LATEST NEWS:

Monday, Jan. 28, 2013

 

What an amazing weekend! Thank you all for supporting our film festival. Because of you, SAAFF 2013 was huge success! Here are some photos from opening night. More pictures to come ... ^ Vanessa and Kevin

Sunday, Jan 27, 2013

Last day of SAAFF 2013! MRS. JUDO (1pm) and Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings (3pm) are sold out but there may be standby tix available 5 minutes before showtime. Tickets are available at the door for Mr Cao Goes to Washington (4:30pm) and Crocodile in the Yangtze: A Westerner Inside China's Alibaba.com (6:30pm). KEYE LUKE (2012) is sold out but standby tickets will likely be available and you are welcome to join us after for the closing party at 9:30pm even if you can't make it to the film. Hope to see you today!

Monday, Jan. 14, 2013

Check out this promo video for the Seattle Asian American Film Festival. Produced by Martin Tran and Dan Strothman, directors of "Cinematropolis".

Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013

We have three posters up all over town promoting this year's festival. Left to right: The Crumbles, Space Needle (generic), Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings. Design by Seattle freelancer and SAAFF organizing member, Gina McDonald.

Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013

Happy New Year, SAAFF fans! Today, our official print program guide was published and distributed as an insert in the International Examiner. Pick up a copy of the free bi-weekly paper today! IE is distributed throughout the International District, South Seattle/Beacon Hill, Kent, Renton, Bellevue and Lynnwood.

Sunday Dec. 16, 2012

Great news! SAAFF was recently awarded, not one, but two grants! The Pride Foundation awarded us the Pride Foundation Scholarship for our selections of OUT, directed by Blaine Ludy and written and produced by Seattle's own Yuji Okumoto, and DOL (FIRST BIRTHDAY), directed by Andrew Ahn.

We also won a smART ventures award from the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs!

We're honored and grateful! 

Monday, Dec. 10, 2012

Watch video from the Cocktails and Karaoke Fundraiser! SAAFF photographer Gina McDonald stitched together footage for everyone's viewing pleasure. We raised $1,250 at the event! 

Also, check out photos from the night.

Friday, Dec. 7, 2012

Last night, SAAFF premiered its two-minute highlight reel at the Cocktails and Karaoke fundraiser at Kona Kitchen. Check it out!

Monday, Dec. 3, 2012

The Seattle Asian American Film Festival was just awarded the Humanities Washington Opportunity Grant!

Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012

Tickets for the Seattle Asian American Film Festival are now available! Head over to the program page of our website to check out the schedule of films, then click on any film to go to the purchase page on Brown Paper Tickets. Or check out the list of all our events here.  

FULL FESTIVAL PASSES get you into all SAAFF 2013 events for just $75. They make a great holiday gift!

Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012

Join us for cocktails and karaoke at Kona Kitchen! Organizers of the Seattle Asian American Film Festival will be there, as will Yuji Okumoto, Kona Kitchen's owner and writer/producer/star of one of our film selections, OUT. You might know him from his role in KARATE KID 2!

There is no cover but we'll be taking donations to help fund the film festival, which is currently financed by its co-directors, Vanessa Au and Kevin Bang, along with a handful of contributions from generous individuals and community groups, such as the Adult Asian Adoptees of Washington.

You'll get a preview of some of the films we'll be screening and might even go home with prizes like free festival tickets, t-shirts, DVDS, and more.

Come out and sing to your heart's content! Don't sing? Well there's still cocktails!!

Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012

Another great co-presentation screening tonight with Dave Boyle's "Daylight Savings" (part 2 of the the Surrogate Valentine trilogy) at Grand Illusion Cinema. Cast members Goh Nakamura and Yea-ming Chen serenaded the audience with several accoustic ballads from both the movie and their individual albums. Chen, lead singer of acclaimed indie band Dreamdate, was able to power through the performance despite feeling under the weather and losing her voice. The after-party saw pizza, brew, and a ton of laughter shared between SAAFF and the touring crew.

"Daylight Savings" is a black and white road movie in which Nakamura plays himself in a semi-fictional setting -- musician, on the road, battling conflicting emotions, bad ideas and a broken heart. "Daylight Savings" was shot in 15 days during a road trip that took Nakamura, Boyle and the cast from the Bay Area to a deserted town in central California to Las Vegas and then Los Angeles. The film premiered at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival.

Friday, Nov. 9, 2012

Fundraising Update: We've seen a nice tick in donations over the last few weeks, mostly from filmmakers whose movies were selected for the festival. With two months to go, we're almost halfway to our fundraising goals. We need your help to make this event a success. Please help spread the word about SAAFF!

