Grace Lee blogs!
Filmmaker Grace Lee was no sooner back home than she blogged about her experience visiting Seattle. You can read all about it here:
> Grace Lee Blogs!*
Lots of photos too!
* That's a joke on Grace's film -- see, one of the Grace Lees in the film was Grace Lee Boggs...okay, I thought it was funny.
NWAAFF 2006 is over!
Thanks to everyone who came, all of our special guests, our filmmakers, our sponsors, and our staff and volunteers! This year's festival was really terrific for those of us who helped bring it to you, and we hope that it was great fun for everyone who came as well. We'll try to bring you snapshots from the festival over the next few weeks. And stay tuned for information about other film events throughout the year.
Watch the 4pm KOMO News 4 broadcast on Friday
KOMO News is planning to feature a live interview with filmmaker Grace Lee and festival director Wes Kim (me) during their 4pm newscast to talk about how opening night went and what's in store for the rest of the weekend. Tivo time!
CINEOKE songbook
Perhaps you've thought about coming to our CINEOKE party Friday night but just didn't think you'd know what to sing.
No more excuses: Here's the complete CINEOKE songbook as a handy PDF. Of course, you can always bring your own tunes if you just can't quite find the right match in the book.
> CINEOKE songbook
Guests, we've got guests...
Here's a quick rundown of filmmakers and other special guests we're expecting at the various programs. Come and rub elbows with our gracious guests!
OPENING NIGHT GALA: THE GRACE LEE PROJECT
- Grace Lee, THE GRACE LEE PROJECT
- Tom Edgar, THE GRACE LEE PROJECT
- Warren Etheredge, THE WARREN REPORT
- and at least five more Grace Lees!
- Patti Sakurai, AIR
- Michael Chang, THE LISTENER
- Jeff Chiba Stearns, WHAT ARE YOU ANYWAYS?
- Jen Kato, WHAT ARE YOU ANYWAYS?
- Natt Thangvijit, WHAT ROBOTS BEAR
- Ali Wong, Bay Area comedian
- Jeff Chiba Stearns, WHAT ARE YOU ANYWAYS?
- Jen Kato, WHAT ARE YOU ANYWAYS?
- Natt Thangvijit, WHAT ROBOTS BEAR
- Tad Nakamura, YELLOW BROTHERHOOD
- Gail Nomura, IN TIME OF WAR
- Gene Akutsu, IN TIME OF WAR
- Mark Mitsui, IN TIME OF WAR
- George Morihiro, IN TIME OF WAR
- Manuel Cawaling, IF TIRED HANDS COULD TALK
- Shannon Gee, IF TIRED HANDS COULD TALK
- Curtis Choy, WHAT'S WRONG WITH FRANK CHIN?
- Frank Chin, writer
- Shawn Wong, writer
- Margaret Leng Tan, pianist
- Gavin Borchert, music critic
Program spotlight: SHORTS PROGRAMS
We've got five great shorts programs coming your way this weekend!
Friday night brings us a shorts program entirely featuring films and filmmakers from the Northwest. From Oregon to British Columbia, from award-winning veterans of the film festival circuit to world premieres, come and see the best of what our region has to offer and even meet some of the filmmakers!> SHORTS PROGRAM: NORTHWEST
Saturday is an all-day short-film marathon with four great programs to satisfy all tastes.
First, animation fans can sample a dizzying array of the best Asian American animated shorts from around the country. Cutting-edge CGI, exquisite traditional animation, we've got it all in a program from San Diego Asian Film Festival that'll blow your mind.
> SATURDAY SHORTS: ANIMATION
Next, a set of documentaries that examine anti-Sikh discrimination in post-9/11 New York City, the audition woes of an Asian Canadian actor, a Los Angeles social group that formed out of the nascent Asian American activist movement in the '60s and '70s, and a tongue-in-cheek effort to scientifically debunk stereotypes of Asian Canadians.
In this group is also a slight oddity in an Asian American film festival, a documentary profiling the current crop of ise kyopos
(second-generation Koreans) living in Germany, but we include it here because of the interesting parallels between the Asian diasporic experience in Germany vs. the United States. So if you ever wanted to see a bunch of young Koreans speaking in German, this is the show for you.
> SATURDAY SHORTS: DOCUMENTARIES
Then a set of stirring narrative shorts, all in their Northwest premieres including FISHBOWL, the last film by Kayo Hatta whose untimely death last year was a great loss to the Asian American film world.
> SATURDAY SHORTS: NARRATIVES
Finally, it's the late-night program known unofficially among the festival staff as the "sex and violence" program. Okay, it's not extremely violent or unconscionably sexy, but it's all in good fun. Don't look for high culture here, but that doesn't mean you won't be having a great time.
