NAATA Exhibition: August Film Series and 18th SFIAAFF Call for Entries

Wed Aug 4 01:24:29 EDT 1999

FOR THOSE IN THE SF AREA,
BEST,
SHELLY.

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CONTENTS

* 2 X 2: Iwai Shunji & Stephen Chiau Sing-Chi
  Summer film showcase at the Asian Art Museum, SF, CA

* Call for Entries to the 18th San Francisco
   International Asian American Film Festival
   is now available

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NAATA and the Asian Art Museum present:

2 X 2:  IWAI SHUNJI & STEPHEN CHIAU SING-CHI
August 20-22, 1999

Trustees Auditorium, Asian Art Museum
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

For more information visit http://www.naatanet.org/festival

Featuring:
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*  April Story (Dir. Iwai Shunji)
*  Love Letter (Dir. Iwai Shunji)
*  God of Cookery (Dirs. Stephen Chiau Sing-Chi & Lee Lik-Chi)
*  A Chinese Odyssey, Part 1: Pandora's Box & Part 2: Cinderella
   (Dir. Jeff Lau Chun-Wai and starring Stephen Chiau Sing-Chi)

Tickets:
-------
$8 General Admission
$6 for NAATA / Asian Art Museum Members, Students and Seniors

For more information call 415.379.8879 or visit NAATA's website
http://www.naatanet.org/festival

NAATA and the Asian Art Museum will present a quartet of
contemporary films featuring two of Asia's premier cinematic
talents.  Japanese director Iwai Shunji's achingly beautiful
and technically flawless films depict a succession of life's
precious moments of coincidence, unrequited love, and fate.
His films are unique intersections of existentialism and wistful
romance.  Actor-director Stephen Chiau Sing-Chi's witty
virtuosity blends deconstruction, youthful rhythms, and inspired
wordplay.  The seven comedies he released between 1994-1996,
rivaling Wong Kar Wai's oeuvre as the most impressive run
of the decade, made him a Hong Kong box office superstar.

Iwai Shunji's APRIL STORY follows the emotional life of the
painfully shy Uzuki, who has just started university in
Tokyo.  When Uzuki introduces herself during homeroom
orientation, she finds herself unexpectedly embarrassed when
a fellow student innocently asks, "Why did you choose to
attend this university?" Subtly, Iwai has created a film
that imagines an intensely romantic life for the most
awkward student in school.  Ultimately, the reasons for
Uzuki's leaving home unfold with the discovery of an old
love and a local bookstore.

Iwai's LOVE LETTER, a Proustian memory piece, captures the
struggle to recover from love lost to death.  Two years
after her fiance's death, Watanabe Hiroko tries to exorcise
her grief by mailing him a letter.  Hiroko's sorrow turns to
astonishment when she receives a reply.  Her "letter to
heaven" was accidentally delivered to a young woman with the
same name as Hiroko's fiance.  The intertwining fates of the
characters then unfold as the two women, Hiroko and Itsuki,
begin to correspond.

Stephen Chiau Sing-Chi and Lee Lik-Chi's GOD OF COOKERY,
featuring Chiau in a leading role, follows the exploits of a
restaurant business fraud who is overthrown by his once
loyal, now upstart student.  Humiliated, Chiau accidentally
encounters a group of street merchants who, after their
battle with the local triad, help him recover his spirit.
Fortune turns again when he alienates the merchants who had
once helped him, and only a stint in the local Shaolin
monastery dedicated to cooking, does he become honorable,
skilled and ready to regain his title as God of Cookery.

A CHINESE ODYSSEY, directed by Jeff Lau Chun-Wai and
featuring Stephen Chiau Sing-Chi, is an updated, kung-fu
version of the well-loved Chinese mythological saga known to
Western audiences as MONKEY! or THE JOURNEY WEST.  It
features two episodes from the quest of a priest, Longevity
Monk, to obtain and transport Buddhist scriptures from
China to India.  In PANDORA'S BOX (Part 1), a time
traveler races to prevent his fiance's suicide, only to
discover that he is the reincarnation of the Monkey King.
The sequel, CINDERELLA (Part 2), downplays the chaos and has
its fun detailing the reluctant King's efforts to reunite
with his beloved before she sacrifices her hand in marriage.

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NAATA ANNOUNCES CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR SUBMISSIONS TO THE 18TH
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL

The National Asian American Telecommunications Association
(NAATA) is seeking the best and most recent Asian American
and Asian films and videos for the 18th annual San Francisco
International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF). The
premiere showcase dedicated to the exhibition of Asian
American and Asian cinema, this non-competitive festival
will take place March 9-16, 2000 at several venues
throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

The year 2000 also marks the 20th anniversary of NAATA.
Panelists will be invited from across the world to
participate in special workshops, panels and presentations
about the future of independent filmmaking.  Topics may
include media activism and literacy, digital media, and
master classes.  The 2000 SFIAAFF will be an important
convening of filmmakers, industry and the public in
celebration of Asian American and Asian culture.  Don't miss
out on this landmark event!

To receive a copy of the Call for Entries electronically,
send email to festival at naatanet.org or visit our website at
http://www.naatanet.org/festival.

To receive a printed copy of the Call for Entries mail, fax
or email a request to:
NAATA/Call for Entries
346 9th Street 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA  94103
fax:  415.863.7428
email:  festival at naatanet.org

For more information visit http://www.naatanet.org/festival

GUIDELINES
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DEADLINES
Entry forms and preview tapes must arrive at NAATA by 5PM PST
Early deadline:	Friday, 17 September 1999
Final deadline:	Friday, 1 October 1999

ENTRY FEES
A check or money order issued through a US banking
institution payable to "NAATA"included with this
Entry Form.  (The entry fee is waived for new and continuing
NAATA members.  Contact NAATA for more information or visit
http://www.naatanet.org)

 * $USD20 (Early discount entry fee and application due 9/17/99)
 * $USD25 (Final deadline entry fee and application due 8/1/99)

ALL GENRES ACCEPTED
  Short to feature-length narrative, documentary,
  experimental, animation and mixed

FORMATS ACCEPTED FOR PREVIEW
  NTSC 1/2" VHS and 3/4" video

FINAL EXHIBITION FORMATS
  Film:  35mm or 16mm
  Video (NTSC):  single-channel 3/4" or BETACAM SP

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Shelly Silver
22 Catherine St. #6
New York, NY 10038
USA
tel:  212 732 2986
e-mail:  silvernyc at earthlink.net