Docs

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IKEBANA 5 min • 2019 • Canada • English • Documentary

A Japanese-Canadian elder talks about her past, her Japanese identity, and what makes Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) different .

ALEJANDRO YOSHIZAWA is a filmmaker and Assistant Professor and instructor at the University of the Fraser Valley and the University of British Columbia . Specializing in documentaries, community stories, oral history, and digital media, his films include the award-winning documentary ALL OUR FATHER'S RELATIONS (2016) .

WRITER Kaz Takahashi PRODUCER Carolyn Nakagawa CINEMATOGRAPHER Alejandro Yoshizawa CAST Kaz Takahasi

A-YI 17 min • 2020 • Canada • English • Drama

world premier

After eight years of blossoming friendship, an elderly Chinese can collector finally gets the chance to communicate with her unlikely friends, a group of East Vancouver millennials .

MARTYNA CZAPLAK’s work spans across fiction, narrative, and commercial projects . Her latest film release was a CBC funded short documentary called A-YI . Surrounded by fellow documentary filmmakers in her role at DOC BC, Martyna is working towards directing documentaries with a focus of giving a voice to the underrepresented .

WRITER Martyna Czaplak PRODUCERS Gregory Czaplak CINEMATOGRAPHER Gregory Czaplak CAST Yang Sun Li

WE THE WEST

world premier

18 min • 2019 • Canada • English • Documentary

Filmmaker and Vancouver Grizzlies expert and fanatic Kat Jayme thought she was the only one still hopelessly in love with, and grieving the loss of, her ill-fated home team . That is, until she met other Grizzlies superfans Tony, Dan, Christina, and Michelle .

KATHLEEN JAYME is an awardwinning Canadian filmmaker based in Vancouver, BC . Her breakthrough documentary, FINDING BIG COUNTRY, has been programmed internationally by ESPN and ABC . She is currently working on her debut feature film, which was the winner of TIFF's 2019 PITCH THIS, with Uninterrupted and Bell Media .

WRITER Kat Jayme PRODUCER Michael Grand CINEMATOGRAPHER Michael Dinsmore CAST Christina Yes, Michelle Huang, Tony Knorr, Dan Bennett

HAYASHI STUDIO

vancouver premier

26 min • 2019 • Canada • English, Japanese subtitles• Documentary

Hayashi Studio follows the diverse lives that came to a small town on Vancouver Island in the 1900's, and Senjiro Hayashi, the Japanese photographer who took their photos . Hayashi used his lens to document every race, class and gender . During internment many of his photos disappeared, some hidden in family attics, others used to make a greenhouse . Almost a century later the photos were found and exhibited, showcasing a piece of Pacific Northwest History rarely seen—that of the diverse and racialized .

HAYLEY GRAY is a Vancouver-based writer and director . Her work has premiered at LA Skins and festivals around the world . Her documentary, HAYASHI STUDIO, explores the diverse history of British Columbia through the lens of Japanese photographer Senjiro Hayashi . She is currently developing her

WRITER Hayley Gray PRODUCER Elad Tzadok CINEMATOGRAPHER Kaayla Whatchell CAST Doug Aoki, Brent Hayashi, Sharon Hayashi

feature documentary UNARCHIVED with the NFB .

GET YOUR SCRIPTS READY as VAFF is proud to announce

THE RICHARD K. WONG FILM FUND (RWFF)

The RWFF aims to support talented Asian Canadian filmmakers and TV producers, to develop, produce, and finish creative projects that raises the profile of Asians in Canada .

Our stories are important and we want to give you a chance to tell it .

RICHARD K. WONG is a Lifetime Patron on VAFF . He was inspired by the story of WW1 hero, Frederick Lee, a machine gunner who died in battle at Hill 70 in France .

The Richard K Wong Film Fund will be available in 2021 .