foundasian.org

(H)API HOUR’S VC FILMFEST WARM UP PARTY
Co-sponsored by APA|FIVE, bSocial, APA Bar Association of LA County, the Organization of Chinese Americans-Orange County, Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP) and Hyphen Magazine
Presented by Philip Kan Gotanda’s ‘Life Tastes Good’ Now on DVD
Supporting Project by Project (PbP)
Co-hosted by Keith Kamisugi, Ling-ling Chang, Diane Tanaka, Derek Tran and Brian Wang

Wednesday, May 2, 2007
6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Chop Suey Cafe + Lounge / Far Bar
347 E 1st Street
Little Tokyo

$10 voluntary donations at the door will go to Project by Project (PbP)

RSVP at http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/keith@keithpr.com/vcfilmfest2007
or via email to keith@hapihour.org

Join us for a VC FilmFest “warm up” party! Visual Communications, the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center features VC FILMFEST 2007: The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Presented by Honda from May 3-10. Southern California’s largest and most prestigious film festival of its kind launches the celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month through this year’s slate of over 150 films and videos from both Asian Pacific American and Asian international directors.

This will be your opportunity to be among the first to get the festival calendar and plan your movie-going week with the festival. VC will invite all the participating local filmmakers along with their respective casts to join in the festivities and mingle with the (H)API Hour folks in a casual atmosphere.

festival.vconline.org | www.myspace.com/vcfilmfest

About the Supporting Organizations

APA|FIVE is the organization behind INSPIRE|07, a three-day conference Sept. 1-3, 2007, in San Francisco bringing together more than 1,000 Asian Pacific American professionals and leaders, for the largest interdisciplinary network in the country.
www.apa5.org

Philip Kan Gotanda’s ‘Life Tastes Good’ Now on DVD. Asian-American playwright Philip Kan Gotanda made his directorial debut with this unusual crime drama. Also starring Julia Nickson, Tamlyn Tomita, Greg Watanabe, Kelvin Han Yee and Tim Lounibos, the film was executive produced by Dale Minami and features music by Dan Kuramoto of Hiroshima. Life Tastes Good was shown as part of the American Spectrum series at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. DVD now available on Amazon, Netflix, Blockbuster and many other locations and sites.
myspace.com/lifetastesgoodmovie | youtube.com/lifetastesgoodmovie

On July 19, 2007, LEAP will host its annual Awards Dinner Gala, which will take place at the Los Angeles Hilton in Universal City. This gala dinner celebrates LEAP’s 25th Anniversary as well as the leadership and accomplishments of individuals and organizations who exemplify LEAP’s mission to achieve full participation and equality for Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders through leadership, empowerment and policy.
www.leap.org

bSocial is a brand new ‘social club’ catering to young professionals looking for a fun happy-hour type event with a cosmopolitan crowd & hip, sophisticated surroundings.
www.bsocialevents.com

The Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County is a member organization comprised of attorneys, judges, commissioners and law students throughout Los Angeles County. It is a voice for issues of concern to the Asian Pacific Islander community. APABA provides legal education and assistance to underserved Asian Pacific Islander communities and also sponsors programs in professional development, community education, and law student mentorship.
www.apabala.org

OCA-OC is the Orange County chapter of OCA, a national organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans in the United States. To full its mission, OCA’s goals are to: advocate for social justice, equal opportunity and fair treatment; promote civic participation, education, and leadership; advance coalitions and community building; and foster cultural heritage.
www.oca-oc.org

Hyphen is a magazine about Asian America for the culturally and politically savvy. Built around a clarity of image, word and social awareness, Hyphen takes form from the artists, thinkers and creators who are shaping a new multiethnic generation. Hyphen is not a formula but a sensibility—not a collection of recycled fare with an Asian flavor, but original reporting on stories that move beneath the mainstream. Curious and questioning, Hyphen looks into the hard issues, but also the Asian American by accident, by tangent or by happenstance. Visually arresting, it strikes the gut with clean design, sharp photography and original illustration.
www.hyphenmagazine.com

Project by Project (PbP) is a national volunteer organization of social entrepreneurs that serves Asian Pacific American non-profit organizations by raising public awareness, encouraging volunteerism and building capital. Each year, a PbP chapter partners with a different Asian Pacific American community-based organization and tailors an eight- month long campaign to help the group achieve its goals. By partnering with a different undeservedgroup each year and assisting in areas such as fundraising, marketing and public relations, event planning, strategic consulting, recruiting, and other assistance, Project by Project represents an innovative and unique approach to community service. Project by Project is a 100% volunteer driven, 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
www.projectbyproject.org

VC FILMFEST PRESS RELEASE

Visual Communications, the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center today announced their Opening, Centerpiece and Closing Night films for the upcoming VC FILMFEST 2007: The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Presented by Honda. The festival runs from May 3 through May 10 at the Director’s Guild of America, the Laemmle Sunset 5 Theatres, National Center for the Preservation of Democracy and the Aratani/Japan America Theatre.

