Annual Asian World Film Festival Returns To Culver City

CULVER CITY — The third Annual Asian World Film Festival is set to return to Culver City on Oct. 25 through Nov. 2, the festival announced. The theme for this year is "Building A Diverse Community Through Arts and Culture."

The festival highlights films from 53 countries across Asia, spanning from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean to Japan, and from Russia to China and India, as a window to Asian world cinema, the organization said. AWFF works to draw attention to the continent's wealth of filmmakers while at the same time strengthening ties between Hollywood and Asia.

"It has been an amazing three years since the Asian World Film Festival began," executive director Georges N. Chamchoum said. "We are growing incrementally, attracting major motion pictures from across the Asian continent and audiences from around the world."

All films selected by their countries as Oscar or Golden Globes contenders are automatically invited to participate. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizes these showings as the required official screenings for their members who vote on the Golden Globes.

The film festival will include several special programs this year including the Korean Film Days. New to the AWFF will be the debut of China Film Days and Turkic Film Days, as well as a spotlight on movies from little-known countries including Yakutsk, Buryatia and Bashkortostan. In addition, AWFF will premiere a film from North Korea, the first time a movie from that country will be screened in the Western United States.

The festival will begin on Wednesday, Oct. 25 with an Opening Night reception and dinner at The Culver Hotel. The festival's closing night will take place on Thursday, Nov. 2 with a centerpiece screening and event on Saturday, Oct. 28.

Several special awards will be handed out during the festival, including the Cinematic Achievement Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award and a Rising Star Award, in addition to a selection of jury awards.

The films will be screened at the Arclight Cinema in Downtown Culver City.

Photo courtesy of AWFF