The Los Angeles Chinese Film Festival (LACFF) is proud to host its second annual festival, screening 21 nominated films from Chinese independent filmmakers and artists, at the Downtown Independent Theater, from November 1st to 4th, 2018.
LACFF is the only film festival in Los Angeles that features Chinese independent films with the express aim of promoting and showcasing Chinese language and culture focused films. LACFF also aims to foster cultural exchange between the Hollywood and Chinese film industries.
This year, the festival received a total of 255 film submissions from 11 different countries and regions. After two months of expert and jury deliberations, 21 films were nominated; including three features, three documentaries, six narrative shorts, four documentary shorts, and five experimental/animated shorts.
Of the festival line-up, nine films will be making their North American and/or Los Angeles Premiere at LACFF this year. The feature film, E.T. Made in China (Dir. Xiaosha Zhang), as well as stop-animation short, The Quintet of the Sunset (Dir. Jie Weng), will be making their World Premiere at LACFF as well.
This year's films cover a variety of international topics, focusing primarily on the directors' thoughts on the ever changing Chinese and global landscapes. For example, E.T. Made in China looks at the modern Chinese rural reality in the presence of actual extraterrestrials; Speculator (Dir. Yuntao Du) features the ride-sharing app, Uber and the foreign capital flowing into the Chinese market; People's Republic of Desire (Dir. Hao Wu) explores the financial and personal conflicts behinds live internet streaming platforms; and Hanzi (Dir. Mu-Ming Tsai) explores Asian culture and identity through a typographic lens.
Jury members this year include Ruijun Li, the director and screenwriter of Walking Past the Future, which has been featured in the official selections of the 70th Cannes Film, the 65th Berlin International Film Festival, and 69th Venice Film Festival; film scholar Gabrielle Kelly, who has taught at UCLA, USC, & NYU and is currently on the faculty at AFI; Rebecca Baron, a Los Angeles-based media artist whose works have screened widely at the
the New York, Toronto, and London Film Festivals; award winning producer Richard Liang, whose documentary won the Best Chinese Documentary Award at the Taiwan International Documentary Festival in 2016; David E. James, film studies professor at USC's School of Cinematic Arts; Jeff Swimmer, professor of Documentary at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts; award winning cinematographer, Helder K. Sun; and Emmy Award winning visual artist, Lin Zheng.
The LACFF is organized by Chinese in Entertainment (CIE), a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization that supports Chinese talent and culture in entertainment and the arts.
For additional information on the 2018 LACFF, including screening times, locations, featured guests and ticketing details, you can browse to the official website
FULL FESTIVAL LINE UP
Opening and Closing Screenings
Opening Screening: “Walking Past the Future” by Ruijun Li
Closing Screening: “Linsanity” by Evan Jackson Leong
Narrative Features
“E.T. Made in China” (World Premiere), by Xiaosha Zhang
“Girls Always Happy” by Mingming Yang
“Transcendent” (North American Premiere) by Linzi Zhang
Documentary Features
“Hanzi” (Los Angeles Premiere) by Mu-Ming Tsai
“I've Got a Little Problem” (Los Angeles Premiere) by Ximing Zhang
“People's Republic of Desire“ by Hao Wu
Narrative Shorts
“Besieged” by Mengchen Niu
“Birthday Party” by Theo Ma
“Cupcake” by Dawei Zhang
“Jiejie” by Feng-I Roan
“Miss World” by Georgia Fu
“Mother Eden” by Erzhuo Wang
Documentary Shorts
“Arcosanti: A State of Fugue” (North American Premiere) by Kehui Feng
“Life as He Likes” by Lizhu Yang
“One Day In GaoYi” (Los Angeles Premiere) by Jiaxuan Xiao & Muqiu Qin
“Speculator” (Los Angeles Premiere) by Yuntao Du
Animation and Experimental Shorts
“Ayesha” (Los Angeles Premiere) by Yanyu Dong
“Barry” by Anchi Shen
“Cry Baby” (Los Angeles Premiere) by Xiner Jiang
“Light” (Los Angeles Premiere) by Tatsu Aoki
“The Quintet of the Sunset” (World Premiere) by Jie Weng
