Friday, June 2, 2023 | 6PM to 8PM
CUNY Graduate Center – Martin Segal Theatre
365 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan
Since 2004, the CUNY Asian American Film Festival (AAFF) has recognized and awarded over $14,300 in cash prizes to student filmmakers enrolled at the City University of New York, including City College, Brooklyn College, Hunter College, Lehman College, College of Staten Island, and Queens College. The CUNY AAFF helps to promote the artistic visual talents and stimulate communication among CUNY students who are separated by the different campuses, and serve as a central location to display their creative works. Past participants have also had their films screened at the Asian American International Film Festival.
On the evening of the Film Festival, Friday, June 2, 2023, all winners and runner-ups will remain anonymous until after a screening of selected films that have been reviewed by our distinguished panel of judges. Following the screening will be an award ceremony and Q&A session with the filmmakers.
Winner ($200) and runner-up ($100) prizes will be awarded for each of the following categories: Fiction | Documentary
AAARI encourages all currently enrolled (or recently graduated in Spring/Fall 2022) CUNY undergraduate and graduate students, Asian and non-Asian, to participate in this great opportunity.
2023 Festival Program
Documentary (Runner-up)
Michael Tamsuriyamit (Hunter College)
“Mabuhay, Little Manila!” – An AAJA Voices Short Documentary
This documentary serves to acknowledge and center the history, experiences and ongoing legacy of the Filipino American diaspora in New York City. Viewers meet Xenia Diente, a Filipino American public art administrator who led the grassroots campaign to co-name Queens’ Roosevelt Avenue as “Little Manila Avenue.” Viewers also meet Elizabeth Diente, Xenia’s mother, who during the 1960s came to the U.S. as one of countless Filipino American nurses leading our nation’s medical centers. The film chronicles the intergenerational lives and experiences of Xenia and Elizabeth growing up in Woodside’s Little Manila.
Fiction (Winner)
Haruko Fujimoto (City College of New York)
Okusama
1920s Japan – Kayo is a young housemaid working for a wealthy couple in Tokyo. The wife, around the same age as Kayo, seems to enjoy a carefree lifestyle in her beautiful house. Kayo feels a slight jealousy and admiration towards her mistress, yet the real situations for these two women might not be as they appear.
Documentary
Yayoi Kawahito (Brooklyn College)
Cosmic Waves
An intricate look into the spiritually complex and musically adept view of Takuya Nakamura, with first-hand access to emotionally moving and intimate performances, including one coupled with an invitation to experience it from the comfort of his home.
Fiction (Runner-up)
Ming Cheng (City College of New York)
Last Hand
Consumed by his weakness, a gambling addict loses everything he has. Even then, he still finds it impossible to give up his addiction.
Documentary (Winner)
Marina Inoue (City College of New York)
PINK YELLOW
Exploration into the fetishization of Japanese women and inextricable power relations between culture, gender, and race. The director points a camera to a number of Japanese women in New York and people who love Japanese pop culture, including “weebs” who are extremely obsessed with Japanese culture. Following Rio Hashimoto, a young Japanese lacquerware artist, the film shows the impact of Japanese pop culture which is fantasized by Western male audiences, and real Japanese womens’ experience in NY.
–
Media Sponsors
Submission Guidelines
Extended Submission Deadline: Friday, May 12, 2023
Submission Form (Download) | Festival Poster (Download)
Submitter must be a currently enrolled or recently graduated CUNY student. (Copy of CUNY College ID and current semester’s class schedule, or proof of recent graduation Spring/Fall 2022 is required.)
Film must satisfy any one of the following criteria:
- Production exclusively or majority-produced by CUNY personnel involving at least one Asian CUNY personnel in a key position, e.g. Director, Writer, or Editor
- Contains an Asian American / Asian theme or narrative
Submissions must be emailed to info [at] aaari.info no later than 5pm EST on Friday, May 12, 2023. Anything received afterwards will not be accepted. (In the event of a submission deadline extension, you may submit an updated version of your film for consideration.)
Submitter, or their authorized representative, must be available to attend the film Film Festival on Friday, June 2, 2023, or else they will forfeit their award.
Festival Chairman
Ryoya Terao
Panel of Judges
Patrick Chen, Raymond Fong, Vinit Parmar, Bryan Powers, Katie Quan, Ryoya Terao, JT Takagi, Larry Tung & Jennifer Betit Yen
Coordinator
William Tam
Technical Assistance
Antony Wong & Zhu-Hui Wu
