Monthly Film Festival

May 13, 2023 03:00pm PDT - 10:30pm PDT
Industry Delegates
Jordanna Guarino
Blumhouse Television
Jon Hersh
Housefire Management
Joshua Laolagi
Universal Content Productions
Shari Page
Half Initiative
Placeholder
Janice Lee
Fifth Season
Quincie Li
Kaplan/Perrone

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) hosts its May Monthly Film Festival and celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with its annual InFocus: Asian Cinema Program, spotlighting  Asian filmmakers and stories from around the world across two shorts programs featuring work by emerging Asian and Asian-American talent in front of and behind the camera. The day’s programming also features the west coast premiere of Brutal Season by Gavin Fields, presented in partnership with Filmmakers Alliance.

The day begins with InFocus: Asian Cinema Shorts I, a collection of films that explores individual identity within a greater culture. It includes stories of queer identity in Asian and Asian-American communities, explorations of immigrant identity, the individual struggling to survive in a dystopian future, as well as motherhood as an identity and context. 

The day continues with  InFocus: Asian Cinema Shorts II,  a selection of films that spans a range of genres as it tells stories of family, memory, loss and the ancient beyond. Through documentary, drama, horror and magic realism, the audience is invited to view these themes through different lenses. This block includes Running, directed by Arpita Mukherjee and written by and starring Danny Pudi (Community). 

The night concludes with the west coast premiere of writer-director Gavin Fields’ directorial debut, Brutal Season, a powerful family drama that explores the rising tensions of  an estranged son returning  home during a heatwave. The film premiered at Fantastic Fest 2022 and is presented in partnership with Filmmakers Alliance. Filmmakers Alliance is a 30-year-old community of filmmakers dedicated to the advancement of true independent film using a unique peer-to-peer support system. Filmmakers Alliance has supported the distinctive visions of hundreds of filmmakers and helped establish numerous filmmaking professionals. Films produced through Filmmakers Alliance have won awards at major festivals throughout the world and secured global distribution.

NFMLA showcases films by filmmakers of all backgrounds throughout the year, across both our general and InFocus programming. All filmmakers are welcome and encouraged to submit their projects for consideration for upcoming NFMLA Festivals, regardless of the schedule for InFocus programming, which celebrates diversity, inclusion and region by spotlighting  communities of filmmakers within our filmmaking community as part of our monthly program. This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

For any accessibility needs, please send a request to info@nfmla.org at least 72 hours prior to the event.

Schedule Details

Program #1 – InFocus: Asian Cinema Shorts I
3:00 PM – 3:30 PM – Pre-Reception
3:30 PM – 5:15 PM – Program
5:15 PM – 5:30 PM – Audience Q&A

Program #2 – InFocus: Asian Cinema Shorts II
5:30 PM – 6:00 PM – Pre-Reception
6:00 PM – 7:45 PM – Program
7:45 PM – 8:00 PM – Audience Q&A

Program #3 – Feature Narrative | Brutal Season – Presented in Partnership with Filmmakers Alliance
8:00 PM – 8:30 PM – Pre-Reception
8:30 PM – 10:15 PM – Program
10:15 PM – 10:30 PM – Audience Q&A

Event Location

Event Entrance
1139 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
Directions


Paid Parking
1133 S Olive St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
Directions

InFocus: Asian Cinema Shorts I
Pippi
Dir. Mia Walker, Writ. Karoline Xu & Prod. Jefferson White, Karoline Xu, Mia Walker, Tiffany Tran
7 Mins | USA
Elite Match
Dir. Kathy Meng, Writ. Kathy Meng & Prod. Joe Kuperschmidt, Kylie Billings
14 Mins | USA
Good Filipino Kids Thumbnail
Good Filipino Kids
Dir. Andrew Acedo, Writ. Andrew Acedo & Prod. Andrew Acedo, Ross Matlin
17 Mins | USA
Surrender Thumbnail
Surrender
Dir. Jess Dang, Writ. Jess Dang & Prod. Darren Haruo Rae, Graehme Middleton
20 Mins | USA
At the Water’s Edge Thumbnail
At the Water’s Edge
Dir. Vivian Ip, Writ. Vivian Ip & Prod. Kim Mariel, Yi Jia Lee
9 Mins | Singapore
Lunchbox
Dir. Anne Hu, Writ. Anne Hu & Prod. Anne Hu, Gilana Lobel, Oliver Brooks, Rachel Liu, Chenney Chen, Gabriella Murillo
16 Mins | USA
Confluence: A Meditation in Documentary Form Thumbnail
Confluence: A Meditation in Documentary Form
Dir. ETA & Shanhuan Manton
15 Mins | USA
Tank Fairy
Dir. Erich Rettstadt, Writ. Erich Rettstadt & Prod. C.K. Hugo Chung, Anita Tung
10 Mins | Taiwan
InFocus: Asian Cinema Shorts II
Your Face
Dir. Daphne Zelle, Writ. Daphne Zelle & Prod. Daniel Kirby
4 Mins | USA
Fish
Dir. Jeremy Hsing, Writ. Jeremy Hsing, Patrick Zhang & Prod. Jeremy Hsing, Patrick Zhang, Victoria Wang, Grace Leahy
14 Mins | USA
Grandpa Cherry Blossom Thumbnail
Grandpa Cherry Blossom
Dir. Maddox Chen, Writ. Maddox Chen & Prod. Maddox Chen
8 Mins | USA
To The Lights Thumbnail
To The Lights
Dir. Emily Ji-Ae Kim, Writ. Emily Ji-Ae Kim & Prod. Jesse Gi, Lindsay Wolf, Emily Kim
17 Mins | USA
Running Thumbnail
Running
Dir. Arpita Mukherjee, Writ. Danny Pudi & Prod. Hypokrit Productions, East West Players, EnActe Arts
40 Mins | USA
Feature Narrative | Brutal Season - Presented in Partnership with Filmmakers Alliance
Brutal Season
Dir. Gavin Fields, Writ. Gavin Fields & Prod. Shelby Grady, Roger Mayer
101 Mins | USA