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AAIFF’12 Award Winners

Media Contact                                                                                                                                   
Dominika Peszko
212.989.1422
press@asiancinevision.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                

              Asian American International Film Festival Announces 2012 Award Winners

New York, NY – (August 6, 2012) – Asian CineVision (ACV) is proud to announce the award-winning feature and short films of the 35th Annual Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF).

“This is an excellent year for independent Asian and Asian American filmmaking, we are so thrilled to continue to support the work of these artists and to foster support for the arts in the larger community,” says Festival Director Sophia Giddens.

“It has been an extremely competitive year for the juried award, all the nominated films are so unique in their own way, it was a tough job for the jurors to pick a winner,” says Program Director Martha Tien.

This year the Asian American International Film Festival featured 50 New York premieres-narrative and documentary features, and shorts-of all genres from The Philippines, Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea, UK, Canada and across the Asian Diaspora.

The following awards are audience choice awards:

The One to Watch Award was presented to director Jayshree Janu Kharpade for her short film FIRE IN OUR HEARTS. Eligible films were screened in the shorts program FOR YOUTH BY YOUTH, written and directed by talented youths between the ages of 15 and 20. FIRE IN OUR HEARTS is an autobiographical film written and directed by a 15-year-old schoolgirl, Jayshree Janu Kharpade, who was born to an indigenous family (aka tribals) that have been disenfranchised at the very bottom of India’s poverty ladder. With a strong courage to learn and conviction to give back to others, Jayshree documents her family and village, as well as the tenacious efforts of the tribal union for the equal rights to education, thanks to which she is able to attend a school for tribal girls.

The Audience Choice Award for Documentary Feature was presented to A LOT LIKE YOU, directed by Eliaichi Kimaro. Tender, intellectual, and reflective, director/writer Eliaichi Kimaro explores her intricate identity as a Tanzanian-Korean mixed-race, first-generation American in her award-winning documentary. A LOT LIKE YOU lodges a personal lens to the perception of postcolonial and immigrant histories, confidently and sincerely bringing out the conversation between the individual, family and culture.

The Audience Choice Award for Narrative Feature was presented to MODEL MINORITY, directed by Lily Mariye. L.A. teenagers must survive the treacherous world of peer pressure, drug dealers, juvenile hall and dysfunctional families. Kayla, an underprivileged Japanese American girl with a drug addict mom and an alcoholic dad, endangers her promising future as an artist when she becomes involved with a drug dealer.

The following two awards were selected by two separate panels of jurors from a preselected list of nominated films:

The Emerging Director Award for Narrative Feature was awarded to director Vincent Sandoval for his film SEÑORITA. Sandoval is also the co-screenwriter, co-producer, and leading actor in the film. Wanting to quit sex work in Manila and start a new life, Sofia, a transgender woman, reinvents herself as Donna in the small town of Talisay to look after her friend’s son. But her past soon catches up with her when she gets involved in the complex politics of a local election, and her two lives cannot be kept apart. Other films nominated for this award were MODEL MINORITY (dir. Lily Mariye), PEARLS OF THE FAR EAST (dir. Cuong Ngo), SHANGHAI CALLING (dir. Daniel Hsia) and VIETTE (dir. Mye Hoang).

The jurors who judged these nominations were film critic John Anderson, executive director of Film Society of Lincoln Center Rose Kuo and award winning Art Director Wing Lee.

The Excellence in Short Filmmaking Award was awarded to MY SPIRITUAL MEDICINE, directed by Liang Cheng. Actor Takahiro Morooka accepted the award on behalf of director Liang Cheng. Two white-collar clerks set up a private radio program in the bustling Shanghai. An Otaku lady lives in isolation. As the random fates of individuals are linked and changed by the radio wave, love, in all possible forms, burgeons. Other films nominated for this award were HOW TO EAT YOUR APPLE (dir. Erick Oh), ONCE (dir. Jie Chen), SHANGHAI LOVE MARKET (dir. Craig Rosenthal) and THE LAST MARBLE (dir. Manjari Makijany).

The jurors who judged these nominations were award winning filmmaker Buboo Jakobsson, actor Ken Leung and film distributor Cindi Rowell.

About Asian CineVision & AAIFF

The Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) is produced by Asian CineVision (ACV), a nonprofit media arts organization devoted to the development, promotion and preservation of Asian and Asian American film and video. AAIFF is the nation’s longest-running festival of its kind and a leading showcase for the best in independent Asian and Asian American film and video.

Sponsors

The 35th Asian American International Film Festival is made possible with public funds from the National Endowment for The Arts, by the New York State Council on The Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Special Support is provided by Macy’s, Wells Fargo, AARP, Woo Creative, Art Works, NYCulture, AMP Viacom, and the many friends of ACV.

For more information on the 35th Annual Asian American International Film Festival, please visit https://www.asiancinevision.org/aaiff/.

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