Twenty seven years ago, in 1983, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) was established by Visual Communications, the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center. Designed as a vehicle to promote Asian Pacific American cinema, the Festival has grown from its humble beginnings as a weekend-long series into a major annual showcase presenting the best of Asian Pacific American and Asian international media in the United States. The Festival’s ongoing spotlight programs afford a snapshot of the national cinemas of countries that are little seen in the United States, including China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam, among others.
This year, the LAAPFF takes place from April 28 to May 7, 2011 in various venues around LA principally the Directors Guild of America, Laemmle’s Sunset 5 Theatre, and CGV Cinemas. It will feature works by established and emerging filmmakers and video artists; a slate of provocative and highly entertaining feature-length productions showcasing the talents of Asian American acting and producing talents; and new works by Asian international artists. There will also be filmmaker seminars, panel discussions and symposiums on topics relevant to Asian Pacific cinema.
The Film Festival continues and expands its commitment to nurturing new talent and promoting the development of Asian Pacific Americans both behind and in front of the camera through presentation of the annual Grand Jury Awards and Special Jury Awards (feature-length narrative and non-fiction film), Festival Golden Reel and Linda Mabalot New Director/New Visions Awards (short film), and Festival Audience Awards for favorite feature-length narrative and documentary film.
Among the 222 films to be featured in the Festival are several films created by Filipino filmmakers. The various Filipino American / Pilipino films selected for exhibition and their scheduled film showing are:
Narrative Competition
Living in Seduced Circumstances
Director./Screenwriter: Ian Gamazon
Saturday April 30, 9:45pm Director’s Guild of America 2
International Showcase
Rakenrol
Dir.: Quark Henares; Scr.: Quark Henares, Diego Castillo
Wednesday May 4, 7pm CGV Cinemas 3
The Flip Side
Dir./Scr.: Rod Pulido
Saturday April 30, 2:30pm Laemmle Sunset 5
Short Subjects (Partial List)
Mother
Dir./Scr.: John Raposas
Saturday April 30, 7:30pm Laemmle Sunset 5
Whisper Of The Ancestors
Dir./Wtr.: Nelson Datu Anderson
Sunday May 1, 12pm Laemmle Sunset 5
Take A Mulligan
Dir.: Vince Duque; Scrs.: Vince Duque, Patrick Quinlan
Friday April 29, 9:30pm Laemmle Sunset 5
Remedios Circle
Dir./Scr.: Rommel Eclarinal
Tuesday May 3, 9pm CGV Cinemas 3
Musical Warrior
Dir./Wtr: Angel Gatus
Saturday April 30, 12pm Director’s Guild of America 2
To Meat Or Not To Meat
Dir./Wtr.: Lauren Lynch
Saturday April 30, 12pm Director’s Guild of America 2
The Art Of Running
Dirs./Wtrs.: PDUB Productions
Saturday April 30, 12pm Director’s Guild of America 2
How To Survive A Filipino House Party
Dirs./Scrs.: PDUB Productions
Saturday April 30, 12pm Director’s Guild of America 2
11 24
Dir./Scr.: Michelle Gutierrez
Sunday May 1, 7pm Director’s Guild of America 1
Searching For Don ‘Half-pint’ Santos
Dir./Wtr.: Julius Sambajon, Jr.
Sunday May 1, 7pm Director’s Guild of America 1
Founding A Filipino Club
Dir./Wtr.: Arlene Maala
Tuesday May 3, 4pm CGV Cinemas 2
For the schedule of screenings of all the films and to get tickets to the Film Festival, please visit http://asianfilmfestla.org/2011/.
LA gets to ‘Rakenrol’
Directed by Quark Henares
Running time: 1hr, 50 min
Los Angeles will get an exciting taste of rock & roll, Pinoy style! One of the films to be shown during the LAAPFF (International Showcase Category) is Rakenrol, a feature-length movie written and directed by Quark Henares, the son of Dr. Vicki Belo and Atom Henares. The film is part coming-of-age film, part romantic comedy, part musical and part absurdist espionage caper.
An indie rock love story and comedic tale about the binding power of music, Rakenrol’s script is a collaboration between Quark Henares and Diego Castillo, a guitarist for one of the Philippines’ biggest rock outfits, Sandwich.
It follows the story of Odie and his best friend Irene, two outsiders who find a second home in the Philippine underground rock music scene. The two decide to form a band and put together an unikely combo that consists of the school bully, an ex-punk barista and a child star-turned-band-manager. Rakenrol follows their misadventures as they encounter satanic S&M bands, samurai swindlers, narcissist rockers and the most ridiculous music video shoot ever. It is an honest and heartfelt tribute to Philippine rock n’ roll, starring Diether Ocampo, Matet de Leon, Ramon Bautista, Jason Abalos, Glaiza de Castro among others.
