The 4th Annual Asian World Film Festival Set for Oct 24 - Nov 1

The 4th Annual Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) will once again be held in Culver City, with opening night scheduled for Wednesday, October 24, 2018 and closing night Thursday, November 1, it was announced today by the film festival's Executive Director, Georges N. Chamchoum. This year's theme will focus on the female empowerment.

"It has been an amazing four years since the Asian World Film Festival began," said Chamchoum. "We are growing incrementally, attracting major motion pictures from across the Asian continent and audiences from around the world. We are proud to honor filmmakers for their cinematic portrayals giving us unique windows into their worlds."

This year AWFF will also spotlight the achievements of women "because of their ongoing contribution and impact in World Cinema since the Silent Era," adds Chamchoum. "We look forward to another successful milestone year!"

Considered the window to Asian world cinema, the film festival CHAMPIONS films from more than 50 countries across Asia, spanning from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean to Japan, and from Russia to China and India. AWFF draws greater recognition to the region's wealth of filmmakers while strengthening ties between the Asian and Hollywood film industries.

All films selected by their countries as Oscar® or Golden Globes® contenders are automatically invited to participate. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizes these showings as the required official screenings for their members who vote on the Golden Globes.

The film festival will include its Signature Screening Series including the very successful Korea Film Days; China Film Days, presented in partnership with MoRedii; and Asian American Film Days, presented in partnership with CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment). New to the AWFF will be the début of the Arab Film Festival Days and the Martial Arts Day. Additional events will be confirmed at a later date.

AWFF will begin on Wednesday, October 24 with an Opening Night reception and dinner at The Culver Hotel. The festival's closing night will take place on Thursday, November 1. All films will be screened at the Arclight Cinema in Downtown Culver City. Several special awards will be handed out during the festival, including the Cinematic Achievement Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award and a Rising Star Award, in addition to a selection of jury awards.

AWFF was founded by Sadyk Sher-Niyaz, chairman and Kyrgyzstan filmmaker. The Asian World Film Festival is produced by Aitysh USA, a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit. The Festival's Advisory and Honorary Boards consist of industry leaders and cultural representatives from around the world, including Bobby Moresco, Oscar-winning writer, producer and director; David Seidler, Oscar-winning screenwriter; Heather Rae, Oscar-nominated producer/actress; Lauren Tom, Obie -winning actress; Andre Morgan, producer; Mario Kassar, producer; Teddy Zee, producer; Jean-Marc Vallee, award-winning director; Jeremy Kagan, Emmy®-winning director; Imran Khan, Indian actor; Amin Maalouf, author; David Henry Hwang, Tony®-winner and Pulitzer® Prize finalist; Kevin James, director and chief film liaison, Mayor's Office, City of Los Angeles; Antonio Villaraigosa, former Mayor of Los Angeles; Lucy Liu, Award-winning actress; Ming-Na Wen, Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated actress; and Janet Yang, Golden Globe & Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated producer.

ABOUT THE ASIAN WORLD FILM FESTIVAL:

The Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) brings the best of a broad selection of Asian World cinema to Los Angeles to draw greater recognition to the region's wealth of filmmakers, strengthening ties between the Asian and Hollywood film industries. Uniting through cross-cultural collaboration, our festival CHAMPIONS films from 51 countries across Asia spanning from Turkey to Japan and Russia to India and the Middle East. All films that participate in the Festival will have a unique chance to be guided through the challenging awards season, showcasing their foreign films to the Motion Picture Academy, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and all Guilds for enhanced exposure, media attention and awards consideration. AWFF is a non-profit organization under Aitysh USA. www.AsianWorldFilmFest.org

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