AAFFN 2011 Event
MELBOURNE 12 – 13 NOVEMBER 2011
We respectfully acknowledge the Kulin Nation, who are the Traditional Owners of the land where our event in Melbourne is held.
Thank you to our sponsors:
Archive program, film list, speaker bios and more.
Still from WONDER BOY directed by Corrie Chen.
SATURDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2011
9.30am Registration
10am – 10.30am
Introduction:
Welcome by AAFF Co-Chairs:
- Mr Amadeo Marquez-Perez
- Dr Indigo Willing OAM
Opening Address:
- Annette Shun Wah (AAFF Special Guest)
10.30 – 11.30am
- Panel 1: ‘On The Screen Scene – Getting AA Stories Seen’: With a focus on the directors, scriptwriters, producers and marketers, this panel aims to look behind the scenes at how Asian Australian stories make it to the screen as well as Australian audiences relationship with films from Asia and Asian diasporas. Panel chair: Amadeo Marquez-Perez. Panel speakers: Jiao Chen, Heng Tang, Maria Tran, Kieran Tully
11.35am – 12.15pm
- Selected short films: RED WATER RED directed by Qing Xie. WONDER BOY directed by Corrie Chen. Followed by Q & A with Corrie Chen by Amadeo Marquez-Perez
- Break – Lunch at everyone’s own cost.
- Also ft. special lunch time screening: LION DANCERS by Matt Huynh,
- Selected short films: FORGET ME NOT directed by Emily Dean, BABY CAKE directed by Pearl Tan & feature film, NO DIRECTION KNOWN by Plum Jungle ft. Michael ‘Tokyo Love In’ Chin, Pete Longworth and dir. Christopher Baron), AAFF Shout outs video
2.00pm – 3.00pm
- Panel 2: ‘Asian Faces and Cultural Spaces’: Actors and TV Presenters discuss the contributions that Asian Australians, Asian diasporas, and international films have made to film and TV, including their own work. Panel chair: Annette Shun Wah. Panel speakers: Andy Minh Trieu, PJ Madam, Susanna Qian, Joyce Yuen
3.15pm – 5.30pm
- Discussion & Feature Film: Q and A with actor Christopher Pang (Tomorrow, When the War Began, Citizen Jia Li) and director Sky Crompton, and screening of CITIZEN JIA LI.
- 6pm – there will be a casual drinks and chat at venue tba (at everyone’s own cost)
SUNDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2011
9.30am Registration
10.00am – 11.30am
- Morning speakers Hoang Tran Nguyen and David Cuong Nguyen talk with Dr Scott Brook about the making of ‘Footscray By Night’
- Selected short films: AAFF Shout Outs (Repeat Encore), TRO VE (HOMECOMING) directed by Quan Tran, DEADLINE directed by Joy Hopwood, RETURNING HOME AND FINDING…FAITH, CHARITY, HOPE directed by Sofie Kim, OPERATION REUNITE directed by Dominic Golding, TRANSIT directed by Tony Davison.
11.45 – 12.45pm
- Panel 3: ‘Cross Cultural Perspectives’: Explores insights on issues of family, friendship and belonging found in films with an international focus including Asian transmigrants in Australia, Asian Americans in Hollywood, and stories of Asian transnational adoptees. Panel chair: Dr Indigo Willing. Panel speakers: Dominic Golding, Sofie Kim, Dr Jane Chi Hyun Park, Joy Hopwood
12.45 – 1.30pm
- Break – Lunch at everyone’s own cost.
- Also ft. special lunch time screening: LION DANCERS by Matt Huynh (repeat encore)
1.30pm – 2pm
- Selected short films: THE PROBATIONER directed by Huu Tran, CHUNGKING ALL STATIONS Trailer directed by Jack Ngu, BULLIES directed by Somchay Phakonkham and Maria Tran, and TEASER/TRAILER for ROSES ARE DEAD directed by Min Tran
2.00pm – 3.00pm
- Panel 4: ‘New Visions, New Voices: Indy and Emerging Perspectives’: This panel aims to explore independent films, video screen culture and fresh perspectives and approaches on Internet mediums such as youtube and through community engagement. Panel chair: Maria Tran. Panel speakers: Somchay Phakonkham, Huu Tran, Min Tran,Yu Ye Wu.
3.15pm – 5.30pm
- Concluding remarks by Indigo Willing and Amadeo Marquez-Perez plus prize give-aways
- Closing Film ‘Mother Fish’ by Khoa Do
WHERE:
Centre for Adult Education (CAE) at 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne city.
REGISTRATION:
This was a free event.
