March 1, 2010
Aloha students, friends and supporters of the Academy for Creative Media at
the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
STUDENT FILM SCREENINGS FRIDAY!
Get ready for another round of ACM student films to be screened Friday
(March 5), starting at 5:30 pm in Crawford 105. This edition of the ACM
Filmmakers Series will feature films from the editing and directing classes,
as well as some animation shorts. Thanks to the ACM Student Association for
their sponsorship (and they’ll have their ultra-chic t-shirts and hats
available for purchase), and Asst. Prof. George Wang for his coordination.
RESOUNDING APPLAUSE FOR ACM STUDENTS!
Congratulations to Kevyn Fong and Brittany Itsuno, whose films Jixiang
Junction and Lulu will be screened at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film
Festival, April 29-May 8. Both were featured in the 2009 Hawai‘i
International Film Festival. Jixiang Junction was made in Shanghai as part
of the unique SMART Exchange program between ACM and Shanghai University’s
School of Film and Television. Lulu was ACM’s first animated festival
screening.
Also put your hands together for the eight ACM students serving as interns
on The Descendants, the latest film by Alexander Payne (who gave a dynamic
Master Class). They are working in the camera department, AD department,
production office, art department, and wardrobe. Three ACM students are
interning at Talk Story Productions, reading scripts, writing coverage and
working in the production office. They are getting an in-depth course in
film financing. Once ACM student and one alum are interning with the
Hawaiian language ‘Oiwi TV project. ‘Oiwi is looking for their next round of
interns to start in April. Interested? If you’ve got a basic appreciation
for Hawaiian culture and language, contact Keoni Lee <keoni@oiwi.tv>
Congratulations to the Animators for their successful beach party,
bar-b-que, and sand sculpture animation. For information on the ACM
animation student club, contact Nak Yong Choi <kocknak@gmail.com>.
And kudos to ACM students Johnathan Walk and Travis Peterson for their
contributions to ACM Outreach programs helping kids at the Hawai‘i Youth
Correctional Facility and Elementary in their filmmaking projects.
AND FOR FACULTY!
ACM Faculty Filmmakers are also on the festival and festive circuit this
year:
* Asst. Prof. Joel Moffett’s Poi Dogs was an SRO hit at the recently
concluded Berlin Film Festival, and heads to the equally prestigious Tribeca
festival in New York City. Poi Dogs has been accepted at no fewer than 24
other festivals, including Vail, Ireland, Big Muddy, Sedona, and the L.A.
Asian Pacific Festivals. Prof. Moffett also traveled to the American Culture
Assoc. Conference in Albuquerque last month to present his research on
Indigenous Film.
* Asst. Prof. Anne Misawa takes State of Aloha, the documentary made with
ACM student participation, on the road to the San Francisco Asian American
festival in March, and she will be discussing the film as a case study in
teaching both filmmaking and cultural values at the Broadcast Education
Association conference in April.
* Asst. Prof. Konrad Ng, who is on the board of the Center for Asian
American Media (host of the San Francisco festival), will be involved in a
30th anniversary convening of an Asian American Media Arts organization, and
will also participate in a salon with the Smithsonian undersecretary for
history, art & culture hosted by ZeroDivide, a foundation dedicated to
community empowerment through technology and digital media access. He will
also be presenting a paper at the annual Assoc for Asian American Studies
conference in Austin in April.
* Asst. Prof. Linda Dorn will be highlighted on the OC-16 series “Hawai‘i’s
Reel Stories, covering the growing Animation industry in Hawai‘i. She has
successfully guided and mentored six ACM students as interns in the new
Hawai‘i Animation Studios, which has also hired two ACM alums full time.
Prof. Dorn also will demonstrate traditional hand-drawn animation for the
Hawai‘i State Museum’s “Second Saturday” event April 10. Her students will
provide some hands-on fun in character design, storyboarding, and
stop-action for this interactive event.
* Asst. Prof. George Wang will also be at the “Second Saturday” event for
some interactive filmmaking, and he will join Prof. Misawa at the BEA
conference, where he’ll be honored for one of the top Documentary
Preproduction Research Proposals, and for Best of Competition in Faculty
Interactive Multimedia, for his teaching website.
* ACM Chair and Prof. Tom Brislin is interviewed in the February Center for
International Media Ethics newsletter. He will be a panelist in the
East-West Center’s media conference in Hong Kong next month on film
criticism and emerging voices in Asian and Pacific cinema.
KIRK CASHMERE JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL THIS MONTH
The eighth annual Temple Emanu-el Kirk Cashmere Jewish Film Festival kicks
off Saturday (March 6) and runs through March 12 at the Honolulu Academy of
Art’s Doris Duke Theatre. All seven featured films are Hawai‘i premieres,
including narratives, documentaries – and a mix of styles. High on the list
is A Matter of Size, about four hefty Israelis who decide to become sumo
wrestlers. Later this month, the Doris Duke Theatre features From Bunuel to
Warhol: Modernism in Film, starting March 19 with the great John Huston’s
film Moulin Rouge. <www.honoluluacademy.org>
NEW: ACM SHOWCASE AND AWARDS
This semester ACM will launch its first ACM Showcase and Awards. Students
will be invited to submit their films for marathon screenings during the
Showcase April 30 and March 1. From those screenings a faculty panel will
select films for such awards as Best Narrative, Best Comedy, Best Direction,
Best Cinematography, Best Animation, and Outstanding Filmmaker. They will be
presented at an ACM Awards Ceremony that will feature clips from the winning
films. There will also be an ACM Student Association Audience Award. Some
award winners will also receive a small stipend to cover the costs of
entering their films into several prestigious student film festivals.
Details will be distributed through ACM Production Courses. Thanks to Asst.
Prof. Joel Moffett for coordinating the Showcase and Awards.
ASIAN & PACIFIC FILMS ONLINE ANYTIME
AsiaPacficFilms.com has launched its premiere collection of films on its
secure, streaming website. It’s unlimited viewing for a small fee. It may be
the best small investment you’ll make! That’s the website:
<asiapacificfilms.com>.
FESTIVALS, CONTESTS, ETC.
REMINDER: ALL ACM films submitted for festivals and contests must first be
cleared by Production Manager Gregg Ambrosius. No exceptions. See him BEFORE
you send anything off.
* Maui Film Festival, June 16-20 <www.mauifilmfestival.com>. Early Deadline
March 20, Final May 15.
* Ohina Showcase of Shorts, August at the Doris Duke Theatre
<http://ohina.org>. Deadline June 4.
CHECK IT OUT
The Sinclair Wong A/V Center now has a copy of Treeless Mountain, featuring
Asst. Prof. Anne Misawa’s award winning cinematography. See for yourself!
DVD #9268.
POST YOUR CASTING CALL NOTICES ON ACM WEBSITE
Your film casting call can be posted on the ACM website. Send your flyer as
a jpg file to ACM Production Manager Gregg Ambrosius <ambrosiu@hawaii.edu> a
week before the call date, and it will go up for all to see.
Remember, no flyers should be posted on the glass on the front and back
entrance doors to Crawford Hall. They’ll be taken down, pronto.
MAKE A GIFT TO ACM
ACM welcomes donations to support our programs, which support our students.
You can make a gift online at www.uhf.hawaii.edu/acm.
|
