VC FILMFEST 2007 ANNOUNCES WINNERS ON THE CLOSING NIGHT OF ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FESTIVALS TO DATE
"THE REBEL," "BABY, " "CATS OF MIRIKTANI," NA KAMALEI MEN OF HULA," "AMERICAN FUSION" and "NEW YEAR BABY" TAKE HOME TOP FEATURES HONORS
VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS' VC FILMFEST 2007: THE LA ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL came to a close on Thursday night with the Los Angeles premiere of the action adventure flick from Charlie Nguyen "THE REBEL." Just prior to the screening, the judges of the VC FilmFest 2007 made the announcements and presentations for this year's awards. These are as follows:
GRAND JURY PRIZE - NARRATIVE FEATURE
THE REBEL - Directed by Charlie Nguyen
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE - NARRATIVE FEATURE
“BABY” - Directed by Juwan Chung
SPECIAL JURY ACTING PRIZES
BEST ACTOR - ESAI MORALES in “AMERICAN FUSION”
BEST ACTRESS - MEREDITH SCOTT LYNN in “FINISHING THE GAME”
OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER - DAVID HUYNH in “BABY”
GRAND JURY PRIZE - DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI” - Diercted by Linda Hattendorf
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE - DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“NA KAMALEI: MEN OF HULA” - Directed by Lisette Marie Flannery
GOLDEN REEL JURY PRIZE - BEST SHORT
“THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT” - Directed by Ruby Yang
THE LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/NEW VISIONS AWARD
“PILGRIMAGE” - Directed by Tadashi Nakamura
VC FILMFEST 2007 AUDIENCE AWARD NARRATIVE FEATURE
"AMERICAN FUSION" - Directed by Frank Lin
VC FILMFEST 2007 AUDIENCE AWARD NON FICTION FEATURE
"NEW YEAR BABY: - directed by Socheata Poeuv
This year's judges were as follows
NARRATIVES
RADHA BHARADWAJ
KAT CARIDO
ELLEN PERRY
DOCUMENTARIES
BRIAN WAKIL
KAREN ISHIZUKA
SUN YOUNG MOON
GOLDEN REEL
Q. ALLAN BROCKA
LYNN CHEN
MAYSIE HOY
MIKE TAKEUCHI
According to organizers, attendance this year was up by at least 20% with most shows being sold out or on a wait list line only basis. Some of the highlights of this year's festival included a "Conversation with Justin Lin and Wayne Wang" co-presented with the DGA and "An Afternoon with Dustin Nguyen" hosted by Anderson Le of the Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival.
Established in 1983, VC FILMFEST is Southern California's leading showcase for Asian Pacific American and Asian international cinema. VC FILMFEST 2007 is presented by Honda and supported by the following sponsors: PREMIUM: Directors Guild of America; PLATINUM: Screen Actors Guild - Producers Industry Advancement and Cooperative Fund; GOLD: Macy's; Multicultural Radio Broadcast, Inc.; Project by Project; Sony Pictures Entertainment; Wahoo's Fish Taco, National Endowment for the Arts; SILVER: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences; Department of Cultural Affairs - City of Los Angeles; Eastman Kodak Company; FOX; Los Angeles County Arts Commission; MUSE; OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE: Cathay Pacific Airways; OFFICIAL DOMESTIC AIRLINE: Southwest Airlines; OFFICIAL FESTIVAL BEER: Heineken