The Asian American International Film Festival
This film festival is billed as the first to be dedicated to works by directors of Asian descent whether they are American or still living in Asia; the fest is a leading promoter of Asian-made films, animation, shorts and experimental works. The AAIFF was started in 1978, with the intent to be a formal showcase for Asian filmmakers. Since the start of the festival, many now-famous directors are alumni of the AAIFF, including Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou and Mira Nair. The festival started a major trend in other cities; now Chicago, Toronto and Los Angeles all have Asian film festivals to call their own. In addition, the Asian American Film Festival offers a package deal where a group of festival official selections can be rented to groups for special screenings. The “Road Show” concept brings the AAIFF’s best to anyone who wants to put on a show. Information about this package of films can be found at http://www.asiancinevision.org/nationaltour.html For filmmakers, this is an excellent opportunity to compete with some of America’s best directors still working independently. The entry fees for this festival are quite low for members of Asian Cinevision—fifteen dollars; the thirty-five dollar fee for nonmembers is also quite reasonable for anyone used to working the film festival circuit. For those considering the AAIFF as a regular part of their film festival submissions, it may be a very good idea to join ACV—the fees are lower for filmmakers and students than in any other category, and the benefits include discounts for events through the year and advanced notification for special screenings and other happenings. The festival has many categories for films, including the juried Excellence in Short Filmmaking Award, plus the audience picked Best Music Video award and similar Emerging Director award. In 2005, the Emerging Director Award went to Grace Lee for her work, “The Grace Lee Project”. This film concerned Grace Lee’s search for other people who were her namesake. Best Video went to Rik Cordero for his work on The Mighty Sweet video, “Park, Park”. These directors had stiff competition-- and each year, the festival shows only the best of the vast amount of entries. Like other good festivals, directors aren’t the only ones recognized for their work. In the past Wayne Wang, Joan Chen and Michelle Yeoh have all been recipients of the festival’s Asian American Media Award. For complete rules on submitting work to the AAIFF, visit http://www.asiancinevision.org/festival.html and download the sponsorship package and guidelines. Asian Cinevision posts a list of events and screenings at http://www.asiancinevision.org/screenings.html. Joe Wallace
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It’s true; Long Island is a hotbed of film festivals and independent filmmaking. One of the hottest festivals is the Asian American International Film Festival, which attracts more than eight thousand viewers during a two-week series of films held on both 