MEDIA COVERAGE & EVENT LISTINGS OF THE AAFF IN THE PRESS:
FILMS SCREENED
Special closing film at the AAFF:
MOTHER FISH Directed, written and produced by Khoa Do and featuring Sheena Pham, Hieu Phan, Kathy Nguyen and Vico Thai (winner of various awards including most recently the Spotlight Award, Vietnamese International Film Festival, LA 2011).
An overview of all films in alphabetical order:
AAFF SHOUT OUTS edited by Maria Tran, various filmmakers, actors and industry folks share a video greeting plus a few words on the importance of supporting the Asian Australian screen scene (includes supporters from o/s).
BABY CAKE directed and produced by Pearl Tan and co-written with Kaizen Christopher (viewing 15+ only, contains adult themes): A gay couple and a lesbian couple are trying to conceive a baby naturally. BABY CAKE has been screened internationally and won Best Director Award in the Lucky FF in 2011.
CHUNKING ALL STATIONS Trailer directed by Jack Ngu, who also stars with Maria Tran. A unique satire on foreign art films.
BULLIES directed by Somchay Phakonkham & Maria Tran: James (Jack Ngu) and Linda (Maria Tran) are on their way home from school. James makes an attempt to ask Linda to the dance but is then rudely interrupted by bullies. Can James find the courage to stand up to these bullies and take Linda to the dance?
CITIZEN JIA LI directed by Sky Crompton: When Jia loses both her job and home in the one day, nothing is what she expected as a new Citizen. Over three days she will struggle against fears and enemies to find her true identity, supported by Daisy a half Chinese half Japanese ‘Harajuku girl’, who is coming to terms with her own mixed parentage. Pursued meanwhile by Kong Jia’s triad ex, who searches Melbourne to force her back, to save face with the triad, and maybe for love. Ft. at Phoenix Comicon Film Festival and Melbourne Underground Film Festival. Nominated for Best Actress Melbourne Underground Film Festival.
DEADLINE directed by Joy Hopwood, who is an actor, author and artist.
FORGET ME NOT directed by Emily Dean: Animation, a story about the deep and complex bonds of family.
NO DIRECTION KNOWN by Plum Jungle ft. Michael ‘Tokyo Love In’ Chin feat. Yama Sarshar (Indian Tabla), photography by Pete Longworth and edited by Christopher Baron: Comprised totally of still photographs, the film follows the journey of a young twenty-something girl as she sets out to forget her troubles by immersing herself in the vibrant and colourful culture of India.
LION DANCERS illustrated by Matt Huynh: Developed from observations of the Jin Wu Koon Martial Arts Academy’s training gym as they prepared for their Moon Festival performances around Chinatown Sydney.
TRANSIT directed by Tony Davison: TRANSIT is an eloquent, subtle film about identity. The audience is invited into the lives of four very different individuals that have found peace in the distinctive context of Hong Kong. ‚ Every one has a story‘. Nominated for an AFI for documentary (cinematography) in 2006.
RED WATER RED directed by Qing Xie (viewing 15+ only, contains adult themes): Chaotic circles, born in China, unhomely at home. A young Chinese girl draws her father into a sexual relationship, and a forbidden feast. Winner of Film Victoria Award, Best Film VCA and Platinum Award, 44th World Fest, Houston Film Festival.
ROSES ARE DEAD – Preview trailer – directed by Min Tran: The story begins with a cryptic stranger insisting that two girls buy black, dead roses on Valentine’s Day, only to be ridiculed and told to go away. It soon becomes clear that this is no laughing matter with deadly consequences as the girls struggle to survive the what should’ve been, a romantic evening. Previous screenings include at ACMI and Pittsburgh Horror Film Festival.
SHORT TIME directed by Sofie Kim: A Korean adoptee returns to the orphanage she was placed in as a child, and the country she was born in. Previous screenings include KOFFIA 2010.
THE PROBATIONER directed by Huu Tran (viewing 15+ only, some violence): Helen needs a new job fast. Her father needs a new heart and they have found one in France. Only problem is no money. Desperate, she gets recruited by a shadowy organisation for a new assignment. A simple job escorting a briefcase across town, but life is never that easy. How far is she willing to go to keep her new job? She is the probationer. Cast: Donna Luong, John Jacobs, Andrew Gashumba, Toan Minh Phuong, Sarah Jennifer Dute. Screenings include at Vietnamese Film Festival Australia.
TRO VE (Homecoming) directed by Quan Tran, a film dedicated to Ma Chau, the director’s late Aunt and his journey to Vietnam to grant her wish to have her ashes over the ocean.
MOTHER FISH directed and written by Khoa Do: The inspiring story of four refugees fleeing Vietnam in 1980, MOTHER FISH goes inside the mind of one of the survivors. The present melds with the past as a quiet factory worker relives the extraordinary journey when she and her sister took to the sea in a creaky river boat in search of a better life. Cast: Kathy Nguyen, Sheena Pham and Vico Thai. Winner of various awards including most recently the Spotlight Award, Vietnamese International Film Festival, LA 2011.
