38th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2022

Welcome to May and all of it’s tidings! One of the many celebrations honoring this month is that May is also known for Asian Pacific American heritage month. A month of showcasing and highlight all kinds of stories and prominent works from Asian Americans across the nation. Shining brightly among all of the stories are the ones showcased during the 38th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF)

OMAI by muralist and designer Jason Pereira

It is one of my favorite festivals in the city and one that I will always support. I remember accidentally stumbling into the festival to watch a movie with friends. We misunderstood the information about opening night ticket prices versus regular ticket prices, which is a significant difference. Thanks to a kind staff worker who pity on the ragtag group of broke college students, we were able to experience the festival. During the festivals opening night in 2007, I was one of many enthralled by the film, “Finding Bruce Lee.” I left that theater grounded by the realization that there more films featuring people like me, other Asian Americans. The next year, I volunteered and kept volunteering until I began covering the event for Fangirl Nation a few years ago.

Every year the festival never ceases to amaze me with the extremely diverse cinematic content from around the world. There has or will be a film that will touch upon every topic and genre. There are several featured narrative films, there are themed collections of short movies, documentaries, and more. It is a festival curated and worked with dedication to continually bring the stories of Asian Americans from all walks of life to the world. This is where Asian American community should also go to. Supporting the arts means supporting the voices.

LAAPFF festival will run for two weeks starting on May 5, 2022.

The screenings will be spread out among the following venues: Aratani Theatre @ Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, Tateuchi Democracy Forum @ Japanese American National Museum, and the Directors Guild of America.

To check out the festival go to: https://festival.vcmedia.org/2022/

Opening Day Lineup

● The World Premieres of 20th edition of Armed With A Camera showcase, a fellowship for Emerging Media Artists to develop the next generation of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander artists to connect our communities through the power of our stories.
● The Los Angeles Premiere of Alika Tengan debut feature EVERY DAY IN KAIMUKĪ following its World Premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
● Anam Abbas THIS STAINED DAWN, a powerful look Karachi’s feminists who organise a woman’s march, coming up against Pakistan’s state, media and radical religious right

Centerpiece Weekend
The festival continues at the DGA Theater with the Centerpiece Weekend featuring:
● The North American Premiere of Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s THE ASSAULT, fresh from its World Premiere at IFF Rotterdam and the first film from Kazakhstan to screen at the festival.
● New feature filmmaker David Siev’s SXSW Audience Award and Special Jury prize winner BAD AXE, a moving look at his in a rural Michigan, as they now fight to keep their restaurant alive in the face of a global pandemic, racial reckoning, and generational scars from the Cambodian Killing Fields.
● Festival alum Tom Huang’s family dramedy DEALING WITH DAD starring Ally Maki, Hayden Szeto, And Peter S. Kim.
● First time filmmakers Eugene Yi and Julie Ha’s Sundance sensation FREE CHOL SOO LEE focusing on the story of a Korean American death row inmate convicted of a 1973 Chinatown gangland murder in San Francisco, and the activists who led a pan-Asian American movement to free him .
● Award winning director Ham Tran’s Vietnamese sci-fi kids adventure MAIKA. When a meteor falls to earth, 8-year-old Hung meets an alien girl from the planet Maika, searching for her lost friend.
● Fresh new feature filmmaker Martika Ramirez Escobar’s Sundance Special Jury Winner LEONOR WILL NEVER DIE.
● Emerging filmmaker Renuka Jeyapalan’s debut feature STAY THE NIGHT will screen following its World Premiere at SXSW.

Additional Festival Highlights
● The LA Premiere of WATERMAN, Isaac Halasima’s look at Native Hawaiian and surfing icon Duke Kahanamoku, narrated by Jason Momoa.
● MSNBC Anchor Richard Lui’s latest film HIDDEN WOUNDS which profiles three families at the intersection of mental health and caregiving.
● The West Coast premiere of DELIKADO, an environmental thriller on how corrupt corporate and political interests are swallowing small Indigenous communities in the Philippines, and across the globe.
● Young Min Kim's narrative feature debut DAWNING, a chilling psychological thriller.
● Special Presentation of FRAN ROCKSTAR!, a retrospective of short films celebrating one of VC’s beloved veterans of the Digital Histories program, Frances Ito, Ito who will celebrate her 90th birthday this year, will also celebrate the world premiere of her 12th film at this year’s fest.
● The LA Premiere Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan’s THE HEADHUNTER’S DAUGHTER, winner of the Sundance Short Film Grand Jury Prize.
● The latest film from acclaimed Philippine director Mikhail Red’s – the revenge thriller ARISAKA - which follows a policewoman who has to retrace the route of the Bataan Death March to escape her captors.
● The LA premiere of BUSAN, 1999, a drama from Thomas Percy Kim that follows a Korean-American woman return to her mother's rustic home.
● Deann Borshay Liem’s CROSSING, which looks at a group of international women peacemakers sets out on a risky journey across the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.
● Acclaimed musician Kishi Bashi explores the legacy of Japanese American internment through his music in his directorial debut OMOIYARI: A SONG FILM BY KISHI BASHI, co-directed with Justin Taylor Smith which premiered at SXSW.
● Legacy Award presented to Mira Nair, which will include a Special Anniversary screening of SALAAM BOMBAY!, her acclaimed breakthrough feature film.
● The North American premiere of the animated feature THE GIRL FROM THE OTHER SIDE, adapted from a manga series by the same name and directed by Yutaru Kubo and Satomi Maiya.