Here are the films that won big at this year’s Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon
The Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM) concluded its 17th edition with a sold-out gala and awards ceremony at the Vancouver Playhouse on Friday, August 26, 2022. It was the biggest MAMM to date, with not only the highest number of submissions in the competition’s history, but also the most films taking part: 8 ten-minute short films and 11 one-minute ultra-shorts.
For those who have been following the sequel to the MAMM Chronicles – aptly titled the MAMM Chronicles 2.0 – that follows the journey of our MAMMers in an alternate superhero universe, the event started with a little surprise. Audience members at the gala were treated to an exciting grand finale episode, played out on video and live on stage, culminating with the final showdown between our superheroes and villain of the hour, Dough-Nut.
All of our MAMMers gathered centre stage at Vancouver Playhouse
After that, all 19 short and ultra-short films were screened, telling stories focused around heritage, identity, acceptance, and resilience, in keeping with the theme of representation, which VAFF is shining a light on this year. And supporting Elimin8hate’s “Reclaim Your Name” campaign, ultra-shorts were asked to develop storylines under the theme “What’s in a name”, centered around the impact a name has on one’s identity.
MAMM17 was celebrated with lots of firsts. For the first time in its history, the competition expanded beyond Vancouver, with one team taking part all the way from Toronto. This year’s representation theme also saw not one but two queer stories being selected and screened, another first in the competition’s history. Additionally, various other important milestones were met, such as 80 percent of crews consisting of Asian Diaspora talents, and nearly 60 percent of this year’s film creators and directors comprising of female or gender diverse creatives.
Several films were recognized during the awards presentation. These shorts and ultra-shorts will be screened again during the 26th Vancouver Asian Film Festival in November. Here is the night’s full list of winners:
Best CINEMATOGRAPHY for Ultra Short: Cathy Ye of Food for Ah Lan
Best CINEMATOGRAPHY for Short: Rachel Chen of The Mess We’re In
Best PERFORMANCE for Ultra Short: Avery Bantog of Ollie Bear
Best PERFORMANCE for Short: Lissa Neptuno of Little Manila
Best SCREENPLAY for Ultra Short: Solara Thanh-Binh Dang of Lệ
Best SCREENPLAY for Short: Arthur Rodger ‘Harley’ Maranan of Little Manilla
Best FIRST TIME DIRECTOR for Ultra Short: Mika Bantog of Ollie Bear
Best FIRST TIME DIRECTOR for Short: Vivian Cheung of For Roy
Best DIRECTOR for Ultra Short: Kevin Jin Kwan Kim of Daniel “Jun Ho” Lee
Best DIRECTOR for Short: Jamie Lam of The Mess We’re In
Best FILM for Ultra Short: Daniel “Jun Ho” Lee by Team Mireu (Kevin Jin Kwan Kim)
Best FILM for Short: The Mess We’re In by Team XS (Jamie Lam)
The following “People’s Choice Awards” were voted for by viewers:
Best Overall Performance for Ultra Short: Ollie Bear
Best Overall Performance for Short: The Mess We’re In
Best Overall Ultra Short: Ollie Bear by Mika Bantog
Best Overall Short: For Roy
Congratulations to all the winners!
MAMM will be back in 2023 with its 18th edition.