SFIAAFF Brings 'Light,' Captures Attention

At nearly 30, SF Int’l Asian American Film Festival fulfills a multifacted programming mission. The 29th edition of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival stretches across the Bay Area, from San Francisco to Berkeley to San Jose March 10–20, bringing “Stories to Light” as the Center for Asian American Media's new tagline says. Indeed, both the stories and their potential audiences would be left in the dark without the solid efforts of new festival steward Misashi Niwano and Christine Kwon (festival director and managing director, respectively). In a city privileged with a vast...

SFIAAFF Brings 'Light,' Captures Attention

At nearly 30, SF Int’l Asian American Film Festival fulfills a multifacted programming mission. The 29th edition of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival stretches across the Bay Area, from San Francisco to Berkeley to San Jose March 10–20, bringing “Stories to Light” as the Center for Asian American Media's new tagline says. Indeed, both the stories and their potential audiences would be left in the dark without the solid efforts of new festival steward Misashi Niwano and Christine Kwon (festival director and managing director, respectively). In a city privileged with a vast...

SFIFF53: Golden Gate Awards and Juried Prizes/Grants Announced

Cash prizes totaling nearly $300,000 for filmmakers highlighted the San Francisco International Film Festival s Golden Gate Awards Wednesday night.

Local Filmmakers In SFIFF Spotlight

Leland Orser saw his first movie at the Alexandria, and Joshua Grannell initially established himself as a S.F. character via his alter ego Peaches Christ.

Christina Yao's solid Empire of Silver

First-time filmmaker Christina Yao is soft-spoken and exceedingly polite, but it s apparent that very little intimidates her.

San Francisco International Film Festival's 53rd Edition

Director of Programming Rachel Rosen and programmers Rod Armstrong, Audrey Chang and Sean Uyehara shared thoughts on 177 films from 46 countries.

SF International Asian American Film Festival's Archival Tour

A theme that emerged in this year s SFIAFF was the importance of archives in the film world.

Borshay Liem's Double Exposure of Korean Adoptions

Deann Borshay Liem's 1999 doc First Person Plural recounted her experience as an orphaned Korean adoptee raised in an East Bay suburb.

28th SF Int'l Asian American Film Festival

The Center for Asian American Media, formerly known as NAATA and founded to nurture Asian American filmmakers as well as counter ethnic stereotypes, has accomplished that and more.

'Village' a New Look at New Orleans

S. Leo Chiang knew what it was like to be an outsider in the U.S., so the rebellion of Vietnamese residents in New Orleans was an ideal subject.

Jennifer Phang On Half-Life and Identity

Jennifer Phang has experienced more than enough culture shocks in her life to empathize with the identity challenges of the characters in her debut feature.

Lee, Schamus and Woodstock

The release of Woodstock provides an opportunity to look back on Ang Lee and Schamus's very impressive, diverse screen resume.

Connecting Here and There at the 27th SFIAAFF

This year, the festival feels like it has truly arrived as an internationally recognized platform for cross-Pacific cinematic exchange, in this disparate cross-section of films from home, abroad and places in between.

Yiyun Li, The Voice of 'A Thousand'

The title story of her Hemingway/Pen Award-winning collection of short stories, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, has been adapted by Wayne Wang.

Ruby Yang on 'A Double Life'

SF360 caught up with Ruby Yang during a recent Bay Area visit to discuss her "latest and most lyrical film yet," A Double Life.

SFIFF51: Renee Tajima- Pe–a's trip down “Calavera Highway'

If making a movie about one’s family could be equated with a fire-walk in August, then making a documentary about one’s partner’s family might be akin to a midsummer sauna. Yet veteran L.A. filmmaker Renee Tajima-Pe–a (Who Killed Vincent Chin?) signed on to a road trip with her husband from L.A. to Washington state to Texas in search of "la verdad" about the father that abandoned Armando’s mother Rosa and his six brothers several decades ago. An intimate and elegantly crafted work of cinema verita, Calavera Highway encompasses universal familial tensions, Mexican-American identity, the responsibilities of fathers (and sons) and the psychic malleability of map-drawn borders.

Tajima-Pe–a, who’s an associate professor at UC Santa Cruz, will receive the Golden Gate Award for long-form television documentary at the S.F. International Film Festival, where Calavera Highway screens three times in early May. Via email, she talked about searching for "Calaveras" hidden in closets and elsewhere.

SFIAAFF's winners

Two top winners at the SFIAAFF focused on breakadancing, an art form taken up with vengeance by Asians, with Koran teams a particularly dominant force.

SFIAAFF's Taro Goto, Moving On

Outgoing SFIAAFF's Associate Director reflects on what made him happy during his last year of work.

San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival

SFIAAFF has grown from a niche event to a major international festival - with more than enough voices to justify its unwieldy moniker.

San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival 2008

The 26th annual SFIAAFF plays in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose, and kicks off with Wayne Wang's A Thousand Years of Good Prayers.

Grace Lee on the Zombie in You and Me

Director Grace Lee talks about the personal horror movie genre in American Zombie and the ethical dilemmas documentary filmmakers face.

Favorite Artists at the SFIAAFF

SF360.org checked in with actors and filmmakers roaming this year's festival to give props to their favorite Asian American artist, past or present.

S.F. International Asian American Announces '07 Program

This year's 125 films follow the fest's growth from 13 films in 1982 in the wake of Wayne Wang's Chan is Missing.

Filmmaker Ham Tran Rights an Historical Wrong

Vietnamese American filmmaker Ham Tran rights an historical wrong in his debut feature film on the Vietnam War.

Cambodian Americans Exiled in New Film, Sentenced Home

A conversation with the filmmakers and one star of "Sentenced Home," about three Cambodian Americans in the process of being exiled.

Future Stars of SFIAAFF

The List: Taro Goto posits who will go on to superstardom from the 2006 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

Transnational Tales at This Year's SFIAAFF

Transnational tales stand out at the 2006 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

Shigeta's Presence at the SFIAAFF

Six degrees of James Shigeta: an actor ahead of his time sustains a presence in American and Asian American cinema.

Shigeta's Presence at the SFIAAFF

Six degrees of James Shigeta: an actor ahead of his time sustains a presence in American and Asian American cinema.

A Talk with SFIAAFF Directors Chi-hui Yang and Taro Goto

Asian America everywhere: A talk with San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival directors Chi-hui Yang and Taro Goto.

Public Defender Jeff Adachi Adds Filmmaker to Resume

Jeff Adachi, San Francisco public defender, adds filmmaker to the resume.