OPERATION REUNITE directed by Dominic Golding: A timely documentary in development that follows a group of Vietnamese war orphans who were adopted internationally and reunite in Vietnam 35 years later at an event organized by a non-profit called Operation Reunite to revisit their past and re-define their future as ‘Vietnamese adoptees’. The director is an Australian Vietnamese adoptee.
WONDER BOY directed by Corrie Chen: Ten year old Clancy is stuck between a life he doesn’t know and a life he wants to belong to. Some problems are universal. WONDER BOY was nominated for Best Masters Production at VCA Premiere awards, and had its world premiere at Flickerfest 2011. It will screen at the Munich International Film Festival following its screening at the AAFF. Cast: Morgan Baker, Evonne Fletcher and Zohar Hoang.
SPECIAL KEYNOTE AND PANEL CHAIR:
ANNETTE SHUN WAH
Actor, writer, broadcaster Founder of Performance 4A
Based: Sydney
Keynote speaker and Chair of Panel 2 ‘Asian Faces and Cultural Spaces’ Saturday 13th Nov at AAFF
Annette is an author, producer and actor, best known as presenter of TV programs such as The Noise, Studio 22 and Media Dimensions. Recently, she devised, wrote, and directed the mobile phone app ‘China Heart‘, which uses dramatised video, oral history and gaming to explore family and community in Sydney’s Chinatown. With Performance 4a, she produced a season of Asian Australian performance – including Stories East & West – a theatrical storytelling show co-directed with William Yang. Nominated for an AFI Award for her performance in the feature film, Floating Life, she has appeared in guest roles on Packed to the Rafters, Crownies, Always Greener andYoung Lions.
PANEL SPEAKERS:
CORRIE CHEN
Featuring in special Q and A session, Saturday 12th Nov at AAFF Born in Taiwan and raised in Melbourne, Corrie is a graduate of the prestigious VCA School of Film and Television. During her time there she wrote and directed Happy Country (2008) and Wonder Boy (2010). Both films have screened at numerous festivals both locally and internationally.
Corrie was selected for the Accelerator Talent Camp program at the 2009 Melbourne International Film Festival with Happy Country,and Wonder Boy made its international premiere at the prestigious Munich International Festival of Film Schools in 2011. She currently works with Sydney-based production house Staple Fiction, with whom she is developing a feature set in China, as well as being in development for another short. In her spare time she enjoys cold cuts, dumplings, and badminton. Which is not surprising then that in 2011 She is a recipient of Raw Nerve short film production initiative with her film, aptly titled Bruce Lee Played Badminton Too along with Producer Anna Kojevnikov.
DAVID CUONG NGUYEN
Featuring in Q and A 10am Sun 13 Nov at AAFF
David will talk with Hoang Tran Nguyen about the making of ‘Footscray by Night‘, which features six karaoke films as part of a concert on the rooftop of Little Saigon, Footscray. Inspired by Karaoke culture and the Paris By Night gala series, this evening of song, dance, comedy and karaoke celebrates and explores the diversity of cultural translation. Catch it at the Big Festival on Wednesday 16th November in Footscray.
HOANG TRAN NGUYEN
Featuring in Q and A 10am Sun 13 Nov at AAFF
See above for David Cuong Nguyen.
SCOTT BROOK
Featuring in Q and A 10am Sun 13 Nov at AAFF
Scott is facilitating the Q and A with Hoang Tran Nguyen and David Cuong Nguyen about the making of ‘Footscray At Night’.
Position: Assistant Professor, University of Canberra.
Department/Division: Faculty of Arts and Design
Primary Areas: Arts and culture , Social issues & public policy
Expertise: Cultural policy studies, creative writing studies, Vietnamese Australian studies
JIAO CHEN
Producer, director, writer
Production Company: Staple Fiction
Based: Sydney
Featuring in Panel 1 ‘Asian Australian Screen Scene’, Saturday 12th Nov at AAFF
Jiao began his career by crewing on a range of local and international films and TV series including: Children of The Silk Road, Hunt Angels, Mao’s Last Dancer, East of Everything 2, and Rescue Special Ops. Jiao also spent a year working in development for feature film production company See Pictures. After gaining valuable filmmaking expertise by working with some of the industry’s best, Jiao is now developing a slate of his own stories for the big and small screens. His first long form project is an interactive transmedia documentary for SBS, which he is writing and directing. Outside of his own projects, Jiao freelances as a script reader/assessor and is currently undertaking a Screen NSW funded development attachment with Macgowan Films. Jiao is committed to bold, innovative and culturally diverse storytelling.
