediate Release: Oct. 18, 2006

North American Asian Filmmakers To Focus On 10th Annual Vancouver Asian Film Festival

Vancouver, BC – The Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF) celebrates a landmark this November – it’s tenth anniversary, with its annual showcase of independent Asian films produced in North America with five days of features, shorts, documentaries and guest panelists. This year’s Festival runs November 1-5 with 14 selected program screenings covering 40 films and opens with a special presentation by writer-director Mina Shum – all at the Cinemark Tinseltown Theatres (88 West Pender St.).

On-site tickets and memberships are available at the VAFF Registration desk prior to each screening, and advance tickets and Festival passes may be purchased online at www.vaff.org. Attendees must be 18 years of age or older to attend and present a current VAFF membership card ($1 fee) to enter. For more info, please contact: info@vaff.org.

* Writer/Director Mina Shum Shares Her Creative Process:

Preceding the 14 programs of films on November 1st is a very special talk with award-winning writer/director Mina Shum, whose 1994 feature Double Happiness blazed a trail for emerging Asian Canadian filmmakers to follow. Mina will be giving a special look inside her screenwriting process with tips and clips she’ll provide insight as how to turn an idea into a successful screenplay.

* Vietnam War Drama Opens Festival:

This year’s line-up of films opens on Thursday November 2nd with the Canadian premiere of Ham Tran’s impressive feature debut JOURNEY FROM THE FALL – which captures the drama of the Vietnam war from a uniquely Vietnamese perspective – following the plight of one family after the fall of Saigon. In attendance will be writer-director Ham Tran.

* Canadian Director Closes Festival:

The Festival closes on Sunday November 5th with accomplished Canadian director Romeo Candido’s supernatural drama ANG PAMANA – THE INHERITANCE, about a Filipino-Canadian teenager and his sister who travel from Canada to the Philippines following the death of their grandmother. Beautifully shot, this suspenseful tale is drawn from Filipino folklore. In attendance will be Romeo Candido and producer/actress Caroline Mangosing.

* Funny Asians:

People love to laugh at themselves, and the “We So Funny” program is all about comedy – with a slant. RUCKUS!, is Dean Ishida’s short film spoofing boy-band music videos – and Sung H. Kim’s MIGHTY WARRIORS OF COMEDY is a documentary that follows San Francisco’s venerable Asian-American sketch comedy troupe 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors as they prepare to make their big move to L.A. Opening the program will be a unique live performance by Vancouver’s popular Pan-Asian sketch comedy team ASSAULTED FISH. The audience will be asked to go to the bathroom beforehand, lest they pee themselves during the show.

* Calling All Grace Lee’s in the Lower Mainland:

THE GRACE LEE PROJECT documents Korean-American filmmaker Grace Lee as she tries to figure out why everywhere she’s moved, everyone seems to know someone named “Grace Lee” – and why all Grace Lee’s seem to be stereotyped as nice, dutiful, piano-playing bookworms? Grace Lee searches for the Grace Lee’s that break the mold as she purses the notion of identity and provides hilarious answers to the question, “What’s in a name?” At this special screening on Friday November 3rd, VAFF will provide all Grace Lee’s who attend (proper I.D. required) with free admission in the hopes of one big photo opportunity. RSVP to: info@vaff.org. Also playing is Pia Massie’s NFB experimental SAYONARA SUPER 8.

* Asians In Action:

The Crime Time matinee program on Saturday kicks into high gear with 7 short films: Jonathan Ng’s NFB animation ASTHMA TECH is about a little boy who hopes to save the day despite his ailment; Rocky Jo’s $100,000 18-minute short pays tribute to Asian gangster flicks; J.P Chan’s DRY CLEAN ONLY has a night clerk visited by a couple who needs to “clean up”; local filmmaker John Penhall’s INCONVENIENCE is a cautionary tale about corner grocery store clerks and lottery tickets; Wenhwa Tsao’s WONTON looks at illegal immigrants ducking the law; award winning filmmaker and comic book writer Greg Pak’s SUPER POWER BLUES has a Japanese superheroine wanting to sleep with her boyfriend but has to save the world; and USC film grad Jerry Chan’s slick FAST MONEY follows the consequences of revenge and gang violence.

* Paint Your Doors Red:

For the Chinese, painting one’s front doors red is said to bring good luck, fortune and harmony to the household. In RED DOORS, ironically, the opposite occurs for the Wong family. Ed Wong, played by veteran actor Tzi Ma (*The Ladykillers*, The Quiet American) runs away from his dysfunctional life and family, including his wife and 3 daughters. First-time director Georgia Lee apprenticed with Martin Scorsese on Gangs Of New York and RED DOORS won the Tribeca Film Festival’s Best Narrative Feature made in New York.

