LA ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL

Festival to Showcase Asian American and Asian International Films from 26 Countries Opening with Sundance Hit CHILDREN OF INVENTION from Tze Chun; Toronto Film Festival Fave TREELESS MOUNTAIN from So Yong Kim as the Fest Centerpiece; and Academy Award Winner DEPARTURES (OKURIBITO) from Yojiro Takita as the Closing Night Presentation of the 8-Day Fete

Visual Communications (VC), the nations premier Asian Pacific American media arts center, announced its program of 181 outstanding films for the upcoming 25th Anniversary Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) beginning April 30 - May 7, 2009 at the Directors Guild of America (DGA), Laemmles Sunset 5 Theatres, Downtown Independent Theatre, The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, and the Aratani/Japan America Theatre.

As Southern Californias largest and most prestigious film festival of its kind, the LAAPFF launches the celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month through this years slate of over 181 films and videos from both Asian Pacific American and Asian international directors from 26 countries. Celebrating 25 years, the Fest has presented over 3000 films and videos by Asian American and Asian international artists since 1983. This year, 35 feature films and 146 shorts and videos will be showcased throughout the 8-day fest.

Sundance hit film CHILDREN OF INVENTION from director Tze Chun will open the festival on Thursday, April 30, 2009 at the DGA at 7PM with director/screenwriter Chun, actors Michael Chen, Crystal Chiu and Cindy Cheung scheduled to attend the Los Angeles premiere.

CHILDREN OF INVENTION, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival to sold out audiences and critics notices, is the story of two young children: Raymond Cheng (Michael Chen) and Tina Cheng (Crystal Chiu), living illegally in a model apartment outside Boston, are left to fend for themselves when their hardworking mother, Elaine (Cindy Cheung), disappears. This latest predicament seems all too familiar to precocious Raymond who dreams of taking care of his mother and sister with the fortunes garnered from his inventions. Little Tina, however, remains oblivious to their troubles. Meanwhile, lured by promises of easy cash, Elaine finds herself drawn into another pyramid scheme, one that will jeopardize the welfare of the two things that matter the most - her children.

"We are excited to present the Los Angeles premiere screening of CHILDREN OF INVENTION as our Opening Night film, states Abraham Ferrer, Exhibitions Director at VC and Film Festival Co-Director. We have been following director Chuns career since his short, WINDBREAKER, was presented at the 2007 Festival. We are honored to have him return and present his latest effort as his Los Angeles premiere."

Toronto International Film Festival favorite TREELESS MOUNTAIN, from Los Angeles raised filmmaker So Yong Kim, is slated as the LAAPFF Centerpiece film on Saturday, May 2, 2009 at the DGA at 7PM with director/screenwriter Kim in attendance.

TREELESS MOUNTAIN is So Yong Kims second feature film and has been an audience and critics favorite on the festival circuit for her touching story about seven-year old Jin and her younger sister Bin who are left with relatives, while their mother goes looking for their father promising that she will be back when their little piggy bank is full of coins. The sisters are forced to acclimate themselves to new surroundings with new guardians as they wait with heartfelt anticipation for their mother. Variety reviewer Robert Koehler praised TREELESS MOUNTAIN and filmmaker Kim: drawing out beautifully natural performances from her child actors, Kim once again has a distinct way of letting her camera observe her characters with kind thoughtfulness, allowing for a quiet mood to wash over the scenes.

So Yong Kim is one of our newer Asian American story tellers who always delivers her best, says David Magdael, Festival Co-Director. We have been watching her since her first feature IN BETWEEN DAYS premiered at Sundance in 2006. Having her with us as our Centerpiece film is perfect as we celebrate 25 years. Looking forward to the next 25 years, So Yong Kim will definitely be among our most important filmmakers.

Closing out the 8-day fest will be the 2008 Academy Award winning Best Foreign Language Film DEPARTURES from director Yojiro Takita presented on Thursday, May 7 at 7PM at the Aratani Japan America Theatre in Little Tokyo in Downtown Los Angeles.

DEPARTURES, written by Kundo Koyama and directed by Yojiro Takita, follows Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and who is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled Departures thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of Nokanshi acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed.. A story of love, of discovery, of revelation and of the transcending human spirit, DEPARTURES is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan and is an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan's cultural heritage.

Filmmaker Takita has a style that is uniquely mesmerizing and DEPARTURES is one of those films that promises to take audiences on an unforgettable journey, states Shinae Yoon, VC Executive Director. Presenting Japans first Best Foreign Language Oscar winning film is a perfect conclusion to the Silver Anniversary Festival Week Activities .

Celebrating the 25th Anniversary, the Festival will present the 1988 Oscar nominated documentary WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN? from directors Christine Choy and Renee Tajima Pena in a special screening slot on Saturday, May 2 at 4PM in DGA 2. Filmmaker Pena will be on hand for
Q&A following the special screening. The film kicks off a special retrospective series of Asian American films that VC will be presenting over the next 12 months.

