The Cambodian drama film In the Life of Music, selected as the Cambodian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, released the official trailer ahead of the release on VOD starting August 14th. Co-directed by Caylee So and Sok Visal, the film world premiered at the 2018 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
Ninety-three countries have submitted films for consideration in the International Feature Film category for the 92nd Academy Awards®. An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (more than 40 minutes) produced outside the United States with a predominantly non-English dialogue track. Ghana, Nigeria and Uzbekistan are first-time entrants.
The film In the Life of Music co-directed by Caylee So and Sok Visal, that follows a family’s life over three generations affected by the reign of the Khmer Rouge, was selected by the Cambodia Oscar Selection Committee (COSC) to represent Cambodia in the International Feature Film category at the 92nd Academy Awards.
John Cho stars in the LAAPFF Audience Award Winning film SEARCHING – directed by Aneesh Chaganty. Photo Courtesy of Screen Gems[/caption]
The 34th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) came to a close this past weekend and announced their audience awards for best films at this year’s film extravaganza that began on May 3 and ended on May 12, 2018.
The thriller, mystery film “SEARCHING” – directed by first time feature filmmaker Aneesh Chaganty – won the LAAPFF Audience Award for Outstanding North American Narrative Feature Film. The film, starring John Cho and Debra Messing, was a double award winner at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, as well. Audiences at LAAPFF were impressed by the cast, the screenplay, and the direction of the film that centered on a father’s search for his missing teenage daughter and has to turn to the Internet to try and find her. Audiences were abuzz about the film throughout the eight-day festival. “SEARCHING” will open nationally in August in theaters through Screen Gems.
The personal documentary “MINDING THE GAP” – directed by Bing Liu – won the LAAPFF Audience Award for Outstanding North American Documentary Feature. Audiences were moved by the filmmaker’s intimate story of three friends who come of age in their twenties and have to face growing up and possibly giving up their skateboarding days. The film also won the LAAPFF Special Jury Prize for Best Director and was an award winner at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, as well.
In the International Narrative Feature category, the LAAPFF Audience Award went to “IN THE LIFE OF MUSIC” – directed by Caylee So and Visal Sok – for telling a powerful inter-generational tale that explores love, war, and a family’s relationship to the song Champa Battambang, made famous by Sinn Sisamouth, the King of Cambodian music. The film depicts the lives of people whose world is inevitably transformed by the emergence of the Khmer Rouge. The film also won the LAAPFF Special Jury Prize for Best Director in the International Narrative Feature category.
In the International Documentary Feature category, the audience gave the award to “LATE LIFE: THE CHIEN-MING WANG STORY” – directed by Frank W. Chen. This moving film chronicles the life of Taiwanese pro-baseball player Chien-Ming Wang, who was once so dominating on the mound that he was named New York Yankees’ starting pitcher for the inaugural game at New Yankee Stadium in 2009. But after a terrible ankle injury, Wang’s pitches lost their effectiveness, and he soon fell off major league rosters. LATE LIFE follows Wang through his grueling workout routines and unglamorous minor league pit stops as he mounts his remarkable comeback. He is helped along the way by his loyal agent, trainers, Yankees fans, and his family, creating a de-facto support network that keeps him going.
FOR IZZY[/caption]
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.
CALL HER GANDA[/caption]
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