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2012 DC APA Film Festival

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2012 DC APA Film Festival
DC Asian American Film, Inc. (APA Film) is pleased to announce the 2012 DC APA Film Festival on October 4-7, 2012. Now for its 13th year, the DC APA Film Festival will continue at the nation’s capital, presenting a handful of narrative, documentary, animated, and experimental films that both entertain and educate. The festival will be held at city’s top venues including Smithsonian Freer-Sackler Galleries, Goethe Institute, E Street Landmark Theatres, Bethesda Row Cinema, Navy Memorial Theater and more, featuring non-stop screenings and numerous special events such as panel discussions, filmmaker Q&As, etc.

This year’s Opening Night presentation, on Thursday, October 4, is MR. CAO GOES TO WASHINGTON, presented in partnership with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American (APA) Program at the E Street Landmark Theatre. This film is a character study of then-Rep. Joseph Cao (R-New Orleans), the first Vietnamese-American elected to the Congress and the only Republican to vote for President Obama’s Health Care Reform Bill.

Closing the 2012 DC APA Film Festival will be DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’: EVERYMAN’S JOURNEY and SHANGHAI CALLING on October 6. 2012. DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’: EVERYMAN’S JOURNEY is a documentary following the ups and downs as the seminal band Journey goes on tour with their new lead singer found via youtube.com, Arnel Pineda. SHANGHAI CALLING is a feature film that follows New York attorney Sam (Daniel Henney) as he reluctantly moves to Shanghai
for business. Relying on the help of a relocation specialist (Eliza Coupe), a well-connected ex-pat (Bill Paxton), a clever journalist (Geng Le), and a street-smart legal assistant (Zhu Zhu), Sam might just find his true calling and a way home.

The film festival will be showing films from October 5-7, 2012. Please visit the festival website here for a full line up of film and special events.

2012 DC APA Film Festival Promo (Japanese)

2012 DC APA Film Festival Promo (Portuguese)

2012 Kollaboration DC

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2012 Kollaboration DC

Kollaboration is coming back to Washington DC on September 22, 2012 at George Washington University Lisner Auditorium at 7pm. The 2012 Kollaboration DC will present a lineup of unique and dynamic emerging talents from greater Washington DC’s APA community. Ten talented acts were selected through an intense and competitive round of auditions as finalists for the talent competition portion of 2012 Kollaboration DC. These selected finalists range from experienced up-and-coming artists looking to utilize Kollaboration DC as a springboard to introduce their talents to a brand new audience, to newly-discovered acts who have never performed on a stage before. The competitors will face off on stage in front of the audience and a panel of celebrity judges for the chance to win the grand prize: $1,000 in prize money, an HD camera, and an opportunity to compete in Los Angeles. As a bonus, the winner of 2012 Kollaboration DC will also open for David Choi and Clara Chung at the historic Howard Theatre on November 10, 2012. This year’s competitors are (in no particular order):LacsaJacaKhan (Singer/Guitarist/Rapper), Christopher L. Santa Ana (Singer-Songwriter), Robert Park(Spoken Word Performer), GU Jawani (Dance Group), Robyn Kim (Singer-Songwriter), Jin Shin (SingerSongwriter), Rocka (Singer-Songwriter), George Yamazawa Jr. (Spoken Word Performer), Mighty MorphingBoogie Rangers (Dance Group), and Jonathan C. Chen (Violinist).

The talent showcase will also welcome the following local special guest performers: Atoms Apart (Electronic Duo), SNRG (Hip-Hop Group), Manifest (Rapper/MC) along with Amanda Lee (Singer-Songwriter and Second Place winner of Kollaboration DC 2011), and Lumi Bustamante (Singer-Songwriter and Grand Prize winner of Kollaboration DC 2011). The headline performer of this amazing talent showcase is Tokyo-based Japanese pop icon, Salia. As thestylish, playful, and spirited front lady of the Japanese pop rock group, Unicorn Table, Salia breaks out onher own as a progressive solo artist with a new dynamic bilingual pop sound and bold, edgy look. With herwide range of musical influences and unmatched vocal prowess, Salia delivers her catchy melodies and clever lyrics with a lively energy that is sure to take command of the entire 2012 Kollaboration DC stage.

You can get tickets here.

2012 Kollaboration DC Promo

2012 APAHM Tour with Jay Park x more

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2012 APAHM Tour with Jay Park x more

In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the 2012 APAHM tour returns. The much anticipated national APAHM Concert Tour casts the spotlight on none other than Korean-American superstar, Jay Park. The tour will make stops in Washington DC, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Considered by many as a pioneering music artist, Jay Park is a multi-talented entertainer known for his vocals, song-writing, dancing and acting skills. With a growing fan base that crosses global boundaries, Jay Park is also known for his charismatic and confident personality, making him one of the most popular and admired artists of this generation.

Asian American artist will join Jay Park on stage as will. For the East Coast (Washington DC & New York), Dumbfoundead and Viennie V will be the opening acts. For the West Coast (San Francisco & Los Angeles), AJ Rafael and Blush will share the stage with him. Dumbfoundead is one of the first Asian-American hip-hop artists to break the underground hip-hop scene. Viennie V, a rising Asian-American pop singer, is known for her sultry vocals with eye catching music videos. Blush, a five-member Pan-Asian pop group, is known for their #3 Billboard Dance Chart hit, “Undivided feat. Snoop Dogg.” AJ Rafael is best known for his smooth vocals and posting entertaining videos on the web.

