All right, film fans. The 2010 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Southern California largest Asian film showcase, kicks off tonight and runs through May 8, with a slate of over 170 films and videos from both Asian Pacific American and Asian international directors from 20 countries. Here are some of the festival's highlights (somewhat copied and pasted from festival publicity materials):
Berlin Film Festival hit film Au Revoir Taipei from LAAPFF alum/USC grad filmmaker Arvin Chen will open the festival tonight at the DGA at 7:00pm with the filmmaker and cast scheduled to attend the Los Angeles premiere. The romantic comedy executive produced by German film director Wim Wenders and produced by LAAPFF alum In-Ah Lee (The Grace Lee Project, American Zombie) was an audience fave in Berlin.
Another LAAPFF alum, filmmaker Quentin Lee (Drift, Ethan Mao, Shopping for Fangs) brings his hit sex comedy The People I've Slept With to the fest as the American Centerpiece film on Saturday, May 1, 2010 with director Lee, screenwriter Koji Sakai and film's stars Karin Anna Cheung, Archie Kao and Wilson Cruz in attendance.
Le Thanh Son's action packed film Clash -- Vietnam's current box office smash -- is slated for the LAAPFF International Centerpiece premiering on Sunday, May 2. Clash reunites the team behind the LAAPFF 2007 closing night film The Rebel and stars Johnny Tri Nguyen and Veronica Ngo in this hard-hitting thriller. Incorporating stylish action sequences and stunning cinematography, the film continues to propel the current Viet Wave Cinema.
In a World Premiere slot, the LAAPFF presents The Mikado Project from festival alum Chil Kong on Saturday, May 1. The comedy centers on an Asian American theater troupe -- The Angry Buddha Theater Ensemble -- as they try to mount the popular theater piece after they lose their leading male star.
This year, the LAAPFF will present the North American premiere of the hit South Korean comedy The Actresses from director E. J-yong in the Special Sneak Preview slot on Saturday, May 8. Shot as a documentary, this comedy send-up is an inside look at the dramatics of six of the most famous actresses in Korean film who were gathered together by Vogue Korea for a photo shoot on Christmas Eve 2008.
Closing out this year's fest is the Southern California premiere of the current Hong Kong smash Bodyguards and Assassins from director Teddy Chen and featuring an all star cast including Tony Leung, Simon Yam, Donnie Yen and kickboxer/MMA fighter Cung Le. This blockbuster action film will be presented Thursday, May 6 at the Aratani Japan America Theatre in Little Tokyo in Downtown Los Angeles with actor Cung Le at the gala.
This is just a sampling from the full schedule of 36 feature films and 134 shorts and videos screening over the course of ten days at venues throughout Los Angeles. And of course, I've already mentioned the Bruce Lee 70th Birthday Celebration (by the way, I've still got some tickets left for Saturday's Enter the Dragon screening). For more information about the festival, visit the LAAPFF website here.