• MEMBERS

2003 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival

A presentation of the National Asian American Telecommunications Association (NAATA), the 21st SFIAAFF will run from March 6-16, 2003 at the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres and Castro Theatre in San Francisco, Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, and Camera 3 Cinemas in San Jose.

Since 1982, the SFIAAFF has played a vital role in both the Asian American and independent filmmaking communities. Over the past two decades the Festival has supported the development of hundreds of Asian American filmmakers and has served as an important launching place for new works. The nation¹s premier event dedicated to exhibiting Asian American and Asian works, the SFIAAFF is the largest gathering of Asian American films and filmmakers in the country. Each year filmmakers, filmgoers and community members come together for organized meetings and informal conversations, sharing ideas and strategies and strengthening a national network of Asian American media artists and organizers. The Festival annually screens 130 films and videos during its ten-day run, and is host to over 100 guests and 18,000 filmgoers.

Highlights from the 20th anniversary 2002 SFIAAFF include Justin Lin¹s controversial BETTER LUCK TOMORROW (Opening Night) and Timothy Linh Bui¹s moving GREEN DRAGON (Closing Night). Rodgers & Hammerstein¹s 1961 hit musical, FLOWER DRUM SONG was presented as the event¹s Centerpiece film, and other retrospective works included classic films from veteran filmmakers such as Mira Nair, Wayne Wang, Ang Lee, Arthur Dong and Shu Lea Cheang. The SFIAAFF also presented many dynamic North American works including the premieres of Helen Lee¹s THE ART OF WOO and Romeo Candido¹s LOLO¹S CHILD, as well as Wonsuk Chin¹s E-DREAMS and Babak Shokrian¹s AMERICA SO BEAUTIFUL. World cinema selections included Lin Cheng-sheng¹s BETELNUT BEAUTY, Nonzee Nimibutr¹s JAN DARA and Minoru Matsui¹s JAPANESE DEVILS.

The SFIAAFF is a production of NAATA, which since 1980 has been presenting stories that convey the richness and diversity of the Asian Pacific American experience through funding, producing, distributing and exhibiting films, video and new media to the widest audience possible. For more information on NAATA, please visit: www.naatanet.org.