U.S. Consulate General Press Releases (2007)

American Film Festival Comes to Hong Kong, November 12 - 18, 2007

NEWS RELEASE
OCTOBER 16, 2007
TUESDAY

In collaboration with the Hong Kong Arts Centre, the U.S. Consulate General will bring the American Film Institute (AFI) Project 20/20 to Hong Kong, November 12-18 (Monday-Sunday). This one-week film festival will showcase seven American and international films. These films include: Frozen Days, The Yacoubian Building, Shoot the Messenger, Back Home, Offside, Big Dreams Little Tokyo and No Sweat. The directors of three of these films will be on hand for post-screening discussions and other educational exchange programs in Hong Kong and Macau.

Admission is free (on a first-come-first-serve basis).
For reservations, please call 2582-0200 or E-mail: hkac@hkac.org.hk or rtsui@hkac.org.hk (with name, contact number, e-mail address, title and date of movie(s), and number of tickets requested)
Hong Kong screening schedule:

Nov 12 (Mon) 7:30 p.m. FROZEN DAYS
Nov 13 (Tue) 7:30 p.m. THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING
Nov 15 (Thu) 7:30 p.m. SHOOT THE MESSENGER
Nov 16 (Fri) 7:30 p.m. BACK HOME*
Nov 17 (Sat) 2:30 p.m. OFFSIDE
Nov 18 (Sun) 4:30 p.m. BIG DREAMS LITTLE TOKYO *
Nov 18 (Sun) 2:30 p.m. NO SWEAT*
*Post-screening discussion with the director
Special thanks to The Hong Kong-America Center for helping to coordinate campus visits by the visiting directors.

Venue: Agnes b. CINEMA!
Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
American Film Institute (AFI) Project 20/20, launched at the 20th anniversary of AFI's International Film Festival in 2006, is an international exchange of films and filmmakers created to engage U.S. and foreign audiences and promote mutual understanding through the presentation of different viewpoints and perspectives.

AFI Project 20/20 is part of the U.S. Government's Global Cultural Initiative, a cultural diplomacy partnership announced by the First Lady and involving the U.S. Department of State, the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the American Film Institute. Eighteen American and international independent films and filmmakers participated in the project. Through film screenings, seminars, panel discussions, and workshops at film festivals, cultural centers, museums, and other community and educational venues in the U.S. and around the world, AFI Project 20/20 aims at promoting cross-cultural understanding and appreciation of values such as freedom of expression, tolerance and intellectual property rights through film.

For detailed information on AFI Project 20/20 and complete listing of films in the project, please visit: www.afi.com/onscreen/AFIFEST/2006/project2020.aspx

 

FROZEN DAYS / YAMIN KFUIM
Israel/2006/B&W/Col/DVD/91mins
Hebrew with English Subtitles
Director: Danny Lerner
Film Note: With a $25,000 budget and shot entirely at night with a DV Cam 570, FROZEN DAYS is a striking black and white film that is both visually stimulating and hauntingly timely, puncturing the surface of the compelling characters' complex lives.
Meow (played by magnetic newcomer Anat Klausner) is a young woman roaming the streets and nightclubs of Tel Aviv. She lives in empty apartments and surfs Internet chat rooms. When she decides to finally meet her online buddy Alex, a suicide bombing prevents their meeting, putting him in a coma and her in his empty apartment. When the other tenants start referring to her as Alex she assumes his identity, finding herself sinking into a dangerously deluded reality.
An incredibly accomplished debut film with polished production values. Steeped in the gorgeous photography of deep pools of darkness, DP Ram Shweky's lighting scheme carves out a profoundly resonant film that is steeped in the miasma of Tel Aviv after dark. -Shaz Bennett
Biography: Danny Lerner (director, writer, producer) is a graduate of the Tel Aviv University Film & Television Department. As a student he wrote, directed and produced over 20 short films, among them BANG BANG, DON'T CALL ME GALYA, and ANOTHER DAY. FROZEN DAYS is his first feature-length film.

THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING / OMARET YACOUBIAN
Egypt/2006/Col/DVD/172mins
Egyptian with English Subtitles
Director: Marwan Hamed
Official selection of this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival
Film Note: Based on the best-selling Egyptian novel, THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING was adapted to the big screen amidst a whirlwind of controversy due to its depiction of taboo subjects such as corruption, homosexuality, religious hypocrisy and Islamic extremism.
Set in an actual Cairo building, residents of this 10-story structure represent the different layers of modern Egyptian society, from the old guard to the new. There is the former aristocrat longing for the old days, an ambitious businessman striving to be a politician, a successful magazine editor in the proverbial closet, a young student lured down a dangerous path, and a young woman struggling to keep her family above the poverty line.
First-time filmmaker Marwan Hamed transforms this ambitiously dramatic story into a compassionate film that unveils the underbelly of traditional society as it copes with the mire of modernization. Egypt 's official Oscar® submission. -Sharifa Johka
Biography: Born in 1977, Marwan Hamed graduated from film school in 1999 and worked as assistant director to several veteran Egyptian filmmakers, including Sherif Arafa, Samir Seif, Khairy Beshara, before establishing his own reputation directing commercials. In 2001 he directed his first big screen film, LILY, which won prizes at Carthage and other festivals. He has also directed two short documentaries as well as several fiction shorts. THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING marks his feature-length film debut.

