FASCINASIAN FILM FESTIVAL PREPARES TO LAUNCH, VIRTUALLY IN MAY

FASCINASIAN电影节将于5月在线上启动

While it has been a difficult year for festivals and the arts in general, the stars have aligned for the founders of the FascinAsian Film Festival, who are preparing to launch their inaugural program scheduled for the weekend of May 28-30, 2021. It will be a virtual event, with a small but potent selection of feature films, shorts, and livestreamed filmmaker talks and a webinar, all with the intention of showcasing North American stories from the Asian diaspora, rather than Asian cinema (movies from Asia) to try and shed light on some of the perspectives of our Asian communities and help give local Asian filmmakers some much needed exposure.

虽然对于庆典和艺术来说，今年是困难的一年，但得到幸运眷顾的FascinAsian电影节的主办方，正在筹备于2021年5月28-30日的周末举办首届FascinAsian电影节。本次电影节将在线上举行，包括一些小而有力的故事片，短片，电影人讲座直播和网络研讨会，所有内容都是为了展示北美的亚裔侨民的故事，而不单是亚洲电影（来自亚洲的电影），用以尝试和阐述亚裔社区的观点并帮助当地亚裔电影人获得他们急需的曝光和关注。

In the first blog posted on their website, Festival Chair, Alan Wong, writes about how in mainstream media, the Asian-Canadian & Asian-American voice is still under-represented. “However, there are marked improvements in how Asian characters and Asian stories are told. The true diversity and range of how people with Asian backgrounds live is becoming more and more recognized, and normalized. Watching stories about Asians that are authentic, nuanced, and relatable, helps people discover what bonds us all as humans, rather than separates us as a specific race or ethnicity.”

在FascinAsian电影节网站发布的第一篇文章中，电影节主席Alan Wong写到，在主流媒体中，亚裔加拿大人和亚裔美国人的声音仍然没有得到充分的体现。“然而，在讲述亚裔角色和亚裔故事的方式上有明显的改善。亚裔背景的人们真实多样的生活方式和范围得到越来越多的认可，也越来越规范化。观看这些真实的、细腻的，引人入胜的有关亚裔的故事，有助于人们发现是什么把我们所有人都联系在一起，而不是把我们作为某个特定的种族或民族分开”。

With the rise of Asian stories as critical darlings (The Farewell, Minari), mainstream successes (Kim’s Convenience, Parasite), and filmmakers with Asian backgrounds establishing themselves in the global cinematic landscape (Deepa Mehta, Bong Jun Ho, Chloe Zhao), what would be Canada’s third Asian specific film festival (after Toronto’s Reel Asian and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival), FascinAsian is building upon a wave of support for the development of organizations dedicated to uplifting these voices.

随着亚洲故事成为评论界的宠儿（The Farewell《别告诉她》， Minari《米纳里》），主流电影的成功（Kim’s Convenience《金氏便利店》，Parasite《寄生虫》），以及有亚洲背景的电影人在世界电影格局中确立了自己的地位（Deepa Mehta迪帕·梅赫塔, Bong Jun Ho奉俊昊, 赵婷Chloe Zhao）。FascinAsian电影节将成为加拿大第三个针对亚裔的电影节（继多伦多的Reel Asian电影节和温哥华亚洲电影节之后），FascinAsian正在鼎力支持致力于提高亚裔声音的组织的发展。

“There is so much support for under-represented communities right now across the industry, it is wonderfully encouraging.” Wong says. “It is an indication that people everywhere are open to these kinds of stories, and that they do have an audience. Gone are the days when industry gatekeepers would dictate what audiences wanted to see. With the rise of Internet platforms and streaming services, accessibility is better than ever before and even the most niche content can be found. It has changed the game completely.”

“目前整个行业中对代表性不足社区的支持如此之多，这令人欢欣鼓舞”Alan Wong说到“这表明世界各地的人们都对此类故事秉持着开放态度，而且确实有受众。行业守门人决定观众想看什么的日子已经一去不复返了。随着互联网平台和流媒体服务的兴起，可访问性较之以往更加强大，即使是最小众的内容也能够找到。这已经彻底改变了游戏规则。”

With some high-level sponsors attached, such as the Canada Media Fund, ACTRA, the Director’s Guild of Canada, and the Asian Heritage Society of Manitoba, just to name a few, FascinAsian is poised for a successful first outing, in spite of the pandemic. In many ways, a virtual festival is a much simpler affair, with films being available on-demand during the weekend of the event. And if all goes well, the organizers plan on an in-person festival in May 2022, coinciding with Asian Heritage Month.

在Canada Media Fund加拿大媒体基金, ACTRA加拿大电影、电视和广播艺术家联盟, the Director’s Guild of Canada加拿大导演协会, the Asian Heritage Society of Manitoba曼省亚洲遗产协会等高级别赞助商的支持下，虽然受到疫情的影响，但是FascinAsian电影节已经为首次成功亮相做好了准备。从很多方面来说，举办线上电影节是一件相对简单的事情，观众们可以在周末活动举办期间点播观看电影。如果一切顺利的话，FascinAsian电影节主办方计划在2022年5月，也就是亚洲文化遗产月期间举办线下面对面的电影节。

For more details, please see the official website of FascinAsian Film Festival: https://fascinasian.ca/

更多详细信息请见FascinAsian Film Festival官方网站：https://fascinasian.ca/