Dawna Lee Heising Interviews at the 2009 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

Dawna Lee Heising and John Cox of Eye on Entertainment on Time Warner Cable covered the red carpet for the Opening Night of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF).  Visual Communications (VC), the nation's premier Asian Pacific American media arts center, presented Tze Chun's “Children of Invention” as the Opening Night film on Thursday, April 30th, 2009, at the Directors Guild of America. 

Children of Invention, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, is the story of two young children, Raymond and Tina, living illegally in a model apartment outside Boston, who are left to fend for themselves when their hardworking mother, Elaine disappears. This latest predicament seems all too familiar to precocious Raymond who dreams of taking care of his mother and sister with the fortunes garnered from his inventions. Little Tina, however, remains oblivious to their troubles. Meanwhile, lured by promises of easy cash, Elaine finds herself drawn into another pyramid scheme, one that will jeopardize the welfare of the two people who matter the most to her, her children.

The 25th anniversary edition of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival will present 181 films/videos from 26 countries. The Film Festival will be presented April 30-May 7, 2009 at the Directors Guild of America; Laemmle's Sunset 5 Theatre; Downtown Independent; National Center for the Preservation of Democracy; and Aratani/Japan America Theatre. The 2009 LAAPFF will close on May 7 with Yojiro Takita's “Departures”, the 2008 Academy Award-winning Best Foreign Language Film.  The LAAPFF will also present So Yong Kim's “Treeless Mountain”, a standout from the Toronto International Film Festival, as its Centerpiece Presentation, and “Dim Sum Funeral” from director Anna Chi.

The LAAPFF is a key highlight of the month-long Asian Pacific Heritage Month activities.  Sponsors of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 25th Anniversary include: Official Vehicle Sponsor - Toyota; Premiere - Directors Guild of America, Gilead Sciences; Gold - Verizon Wireless; Official Beer Sponsor - Stella Artois; Official Domestic Airlines - Southwest Airlines; Government Support - City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts; Media Sponsors - angryasianman.com, KPCC, LA Weekly, and LA18.

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival presented by Visual Communications is the Southland’s premier showcase for the best and brightest of Asian Pacific cinema.  Since 1983, the Film Festival has presented over 3000 films and videos by Asian international and Asian American artists, and additionally features seminars and panels, in-person guest appearances and filmmaker awards.

Eye on Entertainment
“Eye on Entertainment”, a division of Eye on Excellence™ Productions, is a television program focusing on extraordinary individuals and the entertainment industry. The show is aired twice weekly on Time Warner Cable in Orange and Los Angeles Counties, and covers entertainment events and awards shows and features interviews with successful people in all walks of life, exploring the traits that they have in common. Dawna Lee Heising is the executive producer and host of EOE. Dawna is also Ms. Universe Ambassador 2009 and is a long-standing member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).  The show is produced and directed by John Cox, an educator in the film and video department at Orange Coast College.  John Alsedek is the director of cinematography and also works on movies for Robert Michael Conrad and James Nestor.