Award winning director, Ken Ochiai will screen three of his films, “Half Kenneth,” “Lucky Lotus,” and “No More” at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2010. He will attend the screenings for Q&A.
Most notably “Half Kenneth,” a heart warming story about half-Caucasian/half Japanese brothers who escape from the Japanese American internment camps, has been selected by over 30 international film festivals all over the world.
“Half Kenneth” won numerous awards including the Best Short Film at the Rome International Film Festival, Governor of Tokyo Award and Best Short Film at the Short Short Film Festival which is the biggest short film festival in Asia and an Oscar qualified film festival.
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
http://asianfilmfestla.org/2010/
May 1 (Saturday)
Half Kenneth (32 min)
PROGRAM21 6:00 PM
Sunset 5
8000 Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90046
May 1 (Saturday)
Lucky Lotus (16 min)
Program17 10:00PM
Directors Guild of America
7920 Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90046
May 4 (Tuesday)
No More (3 min)
PROGRAM52 9:15PM
Downtown Independent
251 South Main St Los Angeles CA 90012
Half Kenneth Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt0CiwNlsd0
Half Kenneth Synopsis:
1942: World War II has reached American soil. Kenneth Handa, an adolescent Japanese-American, has been imprisoned in the Manzanar War Relocation Camp for three years. After his father’s passing, Kenneth hatches a plan to escape and find his Caucasian mother who lives just a few hours away. Things become complicated, however, when Kenneth’s little brother, Jo, joins him at the last minute.
Starring:
Avery & Hunter Dennis
Chris Tashima (Oscar Winner)
Sab Shimono
Director: Ken Ochiai
Writers: Michael Raphan & Ken Ochiai
Composer: Charles Bernstein (Emmy Award Winner)
Executive Producers: Yoko Ono Lennon, Hideki Yasunaga
About Half Kenneth: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1403175/
About Ken Ochiai: www.kenochiai.com
Ken Ochiai is the first Japanese native to win the Special Jury Prize from Directors Guild of America for directing “Half Kenneth.”
Recently he received Young Alumni Award from the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association in recognition of his achievements in filmmaking along with three distinguished honorees, Irene Inoue, Christine Lee, and Justice Joyce Kennard.
“Making this film was my way of expressing my gratitude and appreciation for those brave immigrants who have opened many closed doors and allowed me to pursue my dream in the U.S. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to come this far.” said Ochiai at the award acceptance speech.
Ken Ochiai made his first film at age 12. Immediately following his high school graduation, he left his hometown of Tokyo to pursue his dream of becoming a film director in the United States.
Ken graduated from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television Production and the American Film Institute’s M.F.A Directing program.
He has made more than 30 short films, commercials, and music videos and won over 10 international accolades. Ken also worked on Inception (Waner Bros.) as an interpreter for Christopher Nolan on Japan Unit.
He is currently working as a professional writer/director in Los Angeles and has a number of projects in development in Japan and the U.S including two feature scripts “Summer 47” and “Half Kenneth.”
A visually imaginative and bold director! – Frank Pierson, Oscar Winning writer, a former president of Writers Guild Of America and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences