Quests, wars and romances are back this week at the eighth annual Atlanta Asian Film Festival. Every year, several award-winning movies from Asia are screened in select Atlanta venues, including Cinefest.
A selection committee of festival organizers picks which films show at the festival.
“We try to pick movies with a social awareness or conscience factor,” said Li Wong, the Organizer for the Atlanta Asian Film Festival. “Each movie carries a unique message.”
The premiere film, “Mr. Cao Goes to Washington,” tells the story of the former Vietnamese republican congressman of New Orleans, Joseph Cao, and his experience running for re-election in a democratic and predominantly black district.
“I have an inclination towards “Mr. Cao” because it sends a powerful message to our young Asian-American leaders here to be involved in politics,” said Wong.
As one of the only Georgia State students at the screenings, Chatman thinks that more work needs to go into spreading the festival news.
“I think students at GSU need to have a view of what is going on internationally and these movies are a step in the right direction,” said Asian Studies major Brandon Chatman.
“In the future, we’d like to showcase more films by locals,” said Wong, “especially films that touch on Asian themes and backgrounds, so that they can be picked up by other festivals.”
