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VC FILMFEST 2005 ANNOUNCES ITS NOMINEES FOR
THE GOLDEN REEL AWARDS

VC FILMFEST: The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival presented by AZN TELEVISION, announces with great pleasure the finalists for the 2005 Festival Golden Reel Awards.  The awards, established in 1998 as the King Hu Awards, will be presented on Closing Night of the Festival, May 5, 2005 at the Aratani/ Japan America Theatre in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, prior to the Closing Night premiere screening of Georgia Lee’s RED DOORS.

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

The seventh 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.  Additionally, the Festival will present the Linda Mabalot New Directors/New Visions Award recognizing innovative and original use of cinematic language in short film; and the Festival Audience Award to the favorite feature-length film.

“While we trimmed down the number of nominees from a “baker’s dozen” of years past, we were still floored by the strength of this year’s grouping of works,” said Abraham Ferrer, Festival Co-Director. “In this group we have works that cast a critical eye on subjects ranging from coming-of-age, the legacy of war, family dysfunction, and chance encounters.  I anticipate that our celebrity panel charged with selecting the recipients will have a difficult decision to make come Awards night.”

The finalists for the 2005 Golden Reel Awards include:
 
CALL CENTER by Amyn Kaderali , a hilarious observation on the modern-day phenomenon of overseas outsourcing as seen though the escapades of by two harried and battling brothers running a call center out of their apartment in Bombay.  As the pay-per-view goes on the blink, new appliances fail to work, and people in crisis look for comfort and guidance, it’s clear that the two brothers can use some relief of their own.
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 9:30 PM, Directors Guild of America, Theatre 2
 
 
FISHBOWL , a smart and sharply observed adaptation of author’s Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s Wild Meat and Bully Burgers , marks the long-overdue return of director Kayo Hatta (OTEMBA, Festival 1988; PICTURE BRIDE) to VC FILMFEST.  Set in the mid-1970s, in the sleepy plantation town of Waialua on the North Shore of Oahu, FISHBOWL observes the life of Lovey Nariyoshi, who conspires to dress up one Halloween with her best friend Jerry as their favorite pop singers The Captain and Tennille.
SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 5 PM, Directors Guild of America, Theatre 2
 
 
KATA PRACTICE is the latest directorial effort by filmmaker/actress Siu Ta , most recently known to audiences as “Cindy Kim” in last summer’s stoner comedy HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE.  David, a six-year old, junior green belt practices for his final fight…
SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 5 PM, Directors Guild of America, Theatre 3
SUNDAY, MAY 1, 5:30 PM, Directors Guild of America, Theatre 3
 
 
RUNNING IN TALL GRASSES (Chay Trong Co Cao) by Howard Duy Vu is the story of seven-year-old Vinh, who travels with his mother to visit his father in a reeducation camp in Vietnam sometime after the end of the war.  During the camp visit, Vinh tries to stand up to what he sees as injustice of his father’s abandonment of the family.  Frustrated, he runs off, unaware of the danger that lurks nearby.
SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 7:30 PM, Directors Guild of America, Theatre 2
 
 
SILENT YEARS by James Sereno , also adapts the writings of author Lois-Ann Yamanaka to observe a young woman’s journey back to her past in order to confront memories of teenage abuse while growing up on the Big Island of Hawai’i.  Director Sereno’s film won the Blockbuster Video Award for Short Film at the 2004 Hawaii International Film Festival.
SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 5 PM, Directors Guild of America, Theatre 3
SUNDAY, MAY 1, 5:30 PM, Directors Guild of America, Theatre 3
 
 
TAMA TU (Sons of Tu) , director Taika Waititi’s follow-up to his Academy Award-nominated short TWO CARS, ONE NIGHT (Festival 2004) ingeniously employs a dialog-free script to tell the story of six Maori Battalion soldiers during World War II who must wait for night to fall.  Forced into silence in the ruins of an Italian home, they keep themselves amused like any boys would, with jokes and laughter.  As they try and ignore the reminders of war around them, a tohu (sign) brings them back to the world of the dying…
SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 7:30 PM, Directors Guild of America, Theatre 2
 
 
SOPHIE , an astoundingly understated work by University of Texas/Austin alum Helen Haeyoung Lee , is the story of a young Korean America youngster who goes to great lengths to rescue her mother and older sister from a life of domestic abuse by the family patriarch.  She finds, though, that the means of escape is not as simple as it seems.  SOPHIE was a 2002 Student Academy Award winner for short film.
SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 5 PM, Directors Guild of America, Theatre 3
SUNDAY, MAY 1, 5:30 PM, Directors Guild of America, Theatre 3
 
SUMMER OF THE SERPENT is the latest work of past New Directors/New Visions Award winner Kimi Takasue (her ROSEWATER received the Award in 1999).  Eight-year old Juliette sits at the side of the local pool waiting for another lonely summer day to pass when an unexpected Japanese newcomer arrives.  Fascinated by the stranger, Juliette embarks on an adventure of discovery.
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 7 PM, Directors Guild of America, Theatre 1
 
VC FILMFEST 2005: The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival will be presented April 28–May 5, 2005 at various locations throughout Los Angeles.  A key highlight of the month-long Asian Pacific Heritage Month activities, VC FILMFEST is produced by Visual Communications, the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center, and is presented by AZN TELEVISION.  The Festival’s Premium Sponsor is the Directors Guild of America.

VC FILMFEST 2005 is additionally sponsored in part by the Directors Guild of America, National Endowment for the Arts, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, Wahoo’s Fish Tacos, Eastman Kodak Company, MTV Films, Sony Pictures Entertainment, The James Irvine Foundation, Focus Features, Hitachi Ltd., SAG Indie, Union Bank of California, Writers Guild of America West, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center and Heineken.  Reception sponsors include CineSpace, Creative Floral Designs, LA-18, NONYA, Penta Water, Switch Beverage, Via Café and Wahoo’s Fish Tacos.  This year’s Award Sponsors are the Write Brothers, Inc., and our LoveFest sponsors are Plan C Group - GLAM LA.  Travel Sponsors are Cathay Pacific Airways, Loew’s Beverly Hills and Miyako Hotel, and this year’s Media Sponsors are AZN TELEVISION, Giant Robot, Ikon, AngryAsianMan.com, Asianamericanfilm.com, APA First Weekend, LA-18 Television, Variety and LA Weekly.