9/02/22
45th Asian American International Film Festival Announces Award Winners
September 2, 2022, NEW YORK – The 45th Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF45), presented by CITI, and a production of Asian CineVision (ACV) in association with Asia Society, announced the award winners of this year’s programming.
The award of Emerging Director – Narrative Feature went to Stefanos Tai, director of WE DON’T DANCE FOR NOTHING and the award of Emerging Director – Documentary Feature went to Dongnan Chen, director of SINGING IN THE WILDERNESS.
The complete list of award winners and nominees is highlighted below.
AAIFF45 celebrated storytelling by the AAPI community with 140 feature and short films, in-person events such as Comedy Night and Meet Cute Music, as well as in-person and livestreamed panels including Korean American Activism in Storytelling, Chinese Society through the Lens of Female Filmmakers, and various Q&As with filmmakers. 7 jury prize award winners were determined by leading industry professionals including Andrew Ahn, whose latest feature FIRE ISLAND (Searchlight Pictures) stars Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, and Margaret Cho; Bertha Bay-Sa Pan, director/producer/screenwriter of FACE, and more. The full lineup of jurors is listed below.
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AWARD NOMINEES & WINNERS
❏ EMERGING DIRECTOR – NARRATIVE FEATURE
WE DON’T DANCE FOR NOTHING, dir. Stefanos Tai – Hong Kong, Philippines
BIRDS WATCHING, dir. Kohei Inoue – Japan
NO NEW WAVE, dir. Ziwei Yao – Singapore, USA, China, Taiwan
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❏ EMERGING DIRECTOR – DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
SINGING IN THE WILDERNESS, dir. Dongnan Chen – China
A NIGHT OF KNOWING NOTHING, dir. Payal Kapadia – India
THERAPY DOGS, dir. Ethan Eng – Canada
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❏ EXCELLENCE IN SHORT FILMMAKING – NARRATIVE
MURDER TONGUE, dir. Ali Sohail Jaura – Pakistan
BEAUTY QUEEN, dir. Myra Aquino – Philippines
BON VOYAGE, dir. Jiawen Li – China
DE CLOSIN NIGHT, dir. Shicong Zhu – USA, China
MIDNIGHT RHYTHMS, dir. Quincy Woo – USA
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❏ EXCELLENCE IN SHORT FILMMAKING – DOCUMENTARY
AN UNFINISHED FILM, dir. Yi-Chiang Lin – USA, Taiwan
A PORTRAIT OF US, dir. Sarah Park – USA, Korea
CHINATOWN: OUR ONLY HOME, dir. Tony Wang – USA
SINCERELY MINE OKUBO, dir. Yuka Murakami – USA
SONNET CROWN FOR NYC, dir. Xiao Han – USA
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❏ EXCELLENCE IN MUSIC VIDEO – FEATURE
“DIFFERENT THAN BEFORE” – AMANDA SUM, dir. Mayumi Yoshida – Canada
1-1 DANCE FILM, dir. Lee Milby – China, USA
“BUBBLE TEA” – ELLA JAY BASCO, dir. Bianca Catbagan – USA, Korea, Philippines, China, Japan, Mongolia, Bengali
“IF I TOOK A PILL” – TONIE, dir. Kimberly Te – USA
“THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER” – MITSKI, dir. Maegan Houang – USA
“WATER AND OIL” – JENNI RUDOLPH, dir. Brandon E. Lee – USA
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❏ ASIAN AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCREENPLAY COMPETITION
LAKE OPAQUE, Amanda L. Andrei – USA
TIME AWAY, Jennifer Cho Suhr – USA
WAMPUS CAT, Jessica Wei – USA
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❏ YOUTH ONE TO WATCH
BYKIDS: BUDDHISM, BHUTAN, AND ME, dir. Rinzin Jurmey – Bhutan
AND STILL, WE THRIVE, Joy Xing – Canada
O~FORTUNA, dir. Che Chen – USA, Taiwan
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❏ AUDIENCE AWARD – NARRATIVE FEATURE
WE DON’T DANCE FOR NOTHING, dir. Stefanos Tai – Hong Kong, Philippines
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❏ AUDIENCE AWARD – DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
CHOSEN, dir. Joseph Juhn – USA, South Korea
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❏ AUDIENCE AWARD – NARRATIVE SHORT
LOOK LIKE YOU, dir. Snigdha Kapoor – USA
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❏ AUDIENCE AWARD – DOCUMENTARY SHORT
SONNET CROWN FOR NYC, dir. Xiao Han – USA
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JURORS
