Asian Film Festival of Dallas

ANNOUNCEMENT: OPEN SUBMISSIONS FOR AFFD 2012

The Asian Film Festival of Dallas Begins Their 11th Year

DEADLINES AND ENTRY FEES

Early Deadline: February 15, 2012(postmarked)
Early Deadline Entry Fee: $35 (Feature film), $20 (Short film)

Final Deadline: March 31, 2012 (postmarked)
Final Deadline Entry Fee: $40 (Feature film), $25 (Short film)

DALLAS – On Friday, November 11, 2011, the Asian Film Festival of Dallas (AFFD, www.AFFD.org) opens the door for submissions of feature and short films for its 11th annual festival week, to be held July 12-19, 2012 at Landmark’s Magnolia Theater.

The Dallas-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization returns after a rousing and successful 10th anniversary celebration that included 50 films from a dozen countries.  Over the past decade, the AFFD has become the Southwest’s largest showcase for a combined 400+ Asian and Asian-American filmmakers to share their artistic visions with an ever-growing audience that otherwise might not get the chance to see such films on the big screen.

The AFFD launches its 11th year by opening the call for submissions to domestic and international filmmakers.   Their mission statement to “celebrate and support emerging and established Asian and Asian-American filmmakers” by “sharing the rich diversity of Asian culture through the medium of cinema” continues to draw in talented new artists like 2011 feature directors Christine Yoo, Fabien Gaillard, Freddie Wong, Sonali Gulati and Kelvin Kyung Kun Park.  More prominent and well-known filmmakers are often the cornerstones of the festival, including Takeshi Kitano, Takashi Miike, Yoshihiro Nakamura, Pang Ho-Cheung, Dante Lam and Derek Yee, whose films frequently star recognizable actors like Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Louis Koo and Nick Cheung.

Returning Director of Programming Steve Norwood has stated that “each year we look for the very best, the most unique and engaging, and the most fun films from a vast part of the globe.  2012 will be no different; from the blockbusters to the mind-benders, we will supply the long-term members, casual fans and adventurous newcomers with the very best we have to offer.”

Submissions can be processed and details obtained at the AFFD’s WithoutABox festival page here:

http://www.withoutabox.com/login/4793

The Panasonic Award for Excellence in Asian Film celebrates the best of the AFFD, as determined by a distinguished panel of jurors.
 
The 2011 AFFD Jury is made up of key professionals who reflect the achievements and cultural attitudes of our richly diverse community.  We thank each of them for their unique outlook and perspective in helping us confer top honors to these deserving films. 

Here are the award winners for the films that where in competition for 2011 as voted on by the jury and the audience members.

Narrative Feature: DANCE TOWN
Documentary Feature: I AM
Narrative Short: TEAMWORK
Documentary Short: A WOMAN NAMED CANYON SAM
Grand Jury Prize: I AM
Special Jury Prize for Cinematography: LAO WAI
Audience Award: I AM

Thanks to Lumi and Teresa at REDiD Agency for putting together a fantastic closing night party. And thanks to all of you for another successful year and for bringing us to ten years. It has been a great ride and we are excited to start the next ten years and see what is in store for all of us. Thanks again for your continued support and the kind words that you have shared with us this week. We will continue to hold other events and presentations through out the year, keep an eye on this site and the Facebook site for frequent updates.

Big thanks to McDonalds and Well Go USA Entertainment for taking on the presenting sponsor role this year. Sponsors are very important to making this festival happen, please support them. Use those coupons for free drinks.

Also, we couldn’t be giving you this information without the wonderful team at RD2 who gave us this fantastic site.

If you didn’t catch it in the slide show or by word of mouth last night the dates we announced for next years week long festival are July 12 – 19, 2012. Hope to see you all there.

As a special thank you to everyone, we are offering this one time offer to purchase your VIP pass for next year, now. This offer will be up for this week only and includes a 2011 festival shirt, and complimentary membership at the Supporting Cast level for only $125. That is a value of more than $200 and a few dollars less than our discounted price for the VIP pass. Follow this link to show your support and to get yours now. Thanks again.

Today we sadly bring the festival to a close, but we do it kicking and screaming and making as much noise as possible. Tonight we have the Takeshi Kitano film we have all been waiting for for many years, OUTRAGE and following that film at 9:00pmwe will have our final party of the festival at Lumi’s. Hope to see you all there.

Today we kick off at noon with Derek Yee’s (ONE NIGHT IN MONGKOK) action packed and intense thriller TRIPLE TAP. This intense action – thriller  rides on the building tension of its mystery while having two strong lead performances from Koo (of AFFD 2010′s similarly intense ACCIDENT) and Wu (AFFD 2007′s THE HEAVENLY KINGS). 

After that at 2:15pm is the 1986 Taiwan drama KUEI-MEI, A WOMAN. This melodrama follows the efforts of a woman, pressed into a marriage of convenience, who must leave her home in China and move to Taiwan to care for her new family in an unfamiliar land and culture.

At 5:00pm bring you an old favorite from our first year, FALLEN ANGELS. Wong Kar Wai’s gorgeous and lyrical film is quite different from any other Hong Kong film you may have ever seen, FALLEN ANGELS is a classic that will take your breath away.

At 7:00pm, after a decade of unique films including a sumptuous dissertation on love (DOLLS), an adaptation of the classic ZATOICHI series, and several offbeat, genre-skewing takes on his own efforts as an artist (TAKESHIS’, GLORY TO THE FILMMAKER! and ACHILLES AND THE TORTOISE) , director/writer/actor Takeshi Kitano returns to the crime genre that continues to bring him his greatest fame with OUTRAGE.

At 9:35pm we end the festival where we began, with the encore presentation of the thriller GOLDEN SLUMBER brought to us all the way from your friends in Sendai Japan. With equal parts edge-of-your-seat thrills and quirky humor, GOLDEN SLUMBER will keep you riveted from the first second.

This is the final day, don’t forget to support the festival by buying t-shirts and signing up for membership. Thanks for another successful year.