GOOK, COLUMBUS, THE SOWER, SAVE MY SEOUL, and PLASTIC CHINA Take Top Honors at the 33rd Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
/GOLDEN REEL AWARD GOES TO “PRIA” FOR BEST SHORT AND THE LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/NEW VISIONS AWARD TO “AND SO WE PUT GOLDFISH IN THE POOL”
ACTOR JOHN CHO RECEIVES THE VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS TRAILBLAZER AWARD HONORING HIS ACTING CAREER AND HIS SUPPORT FOR THE FESTIVAL AND ASIAN AMERICAN FILMS
“GOOK,” “SMALL TALK,” “FINDING KUKAN,” “MIXED MATCH,” “SAVING SALLY,” AND “JOSHUA: TEENAGER VS. SUPERPOWER” LEAD THE AUDIENCE AWARDS
May 11, 2017 (Los Angeles, CA) – On the closing day of the 33rd Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival(LAAPFF) produced by Visual Communications announced their filmmaker awards for this year’s edition which began on April 27 and concluded on May 11, 2017.
“GOOK,” a film by Los Angeles based director/writer/actor Justin Chon, led the pack with four awards including the Audience Award, Best Director Award and Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding North American Film. The film’s breakout star – 11 year-old Simone Baker – took home the Best Actress prize. “GOOK” has been picked up by Samuel Goldwyn Films and will be released in theaters in August.
The LAAPFF closing night film “COLUMBUS” from first time feature filmmaker Kogonada and starring John Cho took home three awards including Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Ensemble Cast.
International films were a huge hit this year, with “THE SOWER” (Japan) directed, produced and written by Yosuke Takeuchi being awarded four awards including Grand Jury Prize, Best Actor, Best Young Talent and Best Screenplay, while the documentary PLASTIC CHINA (China) – a film by Jiu-Liang Wang – won the Grand Jury Prize and Best Cinematography Jury Award.
The North American documentary films brought out the audiences with SAVE MY SEOUL from Los Angeles filmmaker Jason Y. Lee winning the Grand Jury Prize and two non-fiction films sharing the Audience Award – MIXED MATCH by Jeff Chiba Stearns and FINDING KUKAN by Robin Lung.
This year also marked the first time that the LAAPFF would be an Academy Award qualifying festival for the Short Film (Live Action or Animated) Oscar®, and the film that won this year’s Golden Reel Award and is now eligible to qualify is “PRIA” (Indonesia) from director Yudho Aditya. The annual Linda Mabalot New Directors/New Visions Award went to director Makoto Nagahisa for the entertaining“AND SO WE PUT GOLDFISH IN THE POOL” (Japan). Also for the first time, the festival established jury awards for the short documentary category with “PLEASE COME AGAIN” directed by Alisa Yang given the Grand Jury Prize.
The LAAPFF also presented the Visual Communications Trailblazer Award to actor John Cho at the LA closing night screening of “COLUMBUS” at the Directors Guild of America. The film, a hit at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, also starred Cho in the lead role. He was honored for his career of over 20 years in film, stage and television and for being a leader and supporter of Asian American films and filmmakers, the organization and the festival for over two decades.
“This year was one of the best festivals to date,” said Francis Cullado, Executive Director of Visual Communications. “With 184 films from 31 countries and audiences from all over Southern California, the United States and the world, we were able to showcase our extraordinary talent in front of and behind the camera. Our festival, our artists and our films are proof that there ‘ain’t no whitewashing here’ nor does there need to be.”
The 2017 LAAPFF jury members included: Andrew Ahn; Lena Khan; Tilane Jones; Amy J. Jelenko; Charmaine Parcero; Charlize Toratani; Daryn Okada; Vera DeVera; Lily Mariye; Chris Tashima; Giselle Tongi-Walters; Parvesh Cheena; Lily Niu; Kat Iniba; Ringo Le; Senain Keshagi; Bong Monsanto; and Janice Tanaka.
The LAAPFF is the largest festival of its kind and this year, extended their reach from greater Los Angeles to Orange County with extended programming and encore films from May 5 – May 11 in Buena Park at the brand new CGV Cinemas – bringing these films and stories to new audiences.
