Asian American International Film Festival 2013: Documentary Overview

Beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, July 24 and running through Saturday, August 3, NYC’s AsianCinevision presents the 36th edition of the Asian American International Film Festival. The event, the longest-running of its kind in the US, annually celebrates the work of Asian and Asian-American filmmakers. This year, the festival presents more than two dozen features and over forty shorts from eighteen countries, in addition to workshops and other special events. Among its documentary feature offerings are a pair of Sundance alums: Evan Jackson Leong’s LINSANITY, making its East Coast premiere here as the Opening Night film; and Jason DaSilva’s WHEN I WALK, screening as a sneak preview.

Among the other docs on offer are Mona Lisa Yuchengco’s MARILOU DIAZ-ABAYA: FILMMAKER ON A VOYAGE (pictured), an overview of the late Filipino director, whose 1983 KARNAL also screens this year; Hua Tien-hau’s GO GRANDRIDERS, about a Taiwanese senior citizen motorcycle club; Megumi Nishikura and Lara Perez Takagi’s HAFU: THE MIXED-RACE EXPERIENCE IN JAPAN, an exploration of Japanese biracial identity; and Benito Bautista’s HARANA, a search for a lost Filipino courtship tradition.