Another year is here and we are excited about our 2nd Annual Asians On Film Festival, February 14-16, 2014 @ J.E.T. Studios in North Hollywood. This year we are screening 79 films! Even with that many, there were a whole bunch more the judges were considering but time and space requires hard decisions. As many of you know, there is no festival that works harder AND all year to promote films, filmmakers and actors from the festival. We are not just a one weekend event. Last years we had 3 summer screenings, and parternered with International Film Festival Manhattan to progam AOF shorts in October. We also cannot say enough about HollyShorts Film Festival programmers who have been such big supporters of us. As a final curtain call to 2013, they are screening 7 films from our 2013 festival at Mann’s Chinese Theater on January 30th @ 7:00PM. Please join us! Tickets for that event are avilable here: HollyShorts
FACEBOOK PAGES:
Asians On Film
Asians On Film Festival
YOUTUBE (Interviews):
Asians On Film
ASIANS ON FILM FESTIVAL SCEDULE
ASIANS ON FILM FESTIVAL 2014: TICKETS
Friday, February 14th @ 4:00PM
Picture. Perfect (Winston Titus Tao, Director) [USA] (24min)
A 17 year old amateur photographer’s chance of winning his school’s annual competition is jeopardized when his unsupportive, drug-abusive father steps into the picture.
“Picture. Perfect.” Trailer from The Tao Twins on Vimeo.
Oh, My Bag! (Seong Bong Lee, Director) [USA] (21min)
A Korean student comes to New York to experience a new life, but his plans are derailed when he loses his luggage.
Healthy (Gary Condes, Director) [UK] (14min)
An English-Vietnamese, thirty something, woman finds herself in a culturally sensitive situation and has to deal with it, or not as the case may be.
Hsu Ji (Behind the Screen) (Thomas Rio, Director) [France] (24min)
Hsu Ji is a little girl whose imagination is stronger than borders, building bridges between fiction and reality, life and death, until three slapstick characters leave their movie and enter her world.
hsu ji behind the screen trailer from thomas rio on Vimeo.
Friday, February 14th Opening Night Red Carpet 5:00-7:00PM
Friday, February 14th @ 7:00PM
Entrance Exam (Boqing Tang & Xiaolan Zeng, Directors) [China] (7min)
ANIMATION: Three little mice struggled to get through the entrance exam of a Tai Chi school.
Made In Chinatown (Kevin Lau, Director) [USA] (17min)
A frog, a seamstress and a factory king all collide in this tragic love story.
MADE IN CHINATOWN – Trailer from info@kevinlaufilms.com on Vimeo.
Back To Innocence (Eddie Lee, Director) [USA] (4min)
Every year, 1.2 million children are sold into sex trafficking. Most victims are either manipulated or abducted against their will. The Jubilee Project produced film to raise awareness about this injustice to help end sex trafficking.
Relativity (Davis Noir, Director) [USA] (21min)
An unforeseen event puts Hayden and the Li family to the test with a matter that concerns them all leaving everyone to question as a family, how relative is that connection?
“Relativity” Trailer from Davis Noir on Vimeo.
Red Dirt (Arnold Chun, Director) [USA] (13min)
Nathan works hard to provide for his family, yet in that respectful duty he loses more than just his family. Torn apart by dark circumstances, a part of him can never be brought back and in the end his loyalty is black and white. When there is nothing to live for, the end is all that matters.
Rock Springs (Lewei He, Director) [USA] (23min)
In Rock Springs, Wyoming, 1885, Tai Shan, a young Chinese man comes to search for his lost sister Lin and works with his uncle in a gold mine. During his search, he faces the racial discrimination against Chinese labors and a conflict that eventually turns into a massacre and puts Tai Shan in danger.
HEW (Laurie Tsou, Director) [USA] (10min)
In homage to Camille Claudel, mistress and muse to Auguste Rodin, this experimental drama explores the moment when a gifted sculptor lacerates her stoic reality through a turbulent and eye opening dream.
Friday, February 14th @ 9:00PM
Why I Write (Masahiro Sugano, Director) [Cambodia] (5min)
Khmer American exile Khiev Kosal, a poet and tattoo artist who resides in Phnom Penh after spending 14 years of his life in a U.S. prison, tells a piece of his story through the art of spoken word poetry reclaiming his place in the world as a free man in Cambodia, not America.
Burmese Refugee (Michael Tacca, Director) [USA] (20min)
San Aung, a refugee from Burma, has escaped his oppressive homeland now facing an uncertain future in America. Unable to work in his learned trade, San Aung slaves day after day in a dingy restaurant kitchen while his family is still stranded in a Thai refugee camp.