SKY CROMPTON
Producer, director, writer, film & TV lecturer
Based: Melbourne
[Photographed with Chris Pang, who is participating in cast and director Q&A before screening of Citizen Jia Li on Saturday 13 Nov]
Sky’s current feature, Citizen Jia Li, is the story of a young Chinese immigrant making her home in Melbourne. The film has screened in the USA, Australia, and Northern Ireland. It was also nominated for Best Actress at MUFF 2011. Recognized as an emerging producer at the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) conference 2003 and again in 2007 Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) [37 South Film Market], Sky was selected in 2008 to participate in X Media Lab Melbourne and a Jury member of the 2010 MUFF film festival. His research is in Asian transnational screen production, and he has given lectures and papers in Australia, Europe, and Asia.
JOY HOPWOOD
Producer, director, writer, film & TV lecturer
http://www.joy.net.au
Featuring in Panel 3, ‘Cross Cultural Perspectives’, Sun 14 November at AAFF
Joy Hopwood is an Asian-Australian actor, writer and producer who is involved in film, theatre and television. She was the first regular Asian-Australian presenter on Play School. In 2010-11 performed in Belvoir St Theatre’s “Stories East and West.” directed by William Yang and produced by Annette Shun Wah. Her autobiographical story has been published in Black Inc Books’ anthology ed. by Alice Pung of stories titled, “Growing Up Asian in Australia.” She is the director of DEADLINE which will screen at the AAFF.
DOMINIC GOLDING
Theatre artist, documentary maker, playwright
Based: Melbourne
Featuring in Panel 3 ‘Cross Cultural Perspectives’, Sunday 14th Nov at AAFF
Dominic completed his Honors in Directing and Politics in 1999 at Flinders University. In November 1999 he was awarded the R.A. Simpson International Traveling Scholarship to Vietnam, and has a MA in Theatre Arts from Monash University, graduating in 2010. Dominic has worked with Huu Tran, Tony Le Nguyen, and Vietnamese Youth Media as an Assistant Director and performer on Aussie Bia Om, and has also featured in Viet Boys Downunder, wrote the screenplay and was lead actor in Shrimp, and is now working on his latest project Umbilical. In 2010, he returned to Vietnam to meet up with Vietnamese war adoptees from around the world and record their experiences for a documentary in development.
Peta Jane MADAM
Based: Sydney
Featuring in Panel 2 ‘Asian Faces and Cultural Spaces’ Saturday 13th Nov at AAFF
Peta Jane ‘PJ’ Madam landed her first role in journalism in 2004 as an intern with Channel Nine News in Brisbane, earning her stripes before heading south to work for Nine News in Sydney. As a reporter and producer, she got a real taste for life in broadcast journalism – spending time on the road reporting, as well as in studio producing stories and bulletins. PJ joined SBS as a reporter for World News Australia in 2008. During her time here she has covered major local and international events, including the canonisation of Mary MacKillop, two Australian federal elections, Kevin Rudd’s fall from leadership and the dumping of two NSW Premiers, the aftermath of the Samoan tsunami in September 2009, and Cyclone Yasi in February 2011. She was also SBS’s correspondent from London for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April 2011. As well as reporting, PJ is one of a team who present SBS World News Australia – you’ll often find her anchoring the 9.30pm news bulletin.
SOMCHAY PHAKONKHAM
Director, producer
Production company: Reinvent Films
Based: Melbourne
Featuring in Panel 4 ‘Indy and Emerging Filmmakers’, Sunday 14th Nov at AAFF
Somchay’s love for filmmaking started in high school. He completed an advanced diploma in Film & TV Screen production at NMIT. Upon completion in 2004 he was picked up by 50 Kaliber Films. A Melbourne based production company that produced TVC for Mercedes, Honda, Ford and Suzuki. He later left the company in 2006, to focus more on feature films. Since then, Somchay has worked on two independent Australian feature films, which were Little Black Dress and Eraser Children. He is currently starting up his own production company called Reinvent Films, and plans on producing his own feature films.
SOFIE KIM
Producer, director
Production Company: Lone Eskimo Productions
Based: Melbourne
Featuring in Panel 3 ‘Cross Cultural Perspectives’, Sunday 14th Nov at AAFF
Added to the long list of career highlights including Music/TV/Documentary producer, Sofie Kim promotes Korea to Australians – with a difference…within the music industry. From the Korean Rock Festivals of Pentaport (introducing artists such as Eskimo Joe, The Grates, End of Fashion) and Busan to Club gigs in Incheon, Sofie’s work of cross cultural promotion of the Australian/Korean Music Industry is a great example of bridging the gap between the two countries through the universal language of music. Sofie has also been working with Neighbours as Live Music Producer for the past 2 years including inviting the first Asia (Korean) Band to perform on the show (which is broadcast to over 60 million viewers per week to more than 62 countries) as well as producing/filming her own tv show, Alone with Everybody, which aired on ABC2 and Ch31 (guests include Billy Bragg, Goyte & Felix Riebl from The Cat Empire).
