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NEWS & EVENTS

Mission Statement 2006

Posted: Sunday, January 22, 2006

While I write this during the sleepy hours of a Sunday afternoon, the Asian American community is silently but unstoppably growing. At this very moment the Asian Americans who are accounted for, form 4% of the population of the United States. We Asian Americans will double our population in breakneck speed mirroring the historic growth of Hispanic-Americans. In a mere 50 years time we will stand on the platform alongside Hispanic Americans and African Americans to rival the majority in the United States (non-Hispanic White Americans will cling to a 50.1% majority).

During this time of unprecedented growth there is an incredible amount of work to do if we want to participate in the grand democratic conversation. As history has proven, physical numbers alone will not inherently provide the means of expression for our beliefs nor will sheer numbers alone provide the social structures necessary to distribute our expression. We must participate and we must commit to participating in the daily conversations of our lives.

And by what means can we converse amongst our peers and to the diminishing majority? As has been said before truthfully and correctly, it is through the Arts where expression will always be found.

I have found within myself and within this generation the incipient need to discover and communicate our ideals, our goals, our desires. Discovery is the most important element here. Though what we'd like to communicate is inchoate and continuously changing, the need to share this knowledge as it is gained has become an incessant drumbeat ever increasing in volume as each day progresses.

What better medium than film to discover and communicate these ideas? What medium can provide a better arena from which to continue the grand conversation taking place among us? Film's intrinsically collaborative nature provides the testing ground from which to uncover a singular voice, or even better a chorus of voices, we all wish to find. Film provides the comraderie which we as social beings desire and need to survive, to reach that not too distant future when we will have more at stake and more voices that will want hearing. Film with its multidisciplinary breadth is perfectly designed to take advantage of the roles we have traditionally taken in our quest to find happiness through our until now obligatory lives.

Though fifty years may seem too far away, by then as elders, that is exactly the moment when we will need to have a stable, viable outlet of expression. Without expression we will find ourselves living in a world where nothing we say will ever be heard, and nothing we want will ever be given. We have the rest of our lives to work. Take this opportune moment to make that work worthwhile. Find a means to communicate the meaningful. Join us and pick up a camera, learn from experience and share that knowledge. Convince others to do the same, and you'll find they will need little convincing.

The mission is simple: Create. Create honestly, continuously and share it. Above all Create.
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MEETINGS/WORKS-IN-PROGRESS & WORKSHOPS

Next AAFilmLab Meeting this Thursday!

Posted: Sunday, August 29, 2010

Next AAFilmLab Meeting this Thursday!

Thanks to everyone who came to our last meeting.  We are in the midst of formulating all of your feedback and helping to decide what’s best for our members in the long run.  Until then, we are looking forward to our meeting this coming Thursday, Sept. 2nd and will be going back to roots; our original WORKSHOP format.  This is an opportunity for us to help challenge and improve each other’s work, grow as a filmmakers and strengthen the bonds between us.  It’s a great way of progressing by problem solving while building community.  So, if you have an unfinished work, please bring it in to workshop!

We are still seeking unfinished works to workshop including, but not limited to:
1. Screenplays
2. Films in pre/post production
3. Acting monologues
4. Storyboarding, art direction including set, lighting, costume designs, sound design (including music) and editing choices, a specific scene challenge…basically any thing that isn’t complete that you need an outside perspective on to help you complete your vision.
 
If you’d like to be a part of this collaborative process as either subject or audience, please RSVP via our Facebook Event.  If you don’t have Facebook, please (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).  To submit an unfinished work, please email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with “Workshop Submission” in the subject line, including a description of your project (including format and length) as well as the feedback your are seeking.
Looking forward to see you there!  Details below.
Sincerely,
AAFilmLab

Asian American Film Lab “Workshop” meeting
Thursday, Sept 2nd
6PM to 7:30PM
@ Showbiz
19 West 21st Street b/w 5th and 6th Ave.

Upcoming AAFilmLab Meeting Schedule:
Thursday,  Oct. 7th, 6 PM to 8 PM
Thursday, Nov. 4th, 6 PM to 8 PM
Thursday, Dec. 2nd, 6 PM to 8 PM

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CURRENT PROJECTS

“Reminiscence” Chinatown Film Project

Posted: Thursday, July 09, 2009



The AAFilmLab partnered with MOCA and APEX to provide a mentor who could guide a high school student's endeavor at creating their first short film. "Reminiscence" is one of the films completed. This film is now part of MOCA's Chinatown Film Project YouTube Channel.

The synopsis:
A young girl celebrates her grandmother's birthday as they reminisce about the grandfather who has recently passed away. We travel back in memory to 1965 - the grandparents, as a young couple, overcome what looks to be the end of their burgeoning relationship when the grandfather returns to China to tend to his sick mother.

Credits:
Written & Directed By
XIAOQIAN CHEN

CAST
Grandma
KIT FONG LEE

Granddaughter
DEANNA ZHUMore

Chinatown Youth Mentorship Program 2009 - Complete

Posted: Thursday, June 25, 2009

The AAFilmLab has completed its Chinatown Youth Mentoring Program along with MOCA and APEX. Two of our members were mentors for high school students and had the great pleasure of helping them create their very own film to be included in MOCA's Chinatown Online Film channel on YouTube. The AAFilmLab is incredibly proud to have been part of such an inspiring experience.

MOCA will be opening its doors with an event this July 1st, 2009 showcasing ten short films about Chinatown made by slightly more experienced Directors:
The Guy with the Cigarette directed by Miguel Arteta
Church Basement Bomb Shelter directed by Patty Chang
New York Night Scene directed by Jem Cohen
Kiwi Lotion directed by Cary Fukunaga
I Can’t Wait directed by So Yong Kim & Bradley Rust Gray
Fortune Cookie directed by Amir Naderi
Chinatown: In Their Own… More
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GIGS & CASTINGS

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Asian American Film Mentorship Program Launch Announcement from Karin Chien

Asian American Film Mentorship Program Launch Announcement from Karin Chien

Hi friends - a quick email to announce that the CAAM fellowship… More

Monday, August 30, 2010

CASTING:  “GREEN PLASTIC SANDALS” (NYC)

CASTING CALL:  “GREEN PLASTIC SANDALS” (NYC)

Dates Required: Sept 15th and/or Sept 16th (11AM-5PM)

Location: Park Slope, Brooklyn

Film Title: GREEN PLASTIC… More

Sunday, August 29, 2010

CASTING: Justin Lin “Interpretations” (NYC)

Below are the players and descriptions:
Casting for the Justin Lin “Interpretations” Contest. The film follows a couple under unusual and suspicious circumstances.

Donald… More

Thursday, August 26, 2010

CASTING: Sean Tarjyoto’s Interpretations Film (NYC)

Hi, I’m Sean Tarjyoto,

I’ve got an idea for an original interpretationsfilm.com short

I’m searching for a female actor, 20s and a smalll dog. I… More

CASTING: MFA GRADUATE THESIS FILM (NYC)

CASTING CALL FOR MFA GRADUATE THESIS FILM (NYC) (Production starts in October, 7 day shoot)
Experience working with an up and coming director… More

Casting: Marvel’s ‘Runways’ News

FROM MARISSA LEE of RACEBENDING.COM

I have great news to share…Today Marvel contacted us and gave us a statement affirming that their… More

Friday, July 03, 2009

Children of Invention - NYC Screening

CHILDREN OF INVENTION will have its Manhattan premiere as the Centerpiece Presentation of the 32nd Annual Asian American Int’l Film Festival this coming month.  We… More