DCA APA Film hosts general kickoff meeting, announces plans to scale-back annual festival for ‘rebirth year’

By Aurora de Peralta

DC APA Film held its general kickoff meeting on Thursday, March 14 at the George Washington University Marvin Center. The meeting was an introduction to the organization’s current staff members. It was also an opportunity for new people to join either as executive staff members or as volunteers.

2014 will be a new “rebirth year” for the organization, said Christian Oh, the newly-appointed executive director for DC APA Film and former Kollaboration DC executive director. They plan to build the organization’s brand presence with year-round programming rather than focus solely on one annual festival.

Throughout 2014, the organization will host events such as screenings, panels, workshops and performances. They hope this will promote not only Asian American filmmakers, but also other mediums of visual work, performance, and creativity.

“I want us to be the beacon for Asian American creative diaspora, because it’s not just about filmmaking,” Oh said. “The main branch is film, but there are so many branches out of that. There’s music, there’s visual arts, the acting side, the singing side—I want those branches to be encompassed.”

To accommodate the year-round programming, the 2014 DC APA Film festival will scale down to a 3-day event rather than run for 10 days as it had for past festivals.  Then, for the organization’s 15^th anniversary in 2015, it will host a large-scale comeback festival slated for late April 2015.

Christine Dela Rosa, secretary of the DC APA Film board of directors, said that the organization wants to go beyond planning an annual 10-day film festival so it can reach out to a larger audience.

“If our whole mission is about spreading awareness and sharing culture, you want to do that with people that don’t normally get exposed to it,” Dela Rosa said. “Let’s possibly reach the Asian Americans that have never attended any of these APA-oriented events, or let’s reach out to people who don’t identify as being part of the APA community but are interested in a lot of this work.”

Oh, who announced his new role as executive director of DC APA Film via Facebook on March 12, agreed that the organization needs to expand beyond Asian Americans in order to strengthen the AAPI community.

“I just don’t want to cater only to Asians and Asian Americans,” he said. “The experiences we have are different, and other people need to know about them, or at least see things through our eyes.”

“Whether it be through music, film, or food, we need to be able to provide that.”

Ariel Tian, event attendee and founder of online jewelry boutique store, YunBoutique, had not heard of DC APA Film until this year. But, she looks forward to what the organization has to offer.

“I came here because I think what they’re doing is quite valuable,” Tian said. “Because of these creative, young people, they’re going to really make something. They’re going to bring fresh things to the community.”

Those interested in getting involved with DC APA Film can send an e-mail to admin@apafilm.org, or follow their Facebook page, Asian Pacific American Film – APA Film.