Burmese Refugee Teaser from Burmese Refugee on Vimeo.
Dawn (Leon Le, Director) [USA] (11min)
After Tye detects what he considers to be a racist glance from a stranger on the night train, a confrontation ensues. Before it’s over, Tye discovers a shocking truth about his own family and that the two strangers have more in common than they first suspected.
Dawn – Official trailer from leon le on Vimeo.
Two Weeks (Rodney To, Director) [USA] (10min)
Tina is just your average grade-schooler rehearsing Alice in Wonderland and waiting be a big sister, however, her father’s been acting pretty strange lately and Tina senses that something has changed, but no one will acknowledge her uncertain future. How far down the rabbit hole will she go when tragedy hits home?
Above the Waist (Tuyen Do, Director) [UK] (13min)
Ken, a former ladies man who has recently become a paraplegic, is helped by his close friend and caretaker, Sam, to shoot an introduction video for a dating website. Still having not fully come to terms with the condition of his body, he continuously attempts to pretend to be someone he is not and to conceal the truth, until he is forced, with the help of Sam, to ‘be himself’
Above The Waist – Outtake trailer from Andrew Koji on Vimeo.
Shino’s Show (Adam Watkins, Director) [UK] (10min)
A young Japanese woman, Shino, works at a prestigious London hairdressing school as a cleaner – except for that time once a month when her mother calls and she becomes a famous hairdresser.
Shino’s Show – Official Trailer from Horseshoe Boy on Vimeo.
Lil Tokyo Reporter (Jeffrey Chin, Director) [USA] (30min)
In 1935 Los Angeles, community leader Sei Fujii uncovers the corrupt activities of his community’s underground mafia and must choose between saving the face of his deteriorating community and confronting the issues head on through his newspaper. Based on a true story.
Saturday, February 15th @ 11:00AM
CRIME: The Animated Series (Sam Chou & Alix Lambert, Directors) [USA] (20min)
ANIMATION: From bank robbers to cops to victims to observers, Crime: The Animated Series explores how crime affects us all. The series is dark, compelling, heartbreaking, and yes – sometimes funny presenting a collection of unique perspectives on a subject that has captivated though-out time.
Box of Hearts (Asako Ushio, Director) [USA] (7min)
Cody, a single father, has a routine of making an elaborate bento/lunch box for his young daughter Jenny every morning, while enjoying a matured conversation with her. When Jenny points out that he is in love, he starts consulting her about his office crush with beautiful co-worker, Lindsey.
Gift (Daniel Yam, Director) [Singapore] (8min)
A son confronts the resentment towards his father only to realize his true intentions.
Words Apart (Po-Chin Chang, Director) [USA] (14min)
The relationship between Jackie and her mom explores the struggles of connection and honesty between family members. Until mother and daughter are vulnerable, they will not know how to truly love each other.
Abrupt Ending (Simeon Lumgair, Director) [UK] (6min)
Zoe is forced to come to terms with her past as she struggles to let go of something very dear.
Abrupt Ending Official Trailer [HD] from Simeon Lumgair on Vimeo.
What Remains (Sarita Khurana, Director) [USA] (14min)
Inspired by the experimental narrative films of Maya Deren and 1960s and 70s Bollywood cinema and song, this traditional ghost story explores memory, the construction of the self, and psychic trauma through a woman who returns to her childhood home only to discover her unsettling past.
Edge of Destruction (Fei Xiang, Director) [China] (31min)
Based on the hit science fiction theory of parallel universes, combined with the famous mysterious Chinese story about Small Goose Pagoda, a tour guide Hao from our universe meets Yo, the girl from the other universe. During the fight with the mutant soldiers from the other universe, Hao discovers his special and true identity, The Alpha. With others help, they fight their way through the obstacles to stop the time rift, in order to keep the balance between two universes.
Saturday, February 15th @ 1:00PM
Stronger (Max Zhang, Director) [Australia] (8min)
ANIMATION: Raising awareness of racism, the film lets people recognize the importance of being tolerant with other tribes and encourage people to be positive about the cultural diversity in Australia.
Memory of Forgotten War (Deann Borshay Liem & Ramsay Liem, Directors) [USA] (38min)
The human costs of military conflict are conveyed through deeply personal accounts of the Korean War (1950-1953) by four Korean-American survivors who take audiences through the trajectory of the war, from extensive bombing campaigns, to day-to-day struggle for survival, and separation from family members across the DMZ. Decades later, each reunites with relatives in North Korea and talk about the meaning of family loss.
