scene from ocean of pearls
"OCEAN OF PEARLS" AND "OH SAIGON" TAKE GRAND JURY PRIZES AT 24TH LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL
AUDIENCE AWARDS GO TO "OCEAN OF PEARLS" AND "LONG STORY SHORT" WHILE SHORT FILIMS "TAILORMADE: CHINATOWN'S LAST TAILOR" WINS GOLDEN REEL AND "SWEAT" WINs NEW DIRECTIONS/NEW VISIONS AWARDS
LOS ANGELES, CA, MAY 8, 2008 Director Sarab Neelam and his debut feature film "OCEAN OF PEARLS" took home the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature Film at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival presented by Honda and produced by Visual Communications as announced at closing night. Neelam, one of the few, if not the only Sikh filmmaker in the U.S., made an impressive directorial debut with a story of the Sikh experience in America with a script written by Veerendra Prasad based on a story by Neelam and Prasad.
The Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature Film went to director Doan Hoang and her film "OH SAIGON" - which tells her story of being airlifted from Vietnam in 1975 and arriving in the US to begin again, and going back 25 years later to follow up with the family and people she left behind. Moving and compelling the film illustrates the often unspoken effects of war on people.
Audiences at the festival agreed with the jurors and voted "OCEAN OF PEARLS" with the Audience Award for Narrative Feature, and embraced the non-fiction film "LONG STORY SHORT" from director Christine Choy and written by Jodi Long with the Audience Award for Documentary Feature.
Short films are a very important part of the Fest, and the Golden Reel and New Directions/New Visions awards reflect the best of these films. This year, the Fest awarded the Golden Reel to "TAILOR MADE: CHINATOWN'S LAST TAILOR - directed by Leonard Lee and Marsha Newberry, while the New Directions/New Visions accolade went to SWEAT from director Na Hong-Jin.
The entire list of awards is as follows:
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILMS
GRAND JURY PRIZE
OCEAN OF PEARLS, directed by Sarab Neelam with screenplay by Veerendra Prasad from a story by Neelam and Prasad
AUDIENCE AWARD
OCEAN OF PEARLS, directed by Sarab Neelam with screenplay by Veerendra Prasad from a story by Neelam and Prasad
BEST FIRST FEATURE
ALWAYS BE BOYZ, written and directed by John Kwon
TECHNICAL ART AWARD
OPTION 3, directed by Richard Wong with screenplay by HP Mendoza and Richard Wong
OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER
JIMMY TSAI - in the film PING PONG PLAYA, directed by Jessica Yu with screenplay by Jimmy Tsai and Jessica Yu 
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILMS
GRAND JURY PRIZE
OH SAIGON, written and directed by Doan Hoang
AUDIENCE AWARD
LONG STORY SHORT, directed by Christine Choi and written by Jodi Long
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
UP THE YANGTZE, written and directed by Yung Chang
HONORABLE MENTION
LONG STORY SHORT, directed by Christine Choi and written by Jodi Long
SHORT FILMS
GOLDEN REEL
TAILOR MADE: CHINATOWN'S LAST TAILOR, directed by Leonard Lee and Marsha Newberry
NEW DIRECTIONS/NEW VOICES
SWEAT, written and directed by Na Hong-Jin
HONORABLE MENTION
THE POSTCARD, written and directed by Josh Kim
This year's judges included:
SHORT FILMS
Roger Fan - actor (Annapolis; Better Luck Tomorrow; Finishing the Game)
Maysie Hoy - film editor (Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns; Joy Luck Club)
Eric Nakamura - founder and publisher Giant Robot
Suchin Pak - news reporter MTV NEWS
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Tracie Lewis - programmer, Film Independent
Ada Tseng - director, UCLA Asian Pacfic Arts Online Magazine
Win-Sie Tow - manager, Sundance Documentary Film Program
NARRATIVE FILMS
Julie Asato - producer (Finishing the Game; Better Luck Tomorrow; Ethan Mao)
Brian Hu - film critic/professor Cal State Fullerton
David Maquiling - filmmaker/writer/professor - University of Southern California
Known globally as Southern California's largest and most prestigious film festival of its kind, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival presented by Honda launched the celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month through this year's slate of over 160 films and videos from both Asian Pacific American and Asian international directors from over 17 countries including the U.S. The festival was established in 1983 by Visual Communications - the nation's premier Asian American media arts resource center.
