The Latest Industry News for the Exciting World of Production.

®JASMINE® and ®TWINSTERS® TAKE TOP HONORS AT
THE 31st LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL

®THE KILLING FIELDS OF DR. HAING S. NGOR® ® by ARTHUR DONG
WINS AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY

®HOW TO WIN AT CHECKERS (EVERY TIME)® ® by JOSH KIM
WINS AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST NARRATIVE

GOLDEN REEL AWARD for BEST SHORT FILM GOES TO
®90 DAYS® ® A FILM BY TIMOTHY YEUNG
LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/NEW VISIONS AWARD GOES TO
®JULIET JULIET ® THE SOUND OF LOVE MUSICAL® by KEN OCHIAI

The 2015 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) produced by Visual Communications celebrated it®s closing night of their 31st edition on Thursday night with a filmmaker awards ceremony for the competition films, and the LA premiere screening of the award winning MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW directed by Shonali Bose.
Los Angeles based director Dax Phelan was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature for his feature debut JASMINE. The festival®s Best Director award was given to LAAPFF alumni Jennifer Phang for her film ADVANTAGEOUS.

Both JASMINE and ADVANTAGEOUS were among multiple award winners. JASMINE was recognized by 5 awards; ADVANTAGEOUS took home 4 awards; and MISS INDIA AMERICA was honored with 2 prizes.
Additional Narrative Feature awards presented on closing night include:

Best Screenplay Ravi Kapoor and Meera Simhan for MISS INDIA AMERICA
Best Editor (tie) Sean Gillane and Jennifer Phang for ADVANTAGEOUS
Chris Chan Lee for JASMINE
Best Cinematography Guy Livneh for JASMINE
Best Music Score Timo Chen for ADVANTAGEOUS
Best Sound Design Lisa K. Fowle for JASMINE
Best Actor - comedy Tiya Sircar for MISS INDIA AMERICA
Best Actor - drama Jason Tobin for JASMINE
Best Ensemble Cast Cast of KTOWN COWBOYS ® directed by Daniel Park
Best First Feature Li Lu for THERE®S A NEW WORLD SOMEWHERE
Best New Actor (tie) Anthony Ma for LOVE ARCADIA
Brandon Soo Hoo for EVERYTHING BEFORE US
Best Animation in a
Non-Animated Film MAN UP ® directed by Justin Chon

In addition, the narrative jury awarded actress/writer Jacqueline Kim for her work as the lead actress and co-writer of ADVANTAGEOUS with the special inaugural Linda Mabalot Renaissance Award. This award recognizes a multi talented artist who exemplifies the spirit and fierceness of the late executive director of the LAAPFF and Visual Communications, Linda Mabalot. Mabalot died in 2003 just after the festival ended.

In the documentary competition, directors Samantha Futerman and Ryan Miyamoto won the Grand Jury Prize for the film TWINSTERS. The film tells the real life story of co-director Futerman finding her twin sister on social media by accident. Futerman and her twin sister were separated in Korea when they were adopted by separate families ® one in the US and the other in Europe.

Best Documentary Director award was given to Jim Choi for CHANGING SEASON; Best Cinematographer prize was bestowed on Patrick McLaughlin for his work on EVERYTHING WILL BE; and Best Editing went to Sara Newens and Summers Henderson for TOP SPIN. A special jury prize was awarded to Kimberlee Bassford for WINNING GIRL.

Attendance was up with many sold out shows this year and audiences really responding to the films and stories. All of the 32 feature films were eligible for Audience Award. This was divided into the fiction and documentary categories. THE KILLING OF DR. HAING S. NGOR from award winning filmmaker Arthur Dong took home the Audience Award in the documentary arena; and HOW TO WIN AT CHECKERS (EVERY TIME) by Josh Kim wowed the audiences and won the Audience Award for Best Fiction Feature.

This year, the LAAPFF presented over 102 short films from directors across the globe. The dramatic and elegantly executed 90 DAYS by Patrick Yeung received the Golden Reel Award, while Ken Ochiai was honored with the Linda Mabalot New Directors/New Visions Award for his musical short JULIET JULIET ® THE SOUND OF LOVE MUSICAL
The 2015 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival kicked off on April 23, 2015 for eight days starting with the world premiere of EVERYTHING BEFORE US ® a film by Wesley Chan and Philip Wang aka Wong Fu Productions. Since opening night, LAAPFF has screened all over Los Angeles from Little Tokyo to Koreatown to Downtown LA to West Hollywood.

