The Vancouver Asian Film Festival's "The Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM)" contest premieres a record-breaking fifteen new short films, and rewards the top three, at a gala premiere screening and awards ceremony on Saturday, September 6.
Awards are courtesy of the Cineworks Independent Filmmakers’ Society, and the top three films will be screened on Shaw Multicultural Channel (SMC) as well as receive a spot in the lineup of this year’s upcoming 12th annual Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF) running November 6–9. The event is hosted by VAFF at Tinseltown, followed by a wrap party at Kentizen Fusion Lounge in the International Village.
“The contest was capped at fifteen teams, and fifteen entrants past the finish line is a record for us — people are responding to the direction we’re taking. From the quality and variety of story outlines shown at the pitch, we’re very excited to see the results,” says Grace Chin, MAMM Coordinator.
MAMM is the Lower Mainland’s only annual short film contest with a declared diversity angle. It entered its fourth successful year with a new, more serious filmmaking direction this August, by dropping random elements and compulsory themes, and by incorporating an adjudicated story concept pitch session; a shorter final film length; a longer contest duration that approximates the production timeline of a typical low-budget independent film shoot; and awards with a filmmaking community-building and educational focus.
At least two of each team’s key creative members must be from a visible minority, and at least one of the key creative team members and lead actors must be of Asian heritage. Otherwise, the evocatively abbreviated MAMM is an exhilarating, challenging filmmaking event that fosters local entertainment industry talent and gives independent filmmakers a focused opportunity to produce a film festival-ready short film. Past entries have been accepted in film festivals, screenings and for airing on cable television throughout North America.
From August 10 to August 26, filmmaking teams of 10 members or less had almost a month to produce a short film with a maximum 9-minute length, of a specific genre. The films were judged by a panel of experienced industry professionals, and scriptwriting mentorship was available to all teams.
The MAMM premiere screening and awards ceremony are at 6:30 pm on Saturday, September 6, followed by a wrap party at 9 pm. There will be a second screening of all films the same evening, at 9:45 pm. For a limited time, “combo” tickets are available at $20 in advance for both the first screening and the wrap party.
Visit www.vaff.org/events for more information and to purchase tickets.
This year’s Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon teams (alphabetically):
Team Name | Team Leader | Genre(s)
A.L. & Associates | Alphonse Leong | Action/Drama
alwaysfurther | Patrick Collins | Comedy
Band of Buddhas | Suzi Nitta Petersen | Comedy
Chubby Brothers | Vincent Ternida | Comedy
Darkhorse | Ian Tang | Comedy/Detective
Daydreaming | Krista Jang | Comedy
Eggroll Express | Victor Khong | Comedy
Eyelash King & His Illegal Aliens | Jonas Salzburg | Love/Comedy/Myth
Fuku Fun | Kana Sawamoto | Comedy
Fumbling Chopsticks | Byron Lee | Love/Comedy
Mad Rush | Alan Yu | Action/Drama
Maplewood | Erick Boychuk | Comedy/Romance
North Films | Jeff Chan | Romantic Comedy
SPAZZ | Lau Tin Pak | Romance
Stray Cat | Chris Tom | Comedy
Come and celebrate the art and accomplishment of some of our community’s best up-and-coming talent!
Visit www.vaff.org/events for more information and to purchase tickets.
