Opening night delights
Film fest kicks off with cinematic, culinary treats
Monica Ly, staff writer
June 1, 2007

Photo by Joe Nguyen Kim Nguyen, managing editor of TheDenverChannel.com, served as the opening night emcee for the 10th Aurora Asian Film Festival May 31 at the Aurora Fox Arts Center. The night began with a showing of Ham Tran's "Journey from the Fall," followed by a gala featuring entertainment and culinary treats.

AURORA – Complete with an impressive dragon ice sculpture, the opening night launched a weekend of independent Asian and Asian-American film viewing for the 10th Aurora Asian Film Festival May 31 at the Aurora Fox Arts Center.

“Journey from the Fall” played as the opening movie followed by a gala at Fletcher Plaza.

“This was originally conceived by the Asian Pacific Community Partnership in 1997,” event organizer Jeff Seifried said. “The Denver Film Society chooses some of the most recent international films for this event. Every year, it’s grown in attendance.”

Before the lights dimmed and the first movie began, emcee Kim Nguyen stood up to speak donned in traditional Vietnamese dress.

“I didn’t know that I was going to be the emcee,” said Nguyen, managing editor of TheDenverChannel.com. “Since Christine Chang couldn’t make it tonight, they asked me to come. I’m Vietnamese, so that might also have been the reason.”

“Journey from the Fall” is a Vietnamese-American movie highlighting the gruesome struggle to gain freedom after the Communists take over the country.

“These are independent films from Asia or (made by) Asian directors,” Nguyen said. “It’s a one-of-a-kind film festival.”

Even though some people have been religious about attending this event over the past few years, others have only recently discovered it.

“My friend actually invited me,” moviegoer Janet Freeman said. “We went to an Asian festival held by Wells Fargo Bank a couple weeks ago.”

In addition to enjoying the movie, many people were affected by the content.

“Wow,” said Nimol Hen, an academic advisor at the University of Colorado at Denver. “That was so powerful and very nicely done. It’s definitely important for this generation to know about it. It’s not just for the Vietnamese.”

Nguyen agrees.

“I left on a boat in 1979 with eight brothers and sisters and my mom,” she said. “The only thing I can remember is being thirsty. This movie tells our story. I would encourage anyone to watch it if they missed it tonight. It was so powerful and just shows you how far we’ve come.”

These people, dubbed as “boat people,” left everything behind and risked their lives to make it to a free country.

“This is a pan-Asian event," AAPCP co-chair Edith Pasion said. "The city promotes it and there are small administrative sponsors. This is good because [Aurora] is a very Asian-American community.”

Pasion’s daughter, Jessica, took part in the dancing entertainment.

“We started that routine last fall for a concert when we brought three ‘big’ Filipino people over,” she said. “It mixes hip-hop and some traditional dance. The bamboo sticks that we used, or tinikling, is the national dance.”

Many people were working behind the scenes to carry out this event.

“Different cultures are represented here,” AAPCP member Frankie Anderson said.

Monica Ly is a staff writer for AsiaXpress.com. Monica can be contacted via e-mail at Monica.Ly@asiaxpress.com.