PARENTALS highlights how parents and children take on the complexities of today’s world. This shorts program features MANILA IS FULL OF MEN NAMED BOY by Andrew Stephen Lee. In this film as Michael Jackson’s televised funeral plays throughout The Philippines despite terrorist attacks in the south, an estranged son purchases a child who can drink and smoke to impress his father. However, what determines who is more valuable of attention?

PARENTALS

Weds, May 8, 6:30PM

Regal L.A. LIVE: A Barco Innovation Center

1000 W Olympic Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90015

BUY TICKETS HERE:

https://laapff2019.eventive.org/schedule/parentals-shorts-program-5ca503c34f00bf002f194838

#LIFE is a cinematic invitation to step into contemporary perspectives on family, culture, and career. This shorts program features HALO-HALO by Bernard Badion where a man on a deadline at work is incapacitated by the thought that he may have met the love of his life earlier that day, but has no idea how to find her.

#LIFE

Thurs, May 9, 8:45PM

Regal L.A. LIVE: A Barco Innovation Center

1000 W Olympic Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90015

BUY TICKETS HERE:

https://laapff2019.eventive.org/schedule/life-shorts-program-5ca50a011da54700235ba0f2

What film has a satanic dance number, singing angels, perilous escapes, bawdy humour, and a rough and tumble fight scene? The  visual mind trip of a film OMENG SATANASIA, starring the ‘King of Comedy’ Dolphy. OMENG SATANASIA combines the golden era Philippine Cinema of the ‘70s and ‘80s with the prolific entertainers comedic stylings. ABS-CBN has restored this 35mm FUJIFILM so that we can director Frank Gray Jr’s work with our 2019 lens. This screening is free, however tickets are required. Reserve your tickets today!

OMENG SATANASIA

Weds, May 8, 8:30PM

Regal L.A. LIVE: A Barco Innovation Center

1000 W Olympic Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90015

BUY TICKETS HERE:

https://laapff2019.eventive.org/schedule/omeng-satanasia-5ca50d71c954d80029f3bc00

JOURNEY TO IFUGAO follows five Filipino artists and healers as they travel from Los Angeles to the Philippines on a spiritual quest for their identities and indigenous roots. Directed by Nicanor Evangelista, the cast and crew traverse to a village in Ifugao where they learn life lessons communing with nature and the essence of their homeland. If you’d like to continue to support Nicanor’s work, you can cop Ginto Seeds apparel! (https://gintoseeds.com/)

JOURNEY TO IFUGAO

Weds, May 8, 6:45pm

Regal L.A. LIVE: A Barco Innovation Center

1000 W Olympic Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90015

BUY TICKETS HERE:

https://laapff2019.eventive.org/schedule/journey-to-ifugao-5ca076743b07ca002f7ca119

I Gotchu Fam, Always is a shorts program where folks will see the likes of Tess Paras make her directorial debut in THE PATIENTS, the Academy award nominated short WEEKENDS by Trevor Jimenez, and you’ll see formal TFALpodcast guests Christine Balance and Geo Quibuyen make an appearance in Robert Karimi’s Lumpia Campesina. Get your tickets today!

THE PATIENTS

After a “bad fight” with her boyfriend, Filipina-American party girl Regina Ramos ends up in the ER where her Dad works. When her family rushes to her aid, they stumble to connect as a trending topic becomes a real-life issue that affects them all.

WEEKENDS

A young boy shuffles between the homes of his recently divorced parents. Surreal, dream-like moments mix with the domestic realities of a broken up family in this hand-animated film set in 1980’s Toronto.

Lumpia Campesina

Mero Cocinero, traces his love for lumpia by taking us back to a birthday party where he faces the awkwardness and isolation of being the only Iranian-Guatemalan in attendance. While the DJ spins 80s dance hits, young Mero learns how to transform his alienation into a recipe for empowerment.

I Gotchu Fam, Always

Sun, May 5, 7PM

Downtown Independent

251 S Main Street Los Angeles, CA 90012

BUY TICKETS HERE:

https://laapff2019.eventive.org/schedule/i-gotchu-fam-always-shorts-program-5ca3f99da758630023831841

NO DATA PLAN by Mike Revereza makes its west coast premiere at LAAPFF. Named as one of 2018’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film to Watch,” Revereza challenges formal tropes of filmmaking while amplifying the voices of the underrepresented. The unconventional travelogue chronicles Revereza’s life as he uses whatever is available (camera, phone, etc) to traverse through the immigration landscape of the US.

NO DATA PLAN

Sun, May 5, 5pm

Downtown Independent

251 S Main Street Los Angeles, CA 90012

BUY TICKETS HERE:

https://laapff2019.eventive.org/schedule/no-data-plan-5ca076743b07ca002f7ca11d

Check out this visual mixtape curated by former TFALpodcast guest Joel Quizon! Counterflow is an experience that features shorts from Philippine artists redefining and reworking the contemporary Filipina/o music landscape.