❏ EMERGING DIRECTOR – NARRATIVE FEATURE
Vinay Chowdry (Director/Producer; Founder of Dakoit Pictures)
Bedatri Choudhury (Programmer with DOCNYC and IFFLA)
Bertha Bay-Sa Pan (Director/Screenwriter/Producer, FACE)
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❏ EMERGING DIRECTOR – DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Kimi Takesue (Filmmaker, 95 AND 6 TO GO)
Marty Syjuco (Producer/Filmmaker, GIVE UP TOMORROW)
Gerry Leonard (Director of Filmmaker Services and Impact at Working Films)
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❏ EXCELLENCE IN SHORT FILMMAKING – NARRATIVE
Clarissa de los Reyes (Filmmaker, JOHNNY LOVES DOLORES)
Andrew Ahn (Filmmaker/Director/Screenwriter/Producer, FIRE ISLAND)
Lloyd Lee Choi (Director/Writer. SAME OLD)
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❏ EXCELLENCE IN SHORT FILMMAKING – DOCUMENTARY
Robert C. Winn (Filmmaker/Leadership for the Asian American Documentary Network)
Ash Goh Hua (Filmmaker, I’M FREE NOW, YOU ARE FREE)
Sue Ding (Filmmaker/Artist/Producer/Director, ARTBOUND: LIGHT AND SPACE)
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❏ EXCELLENCE IN MUSIC VIDEO
Cathleen Cher (Creative Consultant/Entrepreneur/Producer; Co-founder of Lions Share)
Bobby Yan (Director/Screenwriter, MARZ)
Steven Mallorca (Filmmaker/Musician/Editor/Director, A PELOTON OF ONE)
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❏ ASIAN AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCREENPLAY COMPETITION
Nelson Kim (Director/Screenwriter, SOMEONE ELSE)
Natasha Lerner (Social Media Manager at New York Magazine)
The Song Collective (Organization dedicated to reclaiming the Vietnamese American narrative)
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❏ ONE TO WATCH YOUTH FILMMAKER
Anna Zeng (Visual Artist; BAAFF’s Programming Director)
Love Ablan (Artist/Filmmaker)
H. Lan Thao Lam (Artist/Filmmaker/Educator)
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AAIFF is presented by CITI, a preeminent banking partner for institutions with cross-border needs, a global leader in wealth management and a valued personal bank in its home market of the United States. CITI celebrates its AAPI colleagues and the community. The bank stands in solidarity against anti-Asian racism and xenophobia, and is focused on resilience and unity.
Together, CITI and the Asian American International Film Festival are proud to offer another platform to spotlight the many achievements of the broader AAPI community.
About the Asian American International Film Festival
The Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) is proudly known as “The First Home to Asian American Cinema.” Organized by Asian CineVision, it’s the first and longest-running festival dedicated to showcasing the moving image work by media artists of Asian descent for and about the Asian diaspora experience. The Festival takes place in New York City, the second-largest Asian-American market in the U.S. Every year, AAIFF attracts audiences from all five boroughs of New York City, the tri-state region, and around the world.
About Asian CineVision
Asian CineVision (ACV) is a media arts nonprofit devoted to the development, exhibition, promotion, and preservation of Asian and Asian American experiences through storytelling. Our mission is to nurture and grow the community of makers and lovers of Asian and Asian American independent film, television, and digital. Films submitted and screened at the festival are eligible to participate in our National Tour program, bringing Asian diaspora stories to broader audiences across North America through a rental service for cultural and educational institutions.
Thank You
The 45th Asian American International Film Festival is made possible with support from CITI, LIFEWTR, Asia Society, Mayor’s Office of Media And Entertainment, NYC & Company, Third World Newsreel, The Corky Lee Photographic Justice Exhibit Organizing Committee, OCA, SAG-AFTRA, Tamiment-Wagner Collections, NYU Special Collections, Final Draft, Chowbus, NYU A/P/A and the many friends of ACV.
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