The Moustache Brothers Burmese comedy troop, a tribute to Asian American activist Chris Ijima, Taiwan’s ”foreign brides,” America’s Next Top Immigrant, a mock game show and a fresh look at eyelid surgery, a rite of passage for Korean American women are among the subjects realized by filmmakers at the 32nd Asian American International Film Festival 2009 (AAIFF09).
Asian CineVision proudly presents the 2009/10 National Festival Tour featuring the year’s best independent cinema - narrative and documentary features and shorts - from AAIFF09. The National Festival Tour offers institutions and organizations the rare opportunity to bring many Asian and Asian American films to local communities across the country.

Since the Asian American film burst onto the scene thirty something years ago, many of those filmmakers, such as, Christine Choy, Wayne Wang, Mira Nair, Ang Lee, Justin Lin and among others are now comfortably part of the American cinematic mainstream.

Each year, hundreds of filmmakers from around the Asian Diaspora submit their short films to Asian American film festivals. They have given us stories of immigration and assimilation, adversity and triumph, motivation and inspiration of all genres: narrative, documentary, experimental, animation, music video.

Common reoccurring themes include identity politics, alienated youth, hypersexualization, math nerds, over-achievers, stereotypes, suburban alienation, and kung-fu waiters. 
Been there? Done that?

Tell us YOUR Asian American story.

The movie is based on the true story chronicled in the book The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million and Bucked the Medical Establishment in a Quest to Save His Children by Geeta Anands. There is a real John Crowley who really did start a biomedical company to develop a cure for Pompe disease.

But the real guy who developed the cure was not a Dr. Robert Stonehill, nor looks anything like Indiana Jones. The real guy is a fellow named Dr. Yuan-Tsong Chen, who developed the treatment with colleagues at the Duke University Medical Center.

I learned this from, of all places, Roger Ebert's movie review:

We are particularly excited that our NYC release will be a "DIWO" ("Do It With Others") effort with the hilarious and heartfelt comedy, WHITE ON RICE by Dave Boyle. Read more about this filmmaker alliance here:

FESTIVAL DARLINGS “CHILDREN OF INVENTION” AND "WHITE ON RICE" JOIN FORCES FOR JOINT THEATRICAL RELEASE Award-Winning Filmmakers Embrace "DIWO Distribution" and Shifting Release Windows in the Current Independent Film Revolution
More: http://bit.ly/5jTKzq

We're psyched about being able to bring our film back to these cities, so if you missed it on the festival circuit, don't miss it in the theaters!

Btw, Hammer to Nail recently named CHILDREN OF INVENTION "One of the Top 13 Films of 2009," and we were also listed as "One of the Best Undistributed Films of 2009" by Jeff Deutchmann (IFC Films), Tom Hall (Sarasota & Newport Int'l Film Festivals), and Alison Willmore (IFC.com).

Korean actress Jun Ji-hyun is set to appear alongside Chinese movie star Zhang Ziyi in a new film by Wayne Wang, according to her agency Sidus HQ on Wednesday.

The film, titled "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan", will be based on the 2005 novel of the same title by Chinese-American writer Lisa See.

Set in 19th century China, the film chronicles the lives of two women -- Lily and Snow Flower -- and their intimate lifelong friendship. Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is set to play the main character Snow Flower while Jun's role in the film has not been decided as of yet.

Wanye Wang, a Chinese-American filmmaker, has directed several notable movies such as "The Joy Luck Club" (1993), "Maid in Manhattan" (2002) and "Smoke (1995)", for which he won the Silver Bear award at Berlin International Film Festival.

 Dec. 31 (by James S. Russell) -- I didn’t want to let the year close without reflecting on the new Museum of Chinese in America designed by Maya Lin.

The location, on Manhattan’s lively Centre Street, poignantly underlines the mutability of ethnic identity. It is steps from the bargain-hunting throngs on Canal Street, around the corner from what’s left of Little Italy, and smack in the path of SoHo’s encroaching slickness. It’s the perfect spot to consider what it is to be a hyphenated American.

The museum’s tinted-glass storefront, half-framed by a long horizontal L of wood, is a rather tentative invitation to a building with richly entwined stories to tell and tough questions to ask.

It’s too bad that Lin, famous for the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., avoided the tough task of making a specific statement rather than a generalized one.

Japanese film Looking For Anne, directed by Takako Miyahira, took the top honours of Best Film and Best Director, the AFFF said in its press release.

The movie tells the story of a 17-year-old Japanese girl with a secret mission to find her recently deceased grandmother's first love.

First-time producer Sona Jain bagged four awards - including Best Producer - for her film, For Real, a story about a family seen through the eyes of a child.

Last Friday's event was the fifth instalment of the AFFF.

China is moving to take back one of its own — even if it is legend. Mulan is the Middle Kingdom's gender-bending heroine, its Joan of Arc. The character from folktale is a daughter who disguises herself as a male soldier to take her father's place in the conscription army. The problem for the Chinese is that, since 1998, the definitive version of the story has been Disney's.

Indeed, because of the animated Disney film, the character Mulan has become one of the most recognizable symbols of Chinese culture worldwide. Baby girls adopted from China have been named Mulan by their American parents. Disney has staged musical versions of the movie Mulan from Mexico to the Philippines. And posing for a photo with Mulan is a must for hordes of tourists at Hong Kong Disneyland. (See China's long road to prosperity.)

It’s Raining, y’all! With the advent of his first starring role in a major Hollywood feature, the Korean pop god known simply as Rain sat with us exclusively to talk up his martial arts manifesto, Ninja Assassin. We chatted about the film’s surprising violence, his future as a singer, his fans and his mom. Never let it be said that LMD was ever smart enough to come in out of the Rain.

Dig it.

The Lady Miz Diva: Ninja Assassin is a really violent, bloody film. Were you concerned that so much of your fan base, which consists of younger kids and people who might not usually go to this type of movie, wouldn’t be able to see your big Hollywood film?

Rain: Yeah, I know, but it’s gonna be huge. I believe they will like my movie. I am a little bit worried, but it’s something different from what I’ve done, so it’s interesting that way. And I believe more male fans will be interested in this movie.