San Diego Asian Film Festival Opens with PING PONG PLAYA

San Diego Asian Film Festival Opens with Jessica Yu's Ping Pong Playa

The San Diego Asian Film Festival presented by Toyota Matrix, is screening films at the Mission Valley UltraStar Cinema at Hazard Center, OCTOBER 9-16, 2008. In San Diego's largest Pan Asian cultural event, over 130 short and feature films from a record 17 countries including the Canada, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Singapore, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Peru, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and the U.S. are unreeling this year. For tickets and the complete program schedule, go to www.sdaff.org.

Highlights include:
Opening night film on Thursday, October 9 with the theatrical premiere of Academy Award Winning director Jessica Yus first narrative feature, PING PONG PLAYA, a hilarious comedy about a young man trying to fight for his familys ping pong dynasty.

Closing night film on Thursday, October 16 - ALWAYS 2: SUNSET ON THIRD STREET, directed by Yamazaki Takashi, sequel to a heartwarming post-war Japanese film that swept Japans version of the Academy Awards.

West Coast premieres of Korean thriller hit PUBLIC ENEMY RETURNS directed by Woo-Suk Kang: and one of the most sought-after martial arts froms from Thailand, CHOCOLATE, directed by Prachya Pinkaew, who also directed "Ong Bak"

Controversial documentary, DIRTY HANDS: THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF DAVID CHOE directed by Harry Kim

Free Films at Four series: Free films to public at 4pm, October 13-16

Twelve short film programs including the popular all-animation program ANIMATION: THE ILLUSION OF LIFE and REEL VOICES, a free short documentary showcase by local high school students

Film festival organizers are encouraging attendees to register to vote through a REEL IN THE VOTE campaign to address why Asian Pacific Islanders have the lowest voter turnout and lowest political participation. Along with screening PSAs encouraging voter participation, the festival is presenting a free REEL IN THE VOTE films program on Tuesday, October 14 at the Hazard Center UltraStar.

Patrons can attend three panels including one with the directors and stars of Harold & Kumar2: Escape From Guantanamo Bay, plus a panel with local comic book artist Jim Lee, discussing the trend of converting comics into movies.

A limited number of all-festival passes ($125) and festival 4-packs ($28) are available online. Individual discounted tickets ($5-12) will be available online starting in September. Tickets can be purchased at the Hazard Center UltraStar box office during the festival from $7-15. Group, student, and military discounts available.

The San Diego Asian Film Festival is an event of the San Diego Asian Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the Pan Asian experience through the media arts.

Full schedule of films and ticket information is available online at:www.sdaff.org