VC FILMFEST 2004 ANNOUNCES ITS NOMINEES
FOR THE GOLDEN REEL AWARDS

The Visual Communications Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film & Video Festival (VC FILMFEST) announces with great pleasure the finalists for the 2004 Golden Reel Awards.  The awards, established in 1998 as the King Hu Awards, will be presented on Closing Night of the Festival, May 6, 2004 at the Aratani/ Japan America Theatre in Los Angeles in Los Angeles Little Tokyo.

The Golden Reel Award will be presented to an Asian American film artist, whose work displayed in this year’s festival, exemplifies artistic exellence as well as a strong potential for future creative activity. 

The sixth annual award presentation for achievement in short film also serves to encourage and further perpetuate the creative and expressive works of Asian Pacific American filmmakers.

“This group was possibly the strongest yet” said Abraham Ferrer, Festival Co-Director. “It was also gratifying to see that our emerging Asian Pacific filmmakers continue to raise the bar in terms of quality and expression.”

The finalists for the 2004 Golden Reel Awards include:
 
BELMONT HIGH: TRAPPING OUR YOUTH by Jason Geaga Yap, which recounts the recent controversy surrounding the Belmont Learning Annex.  The offering and retraction of a new campus has ignited a heated controversy within the school community and foregrounds larger societal and economic equality issues.
 
CHARLIE 2.0 by Matthew Hsu, a tale about a salaryman who has been taken advantage of all his life.  With the help of his best friend, he plots to stand up to his beautiful and intelligent boss.  But Charlie soon learns that revenge is hard work and that even carefully planning can go very wrong!
 
CHOCOLATE by Ron Domingo, a charming tale of a boy who is unaware that his stern lola (grandmother) is uncovering his schemes of smuggling chocolate to his lolo (grandfather). 
 
E=MC2 by Alina Chau Hin Fan, tells a mythological rendition of the creation of the universe told by young Albert Einstein to his little Maja.  An inseparable friendship is torn apart by power and jelousy, resulting in a tragic battle that ends with the inevitable Big Bang.
 
ETERNAL GAZE by Sam Chen, a piece that follows the last years of Alberto Giacometti, one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century.  The film foregrounds the human conditions of despair, love, and hope which are equally a part of Giacometti’s art as they are a part of the artist himself.
 
FRESH LIKE STRAWBERRIES by David Au, in which middle-aged Emma lives off her love for her gay son, Tim and obnoxious mid-life crisis husband, Ray.  Yet the same love for the two tears her apart, presaging a breakdown in a local grocery store.
 
HOW TO MAKE KIMCHI ACCORDING TO MY KUN-UMMA by Samuel Kiehoon Lee, a witty yet informative view into Korean culture filtered through Bong Ja Lee, the filmmaker’s Kun-Umma (auntie), an immigrant woman juggling her roles as a grandmother, a leader in the Toronto Korean-Canadian community, and an aunt to the pestering nephew filmmaker
attempting to document her life.
JESUS HENRY CHRIST by Dennis Lee, a comedy that essays the struggles of a student with unconventional convictions in a strict Catholic school who winds up in the office of the newly appointed Headmaster.
 
LEANG’S JOURNEY by Koji Hayasaki, a tale of Leang, a Cambodian community leader in the Bronx who tries to maintain his culture to show young Cambodians their roots even as he negotiates a contentious relationship with his daughter Moni, a high school dropout who does not identify with Cambodians.
 
PERFECTION by Karen Lin, a story that uses a popular board game “Perfection” to illustrates a young woman’s struggle to achieve success with the pressure of her parent’s approval.
 
SHOWA SHINZAN by Alison Reiko Loader, is an animated piece which takes place in the back drop of WWII and is about the creation of Hokkaido’s mountain, Showa Shinzann.
 
WOMAN IN THE ATTIC by Chansoo Kim, a tale of a woman coming of age who reveals an emotional discovery when looking in the attic.  The past, present, and future interweave into a nostalgic journey of youth that is played out in the rooms of her mind.
 
VC FILMFEST 2004: The Visual Communications Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film & Video Festival will be presented April 29–May 6, 2004 at various locations throughout Los Angeles.  A key highlight of the month-long Asian Pacific Heritage Month activities, VC FILMFEST is presented by Visual Communications, the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center.  For Festival program and ticket information, please call (213) 680-4462 x68