Director:  Tadashi Nakamura
Country:  USA
Run Time:  33
Following his award-winning films YELLOW BROTHERHOOD and PILGRIMAGE, A SONG FOR OURSELVES is the third installment of fourth-generation Japanese American filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura's trilogy on the Asian American Movement following the live and legacy of Asian American activist and musician Chris Iijima.

 

 

 

Director:  Caroline H. Le
Country:  USA
Run Time:  15
Language(s):  Vietnamese / English

Directed by Vietnamese American Caroline Le, La Petite Salon, shown at the Frameline34: San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, is based on Huong Nguyen's short story "At Ma's Salon" taking a candid, funny, and heartfelt look into the lives of Vietnamese American women and the families that surround them.

Quynh, a young Vietnamese American woman, who works at her mother’s hair salon where she is displaced within the Vietnamese culture and community. She encounters everyday conversations about men, domestic politics, and community gossip from the interactions her mother has with their predominately Vietnamese women patrons.

 

 

Director(s):  Danny Pudi, David Chan, Ken Leung
Country:  USA
BLOWOUT SALE - 3:10 | RUMBLE - 3:13 | GOOD SHOT - 1:44

A part of the Toyota sponsored INTERPRETATIONS film contest (started by director Justin Lin and the YOMYOMF blog), these three commissioned shorts by Danny Pudi (NBC's "Community" - BLOWOUT SALE), David Chan (visual effects artist, "Fast & Furious" - GOOD SHOT), and Ken Leung (NBC's "Lost" - RUMBLE) embody the origins of the contest, stated by Lin as the following: “Marlon Brando once remarked that the only way the Academy Awards would be a true barometer of who was truly best was if every actor tackled the same role and would be judged on how they interpreted that part. This exercise will embody that spirit so that a 14-year-old suburban kid from New Jersey or a 70-year-old aspiring filmmaker from Taiwan would both have an equal opportunity of creating something memorable.”

 

 

Director:  Faisal Lutchmedial
Country:  Canada
Run Time:  16

Shashin is a young second generation immigrant struggling to find his identity following the loss of his parents. We follow his thoughts about his chosen path, memories of his family, and dreams of Hindu mythology. As he goes through boxes Shashin begins to find meaning in the seemingly insignificant odds and ends that fill the cold house that once was his home. Taking us backward and forward in time to follow his memories, Useless Things is a dreamily crafted journey of forgiveness, enlightenment, and self-discovery.

Faisal Lutchmedial is a Montreal filmmaker of both east and west Indian decent. His work has explored his place as a Canadian with a mixed cultural background, and has worked both in documentary and fiction, as well as the hybrid of the two. His diverse array of work has played in film festivals in Canada and abroad.

 

 

Director:  Andrew Pang
Country:  USA
Run Time:  19

A romantic comedy written and starring Twin Cities native Paul Juhn, Works Of Art won the Best Narrative Short at the 9th Asian Film Festival of Dallas and Best Romantic Comedy at the 7th Chicago International Reel Shorts Film Festival.