24th Annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival

With more than 126 feature-length and short films and videos from 21 countries, the 24th San Francisco International Asian American Film festival (SFIAAFF) kicks off on March 16, 2006 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco with Eric Byler’s AMERICANESE -- a frank, provocative tale of love, sex and race in the adult world, and adaption of a novel by Shawn Wong. Following the film, the festival gets off to a lively start with the official Asian Art Museum/Cathay Pacific Airways Opening Night Gala at the Museum, where attendees will mix and mingle with the all-star cast, which includes Joan Chen, Kelly Hu, Sab Shimono, Michael Paul Chan and Chris Tashima. The Festival also features a Conversation with James Shigeta, Hollywood’s only Asian American male lead, and screens Deepa Mehta’s WATER as the Centerpiece Presentation.

After a week of films, special events, panels attended by filmmakers, film curators, and actors from all around the world, the curtain closes on the Festival with JOURNEY FROM THE FALL, the feature-length directorial debut from Ham Tran. This is the first major American film to dramatize the traumatic aftermath of the Vietnam War from a Vietnamese perspective. A Gala reception and the highly anticipated Festival Awards Presentation follows at the Palace.

For more information, visit http://www.asianamericanfilmfestival.org.