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FILMS BY FILIPINO AMERICANS, AS WELL AS FILMS FROM THE PHILLIPINES

22nd SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL, MARCH 4-11, 2004 IN SAN FRANCISCO AND BERKELEY, AND MARCH 19-21, 2004 IN SAN JOSE

The 22nd San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) offers more than 13 films and videos from Filipino and Filipino American filmmakers. The Festival unspools March 4-11 at the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres and the Castro Theatre in San Francisco and at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley and March 19-21 at the Camera 3 Cinemas in San Jose. For more information or tickets please telephone (415) 856-1588 or visit www.naatanet.org/festival on the internet.

It's been years since she and her husband reigned supreme in Phillipine politics, but that has not stopped Imelda Marcos from still trying to grab the spotlight. Award-winning filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz picks up where her splendid film about Filipina activists, SPIRITS RISING (SFIAAFF 1996), ended, with Imelda Marcos attempting to cast herself as one of her country's heroines. With IMELDA, the Festival's Closing Night Film, Diaz allows the former dictator's wife to speak for herself. Through a seamless blend of archival footage, home movies, state-sponsored propaganda and personal testimonies, the film paints a picture of the boss's wife transforming herself from a provincial orphan into an infamous symbol of personal excess. The screening of IMELDA will be followed by a Closing Night Gala Party at the extravagant San Francisco War Memorial Building.

Always popular are feature length films from Filipino filmmakers. Slated for this year is Chito S. Roņo's DEKADA '70, a moving drama about a middle-class family trying to cope with the uncertainties of the Marcos era. Vilma Santos (ANAK/SFIAAFF 2001) stars as the mother struggling to anchor and support her husband and their five sons in turbulent times. DEKADA '70 was the Philippines' submission to this year's Academy Awards for consideration in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Also of note in this year's Festival are short films from Filipino and Filipino American makers. The "Miss Match" shorts program, a selection of works about square pegs and misfits, features Tina Bartolome's I WAS BORN HERE, Dominique De Guzman's REFLECTIONS, Lala Endara's SAUL SEARCHING, and Desireena Almoradie and Christina Quisumbing Ramilo's GREEN STALK. The "My Nina For Your Nun" shorts program, a showcase of quirky and humorous shorts, includes Matthew Abaya's BAMPINAY, Gayle Romasanta's LOCK JAW, Carey Eidel's WINE, WOMAN AND A SONG, and Michael Tuviera's KUNG-FU LOVE TRIANGLE. Other short works of interest are Dino Ignacio's music video for The Skyflakes' song "Bad Thoughts," and two music videos from Avid - for Barbie's Cradle's song "Everyday" and for Kamikaze's song "Lucky."

The 22nd San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival is supported in part by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Asian Art Museum, California Arts Council, Community Technology Foundation, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Grants for the Arts, Koret Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, NOON, San Francisco Film and Video Arts Commission, and the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation.

The San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, runs March 4-11, 2004 at the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres, 1881 Post Street, and the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street in San Francisco and at the Pacific Film Archive, 2575 Bancroft Way in Berkeley, and March 19-21 at the Camera 3 Cinemas, Second and Carlos Street in San Jose. For more information, please telephone (415) 865-1588 or visit www.naatanet.org/festival on the internet.