> SATURDAY SHORTS: EXTREME
Program spotlight: CLOSING NIGHT GALA: SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO
Not that we aren't already excited about showing the film SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO at the end of our festival, but it's an even greater honor to welcome Margaret Leng Tan in person to perform seminal works by John Cage including Bacchanale (1940) which was composed at Cornish College. Margaret will also be presenting Seattle premieres of exciting new works by Erik Griswold, Stephen Montague, and Toby Twining.But perhaps you're saying to yourself, "Let me get this straight -- she plays toy pianos?"
Perhaps the following links will help you figure it out. But even if contemporary music leaves you scratching your head, our closing night gala will surely be a night to remember.
- Official website of Margaret Leng Tan
- Official website of SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO
- New York Times article about Margaret Leng Tan
More press for NWAAFF 2006
A roundup of local press coverage of NWAAFF 2006. For a complete archive of our press mentions, go to our press page.
January 25, 2006: "Performance Picks: Bridge Project and Margaret Leng Tan," Seattle Weekly
> Read the article online
January 25, 2006: "Film fest: new date, new documentaries," Seattle Times
> Read the article online
January 21, 2006: "Asian film fest reels in talent," Northwest Asian Weekly
> Read the article online
January 20, 2006: "Film fest highlights Asian experiences," King County Journal
> Read the article online
January 18, 2006: "David Ishii: Bookseller of Asian America," International Examiner
> Read the article online
Program and press for NWAAFF
The printed program has hit the street! Pick up a copy of the current International Examiner for the complete NWAAFF 2006 lineup.
The Examiner also ran an interview with festival director Wes Kim (okay, that's me) which you can read here.
Also, Northwest Asian Weekly ran this interview with filmmaker Grace Lee (THE GRACE LEE PROJECT).
Sandra Oh wins a Golden Globe!
Our congratulations to Sandra Oh for winning a Golden Globe last night for her role on GREY'S ANATOMY. Don't forget that our opening night program features the short film BARRIER DEVICE directed by Grace Lee and starring Sandra.
Free screening 1/25: CONTINUOUS JOURNEY
Our friends at Wing Luke Asian Museum who will be hosting our opening night reception after THE GRACE LEE PROJECT are also hosting a screening of the documentary CONTINUOUS JOURNEY next Wednesday. Admission is free -- see details below.Film screening of Continuous Journey
Wednesday, January 25, 2006, 7pm
Theatre Off Jackson, 409 7th Avenue S, Seattle
Free. Donations are welcomed.
Presented by Wing Luke Asian Museum and the Sikh Coalition.
Presented by Wing Luke Asian Museum and the Sikh Coalition.
Continuous Journey is a documentary from filmmaker Ali Kazimi about the Komagata Maru, a ship carrying 376 Sikh immigrants from British India which was turned away by Canada in 1914. The consequences were felt throughout the British Empire. This film is a compelling and eye-opening investigation into the past and present ramifications of this incident. Continuous Journey is a provocative, moving and multi-layered essay that interweaves photographs, newsreels, home movies and official documents to unravel a complex and little-known story. (English & Punjabi with English Subtitles, 2004)
Event co-sponsored by the Northwest Asian American Film Festival (www.nwaaff.org) and Tasveer (www.tasveer.org).This program was made possible with funding provided by the Sikh Community: Over 100 Years in the Pacific Northwest exhibition on display at the Wing Luke Asian Museum now through April 14, 2006. For more information on the Museum and the exhibition, please visit, www.wingluke.org.
Free screening 1/23: ANNAPOLIS
All right, why are we plugging a free screening of ANNAPOLIS starring James Franco and Tyrese? Because it's directed by Justin Lin (BETTER LUCK TOMORROW) and includes Roger Fan (BETTER LUCK TOMORROW) in the cast. After BLT, many wondered what would be next from Justin, and so we have ANNAPOLIS, soon to be followed by FAST AND THE FURIOUS 3 featuring more of the BLT alumni (Sung Kang and Jason Tobin).
Right -- so if you want to play "Spot the Roger Fan," you can do it for free by following the instructions below. Of course, you could also see the film once it opens on the 27th, but we'd appreciate it if you waited until after the festival ends on the 29th, no disrespect to Justin.ANNAPOLIS
Monday, January 23rd 7:00pm
For a chance to win, send a self-addressed envelope to:
ANNAPOLIS Promotion
PO Box 19400
Seattle, WA 98109
Entries must be received by Jan 18th. (Mail today!)
