Ten years ago, Better Luck Tomorrow had in its theatrical release in 2003.
So did you know that Audrey Magazine is celebrating their 10th year anniversary this year? We’ve got so many ways that we could celebrate the last ten years of our publication – and we’ve decided to partner up with the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (the 29th Edition!) and ask some of the filmmakers and actors to reminisce about 2003 and their favorite memories of LAAPFF. Check it out below (you should also check out their films playing in the festival too)!
Yudho Aditya
LAAPFF Filmmaker
“Midnights With Adam” | Wednesday May 8| 9pm | CGV Cinemas 3 | LAAPFF Page
What were you doing ten years ago (2003)?
“I was 13 and making a short horror film called, The Beast, starring my sister as a carrie/hulk-esque girl monster hybrid. ”
What is your favorite memory of LAAPFF?
“This is my first year attending, but so far, everyone’s been so supportive and encouraging.”
Tell us why we should watch your film in this year’s film festival.
“You’ll get bang for your buck for sure. At 34 minutes it’s a pretty long short and there’s everything you’d want in a film playing at LAAPF. A hot asian lead, current heart-wrenching themes and it’s made by undergraduate students from UC Irvine!”
Check out more answers from LAAPFF filmmakers and actors here.
Already a success in NYC and LA, Oscar-nominated director Mira Nair’s latest film THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST will be released in several other major U.S. cities this Friday, May 3, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Washington D.C., Dallas, Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, and Seattle.
Nair sat down to give a behind-the-scenes look at her latest film:
Q: Can you tell us about how The Reluctant Fundamentalist portrays Pakistan, America, and the connection between them?
A: The joy of this film is that it reveals Pakistan in a way that one never sees it in the newspapers; with its extraordinary refinement, the searing poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, its heartstopping Sufi music and ancient culture that is confident in fashion, painting and performance. This world is fluidly juxtaposed with the energy of New York, the ruthlessness of corporate America and through our hero Changez’s love for the elegant, artistic Erica, a portrait of Manhattan society at the same exalted level once occupied by Changez’s own family back in Lahore. Over the last few years, we have seen many films about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but always told from the American point of view. In our story, the encounter between the characters of Changez and Bobby mirrors the mutual suspicion with which America and Pakistan (or the Muslim world) look at one another. We learn that as a result of America’s war on terror, Changez experiences a seismic shift in his own attitude, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love.
West Liang
Actor/Writer/Producer
“Someone I Used to Know” | Friday, May 3 | 9:30pm | Directors Guild of America 1 | LAAPFF Page
What were you doing ten years ago (2003)?
“Ten years ago, I had just relocated to Los Angeles — from S.F. Bay Area — and was getting my feet wet with local/regional theatre, starting to formulate an interest in writing/creating my own work, and learning about the anatomy of heartbreaks.”
What is your favorite memory of LAAPFF?
“Every year, I have enjoyed watching ambitious, daring endeavors from friends and fellow voices in my community, and it is always exciting and inspiring.”
Tell us why we should watch your film in this year’s film festival.
“Ours is unique because it was written, produced, and directed by Asian Americans, and features Asian American talents in its leading roles, yet the story and characters are simply and completely an American story — even a Los Angeles story — about friendship. It is an entertaining, fun, honest story, and born of a lot of love and passion, and very little money. But it demonstrates that it is possible to tell our own stories, even if our stage is intimate.”
Midnight’s Children, the latest film from Academy Award-nominated director Deepa Mehta (known for her Elements trilogy: Fire, Earth, and Water) is set to have it’s U.S. release this week. Based on the Booker Prize-winning novel by Salman Rushdie – who serves as the film’s narrator – the critically acclaimed motion picture will open on April 26 in New York City opening exclusively at the Angelika and Beekman theaters. The film then releases on May 3 in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. followed by many additional cities on May 10. The film also stars Satya Bhabha, Shriya Saran, Siddharth Narayan, Anupam Kher, Shabana Azmi, Seema Biswas, Shahana Goswami, Samrat Chakrabarti, Rahul Bose, Soha Ali Khan, Anita Majumdar and Darsheel Safary.
Read on to for an interview with the director!
One of LA’s true gems is the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival – every year, the festival never fails to curate an amazing lineup films – and trust me, there’s something for everyone every year. Check out some of the highlights (yes, Linsanity is coming to the festival!) below!
