APA Film Announces the 6th Annual Asian Pacific American Film Festival

For Immediate Release
September 14, 2005

Washington, D.C. - APA Film will present the 6th Annual Asian Pacific American Film Festival October 6-16, 2005 at locations throughout the Washington, D.C., area including the Smithsonian Institution, the AFI Silver Theatre, and Landmark's E Street Cinema. The festival will showcase 14 feature length narratives and documentaries, over 60 short films, and 8 special events, including musical performances, receptions, parties, and a showcase of films directed by local Asian American youth. All screenings are open to the public and many will have free admission. In addition, over 20 filmmakers and guests are scheduled to attend. More information and a complete schedule of events is available at http://www.apafilm.org.

The Opening Night Presentation is THE MOTEL, an Official Selection at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. This coming of age tale about young Chinese boy that befriends a guest at his family's motel stars Sung Kang (BETTER LUCK TOMORROW) and earned Director/Writer Michael Kang a fellowship with the Sundance Filmmakers Lab. Michael Kang is scheduled to attend.

On October 11, the festival is pleased to present the US premiere of INITIAL D, currently the highest grossing movie in Asia. Directed by Alan Mak and Andrew Lau (INFERNAL AFFAIRS), it is the live action adaptation of the popular Japanese anime and manga series about underground street racing.

In addition to narratives directed and/or starring Asian Pacific Americans, several documentaries will make their Washington, DC premieres, including a fascinating portrait of the ex-President of Peru, Alberto Fujimori (THE FALL OF FUJIMORI, Sundance Film Festival 2005), and GRASSROOTS RISING, a documentary on Asian American labor activism.

A number of films will highlight Asian Americans in the music industry, from a Filipino American Las Vegas act (Justin Lin's SPOTLIGHTING), to South Asian Americans in hip hop (BROWN LIKE DAT). NO SLEEP TIL SHANGHAI follows Jin Ah-Yeung, the first Asian American rapper to be signed to a major recording label, on his tour throughout Asia. Jin is scheduled to give a special performance after the screening of the film.

In partnership with the Smithsonian Institution's Asian American Studies Program, 10 programs will be presented at the Freer and Sackler Galleries and the American History Museum, including a selection of award-winning shorts by Hawaiian filmmakers, a documentary on Vietnamese Amerasians, and a program about South Asian labor issues in the US and abroad.

The Closing Night Presentation is CAVITE, a thriller filmed in the Philippines, which premiered at the 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival. Filmmakers Ian Gamazon and Neill dela Llana are scheduled to attend.

The 2005 DC APA Film Festival is presented by APA Film and is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit arts service organization. The Festival is supported by Gold Sponsor AZN Television, Community Sponsors East West Mortgage Company, Boat People SOS, KPMG Washington Foundation, and a number of private corporations and nonprofit organizations. Asian Pacific American (APA) Film is a nonprofit organization devoted to encouraging the artistic development of APA media artists and raising public awareness of APA media arts through an annual festival and other events in the Washington, D.C. area. For more information, call 703-856-8832. For press and media inquiries, contact Anna Petrillo, Director of Marketing, anna@apafilm.org. For information on films and programs, contact Gene Huh, Director of Programming, gene@apafilm.org