Phila. film-festival season begins with Asian American screenings

Cineasts in the region know autumn can mean only one thing: It's film-festival season.

This year's slew of fests includes the much-anticipated Philadelphia Film Festival (Oct. 15-19), the Jewish Film Festival (Oct. 24 to Nov. 14), and the FirstGlance Film Festival (Oct. 22-25).

The season gets under way with the second annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival today through Sunday, with screenings of 11 feature films, including five documentaries, and 26 shorts by and about Asian Americans across the country.

"We accomplished a great deal for our launch year last year . . . to put on a strong film festival and to create awareness in the community," said the fest's director of marketing, Franklin Shen. "This year we are going to be bigger and better," with more films and a much larger venue.

Last year's screenings, which drew more than 600 viewers, were constrained by the limited seating at the Asian Arts Initiative. This year, films also will be screened at the much larger Ibrahim Theater at the International House in West Philly.

Opening-night events, tonight at 7 at I-House, include a screening of Chicago-born writer-director Tze Chun's critically acclaimed feature debut, Children of Invention.

A beautifully realized family drama, the film stars child actors Crystal Chiu and Michael Chen as siblings left to fend for themselves when their mother disappears after being sucked into a pyramid scheme. Chun and Chiu will be on hand for a post-screening discussion.

"I fell in love with this film," said fest managing director Michael W. Jones. "The children are guileless and genuine, unlike so many child stars."

This year's fest is distinguished by a greater diversity of film genres, representing a more diverse cross-section of the Asian American community, Jones said.

There's also a bit of star power. Rising star and University of Pennsylvania alum Aaron Yoo (Gamer, Disturbia, 21, Labor Pains) will spill the beans about Hollywood at an Inside the Actors Studio-esque chat tomorrow at 2 p.m. at I-House.

Jones said he was proud of the centerpiece film, the slick crime-thriller Formosa Betrayed, which is set in Taiwan.

"It's our most impressive film, in terms of budget and professional polish," he said.

Other notable films include Indian American Sarba Das' feature debut, Karma Calling, a wry, comic crime story about group of unwitting Hindus from Hoboken, N.J., who become embroiled with the Mob.

The remarkable documentary Operation Babylift chronicles President Gerald Ford's controversial decision to airlift 2,500 orphans out of Vietnam in 1975. Now adults, members of that strange fraternity talk about their lives in America.

A Village Called Versailles tells the story of the isolated and marginalized Vietnamese community in New Orleans who responded to Hurricane Katrina with solidarity and rebuilt their neighborhood despite political resistance from the city.

"It's an amazing testimony . . . to what our festival can accomplish" to raise awareness of Asian American social concerns, Shen said.

"We usually don't see Asian Americans as activists."