San Francisco Global Vietnamese Film Festival 2013

2013 San Francisco Global Vietnamese Film Festival. Photo by Coy Tran

Tonight some of our film festival staff will be at Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 5:30-8:30 pm, for an Open House and to meet (again) their new Executive Director, Tamiko Wong! Be sure to drop by if you are in Oakland!

Some of our festival staff will be at the Frameline + CAAMFEST meet up tonight at the QBar at 456 Castro St, San Francisco, California (5-7 pm). See you there!

Celebrating the last night of API Heritage Month together! API Circle Celebration Friday, May 31, 2013 6pm - 9pm... One Ferry Plaza, San Francisco (behind the Ferry Building - close to Embarcadero BART/Muni) Free PLEASE JOIN!

Festival director Julie Thi Underhill at our Opening Night Gala at Artists' Television Access ... April 26, 2013.

Ravi Chandra, psychiatrist and writer, on STATELESS, which screened yesterday at the San Francisco Global Vietnamese Film Festival: "Duc Nguyen and Mai-Phuong Nguyen's STATELESS was a captivating follow up to BOLINAO 52. Their strong effort captures an important chapter in the refugee saga, the story of 1600 refugees who landed in the Phillippines just after the arbitrary UN cutoff of refugee status in 1989. These people had to wait 16 years to finally become part of any nati...on. I was especially riveted by the actions of a Vietnamese Australian lawyer who became their strident supporter, leaving his job in Australia to work on their behalf, finally lobbying governments for assistance. Also riveting were the stories of the film's director and producer as they became involved in educating immigration officials through their film. I hope these latter stories becomes at least a DVD extra, if not part of the final film! Thank you!" See more

Genny Lim, acclaimed poet, playwright, and performer, writes of our film festival: "San Francisco Global Vietnamese Film Festival: The Little Festival with a Big Heart. A small gem has taken its place among our burgeoning landscape of film fests. In its second year only, its small group of volunteers have managed to gather an impressive list of films that show substance and meaning. I caught Canadian Vietnamese Cuong Ngo's, fascinating Pearls of the Far East, last night at ...the Roxy. This collection of vignettes are woven together like a string of pearls, which explore each of its characters' search for love and relationship in a tapestry of dreamscapes that seem to exist more in the psyche than in real physical space. The slow, floating images and lonely characters haunt you long after they disappear from the frame and what remains is the feeling of yearning and emptiness that the film succeeds in touching in each of us. Be sure not to miss next year's Vietnamese Film Festival!"

Our Q&A with guest filmmakers Tony Nguyen, Duc Nguyen, and Vit Lê, moderated by festival director Julie Thi Underhill, on Saturday April 27 at the Roxie Theater. Please join us at 2:30pm today for a special sneak preview screening of Duc Nguyen's STATELESS, introduced by Duc Nguyen. For more information or to purchase advanced tickets:... http://www.eventbrite.com/myevent?eid=6074389663

After an excellent Opening Night Gala and first day of festival--including an insightful Q&A with our guest directors Tony Nguyen, Duc Nguyen, and Vit Lê and a very engaged audience--we are excited by the films for our second day of the San Francisco Global Vietnamese Film Festival. In the Bay Area? PLEASE COME! We have an AMAZING line-up in our program, and our featured directors deserve the support. Meet us TODAY down at the Roxie in the Mission!

Thank you, Valerie Soe, for your shout out to our festival, in your blog Beyond Asiaphilia! We appreciate your spreading the word!

Trn Anh Hùng on NORWEGIAN WOOD: "What I like about the book is the fact that it’s about young people, about love, about lust, about mourning, and about sorrow There is a sense of melancholy, which you can feel from beginning to end.

Thank you CHERYL EDDY of the SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN for the press coverage in this week's print edition!

An interview with the festival coordinators! Check it out!