DR JANE CHI HYUN PARK
Academic, author
Based: Sydney
Featuring in Panel 3 ‘Cross Cultural Perspectives’, Sunday 14th Nov at AAFF
Dr. Jane Chi Hyun Park has a Ph.D. in Radio-TV-Film from The University of Texas at Austin and is affiliated with the U.S. Studies Centre and the Asian Studies program and teaches in both as well as in Gender and Cultural Studies. Her research focuses on representations of race, gender and sexuality, especially of Asian peoples and communities in popular media, including film, television and music.
Her first book, Yellow Future: Oriental Style in Contemporary Hollywood Cinema, examines the ideological role of Asiatic imagery in US films from the 1980s to the present and is published with the University of Minnesota Press. She has also given invited presentations at KOFFIA and many other film festivals (more bio at The University of Sydney)
CHRIS PANG
http://www.christopherpang.com
Featuring in cast and director Q and A before screening of Citizen Jia Li, Saturday 12 Nov at AAFF
Chris Pang, the son of two martial arts instructors, is an Australian actor who played lead character “Lee” in the Australian box office hit “Tomorrow When The War Began” which excelled to be highest grossing Australian film of the 2010 and also went on to break DVD sales records in Australia. Pang’s acting credits also encompass Australian television: the AFI Award winning series “Rush”, critical acclaimed “Tangle” and “City Homicide”, and a lead, again as the love interest, in feature film “Citizen Jia Li”. He is actively engaged in developing projects and is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese as well as an aficionado of martial arts disciplines.
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SUSANNA QIAN
- Films include RED WATER RED featuring Susanna Qian and Ferdinand Hoang, directed by Qing Xie and produced by Adam Driver
Actor Based: Melbourne
Featuring in Panel 2 ‘Asian Faces and Cultural Spaces’ Saturday 13th Nov at AAFF
Susanna Qian is an actor whose work features in two films being shown at the AAFF.
These are RED WATER RED, and CITIZEN JIA LI.
Susanna will also feature as a speaker in Panel 2: ‘Asian Faces, Cultural Spaces’ discussion, which is chaired by Annette Shun Wah.
Susanna was born in Hang Zhou China and grew up in Melbourne
Australia, she is currently completing a double degree in
Commerce/Arts at the University of Melbourne. In 2010 she studied at
Freie Univeristy Berlin and Harvard University for exchange in
languages, European Politics and International Business. Susanna’s
interest in Film, Radio & Television when she began working at SBS
Radio with the Mandarin group at the age of 16 under the guidance of
May Hu. Since then Susanna has gone on to work in a number of
commercials, TV series and was cast in Faker’s This Heart Attack music
video. Red Water Red was her first time being cast with a leading role
and gave her the opportunity to work with Ferdinand Hoang of We can be
Heroes and AFI award-winning Director of Photography Lazlo Baranyai.
Citizen Jia Li is her feature film début.
PEARL TAN
Actor, director, producer
Production company: Pearly Productions
Based: Sydney
*Pearl was to be a guest panel chair for Panel 3, Sunday 14th Nov at AAFF but will now be overseas at the time. She sends her best wishes to everyone at the AAFF and you can still catch her film BABYCAKE on Sat 12th Nov (Indigo Willing will now act as alternative chair)
Pearl Tan is the director of Pearly Productions, a film and video production company that provides services to arts organisations and actors. She graduated from the NIDA Acting course in 2005. Originally from Western Australia, she also holds a Communications degree majoring in Media Studies from Edith Cowan University. Her short films Seeya Rach, Thanks for Coming and Baby Cake have screened both nationally and internationally.
Pearl teaches filmmaking at NIDA and has worked behind the scenes for Channel 7, Channel 9, Network 10, Perth’s 96fm and Faith Martin Casting. Pearl was a recipient of the 2009 Mike Walsh Fellowship to attend the New York Film Academy. Her credits as an actor include Motel (Sydney Theatre Company/Wharf 2Loud), Love’s Triumph (Darlinghurst Theatre) feature films Home Song Stories, Sleeping Beauty and Channel 9’s Sea Patrol.
HENG TANG
Director
IMDb: www.imdb.com/name/nm0849289
Based: Melbourne
Featuring in Panel 1 ‘Asian Australian Screen Scene’, Saturday 12th Nov at AAFF Heng’s debut short film Boy-Serpentine world premiered at the 54th Venice Film Festival winning the jury special mention prize. His second, The Other Son, screened in Venice at the 56th festival. He is the first filmmaker in Australia invited by Cannes Film Festival Cinefondation to attend their residency program to develop feature projects. Following that, another short, The Last Chip, qualified for pre-selection at the 2007 Academy Awards. His latest film Mooncake & Crabpremiered at the 60th Melbourne International Film Festival.