AUDREY
ISSUE: Spring 2013
DEPT: COVER
Yung At Heart
Elodie Yung may kick some serious ass (with double katana swords!) as Jinx in the upcoming film G.I. Joe: Retaliation, but we get to the heart of what really matters to the French Cambodian actress.
This summer is already gearing up to be a highly anticipated movie blockbuster season – with one of them being The Wolverine. This past week, a teaser trailer and stills were posted on Entertainment Weekly, which featured Japanese models Tao Okamoto and Rila Fukushima, who play Mariko and Yukio respectively. The Wolverine marks their first Hollywood production (as well as Okamoto’s first foray into acting). I’ll admit, while Tao Okamoto is one of my favorite models, Rila Fukushima looks pretty badass. Check them all out!
Audrey’s beloved covergirl, Maggie Q, has been casted for the futuristic action adventure Divergent. Based on the New York Times best selling novel by Veronica Roth, Divergent pulls us into a future world where people are divided into five factions based on their personalities. Our main character, Beatrice Prior, struggles to break free from the divided society.
Maggie Q will be playing the character Tori. She will share the screen with Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney, Zoë Kravitz, Ansel Elgort, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Ben Lamb and Christian Madsen. Summit Entertainment hopes that Divergent will follow in the footsteps of their very successful TWILIGHT SAGA and Lionsgate’s THE HUNGER GAMES franchise.
The anticipated film is set to be released in March 2014.
Dept: Pop-arazzi
Author: Kanara Ty
Title: Where My (AA) Girls At?
Don’t like what HBO’s Girls is saying about this generation? Then tell your own story.
Mindy Kaling.
Before HBO’s Girls was set to premiere this past spring, the comedy about 20something struggling post-grads in New York City sparked a debate about race and representation in Hollywood. My initial thoughts after I finished the first episode of Girls? Sure, it was hard for me to relate to anything that was going on on the show (I’m not white, I don’t come from a privileged, wealthy background, nor do I live in New York City), but I was immensely surprised at how
entertaining I found the show to be — namely the awkwardness/quirkiness of the female lead characters. Lena Dunham, who impressively writes, directs and stars in the show, has already been hailed as the next Tina Fey.
Dunham has yet to be dubbed the “voice of her generation” (as her character in Girls states) — and rightfully so. Having such a title bears the social responsibility of, well, speaking for a diverse generation of people who come from different backgrounds and experiences. Fact of the matter is, Dunham is talented — her writing is witty, intelligent
and full of charisma. Girls speaks of her own personal experiences; as that saying goes, write what you know. And she does a damn good job of it. Instead of pointing fingers at Dunham, we should be asking the programming departments of major television networks about the diversity in their programming — I mean, they are responsible for
what gets on the air.
Shortly after Girls aired, the extended trailer for FOX’s The Mindy Project premiered and, of course, was met with much applause. It’s been a while since an Asian American woman has taken the reigns of a comedy on a major televisionnetwork and, well, it looks like Mindy Kaling has hit it on the head. However, Kaling still sits alone, as we have yet to really see excellent programming starring Asian American talent that’s also relatable. (Sorry Maggie Q — I wish I could relate to your kick-ass assassin character, but it’s just not happening.) One could argue that Asian American programming now has a place on YouTube. You have your WongFu boys, KevJumbas and Ryan Higas. In a significant move, there’s now the YouTube Original Channels, which features programming in entertainment, beauty, sports and technology. This includes Michelle Phan’s FAWN (For All Women Network) and the Asian American pop culture blog’s YOMYOMF (You Offend Me, You Offend My Family). Speaking of the YOMYOMF Channel, I should make note of BFFs. BFFs is a comedy webseries that features Asian American actresses in the leading roles. While the series was met with lukewarm reactions, I have to say it’s a start, which is better than nothing at all.
If there’s anything I can truly criticize, it’s that there’s not enough self-expression among this generation. When the reality show K-Town (on YouTube’s Loud Channel) surfaced, it was met with so much negativity from Asian Americans whwere afraid of how they were going to be represented. But in all honesty, have our purported “positive” stereotypes (read: the model minority) played in our favor in American society? Going along with this idea of social responsibility, the key thing to note is that there are multiple voices of this generation, but many of them go unspoken. Dunham, Kaling or YouTube celebrities should not be the only ones speaking for us. Whether their work makes us happy, angry, sad or stir any sort of emotion, rather than sit back and mouth off on our soap boxes about what we think others are doing, think about what we can do right. We’re all quick to hate on each other; instead, let’s let theseconversations inspire one another.