She Is My Mom (Anqi Liu, Director) [China/USA] (16min)
A story about a single mother’s rebellious teenage daughter who learns about how to love and appreciate what she has after she causes the death of her mom.
The Happiest Person In America (Sara Israel, Director) [USA] (15min)
Is there a mathematical formula for achieving happiness? “The Happiest Person In America” explores this possibility, and one woman’s quest to learn from the one man who has perhaps mathematically “achieved” it.
Trailer: “The Happiest Person In America” from S. Israel on Vimeo.
Heat (Ki Young Kang, Director) [South Korea] (26min)
In the heat of a summer day, a cop is chasing after a rape suspect and meets a beautiful graduate student.
Saturday, February 15th @ 3:00PM
Love Thy Neighbor (Minho Ha, Director) [USA] (21min)
Ben, a young African-American boy with no mother figure in his life, and Jinsook a Korean woman who owns a liqueur store and is missing her daughter, fill their emptiness by forming a friendship when Jinsook hires Ben as a helper. Ben’s father, frustrated with the absence of his wife, disapproves of Ben’s new found work as their lives lead up towards the trial verdict of Rodney King that triggers the L.A. riots.
LOVE THY NEIGHBOR Trailer – A Short Film by Minho Ha and Associates from minho ha on Vimeo.
Red Fog (Fan He, Director) [China] (4min)
Year 2032, when the deadly Great Red Fog fades away in China, A father leads his daughter to meet her mom.
The Doctor of Bagram (Neil Paik, Director) [USA] (10min)
Inspired by the filmmaker’s journalism experience covering the efforts of an American trauma surgeon at the Craig Joint Theater Military Hospital in Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, an embittered American trauma surgeon confronts his demons while treating wounded civilians and soldiers ravaged by the horrors of war.
The Doctor of Bagram – Official Trailer (2013) from Neil M. Paik on Vimeo.
My Mother’s Jade (Irene Young, Director) [USA] (18min)
East meets West in this all too familiar drama about a tiger mom, her teen daughter, jade, culture clash, and white boyfriends.
The Dressmaker’s Daughter (David Lim, Director) [USA] (26min)
Barbara Kim was raised in Hawaii by a widowed mother and skilled dressmaker. Although she dreamed of becoming a broadcaster, her life takes an unexpected turn when her mother falls ill. While Barbara works to support her ailing mother, a popular TV show is in need of a new host when the producer makes an important discovery that leads him to Barbara Kim. Based on a true story.
Crossings (Amos Ezra Katz, Director) [Singapore] (18min)
Jae needs to make it to his brother’s wedding, but he just gave his only train ticket to a beautiful backpacker. Who will make it to their final destination?
Saturday, February 15th @ 5:00PM
Handi & V (Fenway Fan, Director) [USA] (6)
ANIMATION: After grandma Handi has passed away, grandpa V lives in sadness until one day he finds a picture missing from their photo album and he starts to wander on a journey through time.
Handi & V trailer from HH.F on Vimeo.
JesusCat [or How I Accidentally Joined a Cult] (Julia Morizawa & Shaina Vorspan, Directors) [USA] (88min)
An improvisational mockumentary about a vlogger, a cat, a cult, and the second-coming of Jesus Christ.
Saturday, February 15th Red Carpet 6:00PM – 7:00PM
Saturday, February 15th @ 7:00PM
Impression-XPS160 (Tiyam Yabandeh Jahroumi, Director) [Iran] (14min)
In a post-apocalyptic world, a blind photographer lives alone in a dark room with only the memories of his dead wife.
Redux (Matty Castano, Director) [USA] (6min)
When the world is on the verge of a mysterious shift, two embittered friends reunite to make peace with each other and soon discover that in the end, there is always a new beginning.
Ms. 3PM (Alain Matz, Director) [USA] (11min)
A mysterious woman arrives at a house to complete a job. Unfortunately, things don’t go quite as smoothly as they normally do and soon she must outwit, out gun and out fight some unwelcomed guests.
“Ms. 3pm” Official Trailer from Candiland Productions on Vimeo.
Hit Girls (Adrian Castro & Maria Tran, Directors) [Australia] (17min)
Two mismatched killer assassins are reaching their breaking point in their tag team partnership and must look past their differences when they take on an unusual undercover school girl assignment and take down a multi-millionaire, playboy who was their former primary school crush. Will this be their last assignment?
