Tonite is opening night for the Asian American International Film Festival 2008, which runs July 10–19, 2008 in New York. The opening night film will be “The Princess of Nebraska” co-directed by Wayne Wang (Joy Luck Club, Maid in Manhattan) and Richard Wong (Colma:the Musical, Option 3). The screenign kicks off at 7:30pm with Wayne Wang, Richard Wong, and Ling Li in attendance. Get your tickets here.

Synopsis for The Princess of Nebraska

Based in Yiyun Li’s award-winning book of short stories, The Princess of Nebraska sketches the travails of a young college student, Sasha (Ling Li) who arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area to procure an abortion. With the father, Yang, missing, Sasha seeks out Yang’s male lover, Boshen (Brian Danforth), for support and closure. The intricacies of intimacy have long been Wang’s hallmark, but digital cinematographer and co-director Richard Wong adds a layer of kinetic edginess. Not only does Wong close in on simple, meaning-laden gestures, but sequences of The Princess of Nebraska are shot as if through Sasha’s cell-phone camera. The film is the first narrative feature produced by the Center for Asian American Media.

Watch the teaser for The Princess of Nebraska