Asian Pacific Film Festival

This thing looks about as vast as Asia and the Pacific themselves. I can't begin to figure out how to navigate it. Below is as comprehensive a press release as I could get. Good luck.

24TH ANNUAL LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY HONDA
PRESENTS LINE UP
FOR MAY 1 - 8 WEEKLONG CINEMA BLOW OUT

VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS WILL PRESENT OVER 160 FILMS AND VIDEOS FROM
AROUND THE GLOBE IN THIS YEAR'S EXPANDED FEST INCLUDING WORLD
PREMIERES, PANELS AND A TRAVELING FESTIVAL PROGRAM ON A BUS - ALL
ABOARD!

Visual Communications (VC), the nation's premier Asian Pacific American
media arts center will host a program of extraordinary films at the
upcoming 24th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Presented by
Honda May 1 - May 8, 2008 at the Director's Guild of America (DGA),
Laemmle's Sunset 5 Theatres, ImaginAsian Center, The National Center
for the Preservation of Democracy, and the Aratani/Japan America
Theatre.

For ticket and program information, a complete listing of sponsors and
partners, and to purchase tickets, log on to www.vconline.org or
contact Visual Communications at (213) 680-4462 x68. Tickets are on
sale now.

Formerly the VC FilmFest, this year VC officially changes the festival
name to the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Known globally as
Southern California's largest and most prestigious film festival of its
kind, the fest launches the celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month
through this year's slate of over 160 films and videos from both Asian
Pacific, American and Asian international directors.

In this year's outstanding crop of films, Asian American female
directors are featured prominently throughout the fest, kicking off
with Oscar® winning director Jessica Yu's comedy PING PONG PLAYA and
closing with the Australian director Tony Ayres' moving drama THE HOME
SONG STORIES starring Joan Chen in an award winning performance. This
year's global cinematic spotlight is a unique program of visionary
films from the Philippines.

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAMS

• OPENING NIGHT - Thursday, May 1 - DGA
PING PONG PLAYA - A Film by Jessica Yu - The Los Angeles premiere of
PING PONG PLAYA marks filmmaker Yu's comedy narrative feature debut
starring Jimmy Tsai, Roger Fan, Elizabeth Sung, Smith Cho, Andrew Vo,
Khary Payton, Javin Reid, Scott Lowell and Peter Paige

• CENTERPIECE FILM - Sunday, May 4 - DGA
KISSING COUSINS - A Film by Amyn Kaderali - Filmmaker Kaderali brings
his debut feature film to this year's festival starring Samrat
Chakrabarti, Rebecca Hazlewood, Gerry Bednob, Zack Ward, Jaleel White
and David Alan Grier

• CLOSING NIGHT - Thursday, May 8 - Aratani/Japan America Theatre
THE HOME SONG STORIES - A Film by Tony Ayres - Australian based
director Ayres brings a personal story starring the amazing Joan Chen
in one of her most powerful performances as a glamorous Shanghai
nightclub singer and a mother of two who migrates to Australia and
tries to begin a life for her family.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS
• THE XIN LU BUS TOUR OF L.A. - teaming up with local filmmaker and
longtime festival fave Ming-Yuen S. Ma, the Festival will present his
four part series the way it was always intended to be shown: as a
mobile bus tour of LA with the director.
• LA ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FEST FILMMAKER SEMINARS - this year panels
are open to filmmakers and to the general public that will include:
◦ TOKE 2: THE HAROLD & KUMAR STORY - join the writers/directors of
HAROLD & KUMAR: ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY - Jon Hurwitz and Hayden
Scholossberg - along with actor John Cho, as they discuss the films and
its franchise which has now achieved "classic" status amongst a new
generation.
◦ MEDIA MESSENGERS: ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICANS AND OUR POLITICAL VOICE -
meet the filmmakers, actors and media movers who have chosen to use
their craft and embraced the media tools and the internet to level the
political field and ensure that Asian Pacific American voices are being
heard.
◦ SUCCEEDING AT SCREENWRITING - Oscar® nominated film scribe Iris
Yamashita (LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA) will join renowned UCLA screenwriting
professors Kris Young and Weiko Lin in this screenwriters boot-camp
covering topics from pitching, choosing the right idea, character
sketches, treatments, structure, writing habits and other tools and
issues that help in developing a strong and successful script.
◦ VISUAL STORYTELLING - hailed cinematographer Matthew Libatique
(IRON MAN; REQUIEUM FOR A DREAM) is slated to be one of the guests on a
panel of visual geniuses featured in this panel of artists who have
mastered the lens to bring films to life visually.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: THE PHILIPPINES
This year, the global cinematic spotlight will be on the Philippines
with six films from Filipino international artists and two from
Filipino American directors. These new filmmakers are fast becoming the
"new wave of modern cinema" and the festival has cultivated some of the
best from these new visionaries:
◦ SLINGSHOT - Brilliante Mendoza
◦ FOSTER CHILD - Brilliante Mendoza
◦ TRIBU (TRIBE) - Jim Libiran
◦ YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS A CHILD OUTSIDE - John Torres
◦ NEO-LOUNGE - Joanna Vasquez Arong
◦ PHILIPPINE SCIENCE - Aureaus Solito
◦ SANTA MESA - Ron Morales
◦ THE SENSEI - Diana Lee Inosanto