HUU TRAN
Director, film festival curator (Australian Vietnam Film Festival)
Founder of Global Viet Film Network
Based: Melbourne
Featuring in Panel 4 ‘Indy and Emerging Filmmakers’, Sunday 14th Nov at AAFF Huu has written and directed six short films, which have been selected and screened at local and international film festivals. He has also worked on numerous theatre projects supported by Australia Council for the Arts, The City of Melbourne, The Lance Reichstein Foundation, The Myer Foundation, Vic-Health, and Arts Victoria.
Huu is dedicated to providing important opportunities for young Vietnamese-Australian to meet, debate, share and exchange ideas and information through performances and films, and more broadly, to break down cultural barriers, to address the issues of equity in the arts, and provided a safe and encourages environment for young Vietnamese Australian to develop the critical thinking and analysis of the media.
Huu is also the founder of the Global Viet Film Network and Film Festival, and is currently working on his latest film “Life after Life”.
MARIA TRAN
Director, Actor, Writer
Website: www.mariatran.com.au
Based: Sydney
Featuring in Panel 1 ‘Asian Australian Screen Scene’, Saturday 12th Nov, Chair of Panel 4 ‘Indy and Emerging Filmmakers’, Sunday 14th Nov at AAFF
Maria is an actor, filmmaker and community arts trainer. She a degree in Psychology and is passionate on screen culture amongst the culturally diverse communities in Australia. She made various short films such as Metro Screen grant, A Little Dream, award-winning Happy Dent, and action kung-fu comedy Maximum Choppage. In 2008, she produced and acted in Downtown Rumble, a kung-fu micro-series on JTV-ABC TV. Her mockumentary short Hot Bread Shop was officially selected for the 2011 Colourfest Film Festival. Currently, Maria is completing the mixed genre movie project, Quest for Jackie Chan!.
Maria’s other interests include vlogging, blogging, comedy writing, martial arts, photography, and digital storytelling.
MIN TRAN
Director, Producer
Production company: Mintyland Pictures
Based: Melbourne
Featuring in Panel 4 ‘Indy and Emerging Filmmakers’, Sunday 14th Nov at AAFF
Min Tran is an independent Vietnamese Australian filmmaker located in Melbourne. Min realised he had a passion for the moving image from thirteen years of age. This realisation led to his involvement in the media and arts in high school life, taking advantage of emerging forms of digital media that allowed him to shoot and edit his early films. While awarded with a scholarship to complete a two-year film course, Min successfully and independently wrote, directed, shot, and edited many short films that were funded from his job working as a projectionist at his local cinema (see story here); one of these was awarded Best Foreign Student Film in California in 2008. Between 2008 and 2010, Min wrote and directed Roses are Dead, a short feature which became an official selection of the Pittsburgh Horror Film Festival of 2011.
ANDY MINH TRIEU
Actor
IMDb: www.imdb.com/name/nm3073087
Andy’s show-reel: http://bit.ly/rjvL9Q
Based: Sydney
Featuring in Panel 2 ‘Asian Faces and Cultural Spaces’ Saturday 13th Nov at AAFF A three-time Australian Champion Martial Artist, Andy expanded his repertoire from competing in front of an audience in tournaments to performing for audiences in a range of roles across stage and screen. Currently, Andy is playing the quirky Kitchen Ninja co-host on Australian TV show Kitchen Whiz, which airs on weekdays on Channel Nine. He also features in shows such as Rescue Special Ops, Rake, Crime Investigations Australia, Whats Good for You, Gangs of Oz, and Crownies. Andy is a National Acting School Graduate, who also holds a double degree in International Relations and Business, and is capable of acrobatics and fight choreography. With a strong focus on action, Andy has worked closely with trainers from Cirque du Soleil and choreographers from the motion pictures Wolverine, Superman, Star Wars, and The Matrix.
KIERAN TULLY
Marketing and Festivals Manager, Korean Cultural Office
Marketing Director, Korean Film Festival in Australia & Japanese Film Festival in Australia
Co-Founder of Fan Chan Pictures (with Raelene Loong)
MA student at AFTS
Based: Sydney
Featuring in Panel 1 ‘Asian Australian Screen Scene’, Saturday 12th Nov at AAFF
Kieran is Marketing and Festivals Manager of the Korean Cultural Office where he coordinates a weekly film night (Cinema on the Park) and the Korean Film Festival (KOFFIA). Having completed a Graduate Certificate in Screen Culture at AFTRS on film festivals, he now continues this area of research in a Masters of Arts on Asian film distribution. Kieran has worked on fifteen film festivals across Sydney, makes films for Fan Chan Pictures, and writes about film on the blog Tully’s Recall. Kieran holds a degree in Advanced Mathematics and has a strong passion for football (with visits to Germany in 2006 and South Africa in 2010).
