The 34th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) announced their filmmaker awards, and “FOR IZZY,” written and directed by Alex Chu, was awarded the LAAPFF Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding North American Narrative Feature, while the Best Director honor for North American Narrative went to Joanne Park for her film “FISH BONES.” Actress Adelina Amosco was selected for a Special Jury prize for Breakout Performance for her work in “THE FEVER AND THE FRET.” A Special Jury prize for Best Cinematography was awarded to Eunsoo Cho for lensing “AUGUST AT AKIKO’S.”
In the non-fiction feature section, “CALL HER GANDA” directed by PJ Raval took home the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding North American Documentary Feature, and Best Director was given to Bing Liu for his personal film “MINDING THE GAP.” The jury gave a Special Jury Mention to “ANOTE’S ARK” from director Matthieu Rytz and honored Nathan Fitch for Best Cinematography for his work on “ISLAND SOLDIER.” The jury awarded the Best Editing Award to Alejandro Valdes-Rochin and Tom Maroney for their outstanding work on “SCIENCE FAIR.”
This year, LAAPFF also recognized outstanding international films. In the International Narrative Competition, the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Narrative Feature went to “WARU” co-directed by a group of all female directors – Chelsea Cohen, Ainsley Gardiner, Casey Kaa, Renae Maihi, Awanui Simich-Pene, Briar Grace- Semith, Paula Whetu and Katie Wolfe. The Best Director Award went to Caylee So and Visal Sok for “IN THE LIFE OF MUSIC,” and a Special Jury Mention was awarded to “KISS & SPELL,” directed by the late Stephane Gauger. The Best Acting Award in this competition was given to Timothy Castillo for his performance in “NEOMANILA.”
In the International Documentary Feature competition, the jury awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Documentary Feature to “PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF DESIRE,” directed by Hao Wu. The Special Jury Prize for Best Director was bestowed on Jin Jeon and Moon Chang-Yang for their film “BECOMING WHO I WAS.” That same film and those filmmakers were also given the Best Cinematography Award, and the award for Best Editing was given to Hyewon Jee and Wongjung Bae for “SINGING WITH ANGRY BIRD.” This year, the jury created and gave a Special Jury Mention for Most Urgent and Cautionary Film to “THE CLEANERS,” directed by Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck.
LAAPFF is proud to be an Academy Award® qualifying Festival for the Short Film Awards. Recipient(s) of the Film Festival’s Golden Reel Award for Narrative Short Film will be eligible for consideration in the Animated Short Film/Live-Action Short Film category of the Academy Awards®. The film that won this year’s Golden Reel Award and is now eligible to qualify in the Animated Short Film/Live-Action Short Film category of the Academy Awards® is “SILENCE (MAUN),” directed by Priyanka Singh. The jury also gave out a Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Directing to Paris Zarcilla for “POMMEL.”
The Golden Reel for Outstanding Documentary Short Film went to “THREE BOYS MANZANAR,” directed by Preeti Deb.
The annual Linda Mabalot New Directors/New Visions Award went to director Georgia Fu for her film “MISS WORLD,” presented for demonstrating an innovative and creative use of cinematic language.
“Our artists and their films were amazing this year,” said Francis Cullado, Executive Director of Visual Communications. “Their stories and their craftsmanship raised the bar. The dialogue, conversations, and resource-sharing that took place during our panels and presentations were on point and timely. This Festival is once again a great signifier of what is coming and our artists are ready and at the forefront of this sea of change with their films and projects. I’m grateful to them for making cultural connections with all of our communities.”
The 34th LAAPFF continues on Friday, May 11 with a free outdoor screening of the Disney® classic animated film “MULAN” in the Park Center at Griffith Park. It will culminate with the Visual Communications Gala PAST//FORWARD: COMING HOME on Saturday, May 12, 2018 to celebrate the organization’s upcoming 50th anniversary in 2020, honoring Doug Aihara, Renee Tajima-Peña, and Comcast NBCUniversal.
34th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Award Winners
NORTH AMERICAN NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION AWARDS
Grand Jury Award: FOR IZZY, Directed by Alex Chu
Best Director: Joanne Park, FISHBONES
Breakout Performance: Adelina Amosco, THE FEVER & THE FRET
Best Cinematography: Eunsoo Cho, AUGUST AT AKIKO’S
NORTH AMERICAN DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION AWARDS
Grand Jury Award: CALL HER GANDA, Directed by PJ Raval
Best Director: Bing Liu, MINDING THE GAP
Special Mention: ANOTE’S ARK, Directed by Matthieu Rytz
Best Editing: Alejandro Valdes-Rochin & Tom Maroney, SCIENCE FAIR
Best Cinematography: Nathan Fitch, ISLAND SOLDIER
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION AWARDS
Grand Jury Award: PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF DESIRE, Directed by Hao Wu
Best Director: Jin Jeon & Moon Chang-Yong, BECOMING WHO I WAS
Best Editing: Hyewon Jee & Wonjung Bae, SINGING WITH ANGRY BIRD
Best Cinematography: Jeon Jin & Moon Chang-yong, BECOMING WHO I WAS
Special Jury Mention – Most Urgent and Cautionary Film: THE CLEANERS, Directed by Hans Block & Moritz Riesewieck
INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE COMPETITION AWARDS
Grand Jury Award WARU, Directed by Chelsea Cohen, Ainsley Gardiner, Casey Kaa, Renae Maihi, Awanui Simich-Pene, Briar Grace-Smith, Paula Whetu & Katie Wolfe
Best Director: Caylee So & Visal Sok, IN THE LIFE OF MUSIC
Best Actor: Timothy Castillo, NEOMANILA
Special Mention: KISS & SPELL, Directed by Stephane Gauger
SHORTS NARRATIVE COMPETITION AWARDS
Golden Reel Award (Excellence in Narrative/Animated Short Film): SILENCE (MAUN), Directed by Priyanka Singh
Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Directing: Paris Zarcilla, POMMEL
SHORTS DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION AWARDS
Golden Reel Award (Excellence in Documentary Short Film): THREE BOYS MANZANAR, Directed by Preeti Deb
LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/NEW VISIONS AWARD
Linda Mabalot New Directors/New Visions Award (Innovative Use of Cinematic Language): MISS WORLD, Directed by Georgia Fu