2008 FEST HIGHLIGHT: ASIAN AMERICAN FEMALE FILMMAKERS
This year, an unprecedented number of 10 Asian American female
directors have feature films in our program. These include:

· PING PONG PLAYA - Jessica Yu
· NEVER FOREVER - Gina Kim
· YOURS TRULY, MISS CHINATOWN - Daisy Lin Shapiro
· OH SAIGON - Doan Hoang
· JOYFUL LIFE - Anita Chang
· WINGS OF DEFEAT - Risa Morimoto
· AGAINST THE GRAIN - Ann Kaneko
· LONG STORY SHORT - Christine Choy
· THE SENSEI - Diana Lee Inosanto
· CHANTS OF LOTUS - Fatimah Tobing Rony

FEATURE FILMS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

North America - USA and Canada:
• AGAINST THE GRAIN: AN ARTIST'S SURVIVAL GUIDE TO PERU (USA/Peru)
Dir: Ann Kaneko
• CONFESSIONS OF A SALESMAN (Canada) Dir: Ho Tam
• ETIENNE! (USA) Dir: Jeff Mizushima
• THE KILLING OF A CHINESE COOKIE (USA) Dir: Derek Shimoda
• KISSING COUSINS (USA) Dir: Amyn Kaderali
• LONG STORY SHORT (USA) Dir: Christine Choy
• NEVER FOREVER (USA/South Korea) Dir: Gina Kim
• OCEAN OF PEARLS (USA) Dir: Sarab Neelam
• OH, SAIGON (USA/UK/Vietnam) Dir: Doan Hoang
• OPTION 3 (USA) Dir: Richard Wong
• [OS] (USA) Dir: Ming-Yuen S. Ma
• PING PONG PLAYA (USA) Dir: Jessica Yu
• PRETTY TO THINK SO (USA) Dirs: Francis Hsueh, Steven Hahn
• SANTA MESA (USA/Philippines) Dir: Ron Morales
• SENSEI, THE (USA) Dir: Diana Lee Inosanto
• UP THE YANGTZE (Canada) Dir: Yung Chang
• WINGS OF DEFEAT (USA/Japan) Dir: Risa Morimoto
• YOURS TRULY, MISS CHINATOWN (USA) Dir: Daisy Lin Shapiro

International:
• BLACK HOUSE [Geom-eun jip] (South Korea) Dir: Shin Terra
• BLOOD BROTHERS (Hong Kong/Taiwan/PRC) Dir: Alexi Tan
• CHANTS OF LOTUS (Indonesia) Dirs: Nia diNata, Upi, Lasja F.
Susatyo, Fatimah Tobing Rony
• DRUMMER, THE (Hong Kong/Germany) Dir: Kenneth Bi
• FLOWER IN THE POCKET (Malaysia) Dir: Liew Seng Tat
• FOSTER CHILD (Philippines) Dir: Brilliante Mendoza
• FUCKIN' RUNAWAY (Japan) Dir: Motohashi Keita
• HAPPINESS (South Korea) Dir: Hur Jin-ok
• HOME SONG STORIES, THE (Australia) Dir: Tony Ayres
• JOYFUL LIFE (Taiwan) Dir: Anita Chang
• MADE IN KOREA: A ONE WAY TICKET SEOUL-AMSTERDAM (Netherlands) Dir:
In Soo Radstake
• NEO-LOUNGE (Peoples' Republic of China/Philippines) Dir: Joanna
Vasquez-Arong
• PHILIPPINE SCIENCE [Pisay] (Philippines) Dir: Auraeus Solito
• PLOY (Thailand) Dir: Pen-ek Ratanaruang
• QUICKIE EXPRESS (Indonesia) Dir: Dimas Djayadiningrat
• SLINGSHOT [Tirador] (Philippines) Dir: Brilliante Mendoza
• TRIBE [Tribu] (Philippines) Dir: Jim Libiran
• WIDE AWAKE [Riteon] (South Korea) Dir.: Lee Gyu-man
• YEARS WHEN I WAS A CHILD OUTSIDE (Philippines) Dir: John Torre