A tragic secret, a robber in love with her target, and a professional fighter are just a few of the fascinating stories that highlighted NewFilmmakers Los Angeles’ (NFMLA) May Monthly Film Festival, featuring its annual InFocus: Asian Cinema program and InFocus: Immigration programs.

The day began with the CSULB Animation Showcase, which consisted of a juried selection of student short films from California State University Long Beach’s Animation program across mediums like CG, stop motion, traditional hand drawn and hybrid approaches. Each film was a result of at least one year of work and development and represents each director’s unique perspective and creative vision. 

Next, the day continued with InFocus: Immigration, a collection of films that told stories of emigration, immigration, immigration policy and the experiences of being a first or second generation immigrant. Narratives included feelings of not fitting in anywhere, exploitative workplaces, being left behind when a family member emigrates, finding community, the life and death stakes of border crossings, and the effects that draconian immigration policies have on wider communities. 

The day went on with InFocus: Asian Cinema, a program that spotlighted Asian and Asian-American talent and storytelling in front of and behind the camera.

Stories included a fierce boxer misunderstood by her first-generation immigrant mother, a thrilling heist in urban Taiwan, a first-born girl in China struggling with the place in her family following the birth of her baby brother, an intergenerational story of one women’s seeking of an abortion in Texas, a hired tutor with a growing sense of unease, an aunt’s dilemma in the face of her sister’s conservative parenting, an exploration of the promises of skin bleaching through horror, and a poetic portrait of intercultural appreciation and grief. 

The day’s programming concluded with the west coast premiere of narrative feature Pure O, writer-director Dillon Tucker’s directorial debut.

NFMLA showcases films by filmmakers of all backgrounds throughout the year in addition to its special InFocus programming, which celebrates diversity, inclusion, and region. All filmmakers are welcome and encouraged to submit their projects which will be considered for all upcoming NFMLA festivals, regardless of the InFocus programming. 

Also Read: Superhuman Kombucha and a Secret Addiction Highlight NFMLA’s InFocus: Disabilities Program

NFMLA’s InFocus: Asian Cinema and InFocus: Immigration

Here is some information on the filmmakers and their films, as well as their video interviews with NFMLA Board Chair Danny De Lillo.

“Mukio-Name” directed by Bryan Ko

About Bryan Ko: A multifaceted director based in both Taipei and Los Angeles, Ko dove into the world of cinema at the tender age of 18. Known for his broad range of talents, Bryan’s interests span martial arts, street dance, piano, music composition, literature, and acting.

His journey in filmmaking began in film school as a composer and sound engineer, setting the stage for a diverse and creative career. By the age of 20, Bryan had set his sights on becoming a masterful storyteller, aspiring to be both a director and writer. His dedication to his craft led to the creation of his first 30-minute short film at 22, “The Lonely Time,” which delves into the profound issue of being an only child. This film achieved significant acclaim in 2016, scooping up numerous awards at film festivals across Taiwan and marking the start of Bryan’s directorial career.

About Mukio-Name: A female robber, undercover in a high-class bar, falls dramatically in love with her wealthy target, facing a dilemma between rescuing him and betraying her gang or sticking to the plan.

Watch the NFMLA interview with Bryan Ko director of “Mukio-Name”:

“Happy Ending” directed by Elodie Yung

About Elodie: Elodie has made her career as an actress and her film “Happy Ending” is her directorial debut. Elodie can currently be seen in the starring role of Thony in the hit Fox series The Cleaning Lady. Yung starred in season 2 of the Netflix series Daredevil and The Defenders where she originated her version of the Marvel comic book character Elektra Natchios.

She also acted in Lionsgate’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard alongside Ryan Reynolds, Salma Hayek, Samuel L. Jackson and Gary Oldman. She also appeared in films including Sony’s The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo directed by David Fincher, Lionsgate’s 2016 film, Gods of Egypt directed by Alex Proyas, and Paramount’s GI Joe: Retaliation directed by Jon Chu. After first earning a law degree in France where she was born and raised, Yung realized that she wanted to follow her lifelong passion of acting instead, which led her to enroll and later graduate from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA).

About “Happy Ending”: A young Cambodian woman, carrying a tragic secret, comes to America to seek a new life and support her family back home.

Watch the NFMLA interview with Jonathan Howard, the producer of “Happy Ending”:

“Stitched” directed by Lorena Lourenço

About Lorena: Lorena Lourenço is an award-winning writer-director from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She’s passionate about telling stories from marginalized perspectives that highlight cultural identity, immigrant experience, queer joy, and female strength.

