The 2011 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival celebrated the closing night of their 27th Anniversary edition on Thursday night with the screening of the Taiwanese romantic comedy “LOVE IN DISGUISE” by Leehom Wang and the announcement of this year’s jury prizes.
Filmmaker Ian Gamazon took home both the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Fiction Film and Outstanding Director award for his film “LIVING IN SEDUCED CIRCUMSTANCES,” while actors Eric Mabius, Fernando Noriega, Will Yun Lee and Luke Brandon Field were singled out with a Best Ensemble Acting Award for their performances in “WHERE THE ROAD MEETS THE SUN” directed by Mun Chee Yong.
Other narrative film awards given out included Outstanding Screenplay to writer/director Stephane Gauger for “SAIGON ELECTRIC;” Outstanding Cinematography to Gavin Kelly for “WHERE THE ROAD MEETS THE SUN;” and a Special Jury Award for Breakout Performance by a New Actor to Ryan Greene for his role in “ONE KINE DAY.”
First time filmmaker Byron Q received the Best First Film Award for his dramatic “BANG BANG.”
The winning audience favorite awards went to “RAKENROL” from Quark Henares for fave fiction film and to “AMONG B-BOYS” from Christopher Woon for favorite documentary.
In the documentary jury competition, “THE HOUSE OF SUH” from Iris K. Shim received both the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Non-Fiction Film and the Outstanding Director Award.
“ONE BIG HAPA FAMILY” directed by Jeff Chiba Stearns also took home two awards for Outstanding Cinematography to Jason Woodford and for Outstanding Editing to Chiba Stearns.
The jury awarded a Special Jury Prize for Human Rights to “FINDING FACE” directed by Skye Fitzgerald and Patti Duncan which chronicles the details of the controversial case of rising star Tat Marina who was attacked with acid in Cambodia in 1999.
Short films this year were in abundance with 148 shorts being screened at the festival. The film “TEAMWORK” from Hong Seo Yun was the recipient of the Golden Reel Award, while Soham Mehta was honored with the Linda Mabalot New Directors/New Visions award for his film “FIRECRACKER.”
The 2011 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival kicked off on April 28 with the Justin Lin action film “FAST FIVE” and has seen record-breaking attendance and multiple sold out shows throughout the past seven days. The Fest will conclude May 6 and May 7 with encore screenings of award winners along with the Los Angeles premiere of “BANGKOK KNOCKOUT” from Thailand and the Sundance/Berlin Film Festival favorite “BOY” from Taika Waititi at the CGV Cinemas in KoreaTown, Los Angeles. CGV Cinemas are located at 621 S. Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90005. This amazing venue is situated north of Wilshire Boulevard in K-Town.
[via LAAPFF]