Award-winning filmmaker and music video director Quark Henares is deemed by many to be one of contemporary Philippine independent cinema’s rising stars. The young filmmaker is the son of Vicky Belo and Atom who megged a full-length mainstream movie at age 21 via the sexy hit movie, Gamitan. In 2003, he surprised everyone by writing and directing his second movie, Keka, which earned positive reviews.
The dark comedy starring Katya Santos, Wendell Ramos, and Vhong Navarro screened at both the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) and New York Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) and earned him praise from critics, including Pulp Fiction director Quentin Tarantino.
After studying in Montessori, Quark went to Ateneo where he graduated with a Communications Management degree. From there, he studied filmmaking in New York. Upon his return to Manila, Quark directed some music videos for Viva. He also produced bands, co-owned Mag:net High Street (at the Fort), produced live music events, and has performed regularly with his band Us-2, Evil-0.
When he was just starting in the industry, Quark admitted that he was always being introduced as the son of Vicki Belo. But quickly, he has managed to carve his own reputation as a multi-talented musician, writer, director of films, commercials and music videos, a manager of a band and a businessman, owning a bar and a recording studio. But he said, the job he loves more than any other is being an educator. “For me, it’s the one pure thing—the most rewarding experience ever!” admitted Quark who is also a professor at Ateneo, teaching indie filmmaking courses.
Rakenrol will be making its world premiere on May 2, 2011 at The Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy. Two days later, it will be shown at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
You can watch Rakenrol on Wednesday, May 4, at 7pm at the CGV Cinemas, Theatre 3, 621 South Western Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90005. Tickets are sold from $10- $12 only. For more information, call (213) 680-4462 extension 59. Visit http://www.vconline.org/festival or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Ian Gamazon’s new psycho thriller seduces
Living in Seduced Circumstances
Directed by Ian Gamazon
Running time: 72 mins
Any good filmmaker will tell you a great and memorable movie is all about the characters. So when Fil-Am filmmaker Ian Gamazon set out to write Living in Seduced Circumstances, he had this visual stuck in his mind—a very pregnant woman lugging a bow with arrows on her back while wheeling a disabled man in a wheelchair through the woods and using him as target practice.
He then began to ask: Where do they come from? What do they do? Why are these two linked? What’s going on?
What he came up with is a harrowing tale almost similar to Roman Polanski’s film Death and the Maiden and George Huang’s Swimming with Sharks.
The movie in Vietnamese dialect follows a scorned pregnant woman who kidnaps a man she believes has done her wrong. To make him confess his sins, she tortures him with no remorse. With no help in sight, his only chance of escape is to convince her of his innocence.
Written and directed by Gamazon, the psychological thriller stars Vietnamese actors Long Nguyen and Quynn Ton.
“I have never spoken Vietnamese in my life,” said Gamazon in his director’s statement. “So when the backstory of the two characters came to me I knew right away that the film had to be spoken in Vietnamese. I knew it was going to be a challenge to direct the actors without knowing what they’re saying but it didn’t deter me. I wrote the script in English to give me an idea of where the story was going to go.”
This is the third indie film for Gamazon who reached some level of fame when he co-wrote another independent film thriller, Cavite, in 2005.
Living in Seduced Circumstances will showcase on Saturday, April 30 at the Director’s Guild of America theatre. The film starts at 9:45pm.
Dealing with identity crisis
The Flip Side
Directed By Rod Pulido
Running time: 80 mins
Fil-Am filmmaker Rod Pulido’s struggles in making his film, The Flip Side, are well-documented. He juggled jobs, worked as a substitute teacher and after four years, saved enough money to finally get it done.
His hardwork paid off when in 2001, The Flip Side became the first Filipino-American feature length film to screen at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.
The movie was well-received. And in this year’s Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, the organizers wanted to celebrate the film’s 10th year anniversary.
The Flip Side follows the trials and tribulations of a Fil-Am family.
The oldest brother, Darius Delacruz, arrives home for summer break from college where he has embraced his Filipino roots. He comes home only to find his family has done the opposite. His younger brother is a basketball junkie who’s into Hip-Hop and his younger sister is obsessed with looking Caucasian and is in the process of saving money for a nose job.
Pulido wrote the story at a time when many Fil-Ams have a hard time dealing with their own identities. In an interview, Pulido said Filipinos are just too good at assimilating.
“We work really hard to learn English and to speak without an accent, we start to act like the other kids in school, adopting their slang, and then we no longer like to hear or speak Tagalog,” he said in an interview with AsianAmericanFilm.com.
“Pretty soon, we’re ‘one of the gang,’ whether black, white or Latino. Things get comfortable, and before you know it, you forget who you are.”
The Flip Side will showcase on Saturday, April 30 at the Laemmle Sunset 5 theatre at 2:30pm.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek April 27-29, 2011 MDWK pg.2)
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