Written by Precious Ringor
Presented by Visual Communications, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) will be commemorating 36 years online. Since 1983, LAAPFF has supported the works by and about Asian International and Asian Pacific American artists. Currently, it stands as the largest festival of its kind and will take place from September 14 to October 31.
In partnership with Nielsen, the festival is hosting C3:Converse in place of their annual C3:Conference for Creative Content. The conference is a space for artists and filmmakers to connect during the film fest. This year, panel discussions and artist conversations will be conducted via zoom. Furthermore, a special series will be featured every Sunday in partnership with the Asian American Documentary Network and David Magdael & Associates.
Among programs being featured is Building History 3.0 Project. A creative spin on history lessons, the project mimics World War II Japanese American incarceration camps in the world of Minecraft. These game-based online interactive activities are designed to help viewers understand what life was like for those who lived in the camps. The project is part of REORIENT, a free program that highlights emerging media forms like virtual reality, live streaming, and video games. Creative works in the program explore themes from civil engagement and immigration to resilience and community.
As photographed above, the cast of The Vibration Group, a sci-fi opera that’s also being featured in the REORIENT program. Photo by Dalton Blanko.
This year’s festival will be featuring Through the Night, a verité documentary directed by Loira Limbal. The film is making its west coast premiere and will be available in Southern California (excluding San Diego County) from October 8 to 11. The film centers around the story of three women whose lives are affected by economic inequality. Other special screenings include Ursula Liang’s Down A Dark Stairwell, Ramona S. Diaz’s documentary A Thousand Cuts, Iram Parveen Bilal’s I’ll Meet You There, and SXSW Special Jury Award Winner, Jiayan “Jenny” Shi’s Finding Yingying to name a few. To watch the film or view other screenings, visit https://watch.eventive.org/laapff2020
Atomic Nancy, owner of The Atomic Café. The café was a notorious for attracting L.A.’s Punk Rock scene in the 70s and 80s.
In the past, LA’s Little Tokyo has served as the festival’s home. To honor that tradition, LAAPFF presents “LT@Home,” a series showcasing stories from Little Tokyo. The series opens with the world premiere of Akira Boch & Tadashi Nakamura’s The Atomic Café: The Nosiest Corner in J-Town followed by a live-stream event celebrating the town’s musical history during the Bronzeville Era. Performers and speakers include Ron Kobayashi Band, Erin Davis, as well as historians Kirk Silsbee and Hillary Kenks.
In order to simulate different theatre screenings, films are programmed with viewing windows depending on the type of ticket purchased. Single tickets are available for all films with a 24-hour watch period. After the window time, films are re-watchable with purchase of a new ticket. Likewise, festival passes only allow audiences to unlock a film once. Ticket packages are now on sale, to purchase a pass see https://vcmedia.org/latest-news/laapff2020packages
Follow @VCFilmFestival for more details! #LAAPFF2020