Southern California’s largest and most prestigious film festival of its kind launches the celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month through this year’s slate of over 150 films and videos from both Asian Pacific American and Asian international directors. This year, Los Angeles based filmmakers are featured in the highlighted slots of the festival.

Highlights include:

OPENING NIGHT (Thursday, May 3) at Director’s Guild of America
FINISHING THE GAME — A FILM BY JUSTIN LIN (BETTER LUCK TOMORROW; FAST & FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT; ANNAPOLIS) A hit at 2007 Sundance, director Justin Lin brings his 70′s based comedy on the search for the new Bruce Lee and what could have happened. Starring: DUSTIN NGUYEN, ROGER FAN, SUNG KANG, MCCALEB BURNETT, MC HAMMER, MOUSA KRAISH, MEREDITH SCOTT LYNN, MONIQUE CURNEN, JAMES FRANCO, BRIAN TEE and LEONARDO NAM

CENTERPIECE FILM (Sunday, May 6) at Director’s Guild of America
AMERICAN ZOMBIE — A FILM BY GRACE LEE (THE GRACE LEE PROEJCT) VC FILMFEST alum Grace Lee is back with her first narrative feature film about the making of a documentary about the lives of zombies living in the US. A huge hit at 2007 Slamdance and 2007 South by Southwest film festivals, American Zombie answers the question — Is There Life After Death? — with a resounding YES!!!

CLOSING NIGHT (Thursday, May 10) at Aratani/Japan America Theatre
THE REBEL — A FILM BY CHARLIE NGUYEN The talented Vietnamese American filmmaker Charlie Nguyen brings THE REBEL, an action/adventure romance epic set in 1920′s Saigon as a government agent and the daughter of a rebel peasant flee the clutches of a malevolent turncoat thirsty for power. Starring: DUSTIN NGUYEN, JOHNNY TRI NGUYEN and NGO THANH VAN

SPECIAL EVENTS
– A Tribute to Mako (the Oscar nominated actor who passed away in 2006)
– Spotlight on the Director — An Afternoon with Justin Lin
– Spotlight on the Actor — An Afternoon with Dustin Nguyen
– Cinematographers Master Class

ASIAN INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASE – OUTSTANDING FILMS FROM ASIA includes:

– SUMMER PALACE — China
– THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT — China
– HULA GIRLS — Japan
– RETRIBUTION — Japan
– TEKKONKINKREET — Japan
– EAGLE VS. SHARK — New Zealand
– ANG PAMANA — Philippines
– TODO TODO TEROS — Philippines
– KING AND THE CLOWN — South Korea
– INVISIBLE WAVES — Thailand
– ETERNAL SUMMER — Taiwan
– SAIGON ECLIPSE — Vietnam

ASIAN AMERICAN SHOWCASE — OUTSTANDING FILMS FROM THE US includes:

– AMERICAN FUSION — Frank Lin
– BOLINAO 52 — Duc Nguyen
– THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI — Linda Hattendorf
– FALLING FOR GRACE — Fay Ann Lee
– THE TROUBLE WITH ROMANCE — Gene Rhee
– YOUNG REPUBLIC — Nooshin Navidi
– BEST IN THE WEST — Maryam Kashani
– NA KAMELEI: MEN OF HULA — Lisette Marie Flanery
– NEW YEAR BABY — Socheata Poeuv
– BABY — Juwan Chung
– AMERICAN PASTIME — Desmond Nakano

More films and events will be announced later.

Established in 1983, VC FILMFEST is Southern California’s leading showcase for Asian Pacific American and Asian international cinema. This year, the eight-day movie-rama will also include a complement of filmmaker seminars, panel discussions, workshops, and awards.

For ticket and program information, a complete listing of sponsors and partners, and to purchase tickets, log on to http://www.vconline.org or contact Visual Communications at (213) 680-4462 x68.

VC FILMFEST 2007 is presented by Honda and supported by the following sponsors: Presenting — Honda; Premium — Directors Guild of America; Premiere — John Woo Presents Stranglehold from Midway Games; Platinum –National Endowment for the Arts; Screen Actors Guild — Producers Industry Advancement and Cooperative Fund; Gold — AZN Television; Los Angeles County Arts Commission; Macy’s; Multicultural Radio Broadcast, Inc.; Project By Project; Sony Pictures Entertainment; and Wahoo’s Fish Taco; Silver — Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences; Cultural Affairs Department — City of Los Angeles; Eastman Kodak Company; Entertainment Partners; FOX; MUSE; Bronze — Asian Pacific Community Fund; Hitachi, Ltd.; Little Tokyo Service Center; SAG Indie; Search to Involve Pilipino Americans; Writers Guild of America — West, Inc; Official Festival Beer –Heineken; Official International Airline — Cathay Pacific Airways; Official Domestic Airline — Southwest Airlines; Awards — Eastman Kodak Company; Entertainment Partners, LA Digital Post, Write Brothers, Inc; Media — LA36; GIANT ROBOT; IKOn; LA 18/KSCI-TV; and Multicultural Radio Broadcast, Inc.

