Presented by Visual Communications, the 35th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival will be on MAY 2 – MAY 10, 2019 at select cinemas in the Los Angeles area. An Academy Award®-qualifying film festival for the Short Film Awards.

Schedule of Japanese short films (click on a title for tickets, screening location, and more information):

5/3 @ 6:30pm: AN AMERICAN STORY: NORMAN MINETA AND HIS LEGACY – Dianne Fukami’s thoughtful cine-memoir about the life and career accomplishments of Norman Mineta, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Transportation, Mayor of San Jose, and 11-term Congressman.

5/4 – 5/9: HOMESTAY – The story of one Canadian family’s unexpected experience with a Japanese exchange student. Set in an origami world inspired by the Nitobe Memorial Garden in Vancouver, this interactive VR experience is a moving meditation on family, hospitality, and nationality.

5/4 @ 12:30pm: REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS LIKE THIS? – This grouping of shorts celebrates Little Tokyo and its many cultural institutions, yet keeps a wary eye on an increasingly uncertain future.

5/5 @ 2pm:

JAPANESE AMERICAN LEGACY ON WHEELS – The story of a unique subculture that sprang up in the JA neighborhoods starting in the mid-1960s. Rising prosperity and more cars available converged just as the post-war Sansei generation was coming of age.

SACRED RICE BLESSING – This film explores the possible sacredness of the humble grain of rice via ancient Japanese rites.

WALKING THE TALK – Ann Burroughs shares her journey as a young activist against apartheid in South Africa to the current President and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum and how her early experiences shaped her stand against injustice.

BUDDHAHEAD BREAKFAST CLUB – Older Sanseis gather as a alternative to meeting at funerals. Bound together by their shared youth growing up in Los Angeles as the right prodigy of the Internment Camps and the Vietnam era.

FLO’S BUS – For over 15 years, 77-year-old Flo Matsuda has organized LA-to-Vegas bus trips for her band of Hawaii-born, Japanese-American, senior gambling buddies where they share food, play Hawaiian music and dance hula. What they don’t realize is that this trip will be Flo’s last.

A DAY BEFORE I DIE – A memorial service gives way to a horse puppet dance, memories of a lost friend and pet, Japanese festivals, homeless wisdom, aging, and a celebration of life through a Japanese dance to remember the dead.

5/5 @ 7pm: RE-SCORED: A Film and Music Performance – Features the 1934 short film LITTLE TOKYO HOME MOVIES with footage of pre-World War II Los Angeles, including the Little Tokyo neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles Harbor, and the annual Nisei Week Parade in Little Tokyo.

5/7 @ 9:15pm: LITTLE MISS SUMO – Banned from competing professionally in wrestling, Hiyori will have to retire at the age of 21. Simultaneously juggling newfound revelations whilst preparing for the biggest tournament of her life, Hiyori is forced to question the reason females are forbidden from professional wrestling and why most women retire early.

5/9 @ 8:45pm: OUR MAN IN TOKYO (THE BALLAD OF SHIN MIYATA) – A short documentary about the struggles and obsessions of Shin Miyata, a Tokyo-based music promoter and record label owner who specializes in the challenging task of distributing Chicano music from East Los Angeles throughout Japan.