Official Selections: 2nd-8th LA Asian Film Festivals
Congratulations to our accepted filmmakers!
Films are listed in alphabetical order, index to the left.
Scroll Down to learn more about each film
Object of Desire
Short
When an Asian American woman takes a karaoke hostessing job for some quick cash, she finds herself unable to escape men with a relentless asian fetish.
Director: Naomi Christie
Producer: Sebastian Steinberger & Shunchao Xu
Writer: Naomi Christie & Deanna Esposito
Cast: Starring Ren Holly Liu, Alex Tobias, Sam Morgan, Josh Pafchek
Cinematographer: Gregorio Acuña
Editor: Tianze Sun
DGA Best Director for the Asian American category
Website: objectofdesirefilm.com
Instagram: @yourobjectofdesire
Otosan
World Premiere
A man adopted from South Korea is suddenly visited by his biological father. A thoughtful depiction on reconnecting to your origin, forgiving and accepting, as well as the awkward communication boundaries that exist in such an encounter.
Director: Hyo Cortzen, Emilia Tusindfryd Bechraki
Producer: Hyo Cortzen, Nick Gray, Emilia Tusindfryd Bechraki
Writer: Emilia Tusindfryd Bechraki
Cast: Hyo Cortzen, Ringo Fujita
Cinematographer: Nick Gray
Editor: Signe Marie Kromann Christiansen
Paper UFOs
World Premiere
When an Asian American film student goes on a trip with her emotionally-distant immigrant father to visit her mother's gravesite, she makes a shocking discovery about her father's abandoned past.
Director:Sharon S Park
Producer: Stanley Lin
Writer: Stanley Lin, Sharon S Park
Cast: Juliette Lin, Zhan Wang
Cinematographer: Stanley Lin
Editor: Vicky Lin
Instagram:@paperufos
PRETENDERS
Los Angeles Premiere
Feature
A rebellious and a bit of a social misfit 17-year-old, Karin is idling around and often absent from school. One day she experiences an indescribable feeling when she gives up her seat on the train to a sick person, and it gives her inspiration. Karin, with a help of her best friend Fuko, decides to stage events to encourage people to do good things hoping it would change the world eventually. They secretly tape the faked events and their post went viral. But she soon finds out that the life is not so simple.
Director: Izuru Kumasaka
Producer: Hayato Onishi
Writer: Izuru Kumasaka
Cast: (comma separated, i.e. John Leguizamo, Viola Davis, Bowen Yang): Karin Ono, Ai Mikami, Kanji Furutachi
Cinematographer: Yukio Minami
Editor: Izuru Kumasaka
Website: https://pretenders-film.jp/ (Japanese only)
Onnayu - A Woman's Bath
Los Angeles Premiere
A short experimental animation of a variety of women bathing away the daily societal pressures and expectations they face within education, relationships, careers, beauty standards, romance, sex, and motherhood. Animated, directed, and edited by Koharu Yonebayashi, who recently graduated with a BA in documentary and experimental filmmaking with a special focus on race, gender, and Japanese cultural studies. Yonebayashi grew up in Tokyo, Japan as a multicultural child and finds the mixed female identity and Asian American diaspora key themes in her work. This film was her first attempt at paint on glass animation during her junior year of college and she was significantly influenced by traditional Japanese artworks such as Ukiyoe and Manga comics. She currently attends the University of Hawaii's Advanced Gender Studies Graduate Program and is planning to return to her motherland to continue her artistic and activist career there. The short film has been widely shared on social media especially within Japanese-American communities and also officially selected for the LA student film festival.
Director: Koharu Yonebayashi
Producer: Koharu Yonebayashi, The Evergreen State College
Writer: Koharu Yonebayashi
Animator: Koharu Yonebayashi
Editor: Koharu Yonebayashi
Instagram: @slotharu and @kunoichiproduction
Our Chinatown
Business owners in New York City's Chinatown reflect on 2020 and how family legacy serves as a vital through line connecting Chinatown’s past, present, and future.
Director: Red Gaskell
Producers: Amy Schacter, Jasmine Blackmon, Nick Dimichino
Writer: Nick Dimichino
Cast: Jefferson Li, 47 Division Street Trading Co.; Alice Liu, Grand Tea & Imports, Liz Yee, John Yee, Tonii Yee, Tonii’s Fresh Rice Noodle and Kam Hing Coffee Shop.
