VAFF celebrates a new milestone at the largest Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon gathering since the competition’s inception 14 years ago.
Although labour day weekend marks the unofficial end of summer, local filmmakers and avid movie watchers ended their summer on a high note: celebrating Asian representation and diversity in local film. At the Playhouse theatre in downtown Vancouver, the scene was packed on August 30, 2019 as over 500 members of the local film community came out to support the Vancouver Asian Film Festival’s 14th annual Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM). In its largest turnout to date, MAMM – a short-filmmaking competition which provides a platform for local talent to try their hand at filmmaking – has been proud to support and showcase emerging Asian talent in Canada.
With discussion of Asian representation at an all time high in recent years, this year’s MAMM casts a spotlight on local superheroes through eight 10-minute short films and seven 1-minute ultra-short films. Leading the charge, Milton Ng, a local director, screenwriter, actor, producer and MAMM alumnus acted as the event’s emcee for the evening. Bringing a quirky humour to his hosting duties, Ng entertained the audience not only with his charisma, but through games and entertainment that kept the audience on their toes.
Opening remarks were made by VAFF Festival Director and MAMM14 Producer Lynne Lee and VAFF President and Founder Barbara Lee. This year, Lee highlighted importance of a two new VAFF initiatives, the Asians in Music (AIM) advocacy project which just concluded its first songwriting competition and the 100 Stories Challenge, which aims to collect at least 100 stories that uncover the extraordinary lives of regular Asians in Canada. Rounding out the introductions were speeches from Mayumi Yoshida and Nach Dudsdeemaytha who reprised their roles as the MAMM Creative Producers.
The Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM) celebrated its 14th year of supporting and showcasing emerging local filmmakers with a bigger competition including more direct industry training and associated events than ever before.
The film screening was divided into two sections which combined both the 10-minute short films and 1-minute ultra-short films in a randomly pre-selected order. This year, the genres, storylines, casts and crew of each film were met with an incredible breadth of diversity. The films screened at this year’s MAMM competition included the following entries:
2019 MAMM 10-MINUTE SHORT FILM COMPETITION TEAMS:
- Team BE.Good from Switcher Who
- Team Arrival of the Fittest from My Grandmother’s 80th Birthday Surprise
- Team Rocking on Air from Rocking on Air
- Team Simulacrum from Deep Take
- Team Mushroom Head Media from Rhyme & Riza
- Team MTR from Thicker Than Water
- Team Thirst from Thirst
- Team Shining Light Studios from Leo
2019 MAMM 1-MINUTE ULTRA SHORT COMPETITION TEAMS:
- Team BE.Good from Checkmate
- Team Sprout from Sprout
- Team Korean Canuck from Welcome to Vancouver
- Team The Fresh Breeze from Not Alone
- Team Wen & John from Bad Ghosts
- Team CBE Inc. Ultra Short from Day Break
- Team Dynamite from The Conversation
After the audience was given the opportunity to watch all the films, viewers were then given a chance to vote for the fan choice awards in three categories: best 10-minute short, best 1-minute ultra short and overall best performance. Despite a few hiccups that caused both technical issues with a few of the screenings and the fan choice voting system, the night eventually progressed into the final event: the awards ceremony. In addition to the fan choice awards previously mentioned, MAMM presented three adjudicated awards which were reviewed by a panel of judges. This included directors Ana de Lara and Alejandro Yoshizawa as well as cinematographer Alfonso Chin.
While all of the films screened captivated the audience in their own unique way, MAMM would like to acknowledge and congratulate the following teams in recognition of their achievements:
2019 MAMM14 ADJUDICATED AWARDS:
10-Minute Short Category
- WINNER: Grandma’s 80th Surprise by Curtis Lum’s Team Arrival of the Fittest
- RUNNER-UP: Thicker Than Water by Joshua Lam’s Team MTR,
- HONORABLE MENTION: Deep Take by Norman Yi Li’s Team Simulacrum
1-Minute Ultra Short Category:
- WINNER: Day Break by Louisa Phung’s Team CBE Inc.
- RUNNER-UP: The Conversation by Brian Nguyen’s Team Dynamite
- HONORABLE MENTION: Not Alone by Gerry Chow’s Team The Fresh Breeze.
2019 MAMM14 FAN CHOICE AWARDS:
Best Overall Short:
- WINNER: Grandma’s 80th Surprise by Curtis Lum’s Team Arrival of the Fittest
Best Overall Ultra Short:
- WINNER: Checkmate by Moheb Jindran’s Team Be.Good
Best Overall Performance:
- WINNER: Lillian Lam, Grandma’s 80th Surprise by Curtis Lum’s Team Arrival of the Fittest
MAMM14 was a success for not only its record-breaking audience turnout, but for also setting the stage for the upcoming 23rd annual Vancouver Asian Film Festival. Along with the announcement of this year’s festival theme: NO LIMITASIANS, viewers expressed their excitement for VAFF’s 2019 brand ambassadors: actor Ludi Lin and actress Aliza Vellani who will place a spotlight on the important achievements of homegrown Asian Canadian heroes.
For those viewers who were unable to make it to MAMM14, fans will be pleased to know that they will have a second chance to watch some of these films during the “Canadian shorts” segment of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival, which will take place between November 7-10, 2019.
On behalf of VAFF and the MAMM production crew, the entire team would like to thank all of the sponsors, partners, media partners and community partners for their continued support in making year’s competition a huge success. With less than two months away to VAFF 2019, the countdown is on!
View more photos at VAFF Facebook.
Justin Kwan is the Content and Communications Manager at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. A Torontonian turned Vancouverite, he frequently writes on contemporary Asian politics, culture and current affairs. In his role at VAFF, Justin explores a variety of digital tools and communication strategies to further promote the festival and its message of diversity in film. In his spare time, he is also a podcaster and an avid “foodie” who enjoys exploring new restaurants. Follow him on social media @thejustinkwan.