YU YE WU
Arts Administration & Communication, Social Media Marketing: 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art & Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE)
Based: Sydney
Featuring in Panel 4 ‘Indy and Emerging Filmmakers’, Sunday 14th Nov at AAFF
Yu Ye currently works at Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) who include a significant community video productions component and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (who hold the famous Cinema Alley) across marketing and communications, social media and arts administration. Yu Ye studied a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney in 2008 with a major in English Literature and received first class honours in Art History with a paper on contemporary Chinese art. She’s also passionate about the digital sphere and where arts and culture, artists, communities, stories and ideas overlap.
Yu Ye is particularly fond of Twitter, likes travelling (last visited Japan in February 2011), photography and is curious about Third Culture Kids.
JOYCE YUEN
Actor, Agent (Phoenix Artists Management)
Based: Melbourne
Featuring in Panel 2 ‘Asian Faces and Cultural Spaces’ Saturday 13th Nov at AAFF
Joyce graduated from the University of Sydney with a B.Sc. Since most of her family had entered the Entertainment Industry, she decided she would give it a go. Joyce first started as an actor. She has been manager of Phoenix Artists Management since 1993. The agency was founded in 1986 by Lawrence Mah, primarily to provide the film and television industry with Asian actors. The agency also has actors from other ethnic backgrounds.
Since the early 1990s, the agency’s actors have appeared in many of Australia’s main TV series, including The Slap, Sea Patrol, Bed of Roses, Underbelly, Rush, Head Start, Neighbours, and international co-produced series, as well as many Australian and International Feature Film co-productions including Mao’s Last Dancer, Animal Kingdom, The Jammed, The Home Song Stories and The Wog Boy. Their actors have also been involved in numerous corporate videos and TVCs, and stage productions.
AAFF Co-Chairs:
AMADEO MARQUEZ-PEREZ
Co-Chair, Asian Australian Film Forum, 2011-2012
Artistic Director Bayside Film Festival, 2009-2013
15/15 International Film Festival, 2000 – 2012
Freelance Digital Media Workshop Coordinator/ Facilitator, 2011-2013
Amadeo has various industry experience, including co-producing the acclaimed independent film The Songs They Sang and being involved with international and regional film festivals such asThe Bayside FF (read more here) & 15/15 FF as artistic director, as a judge for events such as Melbourne Queer FF and teaching film and digital media. His recent workshop experience includes teaching young people for film workshops as part of the Melbourne Museum of Immigration’s ‘Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours’ exhibition as well as working with Aboriginal peoples in their communities on telling their own stories and community histories using video technologies.
DR INDIGO WILLING
Co-Chair, Asian Australian Film Forum (AAFF), 2011 -2012, Transcultural Adoptee Film Festival (TAFF), 2009 – 2011, An Asian Australian Occasion Short Film Festival (AAAO), 2007
Co-Convener (joining 2011), Asian Australian Studies Research Network AASRN -with founder Dr Tseen Khoo)
Indigo is an early career researcher who loves supporting, promoting and learning from Asian diasporic communities, and how they define their heritages and constructions of belonging. She has been fortunate to be involved with a number of collaborative film festivals, writing and research activities on these themes with some great mentors and peers from these and other communities, and is very grateful for these opportunities. She is currently a researcher at The University of Queensland, where she graduated with a doctorate in sociology in 2010. She also has a MA and BA (Film Major) from The University of Technology, Sydney and is a graduate from a School of Performing Arts. She is also a former Rockefeller Fellow in Humanities at The University of Massachusetts, Boston studying in their Vietnamese Diaspora project with writers, creatives and researchers from around the world, and her work with the Adopted Vietnamese International network was recognised with a Medal in the Order of Australia in 2006.
The AAFF Planning Committee:
The film festival is convened by:
- Dr Indigo Willing OAM (Co-Convenor, AAFF Co-Chair)
- Mr Amadeo Marquez-Perez (Bayside FF, 15/15 FF, AAFF Co-Chair)
- Dr Tseen Khoo (RMIT University; AASRN Founding Convenor)
- Ms Mikala Tai (Asia Pacific Contemporary)
Special Advisors & Assistance:
- Ms Maria Tran (Filmmaker; AAFF ‘Shout Outs’ Director and Invited Panel Chair)
- Dr Audrey Yue (Melbourne University; AASRN AAI4 Conference)
- Dr Olivia Khoo (Monash University; AASRN Executive Member)
- Ms Annette Shun Wah (Performance 4a; AAFF Special Guest & Invited Panel Chair)
- Mr Matt Huynh (Artist; AAFF Ft. Artist)
- Sky Crompton (Gung Ho Productions, AAFF event assistance & AAFF panelist)
- Matt Pastor (AAFF Event Assistant and ‘Pasta Short Films’ Filmmaker) + Jacqueline Erasmus, Carlos Marquez-Perez, and Nuria Marquez-Perez.