Love Hurts (Albert Lopez, Director) [USA] (32min)
Growing up as an orphan on the streets, all Ben ever wanted was a family. At the age of twelve—homeless and desperate, he was taken in by Milton and raised to be the ultimate killer. Because of the abuse and harsh discipline he endured, Ben’s heart was never fully in the assassination game.
LOVE HURTS: official trailer 2013 from Albert Lopez on Vimeo.
Honeymoon Suite (Zao Wang, Director) [China] (14min)
Service is the top priority at a posh boutique hotel in Beijing, China, so when a mysterious American guest wreaks havoc, the new guest service manager must take charge to tame this beastly terror of a man while risking her own life to protect his secret and the hotel’s reputation.
Honeymoon Suite Trailer from Zao Wang on Vimeo.
Saturday, February 15th @ 9:00PM
Fat Cory (Kun Yang, Director) [USA] (6min)
ANIMATION: A caterpillar named Cory saves walking tree creatures from a cyborg mining monster.
The Gauntlet (Matt Eskandari, Director) [USA] (80min)
In a sunken castle underneath the earth, five strangers wake. They have no food, no memory, no water, and no way out. They don’t know it yet, but in hell only their sins can save them. They must organize and band together for the sinister adventure that awaits them.
Sunday, February 15th @ 11:00AM
Beneath the Surface of Asia’s World City (Jody-Lan Castle, Director) [UK/Hong Kong] (14min)
5% of Hong Kong’s population is made up of Filipino, Indonesian, Indian, Pakistani and Nepali people. Though many of them were born in the city and consider it their home, the local Chinese community doesn’t necessarily feel the same way. Many non-Chinese locals struggle to deal with discrimination in education, work and everyday life.
Beneath the Surface (2013) [Trailer] from Jody-Lan Castle on Vimeo.
Inter-mezzo (Part 1) (Stephen Chen, Director) [Canada] (12min)
An experimental triptych that treats the voice as a metaphor for political voice, Stephen Chen traces his journey as a male mezzo, faced with prejudice and marginalization back in Singapore, and later in North America. The schooling and suppression of his voice becomes interwoven with his experiences of colonialism and exile.
Rainy Season (Joan Widdifield, Director) [Vietnam/USA] (20min)
A rubber tree farming family comes to grips with their changed lives after their youngest son finds a leftover American mortar.
One Child (Zijian Mu, Director) [USA] (47min)
The 2008 Sichuan earthquake, China’s deadliest disaster in three decades, killed 90,000 people, including thousands of children. For the majority of families in China, losing one child means losing their only child. One Child follows the journey of three families, all from the devastated city of Beichuan, as they struggle to move past their loss and long for normalcy.
One Child – Trailer from Zijian Mu on Vimeo.
Sunday, February 16th@ 1:00PM
Waiting For Godot (Caitlin Pashalek, Director) [USA] (5min)
MUSIC VIDEO: In this high-art video, Janina Gavankar plays two sides of the same person struggling to find herself lost in a vast plain.
Support Group (William DeWitt, Director) [USA] (5min)
Women bond through shared experiences and find that empowerment comes from taking action. It’s not about revenge or violence, it’s about justice.
Heavy (Kim Noonan, Director) [USA] (8min)
After a drunken one night stand, a thirty-something guy tries to leave the morning after, but decides to stay and redeem himself when he realizes the woman he slept with has cancer.
Keye Luke (Timothy Tau, Director) [USA] (12min)
A mix of stage play, Hollywood re-enactment and historical lesson, the film examines and celebrates the life and early career of Keye Luke, an artist, painter and pioneering actor most known for playing the original Kato in the 1940s Green Hornet, the All-American “Number One Son” in the Charlie Chan films, and Detective James Lee Wong in the Phantom of Chinatown.
A Tibetan Marriage (Lu Liu, Director) [USA] (18min)
Gongbu spent a couple of years in the city and changes his mind about the idea of a Tibetan marriage. He doesn’t want to be in a relationship with a wife he shares with his younger brother. Will he be able to achive what he wants?
A Tibetan Marriage Trailer from bernicelu on Vimeo.
Memories of Hideki (Wesley Huang, Director) [USA] (13min)
Harumi, a young Japanese woman, takes care of her father Hideki who has Alzheimers, and reads his diary that is composed of shared memories that she realizes only exist for her with the passage of time.
Mei Fung (Dayana Gauthier, Director) [Venezuela] (12min)
Far from his native China, Yuan tries to keep his musical heritage alive in his son Mighn. This is complicated when Migh discovers his dream to be a Mariachi.
