Best drama short / Forever in Hiatus / Directed by Andy Nguyen

In the previous article, I did mention that AFFD has made significant strides to stand out from other Asian Film Festivals in North America and for good reason.  Clearly the most talked-about films that AFFD showcased where the films that involved action, gun violence, martial-arts, and of course explosions. And then there were the films that stood in a class by itself. One film for instance, “The Attorney” is based on the life of Roh Moo-Hyun, South Korea’s 9th President in his early days as a lawyer turned human-rights activist. Then there’s “Kuma Hina”, AFFD’s only feature length documentary about the life of Hina Wong-Kalu, a transgender teacher and cultural practitioner in Oahu, Hawaii. We also have “A Leading Man” a drama about a struggling Chinese-American actor in Hollywood who seduces a casting director in exchange for acting roles. The most polarizing film at AFFD by far is “Kept” directed by Maki Muzui. Which deals with violence against women and rape culture in Japan. Each of the films offers a different perspective on how the Asian community deals with rising above stereotypes, fighting for equal rights, and overcoming adversity while facing certain fears and personal prejudices.

Even with the amount of success that AFFD has made so far, it is hard to admit that there is more that the film festival can do to provide representation of the Asian community in film and the ability to market itself in North Texas. I spoke with a festival goer, Mr. Doan who brought along his wife to AFFD;  Both of them are Vietnamese.  Mr. Doan made a lot of interesting observations about the content of the festival that someone like myself takes for granted. When he heard about the festival, he did what he could to promote the film his way which is word of mouth advertising. When “Funny Money” premiered at the festival, he was ecstatic that his method of advertising the festival reached people in Dallas’ Vietnamese community. When I asked Mr. Doan as to why he needed to promote the festival as opposed to letting AFFD market it, his responded stating that sometimes you can’t assume that everyone uses the internet or a smartphone to get their information.  If he didn’t step in, no one from his social circle would have came to AFFD to watch the film.

I also had a chat with another festival goer, a mother or two named Eva, who is Half-Japanese, brought her kids to see “Samurai Hustle”. We talked about the festival, and  about the biggest motivators for her to come to the festival. She was candor about being bi-racial, which gave an impression that she had trouble fitting in with the Asian community growing up, but she’s proud of her heritage and wanted her young sons to take advantage of events like AFFD. Of 39 feature films, only a small handful of films came from the South Pacific, such as Vietnam, and Bangladesh.

Of the 14 male filmmakers that did show up to attend AFFD, the sole female director of a feature film was unavailable. Though there were some films that did include LGBT characters, the film that did star a LGBT lead was a documentary. AFFD does showcase films that can be purchased online or queued on Netflix, but many of those films are made by big budget studios overseas, which leave many Indie Asian Filmmakers in the USA on the outs, simply because of what would be a bigger draw to attract a lot of people.

I can admit that I am splitting hairs. There is a lot that AFFD can provide. For instance, the director of “Funny Money”,  Thien Do, stated that overseas, piracy is so commonplace that it very tough to even distribute a film, let alone make one. In the past five years there has been a boon of film theaters in foreign countries, thanks to globalization. Even though many of the Asian filmmakers like Thien Do can be able to capitalize on marketing the films in their own countries, it is still a long way in which film companies overseas will be able to continue to make and distribute films without the risk of losing their profits down the line. AFFD did do an impressive job with how the festival was marketed, but it could have done more to capitalize the use of other social networking sites in order to bring in more film goers.

For instance, I bumped into a festival goer on the second night of the festival. Her name was Beeta Akhavi and she’s into Asian film and Anime like myself. When I asked her as to how she heard about AFFD, she explained to me about a social networking site called “meetup.com” that promotes events that happen all over the country and encourages people if they want to participate in the events with a group. I glanced on the site a few times, and the site offers a lot of potential as an alternative to twitter and facebook. Another benefit that AFFD offers is an opportunity to network with businesses in North Texas. When I came to one of their booths, some of the sponsors for AFFD where offering special deals in which you can take advantage of discounted coupons. If you ever wanted to learn how to be a film extra or write for an upscale magazine or maybe expand your education, coming to AFFD to network with the sponsors may be your bet to put yourself out there. The festival may be over, but I would suggest to keep track on the current site for any recent developments or changes for the following year.