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 [email protected] 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
