With Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in full swing, Visual Communications’ Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival once again welcomed API filmmakers from around the world to Southern California. The state’s largest showcase of Asian Pacific cinema, the 39th annual festival spotlighted documentaries, animations, short programs and more informed by the Asian experience. Â
The 10-day festival, which took place from May 4 to 13, featured both virtual programming and in-person screenings across L.A. In addition to highlighting Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, diasporic and Asian international cinema, this year’s LAAPFF focused specifically on promoting “wellness and joy.”
More than 175 films graced the festival screens, from “Liquor Store Dreams” – the latest project from Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program Grantee So Yun Um – to “Well Wishes My Love, Your Love” – an animated film exploring prosthetic body language and loss. See what movies left the biggest impact on the Character Media team below.
“Starring Jerry as Himself“
Text by Mycah Serdenia
“Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.” For Jerry Hsu, his grip on reality is put to the test when he is tasked to become a spy for the Chinese government to clear his name for a crime he did not commit. This is a true story. Or is it?
Directed by Law Chen, “Starring Jerry as Himself” made its premiere at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF), after coming off of premieres at Slamdance and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The docu-drama stars Jerry as himself, as well as his sons Jonathan, Jesse and Joshua Hsu, and Jerry’s ex-wife Kathy.
Jerry is a retired Taiwanese immigrant living in Orlando, who worked his way through the States in search of the American Dream, saving money any way he can. When he receives a phone call from the Chinese police, they…
Read the full article here