Princess 56 (Ya-Ting Hsu, Director) [Taiwan] (20min)
Young little Hsin, believes that no matter how difficult her situation is, as long as she believes in the fairy from a story her deceased mother used to tell her, the fairy will come to help. When Hsin’s father gets into trouble after a car accident, she sees just how powerless he is, how helpless she is, and flees into her favorite fairy tale to find a way to help her father.
Sunday, February 16th @ 3:00PM
Sunset By the Window (Stephanie Chu, Director) [USA] (4min)
MUSIC VIDEO: Sometimes we cannot stop ourselves from rereading the diary of ones enjoyments and struggles.
Still (William Lu, Director) [Netherlands] (16min)
STILL is a dance film that tells a story about longing, loss, and connection. Disjointed dialogues, empty embraces, and opposing desires impede the young man’s waking hours as he struggles to come to terms with his reality.
Couple In the Bedroom (Wen Ren, Director) [USA] (18min)
A young couple, an actor and musician, reminisce through vivid photography of their time together before pursuing their individual dreams.
Iris (Justin S. Lee, Director) [USA] (6min)
In the near future, when status has become more important than ever before, a woman with a fake identity must decide how far she’s willing to go to move up the social ladder.
Disconnection (Steven Krimmel, Director) [USA] (10min)
A couple in a long distance relationship has a nightmare of communication issues as they struggle to save their relationship over webcam.
I Think About You Sometimes (Emma Wang, Director) [USA] (10min)
When Allie gets a phone call from her ex Mark at four in the morning, she decides to meet him at their favorite bar.
ColorLines (Tallie Brinson, Director) [USA] (15min)
Reggie Parks, Asian, feeling disconnected from his adopted African American family, has abandoned them as an adult. Going home after news of his mother’s passing, he must face his past and the broken relationship with his brother Jamal.
Lee’s Market (Jing Shao, Director) [USA] (15min)
Pete Lee, a 25 year old Korean American, has minded his family’s convenience store, situated in a predominantly Black neighborhood, for most of his life. Pete is tired of feeling isolated from the surrounding community. When racial graffiti makes him feel threatened he begs his mother to sell the store.
Sunday, February 16th @ 5:00PM
Asian American Film Lab 72 Hour Shootout Top Ten 2013 [USA] (55min)
Ins & Outs (Kurt Uy, Team Captain)
Ride along with Agents Jackson and Washington as they keep Our Country safe from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Sometimes they’re hiding in the last place you’d think to look.
INS & Outs from Nelson Eusebio on Vimeo.
The Interview (Migina Tsai, Team Captain)
Welcome Home (William Lex Ham, Team Captain)
A gritty, yet seductive thriller about two con men who collide after a robbery.
Two Pieces (Kamran Khan, Team Captain)
Two hit men baby sit the boss’s nephew and find themselves in over their heads.
Drawing Lines (Steven Gee, Team Captain)
Dirty Knees (Chris Ruiz, Team Captain)
Reindeer Games (Michael Tow, Team Captain)
The Bought (Tony Ho Loke, Team Captain)
The Follow Home (Jesse Chui, Team Captain)
Good Morning America (Kevin Chew, Team Captain)
Cooking With Venus (Glen & Shaun Vivaris, Directors) [USA] (3min)
Inter-planetary television chef Venus Ganymede shares her secrets to conquering a deadly recipe.
Secondary Education (Jon Truei, Director) [USA] (12min)
Three high school students discover that their Chemistry teacher has been living a secret double life as a crime-fighting Power Ranger when during an after school detention, they unwittingly become embroiled in a showdown with an escaped mutant lobster.
Kidnappers (Ben Knight, Director) [Australia] (7min)
When two dudes kidnap a guy named Syd Walker, the wheels of Karma start turning, and Karma’s a bitch.
Sunday, February 16th Red Carpet 6:00PM – 7:00PM
Sunday, February 16th @ 7:00PM
Dear My Son (Will Kim, Director) [USA] (1min)
ANIMATION: Will Kim’s visual letter, that he traditionally animated and painted with watercolor, for his son Noah’s first Birthday.
Tiger Mask (Ken Ochiai, Director) [Japan] (91min)
Naoto is an orphan raised in the Tiger Lair, a mysterious organization with one goal: to breed fighters for high-stakes death matches. Under a tutelage master, Naoto matures into the most elite of fighters, however, the death of his friend causes him to question his master’s teachings and seek escape.
Sunday, February 15th @ 9:00PM (Awards)
Recent Comments