Fundraising Goal: $5000 (See breakdown of festival expenses)

As of November 9, we've raised: $1750

Monday, Nov. 5, 2012

SAAFF T-shirts have arrived! If you want to purchase your black or white tee before the festival, please e-mail us: info@seattleaaff.org   $20/shirt.

Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012

The 2013 festival schedule is up! Click to our Program page!

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012

Tonight, we co-presented Grace Lee's new film, "Janeane from Des Moines" with SIFF at SIFF Film Center. The sold-out Tugg screening saw 90 people show up to watch Lee's mockumentary (a la Borat) about a fictional conservative woman's journey in deciding which candidate to back in the very real Iowa caucuses earlier this year. Lee is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker best known for her previous two films, "The Grace Lee Project" and "American Zombie". 

Monday, Oct. 29, 2012

Bettie Luke, sister of Wing Luke for which the Wing Luke Museum is named, has agreed to join us on a discussion panel at SAAFF 2013! We are really excited to have her. She writes: 

I am pleased to hear that a film has been made about Keye Luke. My brother Wing Luke, told me that he met up with Keye one time, when Keye was in New York, performing in the show, "Flower Drum Song." I would be very honored to be on a panel with the director, Timothy Tau. I am looking forward to the World Premier screening of his film, Keye Luke

Warm regards,
Bettie

Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012

We just finished up notifying all the filmmakers who submitted films for the 2013 festival. There were about 100 submissions and our two-and-a-half day festival only allowed us to select 25 of them. We have got an amazing lineup of award-winning films by some very talented filmmakers. We'll be announcing the feature length film selections on our Facebook page this week and posting the final program in the weeks to come. 

Monday, Oct. 22, 2012

Dave Boyle's "Daylight Savings," the sequel to last year's indie hit "Surrogate Valentine," is coming to Seattle on Nov. 14 at the Grand Illusion Cinema. And they've asked SAAFF to be a co-presenter! So you will be seeing several FB mentions and tweets about winning free tickets/DVDs/CDs by "Liking" and "Sharing" our posts over the next few weeks.

Oh, and did I mention Boyle, Goh Nakamura, and Yea-Ming Chen will be in the audience for the Seattle premiere as well?  #Exciting

Friday, Oct. 19, 2012

We co-presented "The Dance of Two Left Feet" (Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa) at Central Cinema, our second movie with SLGFF/Three Dollar Bill Cinema on Friday. About 60 moviegoers appeared for Alvin Yapan's film, which explored themes of passion through Filipino poetry and dance using beautifull cinematography.

And for those who haven't been to Central Cinema located on Capitol Hill, let me describe it for you: It's an indie version of Cinebarre (where you can eat, drink, and watch a movie), but with better beer and pizza selection. You really can't go wrong with this place.

Monday, Oct. 15, 2012

We're getting close to finalizing our selection of films for the festival. Our team sifted through over 100 films in the past month and discovered some amazing films that we can't wait to screen during the festival -- including "A lot Like You," which has won numerous awards e.g. Best Documentary, San Francisco Asian American Film Festival and SIFF's Audience Choice Award.

And in case you missed the announcement, the director of "A lot Like You" will be in attendance to take part in a panel Q&A after the screening of her movie. Here's the video preview of the award-winning documentary directed by Seattle's very own Eliaichi Kimaro.

A Lot Like You — 2012 Trailer from alotlikeyou on Vimeo.

Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012

SAAFF co-presented its first film today with the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (SLGFF).  Co-directors Kevin Bang and Vanessa Au handed out flyers and spoke to an audience of 50 about the revival of SAAFF during the screening of "Girlfriend Boyfriend" at the Egyptian Theater in Capitol Hill.  The romantic drama, directed by Ya-che Yang, follows three friends across two decades of social change in Taiwan.

SAAFF will also be co-presenting another SLGFF film, "The Dance of Two Left Feet" at Central Cinema on Friday, October 19 at 7:30pm.

Friday, Oct. 12, 2012

Fundraising Update: SAAFF estimates needing to raise $5000 to cover all costs for the festival this year. Here's a breakdown of our expenses, incurred and expected:

Wing Luke's 75-person theater space rental (3 days) - $1500
Flyers, posters, programs, and tee-shirts (marketing) - $1000
Parking, travel and accommodations for filmmakers (TBD) - $1000
Reception area rental for opening and closing gala - $500
Food/beverages for opening and closing gala - $500
Miscellaneous e.g. website, non-profit status etc. - $200

So far, we've raised $665 through individual donations. A supporter from Vancouver B.C. gave a generous $500! If you've made a contribution to SAAFF, we would like to thank you and acknowledge your support by listing your name as a supporter of SAAFF on our donations page.

SAAFF Fundraising Goal: $5000
As of October 12, we've raised: $665