October turned out to be a milestone month for me as a filmmaker. Two of my short films were screened at film festivals right here in Seattle! Finally my friends could come see my work in a movie theater!
On Oct 1, my short film "Family Time" was shown at Northwest Film Forum's Local Sightings Film Festival. I had been to NWFF a few times before for various screenings, but I wasn't very familiar with it. Needless to say, I love NWFF now :-)
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NWFF cinema; group Q&A after the screening;
me with Adam Sekuler, Program Director; me with fellow filmmakers
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The screening turned out to be a nice collection of short films covering a wide range of genres and styles. "The Lost Van Gogh" and "Mother-in-Law" were successful comedies that kept the audience laughing. On the other end of the seriousness spectrum was "The House I Keep", a haunting reflection on the emotional trama that a woman continues to endue. "Howard from Ohio", a daring visualization of an erotic short story, was the eventual winner of the short film jury award.
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| "Family Time" starring Serin Ngai, Roxanne Alabastro, and Andre Alabastro |
"Family Time", adapted from a short play by Seattle writer Kathy Hsieh, is a bit of an odd duck, if I do say so myself. I was attracted to its offbeat sense of humor and eccentric characters. In adapting it to screen, I also created a double narrative with the main story of the family watching TV and the "background" story of what's on TV. The contrast and contention between the two narratives defined the dynamics of the film. Not everyone will necessarily like the double-narrative structure, and that is totally fine. In fact, that may be exactly what's interesting about this film.
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Many thanks to all my friends who came to the screening!
I really appreciate your support!!
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The upper-left photo shows me with my young actors, Roxanne and Andre Alabastro. If they seem a lot more grown-up than in the "Family Time" publicity photo, that's because it has been over 2.5 years since they filmed their parts in the film!
On Oct 22, my short film "Morning Before" was screened at the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival as part of the "Local Produce" shorts package. This film had entered two other festivals - North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in August, and Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival in September - but for it to be part of the Seattle festival was a dream come true for me!!
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"Local Produce" screening at Pacific Place!
My friends in the audience; "Morning Before" on a giant screen; Jason Plourde, Programming Director of Three Dollar Bill Cinema; group Q&A with the filmmakers |
Seeing my film projected onto a giant screen in one of the largest cinemas in Seattle - That was a treat, to say the least! Even more importantly, the audience reacted very well to it. This being the local short film package, there was a mix of technical proficiency among the entries, but plenty of heart and refreshing ideas. It also made a lively Q&A with a lot of filmmakers present!
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| "Morning Before" starring Ray Frenchmore and John E Olson III |
"Morning Before" was the first short film I wrote by myself since my early filmmaking days during grad school. As an intimate story about a budding relationship, it asks the question: What matters the most when we get to know a potential mate? The two men in the story had great chemistry after they met, yet when they started learning things about each other, things that have more to do with our external identity and relationships, they had to decide whether the romance was still worth pursuing. Even though this is a gay relationship that involves race-related issues, I see it first and foremost as a love story that everyone can identify with.
Once again, I had a great group of friends in the audience to support me. Thank you, everyone - You rock!! Special shout-out to Paul Hanson, who helped me produce the film, and Lawrence Lam, who composed original music. Filmmaking is a group effort!
