LATEST NEWS
SENSE US 2020: Asian Pacific American Lives
Visual Communications produced six videos for SENSE US 2020: Asian Pacific American Lives, which utilize the power of storytelling to provide a deeper understanding of AANHPI communities in Southern California, so that we can inspire communities to complete the 2020 Census.
VC Connect #13: Getting Over Trying Times
Are we trying to get over, or just trying to make do? This selection of Armed With a Camera non-fiction works foregrounds the generosity of spirit, fellowship, ingenuity, and occasional deception that is needed to get through difficult times.
LAAPFF Virtual Showcase Wrap Report - May 2020
During May 2020, Visual Communications presented the first ever Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Virtual Showcase: a kickoff to celebrate Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month. We presented 31 days of FREE programming, over 62 programs, 80 films, and 26 live streaming panels to keep our communities CONNECTED. Our programs reached over 83K people and were viewed from over 105 countries around the world.
VC Connect #12: Family Matters
Mother knows best...or does Father know best? Familial entanglements are as timeless as audio recordings, paintings, or even a collection of aluminum cans. In the end, they are just as memorable.
VC Connect #11: When Strangers Meet
This kinetic selection of works from Visual Communications’ Armed With a Camera Fellowship showcases a broad range of storytelling styles, all in the service of essaying stories about first encounters, chance meetings, and defining revelations.
Visual Communications a Recipient of California Humanities CA CARES Grant
Visual Communications is grateful to receive funding from California Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act economic stabilization plan of 2020. The funding will support our VC Archives.
VC Connect #10: The Way to One’s Heart
It’s all about food! Our Digital Histories and Armed With a Camera filmmakers know that food is a wonderful way to express one’s true feelings and cement a sense of “community.” Even if that special gift can be taken for granted at times, we still enjoy it while it lasts.
VC Connect #9: Love is Love
Thanks to our intrepid Digital Histories and Armed With a Camera filmmakers, the broad range of expressions (and complexities) of love occupies an honored place within the scope of our storytelling. Whether traditional or non-traditional, these works affirm that when it comes to love, there truly are no boundaries or walls between the ones we care about.
400 Artists and 80 Arts Organizations Receive $2.7 Million in COVID-19 Relief Grants
Visual Communications was among the 80 arts organizations that received grants as part of a broad-based COVID-19 relief effort for the visual arts in the Los Angeles region, provided by the J. Paul Getty Trust and the California Community Foundation. We are grateful to be one of the organizations to receive funding.
VC Receives California Civil Liberties Grants for Community Projects
Visual Communications is pleased to announce that we are a recipient of the California Civil Liberties Grant for a fiscally sponsored project and a VC Archives project.
Visual Communications Stands in Solidarity
We still have work to do. While media can be used to destroy communities, Visual Communications will continue to use media to build and connect communities. We passionately support the countless organizations who are doing work in pursuit of justice.
VC Connect #8: Local Heroes, Far-Reaching Legacies
They may not be famous. They may not even be that well-known to most. But the people who make an indelible impact in our communities and on our lives are the ones whose words and deeds are largely unsung. Take a look at these Armed With a Camera and Digital Histories films about people whose lives are worth savoring.
VC Connect #7: HOWZIT!
This week we explore the legacy of Linda Mabalot, the beloved Executive Director of VC from the mid-'80s until her passing in 2003. She guided VC through a most difficult and challenging time when the organization was focused on survival and still committed to serving and continuing Asian Pacific American media projects.
VC Connect #6: Past Pasifika
As Visual Communications celebrates 50 years, we look back at VC Classic films centered around our Native Hawaian & Pacific Islander communities. On Monday, May 11, 2020 at 5 pm PT, join Visual Communications and friends for a Monday Nite VC event in an engaging conversation about how they utilize media to build, connect, and empower communities.
VC Awarded California Arts Council 2019-2020 “Local Impact” Grant
California Arts Council announced a grant award to Visual Communications as part of its Local Impact program, which will allow VC to organize another year of the annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
VC Connect #5: Claiming A Voice
CLAIMING A VOICE: THE VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS STORY is a documentary chronicling the first twenty years of Visual Communications. Join us on Monday, May 4, 2020 at 5 pm PDT for a Monday Nite VC event in an engaging conversation about the survival and collective process of the first arts group dedicated to productions by and about Asian Pacific Americans.
VC Connect #4: Our Voices
The selection of short films in “Our Voices” was curated for Grand Park’s Our L.A. Voices, a spring pop-up Arts+Culture Fest that celebrates the diverse and powerful artistic voices in Los Angeles County. These films premiered on Grand Park’s digital platforms from Saturday, April 25 - Sunday, April 26, 2020; but don’t worry, you can watch them all again here!
VC Receives a 2020 Artist Project Grant from the Mike Kelley Foundation
We are grateful to the Mike Kelley Foundation for an Artist Project Grant to work on a project that will explore the changing landscape of Little Tokyo's First Street North, started by our 2018 +LAB Artist-in-Residence Tina Takemoto. We look forward to celebrating how the diverse cultures and histories of Los Angeles converge in Little Tokyo.
Stay tuned for the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Virtual Showcase!
We are proud to announce our Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Virtual Showcase, slated for Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May. The Virtual Showcase aims to highlight artists whose stories are critical at this moment. From celebrating our histories and cultures, to mobilizing our communities to be socially and politically active, we are looking forward to presenting FREE films and panels to keep us connected.
VC Connect #3: A Call to Action
“Advocacy cinema” has always been a hallmark of Visual Communications’ role within the Asian American Movement, and this selection of short works live up to that lofty legacy. Featuring films from both the Armed With a Camera and Digital Histories programs, a “call to action” is indeed apropos for the times we currently live in.