Counterflow: Currents in New Filipina/o Music

Sat, May 4, 9PM

Downtown Independent

251 S Main Street Los Angeles, CA 90012

BUY TICKETS HERE:

https://laapff2019.eventive.org/schedule/counterflow-currents-in-new-filipina-o-music-shorts-program-5ca3f0bba098b2002f7f64e3

EERIE is set at Saint Lucia Academy for Girls, which is plagued by the ghost of a student who died under mysterious and tragic circumstances. The NEOMANILA & BIRDSHOT director returns to the screen with his play on Filipino mythology that uses supernatural characters that Filipinos may find familiar (mumus, aswangs, and dwendes oh my!). Horror fans will clamor for Mikhail Red’s take on the genre.

EERIE

Friday, May 3, 9:30pm

Downtown Independent

251 S Main Street Los Angeles, CA 90012

BUY TICKETS HERE:

https://laapff2019.eventive.org/schedule/eerie-5ca076743b07ca002f7ca125

The 35th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) shines a light on the country of Taiwan, presenting the very best in Taiwanese cinema and showcasing all its diversity in genres and peoples that make this island nation one of the most unique countries in Asia.

This year, LAAPFF is honored to present two award winning feature films — Heather Tsui’s directorial debut LONG TIME NO SEA, and Malaysian born Wi Ding Ho’s CITIES OF LAST THINGS.

Inspired by her personal experiences and involvement with an aboriginal tribe of Taiwan island, Heather Tsui’s debut LONG TIME NO SEA follows themes of indigenous identity and family traditions. The dance troupe, in real life, has won national awards and has been invited to perform both nationally and internationally. What is captured on screen truly makes Taiwan a true Asian melting pot, bridging the indigenous cultures with Chinese and everything in-between, creating a unique and compelling voice that presents Taiwan as a bridge of Chinese and Pacific Islanders.

From its striking opening image of a man hurling himself to his death from an apartment building, Wi Ding Ho’s CITIES OF LAST THINGS, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the juried Platform award, is an engrossing, evocative tripartite character portrait told in reverse, working back from the Taiwan of the near future to the recent past. It’s a stylish sci-fi noir as if directed by an amalgam of Wong Kar-wai, Jia Zhang-ke and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, with neon-lit alleyways and a humid dreaminess that captures the balmy climes of Taipei nights.

The common thread of these two films is one that is cross-cultural — with LONG TIME NO SEA, its indigenous identity and the legacy of the Yami people and with CITIES OF LAST THINGS, it is Taipei as a way station for lost souls from around the world, much like the seminal BLADERUNNER.

In addition to these two features, this year’s spotlight also highlights the works of emerging filmmakers from the Taiwanese diaspora, a record five short films, the most Taiwanese shorts presented in one festival edition: MAMA PINGPONG SOCIAL CLUB by Shiang An Chuang, THE VISIT by Roxy Shih, GENTLEMAN SPA by Yu Jhi-han, MERRY-GO-ROUND by Ray Wu, and I CAN’T BRING YOU AWAY by Li-Wei Lin. As LAAPFF is an Academy Award®-qualifying festival for Short Film Awards, short films at the Festival get special recognition and serve as a barometer for the next generation of successful filmmakers.

These films are screening on the following days:

MAMA PINGPONG SOCIAL CLUB (dir. Shiang An Chuang) appearing in I Gotchu Fam, Always – Sunday, May 5 at 7:00 pm at Downtown Independent

MERRY-GO-ROUND (dir. Ray Wu) appearing in WWYD (What Would You Do?) – Monday, May 6 at 6:00 pm at Regal L.A. LIVE

I CAN’T BRING YOU AWAY (dir. Li-Wei Lin) appearing in WWYD (What Would You Do?) – Monday, May 6 at 6:00 pm at Regal L.A. LIVE

CITIES OF LAST THINGS (dir. Wi Ding Ho) – Monday, May 6 at 6:30 pm at Regal L.A LIVE

THE VISIT (dir. Roxy Shih) appearing in The Tipping Point – Monday, May 6 at 8:30 pm at Regal L.A. LIVE

LONG TIME NO SEA (dir. Heather Tsui) – Monday, May 6 at 9:00 pm at Regal L.A. LIVE

GENTLEMAN SPA (dir. Yu Jhi-han) appearing in Blooming Colors – Tuesday, May 7 at 9:00 pm at Regal L.A. LIVE

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival will be presenting a revival screening of the 1997 film BEATS, RHYMES, AND RESISTANCE, the landmark short documentary about Filipinos in Hip Hop in Los Angeles directed by the late Dawn Mabalon, Lakan de Leon, and Jonathan Ramos. The film will be followed by . a panel discussion on the impact of the film and the legacy’s of Dawn’s work. Panelists will include Lakan de Leon, Faith Santilla, Kiwi Illafonte, former TFALpodcast guest Kat Carrido, and Wendell Pascual.

Friday, May 3, 7pm

341 FSN (341 E 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012)

This free program is part of Visual Communications’ CENTERING THE MASSES series at 341 FSN. To learn more, visit vcmedia.org/centerthemass.