Awwww yeah. The 25th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival website is now fully operational, including the full festival schedule. Yes, you read that right: 25 years of Asian American cinema. It's a landmark year, and they're going all out to celebrate with an amazing schedule of events. I'm really digging the lineup. Where do I begin?
Opening and Closing Night present what you could call the future of Asian American cinema, with two very distinct works, Justin Lin's Finishing the Game and Chen Shi-Zheng's Dark Matter. This year's Narrative Competition is populated by twelve exciting new feature films, several of which I've had an eye on for quite some time, including So Yong Kim's In Between Days, David Ren's Shanghai Kiss, Joy Dietrich's Tie a Yellow Ribbon, Chris Chan Lee's Undoing, and Grace Lee's American Zombie (fresh from Sundance), among others. This is the best and brightest of Asian American cinema, and it's pretty damn exciting.
The festival's 25th anniversary will also include a special spotlight acclaimed veteran documentary filmmaker Spencer Nakasako (AKA Don Bonus, Refugee), in conversation with another trailblazer, Justin Lin. They're also doing a special retrospective program, Out of the Vaults, showing crazy stuff like Big Trouble in Little China and crazy fun stuff like a Flower Drumg Song sing-a-long at the Castro Theater. Crazy fun! That's just a quick glance at the schedule. I could go on and on. It's gonna be a great time at SFIAAFF next month. Peruse the festival schedule here. The festival runs March 15-25 in locations throughout the Bay Area. Make your plans now!
And while you're at it, the place to be tomorrow night is at the official Festival Launch Party. Pick up the Festival Program Guide, have a drink, and mingle with fellow festival-goers... Thursday, February 15th at 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco. Always a good time. For details, go here.
UPDATE: Here's an article in the Examiner about SFIAAFF: S.F. Asian American Film Festival goes silver
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