Cinematographer: Derrick Chen
Editors: Jocelyne Chaput, Yuko Inatsuki, Carl Sturgess
Praying Mantis
World Premiere
Tony Chuy is a 70-year-old Praying Mantis martial arts master, who has been teaching martial arts in Chinatown, New York for 40 years. Having fled from Hong Kong to the United States in 1969, he has used his praying mantis martial arts to preserve his identity and help his community deal with an increase in anti-Asian hate crimes.
Director: Lyuwei Chen
Producer: Lyuwei Chen
Writer: Lyuwei Chen
Cinematographer: Lyuwei Chen
Editor: Lyuwei Chen
Instagram: lyuweichen16
Twitter: @lc4771
Facebook: Lyuwei Chen
Promises
World Premiere
A young woman suffers an immeasurable loss and her misplaced anger threatens to further isolate her from her grieving family.
Director: Iris Liu
Producer: Iris Liu, Katy Habib, Bara Kim
Writer: Iris Liu
Cast: Katy Habib, Jasmine Elist, Marvin Youssif
Cinematographer: Joshua Wordel
Editor: Joshua Wordel
Best Female Director at Palm Springs Shorts
Best Actress in an Indie Film at Washington Film Awards
Best Sound Design at San Diego Shorts
Finalist at Santa Barbara Shorts Festival
Semi-finalist at San Francisco Arthouse
Short Festival & Seattle Movie Awards
Nominee at Portland New Alternative Voices
Website: Promises on IMDb, Director's Website: www.irisliuart.com
Instagram: @irisliuofficial
Open and Shut
Los Angeles Premiere
Short
Isolated by work and family pressures, Jen becomes preoccupied with her mysterious neighbor.
Director: Kulap Vilaysack
Producer: Danielle Lee
Writer: Emily Heller
Cast: Mary Sohn, Rene Gube, Diedrich Bader
Cinematographer: Brian Nguyen
Editor: Nathaniel Miller
Website: mremilyheller.com
Instagram: @openandshutshort, @MrEmilyHeller
Opera
A Peking Opera troupe performs in North America for the first time. Xutian, Maomao, and Chengyuan have different feelings about their upcoming performance.
Director: Janelle Feng
Producer: Janelle Feng
Writer: Janelle Feng
Cast: Joe Zhang, Anthony Paras, Yuzhi Chen, Joy Chan, Olivia Xing
Cinematographer: Janelle Feng
Editor: Janelle Feng
Seoul Indie Anifest Official selection, San Diego Asian Film Festival Official Selection, Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Fest Official Selection
Website: janellefeng.tumblr.com
Instagram: @smileyfaceorg/
Operation Kung Flu
When a cop from the '80s wakes up in the year of the COVID pandemic, she finds that racism is rampant and justice is scarce. She is sent on a mission to rescue a bunch of Asians who have been kidnapped by ASS-HOLS - an organisation hell-bent on stopping the spread of the virus by resorting to extreme measures.... and Kung Fu!
Director: Maria Tran
Producer: Takashi Hara (Producer) Maria Tran (executive producer)
Writer: Elizabeth H. Vu
Cast: Maria Tran, Roscoe Page, Joy Hopwood, Quyen Chung, Gabby Chan, Joe June, Takashi Hara, Sarah Chang, Chris Pang
Cinematographer: Adam Mcphilbin
Editors: Therese Chen, Adam McPhilbin, Maria Tran
Made in the West Film Festival - Best in the west Runner Up
Website: imdb.com/title/tt14605910/
Facebook: facebook.com/operationkungflu
Princess Perfect
World Premiere
An animated short film musical about a micromanaging Fairy Godmother who uses her magic to shape her daughter into her image of a “perfect princess.”
Director: Amy Chang
Producer: Amy Chang
Writer: Amy Chang
Cast: Miriam Millikin, Erika Moret
Cinematographer: Amy Chang
Editor: Amy Chang
I made this film as my senior thesis project at Ringling College of Art & Design as a personal reflection of my and my mother's relationship with Korean beauty standards. During my junior year I pitched the idea to my faculty and a few visiting artists and in my senior year I made the film as a solo project with guidance from my instructor and faculty during critiques. I hope that people who watch my film will be able to connect with the message that when we hold our young asian girls to such high beauty standards, you are no longer asking for a person but an object and that every woman is princess perfect.
Website: www.amychang.net
Twitter: @amymation