Here’s the 2012 APAHM Tour Schedule:
May 19 – Washington DC at Fillmore Silver Spring
May 20 – New York at Best Buy Theater
May 25 – San Francisco at Regency Ballroom
May 27 – Los Angeles at Club Nokia

If you can’t make it out to the show, don’t worry. You can still meet Jay Park at the following events:

Meet & Greet Schedule:
WASHINGTON DC
Tyson’s Corner Mall
8078 Tyson’s Corner Ctr, McLean, VA 22102
MAY 18, 2012 at 5PM

NEW YORK
34th St
134 W 34th St, New York, NY 10001
MAY 21, 2012 at 3PM

SAN FRANCISCO
Market St
768 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94102
MAY 24, 2012 at 5PM

LOS ANGELES
Western
3785 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010
MAY 26, 2012 at 4PM

2011 DC APA Film Festival

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2011 DC APA Film Festival

The 2011 DC APA Film Festival returns to Washington, DC for 7 days from October 6-15, 2011. The opening film of the festival is Saigon Electric, which is a story of friendship, class, love and dance set in Vietnam and filled with visually stunning dance sequences. Celebrating the Centennial of the Republic of China, the festival presents two contemporary Taiwanese films, Cape No. 7 and The Fourth Portrait, as the centerpiece films. Closing out the 2011 DC APA Film Festival is a back to back showing of Surrogate Valentine, a romantic comedy that showcases the music of San Francisco indie musician Goh Nakamura.

Also of interest are plenty of Asian American short films including Digital Antiquities and The Potential Wives of Norman Mao. Other film highlights include The LuLu Sessions, House of Suh, and Resident Aliens. In addition to our paid programs, APA Film will offer programs that are entirely FREE to the public at the Smithsonian Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Get tickets to 2011 DC APA Film Festival here.

2011 DC APA Film Festival trailer

Saigon Electric trailer

Surrogate Valentine trailer

2011 Kollaboration DC

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2011 Kollaboration DC

Kollaboration DC is back and the 2nd annual show is set to be another one you don’t want to miss! Metropolitan DC Asian American and Pacific Islanders came together in 2010 to raise the banner and call our local APA talent to come show the diverse talent and amazing abilities to raise the prominence of APA performing arts. The sold out 1,500 seat auditorium hosted a show unlike anything the DMV had seen before.

Earlier this year over 65 acts auditioned for the talent show and the final list narrowed down to the top 9. Here’s the official contestant Lineup for Kollaboration DC 2011:

1) Matthew Almodiel – Acoustic Singer
2) Lumi Bustamante – Acoustic Singer
3) Philip Chang – Entertainer
4) Michelle Chong – Contempary Dancer
5) FALLWORTH – Rock Band
6) Alvin Tan – Acoustic Singer
7) MOKSHA – Indian Classical Dance Group
8 ) Alice Park – Vocalist
9) Alec Zhang and Emily Barnes – Ballroom Dancers

Also on the roster is Aria Curameng, our Rising Star Award Winner – 13 years old and an amazing singer!

Hosted by comedic artist extraordinaire, Jen Kwok, with guest performances from: Grand Prize Winner of Kollaboration DC 2010, Chip Han, local DMV Rapper, SickBoi, the Lionz of Zion, Tito BoyScouts, and MORE!

Special Guest Judges confirmed so far
1) FOX 5’s Segment Producer – Annie Yu
2) World-renowned artistic director and choreographer – Dana Tai Soon Burgess
More to come!!

It all goes down Saturday, September 17, 2011 7:30pm – 10:30pm at
University of the District of Columbia
4200 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC
Get tickets here.

Check out the promo video below. You can download the song for FREE here.

2011 Kollaboration DC

Stand with Japan: Cherry Blossom Walk

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Stand with Japan: Cherry Blossom Walk

More than 1,000 residents of and visitors to the Washington metropolitan area gathered among the city’s cherry trees March 24, 2011 to show support for the people of Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. The event, called “Stand With Japan,” included a moment of silence. At the event, people were encouraged to gather to reflect and participate in the walk around the Tidal Basin, where the cherry blossom trees, gifted to Washington, DC from Tokyo in 1912, have stood the test of time for 99 years. The Festival is uniquely positioned as a natural conduit to unite the millions of people who want to assist and express their support in a show of unity. The relationship with Japan is at the heart Festival, and the evening of hope and perseverance occurs before the 16-day celebration begins on Saturday, March 26, 2011. The Festival’s diverse and creative programming honors the gift of trees each year and the enduring friendship between the two countries. The event came two days before the start of the city’s annual National Cherry Blossom Festival, which celebrates the enduring friendship between the United States and Japan, symbolized by profuse pink and white blooms.

Japan’s ambassador to the United States, Ichiro Fujisaki, told the crowd he was grateful for the support shown at the event. Attendees were asked to donate to the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami relief fund. The festival also is sponsoring an online auction, from which a portion of proceeds are designated for the fund. “We have received an outpouring of support over the past days, and the Festival is uniquely positioned as a natural conduit to help connect, unify, and communicate to millions of people how they can support and contribute — throughout our 16 days of events (from March 26 to April 10) — and beyond,” the festival committee says on its website. The website also invites viewers to make an online donation for Japan to the American Red Cross.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival is Washington’s most popular springtime event. The 2011 Festival, March 26-April 10, includes three spectacular weekends and daily events featuring diverse and creative programming promoting traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty, and community spirit. The 2011 Festival commemorates the 99th anniversary of the gift of the cherry blossom trees and the enduring friendship between the United States and Japan.The festival is expected to attract 1 million visitors.

See other campaigns supporting the Japanese relief efforts: Songs for Japan, George Takei, Ann Curry, Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, and other Asian Americans/Canadians.

Stand with Japan: Cherry Blossom Walk