SHOOT THE MESSENGER
UK/2006/Col/DVD/100mins
English without Subtitles
Director: Ngozi Onwurah
Film Note: SHOOT THE MESSENGER is a bold, funny, controversial film directed by the politically explosive Nigerian-Bri tish filmmaker Ngozi Onwurah. The film's opening line "...everything bad that has ever happened to me has involved a black person," rouses and prepares you for a critically insightful and intellectually charged confrontation of ideological and cultural perspectives that is candidly rendered in this remarkably thought-provoking film.
The story chronicles an idealistic black professional who decides to become a teacher in order to enhance the lives of young black students. In a twist of irony, the well-intentioned professor finds himself pitted against the students he initially pledged to help and becomes a target of the black community. Feeling betrayed, the young teacher directs his feelings of resentment and rejection against all black people and adopts the belief that black people are essentially the root of all evil.
This laugh-out-loud comedy brilliantly satirizes conceptions of racial identity and cultural norms. Cleverly written, with a spectacular performance from the film's leading actor, SHOOT THE MESSENGER is a refreshing contribution to an African film aesthetic that doesn't take itself too seriously. -Sharifa Johka
Biography: Ngozi moved from Nigeria to Britain with her family at the age of nine after surviving the Nigerian Civil War. A passion for cinema led her to St. Martin's School of Art, where she graduated with a First Class Honors Degree in Fine Arts, Film & Video. Her graduation film, COFFEE COLOURED CHILDREN, kick-started her career when it won first prize in the BBC Showreel competition. She completed postgraduate studies in Drama Direction at the National Film & Television School.
Ngozi has been widely acknowledged as one of the most talented directors in Britain. More success and awards followed with her dramas and documentaries, including SOUTH OF THE BORDER, a groundbreaking drama series for the BBC. She was awarded the prestigious honor of a special retrospective screening at the New York Film Festival for her films, THE BODY BEAUTIFUL (Channel 4/BFI), MONDAYS GIRLS (BBC) and AND STILL I RISE (BBC). Her first feature film, WELCOME II THE TERRORDOME, won first prize at the Birmingham International Film Festival & the Cologne Film Festival as well as the audience prize at the Verona Film Festival. Ngozi has directed episodes of HEARTBEAT for Yorkshire Television, the top-rated British drama series. BEHIND THE MASK (BBC/M-Net, Africa ), a drama-documentary made in collaboration with Broker Prizewinner Ben Okri, achieved widespread acclaim in international television markets. I BRING YOU FRANKINCENSE (BBC) premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and won awards at several international film festivals. HANGTIME (M-Net/Wellspring) released in the United States as part of MAMA AFRICA. SHOOT THE MESSENGER (BBCFilms) is her first project following a 4-year 'baby making' break.

BACK HOME
Rwanda, USA/2006/Col/DVD/73mins
Kinyarwanda & English with English Subtitles (part)
Director: J B Rutagarama
Grand Prize & Audience Choice Award, Ann Arbor Film Festival 2006
Special Mention, AFI Film Festival 2006
Film Note: Imagine surviving genocide, being rescued, and starting a new life in a new land without knowing what happened to the family you had left behind. This is the true story of J.B. Rutagarama.
Escaping Rwanda alive was a miracle. But after moving to the West, J.B. decides he must journey back to his troubled homeland to search for his lost family. With devastating footage interspersed with his remembrances, we get a uniquely intimate perspective on what became a world tragedy. As J.B. sets foot back in the land of his birth, an unexpected dramatic reunion occurs that will send your emotions soaring.
Shot with an eye for the natural beauty of a cherished homeland, Rutagarama's film is deeply personal -- yet becomes the story of all Rwandans. And in the process it offers a universal lesson in healing, hope, renewal, family, forgiveness -- and finding your own peace. -Natalie McMenemy
Biography: It may be a cruel irony that it took a war to introduce J.B. to filmmaking, but now he believes filmmaking was his destiny. As he observed TV news cameras filming the genocide he discovered the power of the moving image; he saw that it had the ability to touch people in a way nothing else can. From then on he wanted a profession that gave him the ability to look through the lens of a camera. After J.B. fled Rwanda, the two reporters who adopted him sent him to film school in England, where he graduated with honors. He then moved to New York City and began working as a studio cameraman at a television network. J.B. is now a Steadicam operator under the tutelage of two of the top names in the movie business: Cinematographer Bob Richardson (THE AVIATOR, KILL BILL, NATURAL BORN KILLERS, etc.) and Steadicam Operator Larry McConkey (VANILLA SKY, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, THREE KINGS).