The USC alumna had her short “Muy Gay Too Mexicano” licensed by HBOmax and selected for competition at LALIFF, Outfest, Inside Out, Out On Film, and others. Lorena’s Orchard Project’s workshopped series “Sula and I,” is produced by Mucho Más Media, having received initial support from Mark Duplass. Most recently, she’s directed an animated music video for MTV with Brazilian popstar Anitta. She’s currently financing her feature debut, What Ever Happened to Rosa Elena?, a queer telenovela thriller-comedy. 

About “Stitched”: When a South Asian immigrant woman grows tired of dating people who can’t keep up with her mutable cultural identity, she decides to “frankenstein” together the ideal partner.

Watch the NFMLA interview with Lorena Lourenço director of “Stitched”:

“A Roadside Banquet” directed by Peiqi Peng

About Peiqi: Peiqi Peng is a Chinese director living in LA, with a BFA in Film & Post-Colonial Studies from Emerson College and an MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute. A child fantasy writer who later studied Sociology, Peiqi does socially conscious female stories in genres like horror, thriller, and fantasy. Her recent short, “A Roadside Banquet” went to multiple film festivals, screened on KCET/PBS, and won awards at Durban International Film Festival, Cinegear Expo LA, and Macau International Shorts Film Festival. Before she became a director, Peiqi did script development work for FilmNation, Partizan, and Imagine Entertainment.

About “A Roadside Banquet”: An eleven years old Chinese girl turns into a feather duster at her baby brother’s first birthday party, soon after learning her parents only ever wanted a boy.

Watch the NFMLA interview with Peiqi Peng director “A Roadside Banquet”:

“Limite” directed by George Nicholas

About George: George Nicholas is a Bulgarian-American filmmaker born in Slovakia in 1987. His short films include fiction as well as documentary work and have garnered awards from festivals in California, West Virginia and New York. He has been living in Los Angeles with his wife and creative partner, Eliza Bonev, since graduating from Bulgaria’s National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts in 2011. 

About “Limite”: When 16-year-old Manuel meets a girl, he sees an opportunity to assert his independence, but what he doesn’t know about her will push him to the limit.

Watch the NFMLA interview with George Nicholas the director of “Limite”:

“The Old Young Crow” directed by Liam LoPinto 

About Liam: Liam LoPinto is an award winning Iranian-American filmmaker and animator from New York City. Between 2013 and 2021, he attended NYU’s Film and Television, CalArts Character Animation, and Waseda University’s SILS Program in Tokyo. His film French Fly was selected for CAA Moebius’ 5th Showcase, while his award winning short documentary Karam Camera was made in partnership with Karam Foundation focusing on empowering young Syrian refugees.

His debut film out of school, “The Old Young Crow” executive produced by Emmy and Tony nominee Arian Moayed and Academy Award Winner Rayka Zehtabchi, won more than 50 awards internationally including an Oscar qualifying Best of Festival award at Palm Springs International ShortFest, as well as Grand and Special Jury Prizes from Sitges International Film Festival of Catalonia, SCAD Savannah Film Festival, LAAPFF, and Chicago International Children’s Film Festival in addition to being an Official Selection of Cairo International Film Festival, AFI Film Fest, Stockholm International Film Festival, Dublin International Film Festival, Cambridge Film Festival, Nashville Film Festival, Omeleto, Vimeo Staff Picks, Short Of The Week, and Gold House’s 2024 Gold List.

He currently works as an Assistant Manager at The Moviehouse in Millerton, New York, where he contributes to special programming and screenings. 

About “The Old Young Crow”: An Iranian boy befriends an old Japanese woman at a graveyard in Tokyo.

Watch the NFMLA interview with Liam LoPinto director of “The Old Young Crow”:

“The Heart of Texas” directed by Gregory JM Kasunich

About Gregory: Gregory JM Kasunich is an award winning film, commercial and music video writer, director, and producer from Pittsburgh, PA. His body of work includes projects for Taylor Swift, The Pentatonix, The Summer Set, DreamWorks, Netflix, Disney, Lucasfilm, General Mills, DirectTV, Mattel, iHeatRadio, and many others. His editorial and celebrity portrait photography has been published in several periodicals. His films have been nominated and awarded in festivals the world over from Mammoth to Mumbai. He is currently in development on two feature films and splits his time between Los Angeles and New York. 

About “The Heart of Texas”: An aspiring singer songwriter collides with an undocumented worker on her way to a life changing audition. 

