VANCOUVER, BC – July 25, 2019 – The Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF) is proud to announce the teams for this year’s Mighty Asian Movie Making Marathon 14 (MAMM 14). This year, MAMM will have two categories, a 10-minute short film category and a 1-minute ultra-short film category. There will be 8 teams participating in each category.
The official teams for the 10-minute short category (in no particular order) are:
Team MTR – “Thicker Than Water” – Team Leader: Joshua Lam
Team Rocking on Air – “Rocking on Air” – Team Leader: Tammy Tsang
Team Arrival of the Fittest – “My Grandmother’s 80th Birthday Surprise” – Team Leader: Curtis Lum
Team Simulacrum – “Deep Take” – Team Leader: Norman Yi Li
Team Shining Light Studios – “Leo” – Team Leader: Kaitlin Akow
Team Be.Good – “Switcher Who” – Team Leader: Moheb Jindran
Team Thirst – “Thirst” – Team Leader: Kyle D’Odorico
Team Mushroom Head Media – “Rhyme & Riza” – Team Leader: Shastina Kumar
The official teams for the 1-minute ultra-short category (in no particular order) are:
Team Be.Good – “Checkmate” – Team Leader: Moheb Jindran
Team Sprout – “Sprout” – Team Leader: Natalie Murao
Team Korean Canuck – “Welcome to Vancouver” – Team Leader: Yoosik Ethan Oum
Team The Fresh Breeze – “Not Alone” – Team Leader: Gerry Chow
Team Wen & John – “Bad Ghosts” – Team Leader: Bo Wen Xi
Team CBE Inc. Ultra Short – “Day Break” – Team Leader: Louisa Phung
Team Dynamite – “The Conversation” – Team Leader: Brian Nguyen
The teams have since gone through the MAMMMentorship Program last July 20th, where all of the teams were given the opportunity to participate in different workshops that will prepare them for production in August.
The judges who will choose the winners all come from very diverse film backgrounds. First we have Alejandro Yoshizawa, a filmmaker a filmmaker from Vancouver, Canada, specializing in documentaries and community stories. His last feature film, the award-winning documentary All Our Father’s Relation’s premiered in 2016 and was broadcast on CBC and Knowledge Network. Alejandro is an Adjunct Professor at UBC and teaches courses in Film Production and Asian Canadian and Asian Migration studies.
Second is Ana de Lara an eclectic Filipina-Canadian film director, screenwriter, and producer, who has earned over two dozen awards, including the 2019 Vancouver Women in Film Matrix Award, for outstanding achievement in a BC short. Her films range from laugh-out-loud comedies, to hard-hitting dramas to visual poetry and have screened worldwide. Ana’s work have been funded by Telefilm, the BC Arts Council, BravoFact, the Motion Picture Producer Industry Association of BC (MPPIA), Creative BC, and the NFB.
Lastly, we have Alfonso Chin, a cinematographer and visual artist based in Vancouver, Canada. He has filmed with different formats from 35mm, 16mm to the latest digital emulsions. From commercials to engaging narrative and documentaries, the story and characters always come first, and are always the primary motivation to his approach to lighting and camera movements. He also has a passion and understanding for non-traditional storytelling. His professional industry credits include works for Netflix, Disney, Marvel, Warner Bro, 20th Century Fox, Amazon Studios, and among others.
About the Mighty Asian Movie Making Marathon (MAMM)
MAMM, now on its 14th year, is the premier short filmmaking competition by the Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF). MAMM offers a platform for filmmakers to showcase their talents to both moviegoers and potential distributors alike. The competition lasts for 10 days wherein contestants use this time to produce their short films. MAMM does not only provide opportunities for filmmakers, but provides great experience throughout the process as well.
About the Vancouver Asian Film Festival
The Vancouver Asian Film Festival Society (VAFF) is a not-for-profit organization that celebrates diversity in film. The longest-running Canadian film festival of its kind, VAFF was founded by independent filmmaker and writer Barbara K. Lee in 1995 and debuted in September 1997. VAFF is entirely organized and produced by a group of dedicated volunteers, and is made possible by generous financial support from corporate sponsors, public funders and private donors. Organizers are expecting close to 4,000 audience members over the four-day festival. Now on its 23rd year, this four day festival incorporates the theme of NO LIMITASIANS, which celebrates the achievements of Asian diaspora artists and empowers aspiring artists of Asian heritage to continue pushing boundaries and challenging expectations. As new filmmakers take the spotlights to tell authentic stories, they break moulds and expose the world to a multitude of voices.
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