VAFF Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon

As a part of its increasing year-round presence in the community, the Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF) adds a new “slant” to the popular guerrilla filmmaking events that have given the city’s independent filmmakers and first-timers opportunities to screen their crafts. In the final week of August, VAFF will launch its inaugural Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon, making this the must-participate fun event to close out the summer in Vancouver.

On August 25th to 31st, filmmaking teams of 10 will have 7 days to produce a 10-minute short film, incorporating various assigned creative and cultural elements into their storytelling. The top 3 films will share cash prizes totalling $5,000 and garner a coveted spot in this year’s upcoming 9th Annual Vancouver Asian Film Festival in early November, some recognition and a sought-after festival credit.

The twist to this contest is that it is culturally driven, with the requirement that at least one or two of the writers, directors or producers on each team be of Asian heritage. “We’ve been seeing an increase in the quality of submissions to our film festival in the past couple of years from Asian filmmakers all over North America,” says Barbara Lee, VAFF president, who herself is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. “Last year we introduced the Best Canadian Short award and the Mighty Asian is another way for us to encourage Asian filmmakers and newcomers to tell their diverse stories, show their unique point of view as Canadians. I’m secretly hoping that an all-Asian female team will step forward. That’ll be great fun.”

The deadline for application is August 19 and the entry fee is $50 per team. For more information, email info@vaff.org