The 2015 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is sponsored by:

PLATINUM: Comcast NBC Universal; Sony Pictures Entertainment;
GOLD: Directors Guild of America; Nielsen;
SILVER: HBO;
BRONZE: FilmLA; Creative DCP; SAG Indie; STAR: Modern VideoFilm; Motion Picture Editors Guild;
SAG-AFTRA; Union Bank; Writers Guild of America/West; Yu & Co.;
VENUE SPONSORS: Aratani Theatre/Japanese American Cultural & Community Center; Directors Guild of America; Japanese American National Museum; Downtown Independent; CGV Cinemas; The Great Company;
MEDIA SPONSORS: AngryAsianMan.com; KPFK ® FM; LA-18 KSCI; LA Weekly; MYX TV; Yelp;
GOVERNMENT: National Endowment for the Arts; Los Angeles County Arts Commission; Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles; California Arts Council; Cal Humanities; FOUNDATION: Aratani Foundation; James Irvine Foundation; Weingart Foundation; Parsons Foundation; SAG-P IACF; Asian Pacific Community Fund; Sony Pictures Entertainment; RECEPTION: Asahi; Kirin; LA-18 KSCI; Stella Artois; Ketel One; MYXTV; IN KIND: Telepath Corporation; IKON Office Supplies; Meiji; LA18; HBO; Red Giant;

COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS FROM THE LA ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL 2015 AWARDS NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM AWARDS

GRAND JURY PRIZE - BEST FILM - JASMINE
BEST DIRECTOR - JENNIFER PHANG - ADVANTAGEOUS
BEST SCREENPLAY - RAVI KAPOOR & MEERA SIMHAN, - MISS INDIA AMERICA
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - GUY LIVNEH - JASMINE
BEST ACTOR - DRAMATIC - JASON TOBIN - JASMINE
BEST ACTOR - COMEDY - TIYA SIRCAR - MISS INDIA AMERICA
BEST EDITING - TIE: CHRIS CHAN LEE - JASMINE
SEAN GILLANE/JENNIFER PHANG - ADVANTAGEOUS
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST - KTOWN COWBOYS
BEST SOUND DESIGN - LISA K. FOWLE - JASMINE
BEST MUSICAL SCORE -TIMO CHEN - ADVANTAGEOUS
SPECIAL JURY AWARD, BEST ANIMATION IN A NON-ANIMATED FILM - MAN UP
SPECIAL JURY AWARD, BEST NEW ACTOR - Tie: BRANDON SOO HOO - EVERYTHING BEFORE US / ANTHONY MA - LOVE ARCADIA
SPECIAL JURY AWARD, BEST FIRST FEATURE - LI LU - THERE IS A NEW WORLD SOMEWHERE
SPECIAL JURY AWARD, THE LINDA MABALOT RENAISSANCE SPIRIT AWARD - JACQUELINE KIM ® ADVANTAGEOUS
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM AWARDS
GRAND JURY PRIZE ® BEST FILM - TWINSTERS ® DIRECTED BY SAMANTHA FUTERMAN AND RYAN MIYAMOTO
BEST DIRECTOR JIM CHOI ® CHANGING SEASONS
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY ® PATRICK MCLAUGHLIN ® EVERYTHING WILL BE
BEST EDITING ® SARA NEWENS & SUMMERS HENDERSON ® TOP SPIN
SPECIAL JURY AWARD ® KIMBERLEE BASSOFRD ® WINNING GIRL
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS
DOCUMENTARY AUDIENCE AWARD ® THE KILLING FIELDS OF DR. HAING S. NGOR ® A FILM BY ARTHUR DONG
NARRATIVE AUDIENCE AWARD ® HOW WIN AT CHECKERS (EVERY TIME) ® A FILM BY JOSH KIM
SHORT FILM AWARDS
NEW DIRECTORS/NEW VISIONS: JULIET JULIET ® THE SOUND OF LOVE MUSICAL ® DIRECTED BY KEN OCHIAI
GOLDEN REEL AWARD BEST FILM: 90 DAYS ® a film by TIMOTHY YEUNG
SPECIAL JURY MENTIONS: QUYEN - DIRECTED BY LUCRETIA STINETTE; THICKER THAN WATER - DIRECTED BY SEUNG YOEB LEE