Asian Films featured at festival
Evonne Ermey
Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Entertainment
For independent filmmakers, SDAFF is a great opportunity for exposure to a broad audience. Mark Tran, first time filmmaker and winner of SDAFF's Emerging Film Makers Award, attended the event, taking time to answer audience questions for his film "All About Dad." Tran directed the film at 24 after writing the screenplay at 19. A comedy loosely based on his life growing up in a large Vietnamese family, it chronicles the struggles of a first generation immigrant father to relate to his Americanized children.
A student at San Jose University, Tran was limited by a small budget that challenged his ingenuity as a filmmaker.
"There will always be situations where you will be forced to compromise. One thing I learned is that you should never compromise unless you absolutely have to. I mean, everyday you have to consider whether there's time or money or which scene to go with, what to shoot stuff like that. There are so many things that come up that you would never expect. That's also the fun about it to. Not knowing that what your doing is ever right," said Tran of the experience.
Because SDAFF allows its definition of what, exactly, Asian film is, their films appeal to a variety of cinematic pallets, incorporating international films from the entire content of Asia. Other influences come from Russia, India and Israel, as well as Western films by Asian directors and films of Asian content directed by western directors. Ultimately it is about supporting artists and enlightening viewers.
As Kim expresses, "We're here not just for ourselves, to bring patrons, but we really want to educate San Diego about how important it is to support the arts. We can make money do our thing, but without the arts we are living in a pastel world. With the arts we live in full color. Our general goal is to educate San Diegans that the arts are important."
A student at San Jose University, Tran was limited by a small budget that challenged his ingenuity as a filmmaker.
"There will always be situations where you will be forced to compromise. One thing I learned is that you should never compromise unless you absolutely have to. I mean, everyday you have to consider whether there's time or money or which scene to go with, what to shoot stuff like that. There are so many things that come up that you would never expect. That's also the fun about it to. Not knowing that what your doing is ever right," said Tran of the experience.
Because SDAFF allows its definition of what, exactly, Asian film is, their films appeal to a variety of cinematic pallets, incorporating international films from the entire content of Asia. Other influences come from Russia, India and Israel, as well as Western films by Asian directors and films of Asian content directed by western directors. Ultimately it is about supporting artists and enlightening viewers.
As Kim expresses, "We're here not just for ourselves, to bring patrons, but we really want to educate San Diego about how important it is to support the arts. We can make money do our thing, but without the arts we are living in a pastel world. With the arts we live in full color. Our general goal is to educate San Diegans that the arts are important."
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