In our penultimate Memories post leading up to VAFF25, we’re highlighting some fantastic fun facts that have culminated into the festival we’ve all grown to love. In this blog post, we’re tackling 2012-2016.
1. 2012
Kicking off VAFF16’s Opening Night Gala Party was a fantastic performance from Goh Nakamura and Yea-Ming Chen. Nakamura’s music has been featured in films directed by Ridley Scott including A Good Year, American Gangster and Body of Lies. Nakamura and Chen both starred in I Will Make You Mine, the third installment of a trilogy centered around the main character, played by Nakamura, and his three different love interests.
2. 2013
Mind Your Bid-Ness (MYB) was an auction party presented by VAFF as one of its annual fundraising events. VAFF17 saw MYB highlighting South Asian culture, dubbing the fundraiser BOLLYWOOD BID-NESS. In addition to goods, fun services, performances and people auctioned off to the highest bidders, the auction was followed by a dance party hosted by High Society and A-Town Productions. Among the many offerings, attendees bid on laser teeth whitening, hotel stays, dance classes, and cooking packages.
3. 2014
In 2014, VAFF introduced the Red Packet Challenge (RPC). The RPC offered an exciting contest where anyone with a video camera or smartphone could get creative and show off their storytelling skills by entering their microfilms to win from a fabulous selection of prizes. With these mini and ultra-shorts, participating filmmakers were offered a unique and modern opportunity for storytelling in a portable and accessible way.
4. 2015
VAFF strongly believes in partnership and collaboration in order to strengthen the community. 2015 marked fruitful partnerships with the likes of the Vancouver International Film Festival, Hapa-Palooza, the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival, the Vancouver Queer Film Festival, and the Indian Summer Festival. VAFF strongly believes that film is a powerful educational tool that can stimulate critical thinking and initiate meaningful dialogues between individuals and diverse communities. By forging these lasting partnerships, greater intercultural appreciation and comradery is achieved – a testament to the power of film in uniting us all!
5. 2016
For VAFF’s 20th Anniversary, a campaign to put “Asians In Movies” (AIM) was launched to attract North-American Asian models, actors and other leading male and female faces to submit photos, videos and answers to VAFF’s AIM Campaign questions regarding diversity. Twelve candidates across Canada and the U.S. were chosen for a photoshoot in Vancouver, BC in September and the marketing campaign to blitz Hollywood influentials premiered alongside the film festival in November 2016.
Liked what you learned? Check out our previous post in this series here!