The Camden International Film Festival took place in Maine from September 17-20 and Steering Committee member Jason Rhee has the lowdown on his experience. 

Jason Rhee is a Korean American writer and filmmaker based in Chicago. After a decade in comedy at institutions like The Onion, Conan, and Second City, Jason is working on a feature documentary about the “Korean Magic Johnson” supported by BAVC, Catapult, CNN/Film Independent, CAAM, Southern Doc Fund and more.

“A few weeks ago, I had the absolute pleasure of attending the Camden International Film Festival through the BAVC MediaMakers Fellowship. It’s no easy feat to get to Camden, Maine, but that’s part of the charm of being at the festival, surrounded by other filmmakers and industry professionals who traversed hundreds of miles just to get to this sleepy town. 

The Points North Institute does a great job of inviting a wide array of workers within the documentary landscape, from veteran and newer filmmakers to journalists to value-aligned organizational leaders. Anchored by their local audiences, as well as artist programs like the Points North Fellowship, 4th World Media Lab, and others, the festival becomes a place where artists can come together to share their projects and receive support for the important stories that they are trying to tell. 

What was special about this weekend was seeing Asian filmmakers in attendance who were screening their films and working on projects that explored the multi-faceted lives and dimensions of our Asian identity. “

Here at A-Doc, we love to spotlight folks of our community:

• Congratulations to director Nông Nhật Quang and producer & fellow A-Doc member Sarah Kang for their U.S. premiere of their feature documentary debut BABY JACKFRUIT BABY GUAVA. Winner of the Special Jury Award at Visions du Réel and most recently Best of Fests at IDFA, this film will have its Asian premiere at the Busan International Film Festival.
  
  
• Congrats as well to director Advik Beni and producer & CIFF programmer Nehal Vyas for their North American premiere of MOTHER, YOU HAVE NOT DIED YET. BUT YOU WILL. AND WHEN YOU DO, YOU WILL FINALLY BE ALIVE AGAIN. You can view the trailer here and read Advik’s interview with Fid Marseille about the film and its exploration of grief.
  
  
• The world premiere of WINDOWS OF TIME  co-directed by A-Doc member Cyrus Moussavi and Hubert Taylor, took place at Camden. An ITVS-supported film, be sure to check out the beautiful archival footage and soundtrack featured in this decades-long project.
  
  
• Two short films that had their world premiere are RIVER, directed by Emily Cohen Ibañez and produced by A-Doc member Adina Luo, and SO GOD MADE AN OIL WORKER directed by Jeanne Zhen Zhang.
  
  
• ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM, with editor Lynn True, and TO HOLD A MOUNTAIN, with executive producer Jean Tsien, continued their successful festival tours with a stop in Maine. 
  
  
• A-Doc members also participated in the Points North fellowship that culminated in the Points North Pitch, one of the highlight events of the festival. Congratulations to Nesa Azimi with the project CHOREOGRAPHY OF A TYRANT and Kanitha Heng Snow with their personal film KAMNOP: A TREASURE IS WAITING FOR YOU. 
  
  
• This year’s cohort for the BAVC MediaMakers fellowship, led by co-directors Jin Yoo-Kim and Dawn Valadez, attended Camden with their projects, including Sara Yang who is developing KUNIMORI, a feature documentary about a pioneer modern dancer. 
  
  
• A-Doc member and BAVC editing consultant Kristina Motwani was present with a film that she is editing with director Erika Cohn called the UNTITLED EAR HUSTLE FILM.
  
  
• This year’s LEF/CIFF Fellowship, a New England artist program in collaboration between LEF Foundation and Points North, includes projects like PATRIMONY directed by Musa Syeed (Current CAAM mentor) and produced by Razi Jafri.