* The Weekend Shootout:

The short film shootout contest is fast becoming a favourite annual event for new and experienced filmmakers – and the Asian heritage community throughout North America has embraced the idea of producing a film within 24 hours to 7 days. With the promise of credits, competition, camaraderie, and cash, these teams have produced some very fun and interesting films, including Ryan Tse’s web community spoof YOURSPACE, Donna Lee and Terra Poirier’s RATED F…FOR FART, Greg Pak’s HAPPY HAMPTONS HOLIDAY CAMP FOR TROUBLED COUPLES, and the top 3 winners from VAFF’s annual Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon include Jun Paul Obayashi’s BLUE GLASS, Alfred Liu’s RISE OF THE KITARA, and Marcus Sim’s AN OFFER.

* Two Panel Discussions & Screenings:

A pair of Program screenings are accompanied by panel discussions to help educate the public at large and to establish on-going dialogue between filmmakers and the various Asian communities. Is political correctness a positive force, or is it behaviour that should be feared?

How hyphenated Asians in Canada identify or label themselves is examined in Felix Cheng’s documentary CANADIAN-CHINESE and in Anne-Marie Nakagawa’s NFB film, BETWEEN: LIVING IN THE HYPHEN – followed by a discussion panel with UBC professor Glenn Deer, writer and editor Alexis Kienlen, journalist Craig Takeuchi, and moderated by social artist and facilitator Rupinder Sidhu.

When is politically incorrect humour funny and empowering, and when is it considered racist? Excerpts from two of the Festival’s films, MIGHTY WARRIORS OF COMEDY and Vancouver filmmaker Nilesh Patel’s BROCKET 99 – ROCKIN’ THE COUNTRY will lead Sunday’s panel discussion with Rhoda Gravador, a member of the sketch comedy team 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors, Kuan Foo: Assaulted Fish sketch performer, Rob Ho: SFU professor, and moderator Tom Chin, an over-hyphenated writer, performer, director and standup comedian.

* Asians From Foreign Lands:

Balancing the North American offerings at this Festival are two features from Asia, both comedies. From Hong Kong is Wai Ka-Fai’s romp about love and obsession, THE SHOPAHOLICS, and preceded by Josh Kim’s short, THE POLICE BOX. And from Japan is Shosuke Murakami’s manga-based TRAIN MAN: DENSHA OTOKO, where a young geek falls in love and leaves the comfort of his technology.

* Lotsa Docs:

This year’s Festival has a record number of selections in the documentary category. Along with the previously named titles, is Saturday’s matinee program of documentaries about family. Growing up in capitalistic Canada with a dad who is a Communist is explored in Karin Lee’s COMRADE DAD. Anita Wen-Shin Chang’s 62 YEARS AND 6,500 MILES is a biography of her grandmother who was an award-winning writer and an activist with the Taipei Women’s Rights Organization. And Xiaoli Zhou’s THE WOMEN’S KINGDOM, about a free love society dominated by the women in a minority tribe in China.

* The Animated Asian:

This year’s animation offerings include Tak Hoon Kim and In Pyo Hong’s PUBLIC BATH; Joe Chang’s FATHER AND SON; Jonathan Ng’s ASTHMA TECH; Andrea Shimizu’s A HAMSTER’S TAIL; Lillian Chan’s JAIME LO, SMALL AND SHY; and Hao Chen’s NEVER NOW.

* Made In Canada:

An entire program of wonderful all-Canadian shorts on Sunday afternoon that includes Jee Won Sul’s THE SHORTEST DREAM; Junwei Deng’s CIRCLE, Kathy Leung’s FINDING ROBOT; Ling Chiu’s ONCE A FISH; Renuka Jeyapalan’s BIG GIRL; and Mark Ratzlaff’s HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY.

The Vancouver Asian Film Festival Society (VAFF) is a not-for-profit organization that provides a forum for independent North American Asian filmmakers to showcase their work to both Asian and non-Asian audiences. The aim of VAFF is to foster an understanding and appreciation of these filmmakers and providing them a springboard to larger film festivals. And the Society endeavours to represent the often-ignored North American Asians caught between two cultures.

Media contact: Peter Leung, 604-220-1050 / media@vaff.org
Screener tapes: Barbara Lee, 604-728-7739 / info@vaff.org

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