FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marie K Lee
346 9th St., 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94103
415.863.0814 ext. 114
marie@naatanet.org

FILMS FROM CHINA, FILMS FROM CHINESE AMERICANS!

More than 30 films by and about the Chinese and Chinese American experience are an essential part of the 20th annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival running March 7-14 at the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres, 1881 Post Street and the Pacific Film Archive, 2575 Bancroft Way in Berkeley; March 10 at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, in San Francisco; and March 16-17 at the Camera 3 Cinemas, Second and Carlos Street in San Jose. For more Festival information or tickets, please call 415-255-4299.

The Festival proudly presents the United States premiere of Emily Tang's feature-length directorial debut, CONJUGATION, starring Qian Yu, Zhao Hong and Tian Yu. Set in Beijing during the winter of 1989 CONJUGATION tells the tale of a group of college friends haunted by the aftermath of Tiananmen Square.

Films from Chinese American filmmakers include the world premiere of Louise Lo's THE FLOATING WORLD: MASAMI TERAOKA AND HIS ART; Kathryn Xian's KE KULANA HE MAHU: REMEMBERING A SENSE OF PLACE; Vincent Tsu's SAME IN BLUES, in the "All Amateur Ecstasy" short films program Trevor Chan's music video for Delton 3030, "Positive Contact," in the "Directions in Sound" program; and Susan Chiu's DRIVING LESSONS in the "Parental Guidance Not Suggested" short films program. Also in the mix are M. David Melvin's BANANA NUT BREAD, in the "All Amateur Ecstasy" short films program; Lynne Chan's JJ CHINOIS, in the "Hit It or Quit It" short films program; and Malcolm Lam's 206 in the "Drink My Pocari Sweat" short film program. Rounding out the works from Chinese Americans are two films from Wil Lin, GUILELESS GUILE in the "All Amateur Ecstasy" short films program and SPENT in the "I Know Karate" short films program; and two films from Stuart Gaffney, MY LOVERšS AUNT'S PORN and TRANSGRESSIONS, both in "I Know Karate" short films program.

From the Island of Taiwan comes the latest feature from Lin Cheng-sheng, BETELNUT BEAUTY, starring Chang Chen (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON) and popstar Sinje. Equal parts drama, angst and music, BETELNUT BEAUTY offers an urban tale of two young star-crossed lovers.

Films from Taiwanese American filmmakers include the Festival opening night screening of Justin Lin's long awaited feature film BETTER LUCK TOMORROW, a teen drama; as well as his first film SOYBEAN MILK in the "Short Stories, Narrative Beginnings" short films program. Also of note are Ming H. Shih's THE TOILET REPUBLIC in the "Drink My Pocari Sweat" short films program; Eric Lin's FORTUNE in the "24-HOUR FITLESS" short films program; and Anita Chang's SHE WANTS TO TALK TO YOU in the "Through the Looking Glass" short films program.

Other films on the bill are Chinese Australian Linden Goh's MY OLD CHINA, Francesco Munzi's GIACOMO AND LOU MA, and Chinese Canadian Julia Kwan's THREE SISTERS ON MOON LAKE; all in the "Parental Guidance Not Suggested" short films program; Chee Lam's WASH DARK COLOURS SEPERATELY in the "All Amateur Ecstasy" short films program; Chinese Canadian filmmakers Ho Tamšs MY MEMORIES OF ME, Wayne Yung's CHOPSTICK BLOODY CHOPSTICK, and Richard Fung's CHINESE CHARACTERS in the "I Know Karate" short films program. Minoru Matsui's JAPANESE DEVILS presents a shocking documentary look at the inexcusable horrors the Japanese military inflicted on the Chinese populace in the mid-20th Century.

In addition to offering the latest films from Chinese and Chinese American filmmakers, the Festival celebrates its two decades with a look back. SFIAAFF has served as a launching point for the feature debuts of many acclaimed Asian American filmmakers. Two programs of shorts present the rarely seen first films by today's established filmmakers. "Short Stories, Narrative Beginnings" includes Ang Lee's (CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON) FINE LINE. "First Steps, Experimentally Speaking" has Ruby Yang's MIRROR POINTS, Curtis Choy's HERE COMES THE CHAIRMAN, Arthur Dong's PUBLIC, Valerie Soe's SKETCH, Jessica Yu's SOUR DEATH BALLS, Lambert Yam's I AM THE MASTER OF MY OWN BOAT, and Shu Lea Cheang's RENEE TAJIMA READS ASIAN IMAGES IN AMERICAN FILMS.

The Festival offers revival screenings of two feature films about the Chinese immigrant experience in America, FLOWER DRUM SONG (1961) and PAPER ANGELS (1985). Both films feature the acting talents of what was then the cream of the Asian American acting community. Based on Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway hit, Henry Koster's romantic musical classic, FLOWER DRUM SONG, starring Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta and Jack Soo, stages a sprightly tale of the struggle between tradition and true love in San Franciscošs Chinatown. Under the direction of Chinese American John Lone and written by Genny Lim PAPER ANGELS features a stellar '80s cast including the late Victor Wong, Rosalind Chao, Joan Chen, and Dennis Dun and relates the upsetting experiences of Chinese who were detained on Angel Island in 1915. (Filmgoers can find out more about author-poet-activist Genny Lim in David Moragne's documentary about her, GENNY LIM - THE VOICE, in the "In Time Sounds" short films program.)

Another revival screening of interest is Wayne Wang's 1981 landmark feature CHAN IS MISSING (and restored last year by the Pacific Film Archive). Wang's low budget who-dunnit -- starring Wood Moy, Marc Hayashi and Laureen Chew and many members of the Chinatown community playing themselves -- was a truly innovative Asian American entry in the early days of the American independent filmmaking movement.

Founded in 1982 as a modest weekend exhibition, the SFIAAFF has developed into the largest exhibition of Asian American and Asian films in North America offering some of the best of recent cinema from the US, Canada, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, India, Philippines and dozens of other points of the Asian Diaspora. Attendance was over 15,000 at last year's Festival, host to more than 100 filmmakers, industry and special guests from Japan, Philippines, Korea and across the United States, with most programs selling out.

The Festival's presenting organization, the National Asian American Telecommunications Association (NAATA) was formed to challenge the historical exclusion of Asian Pacific Americans from the media field and to counteract the distorted portrayals of Asians by mainstream press. In addition to yearlong exhibition activities and the annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, NAATA's program areas include national public television broadcasts, educational film and video distribution and funding for media artists. For more information about NAATA, visit: www.naatanet.org.

The 2002 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) is supported by its Premier Sponsors: Academy Foundation, AMC Theatres, California Arts Council, California State Automobile Association, Chevron Texaco, Commodore Hotel, Grants for the Arts/SF Hotel Tax Fund and NOON. The Major Sponsors include: Applied Materials, Insurgency Pictures, Japantown Merchants Association, PMP Advertising and Ramada Limited Downtown. Media sponsors include: AsianAvenue.com, Asian Week, KDFC 102.1, KQED, KRON 4, KTSF 26, San Francisco Bay Guardian, The Mercury News/Viet Mercury/Nuevo Mundo/BayArea.com, SFStation.com and YOLK Magazine.

The 20th annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), runs March 7-17, 2002 at the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres, 1881 Post Street, and the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, in San Francisco; and the Pacific Film Archive, 2575 Bancroft Way in Berkeley and March 16-17 at the Camera 3 Cinemas, Second and Carlos Street in San Jose. For more Festival information, please call 415-255-4299. Advance fax tickets orders will begin on February 11, 2002 and the general Festival box office will open at the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres on February 20