Watch the NFMLA interview with Gregory JM Kasunich director of “The Heart of Texas”:

“The K-Town Killer” directed by Vahan Bedelian and Healin Kweon

About Vahan: Vahan Bedelian began his career making documentaries on martial artists and has created commercial content for clients such as the UFC and PFL. His career led him to attend graduate film school at Loyola Marymount University. There he directed “The K-Town Killer” as his thesis project, a film which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. Much of Vahan’s work grapples with how violence is portrayed on screen, rejecting its use as spectacle in favor of a realistic tone. He also specializes in post-production and uses his experience as an editor in directing complex scenes in both action and drama.

About “The K-Town Killer”: A professional fighter hiding her career defends her mother from an abusive landlord.

Watch the NFMLA interview with Vahan Bedelian the director of “The K-Town Killer”:

“Party Favor” directed by Yasmine Gomez 

About Yasmine: Yasmine Gomez is a Filipino American writer, director, and producer of multiple award-winning short films, including “Party Favor,” “Terra Cotta”, “Asian American Jesus” and Hulu’s “Lea Salonga: Who I Am Inside.” As for feature films, she helped produce the Netflix documentary Split at the Root, the indie dramedy A Picture of You, and the dystopian sci-fi drama Advantageous. Recently, she produced for Vox Explainer Studio The Ellen Show and Beyonce’s Black Is King. In September, she debuted her latest play First Filipino at Bindlestiff Studio in San Francisco. Yasmine’s half-hour comedy pilot Fish Head was a finalist in the WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Screenwriting Lab and is ranked in the top 1% on Coverfly’s Red List.

About “Party Favor”: A Filipino-American woman grapples with going behind her strict Catholic sister’s back to buy condoms for her 14-year-old niece. 

Watch the NFMLA interview with Yasmine Gomez director of “Party Favor”:

“Pure O” directed by Dillon Tucker

About Dillon: Dillon Tucker is a SoCal multi-hyphenate. His feature directorial debut Pure O was nominated for the grand jury award at SXSW 2023. The film is set to be released worldwide by Good Deed Entertainment. He co-wrote and starred in Gina Cassavetes’ directorial debut Love & Skin. Tucker also co-wrote and starred in the features Uneasy Lies the Mind and That Side of a Shadow, both of which were distributed worldwide by Gravitas Ventures.

An alumni of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Tucker was awarded the Charles Jehlinger Award for best actor. In addition to filmmaking, Tucker is an accomplished singer-songwriter having released six studio albums. He loves smoky scotch, New Hollywood cinema and believes Bob Dylan is a deity in human form.

About “Pure O”: An aspiring screenwriter/musician grapples with Pure O, a lesser-known form of OCD, while juggling his recent engagement and his day job at a high end Malibu drug rehab.

Watch the NFMLA interview with Dillion Tucker director of ‘Pure O”:

“Of Silence and Song” directed by Leyi Dai

About Leyi: Dai Leyi is a writer/director of nuanced and introspective dramas. Raised in a traditional Chinese household, she came out as queer in 2019, a moment that deepened her understanding of the intersection between identity and experience. Her storytelling gravitates towards themes of power, voice, choice, and their absence, reflecting her own journey and those of marginalized communities. Both of Dai’s previous short films explore the complexities of gender and sexuality, and their profound impact on personal narratives. Dai is currently developing a feature-length queer romantic comedy. 

About “Of Silence and Song”: A pregnant single mother navigates a time when women’s body autonomy is in crisis along with her daughter and mother after her recent divorce. 

Watch the NFMLA interview with Leyi Dai the director of “Of Silence and Song”:

“Lovely” directed by Naomi Shroff-Mehta 

About Naomi: Naomi Shroff-Mehta is a USC MFA Film and Television Production graduate and award-winning filmmaker. After earning her undergraduate degree in neuroscience and starting in medical research, Naomi realized that storytelling was her true passion, and decided to pursue a production career in film and television.

After completing her MFA, Naomi worked in post-production at Walt Disney Studios and Harvard Medical School, as well as freelancing as a feature film editor. As a queer Indian-American filmmaker, Naomi strives to create spaces on her projects where talented artists from any background can feel nurtured, respected, and celebrated for sharing authentic stories. 

About “Lovely”: When Ria, a 16-year-old Indian-American girl, sneaks into her family’s grocery store basement to use skin-lightening creams to impress her mother, she encounters a mysterious woman who promises her fairer and whiter skin for life.

Watch the NFMLA interview with Naomi Shroff-Mehta director of “Lovely”:

Main Image: A still from “The K-Town Killer” courtesy of NFMLA.