By Abraham Ferrer
As the saying goes, hope springs eternal. As it pertains to the 2023 editions of the Sundance and Slamdance Film Festivals, “hope” is embodied in a sense of newness that distinguishes this year’s crop of works created by Asian American and Pacific Islander cinematic artists. Indeed, beyond the ever-active Nina Yang Bongiovi (who has produced not one, but two feature-length works screening at this year’s Sundance festivities) and equally busy Justin Chon (who brings his fourth feature-length work to Park City following a well-chronicled sojourn into the realm of episodic television), there are hardly any returning AAPI filmmakers appearing with new works this year — it’s as if Sundance simply wiped the slate clean of veteran filmmakers and populated its program line-up with a new generation of aspiring (read: first-time) artists. And while Slamdance, that “other” festival headquartered at the top of Main Street in the comparatively homely Treasure Island Hotel can boast the presence of a trio of well-travelled festival veterans in its own line-up, the sense of newness has seemingly enveloped it as well.
Largely, this is all to the good. Following a two-year exile online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Park City is once again poised to present the best and brightest of new independent cinema, and accordingly, welcome a new generation of artists with a slate of equally new and original works that signal a shift away from the “old hat” feel of indie cinema as usual. It’s as if the pandemic has allowed Sundance and Slamdance organizers to shed the old skin of “cinema as usual” and instead embrace new and challenging fare. And we — organizers of the annual Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience in Park City — are just as excited to once again CENTER and CELEBRATE these new achievements by folks who came by their works through a variety of different avenues. The spirit of newness and rejuvenation throughout Park City abounds.
For instance, in the U.S. and World Dramatic and Documentary Competitions, please consider directors Sarvnik Kaur (AGAINST THE TIDE), Amanda Kim (NAM JUN PAIK: MOON IS THE OLDEST TV), Sing Lee (THE ACCIDENTAL GETAWAY DRIVER), Noora Niasari (SHAYDA), and Randall Park (SHORTCOMINGS) — all of them first-time or sophomore feature directors. Along with Maryam Keshavarz (THE PERSIAN VERSION, in U.S. Dramatic Competition), the table has already been set for a potentially game-changing Sundance, as this sextet promises to command much of the attention that accompanies these festival sections. Not to be outdone, Nina Yang Bonjiovi continues her steadfast championing of filmmakers of color through two new works, FANCY DANCE (in U.S. Competition) and TO LIVE AND DIE AND LIVE (in NEXT); while Sundance perennial Justin Chon brings an army of returnees to support his latest work JAMOJAYA (a Premieres selection).
If that encapsuled the entirety of AAPI voices at Sundance, then our collective cups would already be running over. But wait! There’s more. Also set for premieres in Park City are directors Anthony Chen (DRIFT, in Premieres), Kenneth Dagatan (IN MY MOTHER’S SKIN, in Midnight), Babak Jalali, (FREMONT, in NEXT), Saim Sadiq (the much-talked-about JOYLAND, in Spotlight), Celine Song (PAST LIVES, in Premieres), Frederic Tcheng (INVISIBLE BEAUTY, in Premieres), and Chiaki Yanagimoto (AUM: THE CULT AT THE END OF THE WORLD, in U.S. Documentary Competition). And there is even an indie episodic series in POACHER, the latest by Indian Canadian Richie Mehta, who wowed Sundance crowds with his arresting Sundance 2019 series offering DELHI CRIME STORY.
Short films, a format that annually provides a groundswell of new work that anticipates the Sundance luminaries of tomorrow, is likewise abundant with riches. Just a few of the artists with astounding new shorts include Hadi Rezayati Charan (AZHEH), Andrew Fitzgerald (THE FAMILY CIRCUS), Kayla Abuda Galang (WHEN YOU LEFT ME ON THAT BOULEVARD), Bi Gan (A SHORT STORY), Shuli Huang (WILL YOU LOOK AT ME), Reema Maya (NOCTURNAL BURGER), Maria Estela Paiso (IT’S RAINING FROGS OUTSIDE), Nova Paul (HAWAIKI), Liz Sargent (TAKE ME HOME), Yoko Yuki (IN THE BIG YARD INSIDE THE TEENY-WEENY POCKET), and Li Zhen (fur).
Up at the top of Main Street in the Treasure Island Hotel, the Slamdance Film Festival is likewise brimming with riches, keynoted by a trio of well-travelled festival veterans who will be bringing new feature-length works with them to heat up the Utah chill: Quark Henares (WHAT IS THE LIE?), Rea Tajiri (the multi-award-winning WISDOM GONE WILD), and past #APAParkCity honoree Kim Takesue (ONLOOKERS). The three of them should feel right at home as Slamdance fetes them as well as a bevy of daring artists who arrive with challenging new works to the slopes of Park City: Karrar Al-Azzawi (BAGDAD ON FIRE), Aminreza Alimohammadi (SNAIL), Robin Takeo D’oench (HERE COMES FRIEDA), Erica Eng (OFF FAIRFAX), Iliana Garcia (A GUIDE FOR WHEN IMMIGRANTS BECOME ANCESTORS), Diana Gong (HORSE), the producing/screenwriting duo of Jerry and Jonathan Hsu (Law Chen’s STARRING JERRY AS HIMSELF), Bowon Kim (STARS IN THE ORDINARY UNIVERSE), Keishi Kondo (NEW RELIGION), Melissa Kong (DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT), Nina Mahesh (ALEEYA), Linh Tran (WAITING FOR THE LIGHT TO CHANGE), and Reiki Tsuno (MAD CATS).
Click here for a complete list of Park City 2023 artists
Want to attend #APAParkCity 2023? RSVP here
asianpacificfilmexperience.org 