Asian World Film Festival

In May 2022, in association with many other Asian-American organizations, the Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) will be celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month (AAPIHM) by hosting a special screening of multi-award-winning comedy/drama The Farewell, which will take place at the TCL Chinese Theater, Hollywood Boulevard on May 19. The film, written and directed by AWFF Advisory Board member Lulu Wang, stars Awkwafina (who received the AWFF's 2018 Rising Star Award), and AWFF Honorary Board member Tzi Ma.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) received the Angel Benefactor Award from the Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) in the festival’s closing night gala held November 11, 2021 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. HFPA President Helen Hoehne and member Lena Basse, who served as the president of the jury for the short film category at the AWFF, accepted the award on behalf of the Association.

Four HFPA members – Lena Basse, Yukiko Nakajima, Janet Nepales and Ruben Nepales – answered that question and discussed related matters, including recent reforms to the Association, in a panel discussion presented by the Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) in conjunction with its November festival program. Rick Ambros, a media and entertainment consultant and producer, moderated the forum, part of AWFF’s series of panel discussions,  held in person at the Landmark Theatres in Los Angeles.

It’s that time of the year, when Hollywood pays renewed attention to Asian cinema thanks to the Asian World Film Festival, now celebrating its 7th edition and steadily growing thanks to the tireless efforts of West African-born, Lebanon and France-educated Georges N. Chamchoum, the Festival's Executive and Program Director.

The HFPA met Oliver Stone in Nursultan, Kazakhstan, and later at the Rome Film Fest in October to talk about his involvement in the new documentary Qazaq: History of the Golden Man, which is now showing at the Asian World Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film, available both as a feature-length version and as a six-hour series, is written, directed and produced by Igor Lopatonok, and Stone figures as the interviewer of Kazakhstan's former President, considered the founder of the country, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the larger-than-life and controversial subject of this intriguing project with the music score composed by Golden Globe nominee Carlo Siliotto.

Once again, the Arclight Cinemas in Culver City hosted the Asian World Film Festival (AWFF), November 6-14, 2019. Now in its 5th edition, AWFF featured films from more than 50 countries from the entire Asian continent, from the Middle East to Japan, Russia to South-East Asia.

For 76 years the HFPA has been comprised of film journalist reporting on Hollywood for publications in their home countries. But through the years some members have also worked in the industry.

The 4th edition of the Asian World Film Festival opened at the Arclight in Culver City, boasting a collection of new films from over 50 Asian countries. The unique feature of the festival is that all films are official Oscar and/or Golden Globe entries.