AAFF 2011 Event Sponsors and Supporters:
The AAFF follows immediately after and is held in association with the Asian Australian Identities 4 conference 10 – 11 November, which is presented by the Asian Australian Studies Research Network (AASRN), and with additional sponsorship from SBS Special Broadcasting Service.
AAFFN COMPETITIONS
– SBS Film held a competition to win special double passes to MOTHERFISH by Khoa Do on the AAFF’s closing night. Visit their Facebook page to see new competitions.
– Village Cinemas supplied door prize packs
– KOFFIA 2011 gave away double passes to see ‘Secret Reunion’ and ‘The Show Must Go On’ in Melbourne in September to AAFFN twitter followers
– Matt Huynh provided door prize packs that included his comic BLOOM, and his illustrations in the limited edition ALLUVIA
– Madman Entertainment provided door prize packs of the DVD for MOTHER
All event attendees also received a free special AAFF postcard featuring the artwork ‘Audience’ by Matt Huynh (stocks were limited).
Click on the image below to see the AAFF Postcard. To see more of Matt’s work visit his personal website here
Post-script
The AAFFN 2011 inaugural event ‘AAFF’ was held on Saturday 12 November and Sunday 13 November, 2011 in Melbourne 2011. The event was free. You can also see photos from our recent event at Album 1 and Album 2 (featured still from short film Wonder Boy by Corrie Chen). You can also watch our promotional video, the AAFF Shout Outs, compiled by Maria Tran here.
Event stand outs, too many to list here! But special mention to our amazing keynote address by Annette Shun Wah and the vibrant, exciting talent out there in the Asian Australian filmmaking community caught wonderfully in the AAFF shout outs video by the incomparable and absolutely magnificent Maria Tran (Quest for Jackie Chan in dev)! Other speakers people have no doubt seen regularly on the screen included PJ Madam (SBS TV News), Christopher Pang (Tomorrow, When the War Began) and Andy Minh Trieu (Kitchen Whizz’s Kitchen Ninja, Channel 9).
The full list of our guest speakers included: Annette Shun Wah, PJ Madam, Andy Minh Trieu, Susanna Qian, Corrie Chen, Jiao Chen, Joyce Yuen, Heng Tang, Maria Tran, Kieran Tully, David Cuong Nguyen, Hoang Tran Nguyen, Scott Brook, Sofie Kim, Dominic Golding, Joy Hopwood, Jane Chi Hyun Park, Huu Tran, Min Tran, Somchay Phakonkham, Yu Ye Wu, Christopher Pang, Sky Crompton, plus a few words and panel chairing from AAFF co-chairs Amadeo Marquez-Perez & Indigo Willing – for speaker bios see above.
People also praised films for their drama, comedy, originality, wisdom and boldness. Films screened included a number of shorts by AAFF 2011 speakers listed above, plus ones by Pearl Tan, Emily Dean, Quan Tran, Jack Ngu, Qing Xie,Tony Davison, Plum Jungle, Matt Huynh, and Khoa Do – for full list see lower down the page.
We’d also like to thank Madman Entertainment (with special thanks to Christian Were), Village Cinemas (Christian Kloukinas), Matt Huynh, Gung Ho Productions (with special thanks to Sky Crompton), SBS (with special thanks to Susanne Larson), AASRN, South Bank Printers, AAI4 and AAFF committee (Indigo Willing, Amadeo Marquez-Perez, Tseen Khoo, Audrey Yue, Olivia Khoo, Jen Tsen Kwow, David Crouch, Mikala Tai and more, the incredible support from our event volunteers – Matt Pastor, Carlos Marquez-Perez + mum and Jacquie Erasmus, Mayu Kanamori, TITAN VIEW, KOFFIA (with special thanks to Kieran Tully), Claudia Teh, Lian Low, Raina Devi Sundaram, Texta Queen, Tom Cho, Jen Tsen Kwok, Owen Leong, Chris & Vu Willing, Juanita Kwok, the Ferdinand family, Julie Koh, Afredo Nicdao and family, the Yuen family and more for various sponsorship, friendly cheering on and support!
We’re evolving to match the community and its amazing vitality and futures, and will keep the AAFFN available as an informal network for Asian Australian filmmakers nationally to keep in touch following the event, and our blog, FB and twitter will evolve with us. Keep checking back for updates!
Asian Australian Film Forum and News (AAFFN) 
Looks like a great program!
Thanks! Not long to go!