FascinAsian, Calgary’s film festival that puts a spotlight on Asian Canadian and international Asian films, is returning this May for a Year of the Dragon celebration they’re calling a year of discovery.
Now in its third year, the festival has become more inclusive of different types of artistic works outside of just film as part of the mandate to help spotlight Calgary’s Asian communities.
“It’s always been our mission to provide a platform for Asian creatives to showcase their talent, and also to open the doors to people of Asian descent to see themselves represented on screen,” said Judy Eng-Hum, Vice President of the FascinAsian Film Festival Board.
The festival runs from Thursday, May 2 to Sunday, May 5, with the majority of the film screenings, director Q&As, and live talks happening at the Central Library.
FascinAsian’s opening film, Ru, is being shown at Fort Calgary on May 3. That film, which is based on Governor General’s Award author Kim Thúy’s book of the same name, was selected by the festival organizers because of the very personal journey of immigrating to Canada from Vietnam.
The opening night show will also have a screening of the Kjell Boersma and Thao Lam’s Boat People, which won the best animated short film award at the 2023 Calgary International Film Festival among other major international film festival awards.
“We open up with a lion dance and a dragon dance, then there’s the film, and then there’s also our gala evening with food. So it’s a whale of a deal for $15,” said Eng-Hum
Helping put a spotlight on Asian Canadians in filmmaking
She said that the festival was putting a new spotlight on Asian authors this year alongside their decision to show Ru as the opening film, with a return of festival favourite Ins Choi (Kim’s Convenience) to moderate a panel of authors including Teresa Wong (Dear Scarlet, All Our Ordinary Stories), Katrina Kwan (The Last Dragon of the East), Terry Fong (Princeton: A Love Story), and Chad Soon (The Longest Shot).
“In addition to that panel discussion on the authors [on May 4], we’re going to have showcasing of two short films sections that will showcase 12 short films. Some of the directors are going to be in Calgary as well, so we’ll do a Q&A with all of those folks,” said Eng-Hum.
“Our Saturday night film is Starring Jerry As Himself, which is a documentary made by Law Chen who will also be flying in from New York for the Q&A for that.”
Sunday festival showing will kick off with The China Clippers: A Tribute to the Legends Norman Kwong and Larry Kwong, a documentary that tells the story of Calgary Stampeders Grey Cup champion Norman Kwong, who was the first Chinese Canadian to play professional football.
“I think it’s a great story. Even Larry Kwong, people didn’t know he played in the NHL as the first Asian athlete breaking through the professional teams,” said Eng-Hum.
The festival is wrapping up with an awards dinner and gala at the Chinese Cultural Centre.
FascinAsian is also showing a pre-festival free film showing of the Past Lives, which was nominated for best picture and best original screenplay at the 96th Academy Awards.
“It actually screened at our Winnipeg Festival last year, I was able to get it and we did the Canadian premiere of Past Lives. But we couldn’t do it in Calgary, because the library didn’t have DCP projectors. So I thought it’d be appropriate to show it as our free film this year,” said Eng-Hum.
“We also partner with a library, so if you’re a library patron, you can actually go to the library site and get a free code, and all of the programming will be free that’s taking place at the library.”
Festival passes for the entire FascinAsian Film Festival start at $40, with a $75 all-access pass that includes snacks and an invite to the awards dinner.
For more details, and to purchase tickets, see fff2024yyc.eventive.org/welcome.