On Saturday, several artists attending the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival appeared at an afterparty and fundraiser at the Dot Bar in Japantown’s Miyako Hotel to show their support for Asian Pacific American political empowerment. More than $1,000 was collected at the event and donated to APAs for Progress.

Special guests included Yul Kwon (Survivor), Ken Leung (X-Men 3, Shanghai Kiss), Jacqueline Kim (Charlotte Sometimes, Present), Karin Anna Cheung (Better Luck Tomorrow, My Life Disoriented), Ron Yuan (Baby), Chris Chan Lee (Yellow, Undoing), Sung Kang (Undoing) and Eric Byler (Charlotte Sometimes, Americanese).

Byler, whose new film Tre screened at the festival, contacted the filmmakers of Shanghai Kiss and Baby, which also premiered Saturday, with the idea to throw a joint party and deliver a meaningful message about the link between representation in mainstream media and representation in the political process.

“The alchemy of the arts and media is a path to political empowerment for Asian Pacific Americans and for all marginalized communities,” said Byler. “More than ever before, today’s politics is about control of the media message, and now that the Internet is a big part of that message, we have a unique opportunity to make our voice heard.”

Byler came to such conclusions as a leader of Real Virginians For Webb, an Asian American-focused grassroots organization credited with helping Jim Webb defeat former Sen. George Allen in the 2006 Virginia Senate race. Through a combination of guerrilla and new media approaches (including a YouTube video featuring Lost star Daniel Dae Kim), the grassroots organization was able to garner support from the national APA community. Donations sent from APA strongholds like San Francisco, Honolulu and Los Angeles meant that the power of the national community was being focused on a Senate race in Virginia, where Asian Pacific Americans are still struggling to assert their power.

The videos Byler shot during the campaign, seen collectively by more than 40,000 viewers on YouTube, generated an unprecedented involvement of Asian Americans in the election. A poll by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund showed that 76 percent of Asian American Virginians voted for Webb, who won the race by just three-tenths of a percent of the total vote.

Learn more about Eric and his work on his Myspace page.

Shanghai Kiss/Tre Afterparty & Baby World Premiere Party

a (H)API hour fundraiser for APAs for Progress
co-hosted by the Harvard B-School Asian American Alumni Association
with special guests the Asian American Journalists Association SF Bay Area*

Saturday, March 17, 2007
8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Dot Bar in the Miyako Hotel
$10 suggested donation at the door
(proceeds go to APAs for Progress)

RSVP on evite.com

Join special guests Tre director Eric Byler and writer/actor Kimberly-Rose Wolter, Shanghai Kiss directors Kern Konwiser, David Ren, producer Kip Konwiser and actor Ken Leung, along with Baby director Juwan Chung, producer Jason Cerrato, and stars Tzi Ma, Ron Yuan, Kenny Choi and Feodor Chin, plus Present director Jacqueline Kim, Undoing director Chris Chan Lee, Better Luck Tomorrow’s Karin Anna Cheung, Yul Kwon from Survivor, and filmmakers and stars from other festival entries and from the Bay Area arts community.

Click on the photos below to learn more about each movie.

“This festival isn’t just about the Asian American community supporting its artists; it’s also about artists supporting the community,” says Eric Byler, writer/director of Charlotte Sometimes, Americanese, and TRE. “The alchemy of the arts and media is a path to political empowerment for Asian Americans and for all marginalized communities. As artists, we can lead the way by joining and supporting organizations like Asian Pacific Americans for Progress. We’d be nowhere without the community’s support, so really, this is the least we can do.”

See two examples of how Eric and others did this in the 2006 campaign:

* YouTube: 2006 VA Senate Race: Looking Back at Role of Asian Americans
* YouTube: Daniel Dae Kim Calls Out the APA Community

Learn more about our supporting organizations

hapihour.org | apaforprogress.org | hbs4a.org | aajasf.org

*The AAJA-SF Bay Area chapter’s presence at this event does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the event organizers.

Join us in a (H)API Hour for Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE) on Thursday, March 8, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the new Lucid Bar and Gallery on 580 Sutter (cross Mason).

We’re asking for a $10 voluntary donation at the door. 100 percent of the funds collected will be donated to AACRE. RSVP on this evite or email keith@hapihour.org.

Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality is a progressive voice advocating for social justice in California. As the only policy office in Sacramento dedicated to state legislative and budget advocacy, AACRE fights for critical legislation and funding on behalf of our diverse Asian Pacific American communities and empowers APAs to be an active and engaged force in advancing civil rights and social justice.

AACRE is a collaborative project of Chinese for Affirmative Action, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, and the Asian Law Caucus. Building on the expertise and commitment of these three civil rights organizations, AACRE primarily focuses its advocacy efforts on assisting low-income, immigrant, and underserved Asian Pacific Americans. AACRE advocates on a broad range of issues, including civil rights, language rights, and voting rights, as well as broader issues of equity and justice.

Please use this static link to invite others:
www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/keith@keithpr.com/aacre