Other Highlights of the 25TH ANNIVERSARY LAAPFF include:

Filmmaker Seminars (open to public and filmmakers)

THE THREE WATCHMEN One of the most highly anticipated films of the year - WATCHMEN was the closet thing to an Asian Amerian film without an Asian American cast. Join the films writer Alex Tse (SUCKA FREE CITY), cinematographer Larry Fong (300) and editor William Hoy (I-ROBOT) as they discuss the creation of the blockbuster from the initial concept and design to the making of and final edit.
THE NEW HOTNESS APA SEXUALTY IN MEDIA - Aside from Russell Wongs watermelon scene in JOY LUCK CLUB, Asian American men rarely get a chance to flaunt their sensuality on screen. Join this candid conversation with some of todays hot talent who are now doing more than just being the take-out delivery boy. At press time Leonardo Nam and James Kyson Lee have been confirmed with more to follow.
DIRECTIONS IN TV Indie filmmakers are beginning to straddle both the feature film world and the television director sphere with great success. For our Asian American filmmakers, the options seem to be opening up. Special guest directors will explore these possibilities and share personal insights into the unique environment of TV directing. Sponsored by the Directors Guild of America.
WHATS THE MATTER WITH ASIAN AMERICAN FILM? In the spirit of the 25th anniversary, join the discussion as we acknowledge, celebrate and criticize the past, present and future of Asian American film with two generations of media makers: the legendary Spencer Nakasako (A.K.A. DON BONUS) and up and coming new school filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura (A SONG FOR OURSELVES).
HOW TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY SUCKA FREE So you want to be a screenwriter? This is one of the Fests most popular panels for new and veteran filmmakers lead by Kris Young, Weiko Lin and special guest Alex Tse. This panel is always an exciting 90 minutes where these pros discuss the story writing process from idea to finished script to the studio and beyond. Sponsored by Writers Guild of America, West.
ASIAN AMERICAN FEATURE FILMS
NARRATIVES

CHILDREN OF INVENTION Tse Chun
DIM SUM FUNERAL Anna Chi
ALL ABOUT DAD Mark Tran
I AM THAT GIRL B. Hayward Randall (written by Grace Rowe)
KARMA CALLING Sarba Das
SHIROS HEAD Don Mun; Kel Muna
TREELESS MOUNTAIN So Yong Kim
WHITE ON RICE David Boyle
DOCUMENTARIES

CLOSEST MEXICO TO JAPAN Shinpei Takeda
MANILATOWN IS IN THE HEART Curtis Choy
PATSY MINK: AHEAD OF THE MAJORITY Kimberlee Bassford
THE REAL SHAOLIN Alexander Lee
SOMEPLACE ELSE Kai Duc Luong; Avisheh Mohsenin
TIGER SPIRIT Min Sook Lee
VIETNAM OVERTURES Stephane Gauger
WHATEVER IT TAKES Christopher Wong
WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN Christine Choy; Renee Tajima Pena
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILMS

100 Chris Martinez (Philippines)
ALL AROUND US Hashiguchi Ryosuke (Japan)
BURMA VJ Anders Ostergaard (Denmark)
THE CONVERT Yasmin Ahmad (Malaysia)
DAYTIME DRINKING Noh Young-seok (South Korea)
DEPARTURES Yojiro Takita (Japan)
THE EMPERORS NAKED ARMY MARCHES ON Hara Kazuo (Japan)
FUJIAN BLUE Robin Weng (Peoples Republic of China)
GRANDMOTHERS FLOWER Mun Jeong-hyun (South Korea)
JAY Francis Xavier Passion (Philippines)
KOLORETTE Ruelo Lozendo (Philippines)
KANCHIVARAM Priyadarshan (India)
LALAS GUN Ning Jingwu (Peoples Republic of China)
LEFT HANDED Laurence Thrush (Japan)
LOVE EXPOSURE Sion Sono (Japan)
THE RAINBOW TROOPS Riri Riza (Indonesia)
WINDS OF SEPTEMBER Tom Shu-Yu Lin (Taiwan)
YAMAGATA SCREAM Naoto Takenaka (Japan)
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT JAPAN
Japanese Cinema is once again becoming one of global cinemas important story makers. This year, the LAAPFF is proud to present the following six features hailing from Japan including the first non-honorary Oscar win for a Japanese feature film DEPARTURES, winner of the 2008 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the brand new four hour epic LOVE EXPOSURE.

ALL AROUND US Hashiguchi Ryosuke
DEPARTURES Yojiro Takita
THE EMPERORS NAKED ARMY MARCHES ON Hara Kazuo
LEFT HANDED Laurence Thrush
LOVE EXPOSURE Sion Sono
YAMAGATA SCREAM Naoto Takenaka