OFFSIDE
Iran/2006/Col/DVD/88mins
Farsi with English Subtitles
Director: Jafar Panahi
Best Director Nominee for the Asian Film Awards, Hong Kong International Film Festival 2007
Film Note: Modern life and cultural prohibitions bump up against each other in this gentle comedy. Eschewing any rigid narrative structure, the film is a free-flowing, whimsical look at women (and men) in 21st century Iran.
Iran 's World Cup-qualifying soccer match looms as a frantic father searches for his daughter. Although Iranian law declares soccer matches are for "males only," he fears she may try to sneak into Tehran stadium. He is right. She and a half-dozen other young women disguised as boys in baggy clothes and baseball caps are caught and detained by police. As the crowd roars nearby, the young women match wits with their reluctant solider captors.
Director Jafar Panahi avoids overt political statements, relying simply on characters to explore larger issues. In one supremely ironic moment, a soldier asks the captive women why they are making his life so difficult. This droll sensibility infuses OFFSIDE. -P.E. Thomas
Biography: The cinema of Jafar Panahi is often described as Iranian neo-realism. Regardless of how one chooses to categorize his powerful work, the unprecedented humanitarianism of Panahi's films cannot be denied. Panahi's cinema is urban, contemporary, and rich with the details of human existence. Panahi's THE CIRCLE won the Golden Lion at the 2000 Venice Film Festival. The unsettling drama about the social dilemma of several modern Iranian women was named Fipresci's "Film of the Year" and appeared on Top 10 lists of critics worldwide. Panahi debuted with THE WHITE BALLOON in 1995, the Camera d'Or winner at the Cannes Festival. The story of a young girl's adventures as she seeks to buy a lucky goldfish for New Year, THE WHITE BALLOON marked the emergence of Panahi as a new cinema talent. Panahi's 1997 film THE MIRROR received the Locarno Festival's Golden Leopard and confirmed the young director's promise. CRIMSON GOLD was selected in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2003 where it won the Jury Prize. It went on to win a number of best film awards and opened to excellent critical response.

BIG DREAMS LITTLE TOKYO
USA/2006/Col/DVD/83mins
Japanese & English with English Subtitles
Director: David Boyle
Film Note: Writer/Director David Boyle weaves together short vignettes about a young man living in Little Tokyo to create one of the year's most hilarious and original films.
BIG DREAMS LITTLE TOKYO is the story of Boyd. He aspires to succeed in the world of Japanese business but finds himself mostly on the outside looking in. Meanwhile, his roommate Jerome is a Japanese-American who has always felt too American to be Japanese, but too Japanese to be American. He aspires to be a sumo wrestler but finds his weight and blood pressure thwarting his dreams. Together they struggle to find their place in a world where cultural identity is seldom what it seems.
This charming and quirky comedy paints vivid characters and conflicts, finding the humor and drama in the disconnects of language and culture in the modern global community. -Lane Kneedler
Biography: It's hard to believe that even though Boyle was a student at Brigham Young University for a short time after returning from his Mormon mission, he is virtually untrained in the art of filmmaking. With a background in independent endeavors and animation, Boyle's strongest asset in his projects is the ambition and innovation that many other potentially bright stars lack. Working hard after returning from his mission to write his screenplay, secure financing and a cast, and finally film, the non-stop drive of this young filmmaker is what ultimately helped him to turn his dream into reality.

NO SWEAT
USA/2006/Col/DVD/54mins
Spanish & English with English Subtitles (part)
Director: Amie Williams
Film Note: Blasting the screen with sure-footed confidence, director Amie Williams has crafted a powerful documentary that shines light on the popular American Apparel clothing line and the issues that surround the U.S. garment industry.
An all-American tale about an all-American garment - the T-shirt - this documentary takes a wild ride into the bowels of the Los Angeles garment industry. Mostly undocumented workers at American Apparel and SweatX are offered better wages, benefits, even a shot at worker-ownership. But what's really behind the label?
Amie Williams follows her subjects with a seamless flow of kinetic energy -- weaving together day-in-the-life verité footage with interviews from workers, owners and buyers -- creating a vibrant, informative documentary. NO SWEAT is an evocative and riveting mosaic of the big picture that makes up the U.S. garment industry. -Shaz Bennett
Biography: Williams has produced and directed four feature-length documentaries: FALLON, NV : DEADLY OASIS (2003), about a childhood leukemia cluster in a small military town in Nevada ; STRIPPED AND TEASED: TALES FROM LAS VEGAS WOMEN (2001); ONE DAY LONGER: THE STORY OF THE FRONTIER STRIKE (2002); and UNCOMMON GROUND: FROM LOS ANGELES TO SOUTH AFRICA (1994). These films have won numerous awards, including the International Documentary Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Media Grant, the SONY/Streisand Award for emerging female filmmakers, the John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur Foundation Peace Grant, the A.F.I. Independent Film and Videomaker's Award, and a National Arts Council grant. Williams' other work includes numerous public service announcements and political ads. She directed award-winning campaign ads for Cruz Bustamante, the first Latino lieutenant governor of California, as well as other California election campaigns. She graduated from Yale University (B.A., English and Theater, 1985) and UCLA (M.F.A., Film, 1992).

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