Free screening TODAY: CHASING DAYBREAK
If you're free today at 6pm, please consider dropping by this free screening of a film made by Justin Leroy whose film ERACESURE will be featured in our Northwest shorts program. CHASING DAYBREAK is also available for purchase on DVD.
Official CHASING DAYBREAK site: www.chasingdaybreak.com
MAVIN Foundation cordially invites you to the U.S. premiere for our feature film: Chasing Daybreak: A Film About Mixed Race in America
For over three centuries, laws forbade sex or marriage across racial lines in North America. Census 2000 marked the first time that Americans could mark more than one race to identify themselves, and seven million did so.
More mixed race babies are born in states like California and Washington than any other race but Caucasian, yet there is little awareness of the unique challenges and opportunities that they face in our race conscious society.
In 2005, MAVIN Foundation sent five multiracial young people on a 10,000-mile journey across the U.S. to raise awareness of America’s multi-racial baby boom. Chasing Daybreak: A Film About Mixed Race in America breaks new ground in independent film by becoming the first widely distributed feature-length documentary dedicated to exploring the mixed race experience.
It is no doubt that the growing number of self-identified mixed race people presents both challenges and opportunities to how race is lived and understood in America. By encouraging on-going dialogue, we hope that the film and this discussion guide make a small contribution to realizing the “bright daybreak” that Dr. King sought.
Join us in partnership with the University of Washington and miXed to view the premiere of this groundbreaking film.
Where: January 17th, Mary Gates Hall at the University of Washington.
When: 6pm showing in room 389 and 7pm reception in room 241.
This event is free and wheelchair accessible.
Please RSVP to alfredo@mavinfoundation.org
Program spotlight: SPECIAL EVENT: CINEOKE AND ALI WONG
Congrats to those of you who made it to the film crawl and got a free ticket to our animation program. But if you didn't make it, don't fret -- the CINEOKE experience is coming to NWAAFF for our special mid-festival party on Friday night, January 27 at 10pm.
What is CINEOKE? It's karaoke with a twist: Instead of singing just any old song, you sing to a movie song while the movie plays behind you! Thanks to Three Dollar Bill Cinema, festival goers now have the chance to be the star of their very own musical show. What's more, you don't have to limit yourself to the extensive songbook provided by the hosts -- bring in any DVD (as long as you know the hrs/min/sec where your song starts) or a cued VHS.
As if that weren't enough, we're very excited to have comedian Ali Wong join us all the way from the Bay Area. Ali's tearing up a storm on the SF stand-up circuit, and she brings her act to NWAAFF for her Seattle debut. Ali will grace us with her comedic presence to get the party started, and then it's singing into the wee hours.So come on down to Theatre Off Jackson and get your party on!
Official site for Ali Wong:
Asian Week article on Ali Wong:
For inspiration, list of 400 nominees for "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs":
Click here for more information about this event...
Win a free ticket this Monday, January 9th!
Join us this Monday night for the first-ever NWAAFF film crawl! What's a film crawl? Good question -- just follow the link below. And if you make it through the crawl, you can win a free ticket to our all-animation program ANIMATION: THE ILLUSION OF LIFE on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 1pm.
Program spotlight: OPENING NIGHT GALA: THE GRACE LEE PROJECT
What's in a name? Our opening feature THE GRACE LEE PROJECT documents the highly entertaining journey of filmmaker Grace Lee as she scours the globe tracking down the many other Grace Lees in the world to find out what makes them (and herself) tick. Grace herself will be joining us for the screening, so be ready to tell her about all the Grace Lees you've known.In case you're not convinced, just take a look at all the glowing reviews the film's received: RottenTomatoes.com roundup of GRACE LEE PROJECT reviews.
SPECIAL BONUS: Are you a Grace Lee? Then you can be a guest of honor at this screening! All Grace Lees can attend our opening night gala for free! Just RSVP at mynameisgracelee@nwaaff.org, and we'll put you on a list of Grace Lees. But be warned -- we will be checking IDs! We want the real deal!
Official GRACE LEE PROJECT website:
Interview with Grace Lee by angryasianman:
> Click to buy tickets to this show...
Welcome to the NWAAFF 2006 blog!
We're counting down the days to NWAAFF 2006, and you can stay abreast of all the latest developments with the festival right here.
The big news right now is that the schedule has been finalized and tickets are now on sale! Just visit www.nwaaff.org for all the details.
And be sure to consider buying a full festival pass -- you get complete access to all four days' worth of film screenings including our opening and closing night galas (and subsequent receptions), all for a mere $75 ($55 for students/seniors!). Click here to purchase.
northwest asian american film festival is a production of northwest asian american theatre