Festival Week 2016 Awards have been Announced

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AS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ALAN PAO AND PRODUCER MEGHA KADAKIA LOOK ON, DIRECTOR/CO-SCREENWRITER LENA KHAN ACCEPTS THE FESTIVAL GRAND JURY PRIZE FOR HER DEBUT FEATURE NARRATIVE "THE TIGER HUNTER" IN CEREMONIES PRECEDING FESTIVAL CLOSING NIGHT ON APRIL 28…

AS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ALAN PAO AND PRODUCER MEGHA KADAKIA LOOK ON, DIRECTOR/CO-SCREENWRITER LENA KHAN ACCEPTS THE FESTIVAL GRAND JURY PRIZE FOR HER DEBUT FEATURE NARRATIVE "THE TIGER HUNTER" IN CEREMONIES PRECEDING FESTIVAL CLOSING NIGHT ON APRIL 28. (PHOTO: STEVEN LAM)

“THE TIGER HUNTER” And “HOOLIGAN SPARROW” Take Top Honors At the 32nd Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

BAD RAP by Salima Koroma Wins Audience Award for Best Documentary

THE TIGER HUNTER by Lena Khan Wins Audience Award for Best Narrative

The FESTIVAL GOLDEN REEL AWARD for Best Short Film Goes to
THE LOBSTER KID by Joseph Chen-Chieh Hsu
THE CHICKEN OF WUZUH by Sungbin Byun

The LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/NEW VISIONS AWARD Goes to
FATA MORGANA by Amelie Wen

 

May 5, 2016 (Los Angeles, CA) The 2016 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) produced by Visual Communications celebrated it’s closing night of their 32nd edition last Thursday with a filmmaker awards ceremony for the competition films, and the LA premiere screening of the romantic drama PALI ROAD directed by Jonathan Lim.

Los Angeles based director Lena Khan was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature for her feature debut THE TIGER HUNTER starring Danny Pudi, Karen David and Jon Heder. Khan was also recognized with the festival’s Best Director Award for the same film. And her entire cast of THE TIGER HUNTER was recognized with Best Ensemble Cast Award making the film a three-time award winner.

Additional Narrative Feature awards presented on closing night include:

  • Best Screenplay RYUN YU for THE LAST TOUR

  • Best Editor RACHEL TEJADA for GRASS

  • Best Cinematography QUYEN TRAN for PALI ROAD

  • Best Sound Design KENNETH L. JOHNSON for THE UNBIDDEN

  • Best Actress MICHELLE CHEN for PALI ROAD

  • Best Actor CHRISTOPHER DINH for COMFORT

  • Best Ensemble Cast Cast of THE TIGER HUNTER

  • Best Visual Effects HAZMADT, JULIUS SANCHEZ for VAMPARIAH

In the documentary competition, the moving HOOLIGAN SPARROW from Nanfu Wang won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary.  The film documents just how dangerous it is to be a women’s rights activist in China, observing the life of Ye Haiyan, a.k.a. Sparrow, but it also reveals the danger and difficulty in making a film on this topic. HOOLIGAN SPARROW follows Ye Haiyan, as she is chased from town to town by local governments, national secret police, and even her own neighbors after she seeks justice against an elementary school principal who abused six girls.  In addition, director Nanfu Wang was awarded the Best Director prize, as well.

Additional awards presented include:

  • Best Cinematography S. LEO CHIANG for OUT RUN

  • Best Editing MIKIKO SASAKI for THE GREAT SASUKE

 As a special jury prize, the documentary jury awarded PAMELA TOM for her film TYRUS with the VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS FOUNDERS AWARD.  This special inaugural award recognizes a talented artist who exemplifies the spirit and fierceness of the founders of Visual Communications – the festival’s producing organization.

Attendance was up with many sold out shows this year and audiences really responding to the films and stories.  All of the 40 feature films were eligible for Audience Award. This was divided into the fiction and documentary categories.  This year, the awards were given out to two female directors. BAD RAP by Salima Koroma took home the Audience Award in the documentary arena that focused on the current hot Asian American hip-hop scene; and THE TIGER HUNTER by Lena Khan wowed the audiences and won the Audience Award for Best Fiction Feature. 

This year, the LAAPFF presented over 100 short films from directors across the globe.  Two films took home the Golden Reel Award for Best Overall Short Film:

THE LOBSTER KID by JOSEPH CHEN-CHIEH HSU
THE CHICKEN OF WUZUH by SUNGBIN BYUN

The Linda Mabalot New Directors/New Visions Award went to:
FATA MORGANA by AMELIE WEN

Special Jury Prize: COME, THE LIGHT by CHAO KOI-WANG

 

The 2016 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is sponsored by:

PRESENTING: Lexus

PLATINUM: Comcast NBC Universal; Sony Pictures Entertainment

GOLD: Directors Guild of America; HBO; Nielsen; Wells Fargo 

SILVER: FilmLA, Pechanga

BRONZE: Go Little Tokyo, SAG Indie

STAR: Motion Picture Editors Guild; SAG-AFTRA; Writers Guild of America, West; Simple DCP;

VENUE SPONSORS: Aratani Theatre/Japanese American Cultural & Community Center; Directors Guild of America; Japanese American National Museum; Downtown Independent; CGV Cinemas; The Great Company; USC Pacific Asian Museum; Far Bar; Far East Lounge

MEDIA SPONSORS: AngryAsianMan.com; LA18 KSCI-TV; MYX TV; TRAKTIVIST.com; International Documentary Association, FORM follows FUNCTION

GOVERNMENT: National Endowment for the Arts; Los Angeles County Arts Commission; Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles; California Humanities

FOUNDATION: Aratani Foundation; James Irvine Foundation; SAG-P IACF; Asian Pacific Community Fund; M.A. & Josephine R. Grisham Foundation

RECEPTION: The Park’s Finest; Asahi; Kirin; Stella Artois; LA18 KSCI-TV; Pop’d Up; Twinkle Brown Sugar; AFC Soy Foods; Found Coffee, Crème Caramel LA, The Boba Truck; Bruce Tea

IN KIND: The Park’s Finest; HBO; Bruce Tea; Peter Ly; Shiftboard.com; FestPro; Telepath Corporation; IKON Office Supplies; Meiji; LA18 KSCI-TV; Ace Beverages; Mendocino Farms; Piehole

 

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