The Festival partnered with following screening venues across Los Angeles and Southern California
●Egyptian Theatre – (Hollywood)
●Aratani Theatre @ JACCC – Little Tokyo (DTLA)
●Art Share LA- (DTLA – Arts District)
●Tateuchi Democracy Forum @ Japanese American National Museum – Little Tokyo
●Downtown Independent – Downtown LA (DTLA)
●CGV Cinemas – Koreatown – Mid-Wilshire
●CGV Buena Park 8 Cinemas – Buena Park (Orange County)
●The Great Company – Downtown LA (DTLA)
●Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (DTLA – Little Tokyo)
●Directors Guild of America – West Hollywood
The 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is sponsored by:
●PLATINUM: Comcast NBCUniversal; HBO
●GOLD: Directors Guild of America; Nielsen; LAIKA; UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
●SILVER: Little Tokyo Service Center; Pechanga; Sony Pictures
●BRONZE: Motion Pictures Editors Guild; SAG-AFTRA; SAGindie; Taiwan Academy; The Famous Group; Hawaiian Airlines; Korean Film Council; Union Bank; Writers Guild of America, West
●STAR: Cathay Bank; Metro
●GOVERNMENT: Dept. of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Arts Commission; California Arts Council; National Endowment for the Arts
●FOUNDATION: Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences; Aratani Foundation; Asian Pacific Community Fund; Screen Actors Guild-Producers Industry Advancement & Cooperative Fund
●MEDIA: Angry Asian Man; LA18 KSCI-TV; Apple Daily
●IN KIND/RECEPTION: Asahi; Brewyard; Found Coffee; Far Bar; First Street Catering; Nature’s Bakery; The Park’s Finest
●VENUE:ArtShare L.A; Chinese American Museum; CGV Cinemas; Downtown Independent; Directors Guild of America; Geffen Contemporary at MOCA; Japanese American Cultural & Community Center; Japanese American National Museum; The Great Company
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Below is the complete list of winners
THE 33RD LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL 2017 AWARDS
COMPLETE AWARDS LIST
NORTH AMERICAN NARRATIVE FEATURE AWARDS
GRAND JURY PRIZE
GOOK – directed by Justin Chon
BEST DIRECTOR
Justin Chon (GOOK)
BEST ACTRESS
Simone Baker (GOOK)
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
COLUMBUS
JOHN CHO, HALEY LU RICHARDSON, PARKER POSEY, RORY CULKIN, MICHELLE FORBES
BEST SCREENPLAY
Kogonoda (COLUMBUS)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Elisha Christian (COLUMBUS)
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
Reid Asselstine (WEXFORD PLAZA)
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
Keigian Umi Tang (THE LOCKPICKER)
NORTH AMERICAN DOCUMENTARY FEATURE AWARDS
GRAND JURY PRIZE
Save My Seoul – directed by Jason Y. Lee
BEST DIRECTOR
Dinesh Sabu (Unbroken Glass)
BEST EDITOR
Tadashi Nakamura (Mele Murals)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Joey Muñoz and Johann Leitner (Ghost Magnet Roach Motel)
SPECIAL JURY PRIZES
A Time to Swim – directed by Ashley Duong
95 And 6 To Go – directed by Kimi Takesue
INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURE AWARDS
GRAND JURY PRIZE
THE SOWER – directed by Yosuke Takeuchi
BEST DIRECTOR
Sam Voutas (KING OF PEKING)
BEST ACTRESS
Dimen Zandi (RESEBA – THE DARK WIND)
BEST ACTOR
Kentaro Kishi (THE SOWER)
BEST YOUNG TALENT
Suzuno Takenaka (THE SOWER)
BEST SCREENPLAY
Yosuke Takeuchi (THE SOWER)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Daniel Miller (SOUL OF THE TIGER)
SPECIAL JURY AWARD
SAVING SALLY
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE AWARDS
GRAND JURY PRIZE
Plastic China (China) directed by Jiu-Liang Wang
BEST EDITING
Anna Price (Tokyo Idols) (Japan/UK/Canada)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jiu-Liang Wang (Plastic China) (China)
DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER PIONEER AWARD
Ramona Diaz (Motherland) (Philippines/USA)
SHORT FILM AWARDS
GOLDEN REEL AWARD
PRIA (Indonesia) directed by Yudho Aditya
*Eligible for qualifying for the Short Live Action Film Oscar®
LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/NEW VISIONS AWARD
Makoto Nagahisa
And So We Put Goldfish in the Pool (Japan)
SHORT DOCUMENTARY AWARDS
GRAND JURY PRIZE
Please Come Again – directed by Alisa Yang
BEST DIRECTOR
Jennifer Zheng (Tough)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jeff de Broeder and Michael Palmieri (Forever Chinatown)
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS
Audience Awards were voted on in the following festival programs:
NORTH AMERICAN NARRATIVE FEATURE
GOOK– directed by Justin Chon
NORTH AMERICAN DOCUMENTARY FEATURE (tie)
MIXED MATCH– directed by Jeff Chiba Stearns
FINDING KUKAN – directed by Robin Lung
INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURE
SAVING SALLY (Philippines) directed by Avid Liongren
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
SMALL TALK (Taiwan) directed by Huang Hui – chen
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
JOSHUA: TEENAGER VS. SUPERPOWER – directed by Joe Piscatella
