4th New York Chinese Film Festival: November 5,6,7, 2013

The 4th New York Chinese Film Festival held a press conference on Saturday Nov 2nd at Golden Unicorn Restaurant (18 E Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10002.)   They announced that Vicky Zhao Wei, Miriam Yeung, Donnie Yen, Larry Yang, Wesley Wong will be among talent & filmmakers to attend the 4TH New York Chinese Film Festival November 5,6,and 7, 2013. See below for programming details.

Film festival Artistic Director Mr. Xinjia Wang, Executive Producer Bo Lin, and Chinese American Arts Council Executive Director Alan Chow at Press Conference (Golden Unicorn NYC)

With Alan Chow of Chinese American Arts Council (CAAC)

Join in the celebration as the New York Chinese Film Festival returns for its 4th annual outing of presenting the best in Chinese cinema. The 2013 NYCFF, presented by the Chinese American Arts Council (CAAC) and the Chinese Movie Channel, CCTV-6, will screen 7 new films from Hong Kong & Mainland China over the 3-day event, and will introduce such celebrated filmmakers and performers as Vicky Zhao Wei, Miriam Yeung, Xiubo Wu and Donnie Yen to New York audiences.

The NYCFF Opening Night film, Vicky Zhao Wei’s box-office smash So Young will be presented on Tuesday, November 5th at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. The remaining films will be presented on Wednesday, November 6th and on Thursday, November 7th at the AMC Empire 25 on 42nd Street and will be followed by Q&As with talent in attendance. The Closing Night Awards Gala will be held on November 7th, at one of New York’s most fashionable venues, Capitale.

NYCFF  Film  Schedule:   

November  5,  Opening  Night,  Alice  Tully  Hall    

8:00pm  –  So  Young     (Attending the Festival will be Director Zhao Wei)

November  6,  AMC  Empire  25  

11:00am  –  Sorry,  I  Love  You   (Attending the Festival will be Director Larry Yang, Actor Wesley Wong and Producer Hang Hon)

November 6, 2013,  AMC  Empire  25   

2:00pm  –  Finding  Mr.  Right (Attending the Festival will be Actor Wu Xiubo) 

4:30pm  –  Love  Undercover   (Attending the Festival will be Actress Miriam Yeung)

7:30pm  –  Love  in  the  Buff       ( Attending the Festival will be Actress Miriam Yeung)

November  7,  AMC  Empire  25   

11:00am  –  IP  Man   (Attending the Festival will be Actor Donnie Yen)

2:00pm  –  Special  ID      (Attending the Festival will be Actor Donnie Yen)

November  7,  Capitale   4:00-‐9:00pm,  Closing  Night  and  Awards  

For additional information, schedule, and to purchase tickets to all the above films (including Opening Night) please visit the Chinese American Arts Council site at www.caacarts.org or the New York Chinese Film Festival site at www.nycff.org

4TH New York Chinese Film Festival Films:

So Young (Opening Night Presentation at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, 8:00pm) – Directed by Vicky Zhao Wei. So Young is the debut directorial effort of the renowned Chinese actress Vicky Zhao Wei. It is based on the best-selling novel "To Our Youth that is Fading Away" by Xin YiwuIt, adapted by Li Qiang ("The Postmodern Life of My Aunt") and produced by Stanley Kwan. It is a film about the love, joy, and pain of a group of young students in their school days and their harsh confrontation with the realities and a lament on the loss of youth to adulthood. Attending the Festival will be Director Zhao Wei.

Sorry, I Love You (Presented at the AMC Empire 25. Wednesday, November 6 at 11:00am) – Directed by Larry Yang. With only six months to live, Walker decides to leave Vancouver to go back to China, where he was born and adopted and go look for his biological parents and twin sister. With the aid of Encai, a girl he once helped, he tries to find his family but they start falling in love with each other very quickly. With only six months to live, Walker will have to make important decisions to make his loved one’s life complete.
Attending the Festival will be Director Larry Yang, Actor Wesley Wong and Producer Hang Hon.


Finding Mr. Right (Presented at the AMC Empire 25, Wednesday, November 6 at 2:00pm) Directed by Xue Xiaolu (“Ocean Heaven”). City girl Jiajia is traveling to Seattle to give birth to the son who's going to help her win over her rich, married boyfriend. Armed with his unlimited credit card and the singular goal of bringing a little U.S. citizen back to Beijing, Jiajia knows how to play this game of modern love. But when Jiajia arrives in Seattle, nothing goes right: she's stuck sharing a small house with two other pregnant ladies, she has trouble reaching her boyfriend on the phone, and eventually, even the credit card stops working. To top that off, the only person willing to spend time with her is her driver Frank. Frank is the opposite of everything she ever wanted in a man... or could he be exactly the kind of guy she really needs. Attending the Festival will be Actor Wu Xiubo.

Love Undercover (Presented at the AMC Empire 25, Wednesday, November 6 at 4:30pm) Directed by Joe Ma. Fong (Miriam Yeung), fresh out of the Police Training School is only allowed to work on some trivial missions in the police station after graduation. Fortunately, she is soon assigned to work undercover as a waitress. She needs to get close enough to a gangster's son so that she can plant a microphone at a table where the gangsters make their deals. Complications arise when she finds herself falling for him. Attending the Festival will be Actress Miriam Yeung.

Love in the Buff (Presented at the AMC Empire 25, Wednesday, November 6 at 7:30pm) Directed by Pang Ho-Cheung. In this sequel to the hit movie Love in a Puff, former lovers Jimmy and Cherie start a new life in Beijing after they ended their relationship. Despite meeting someone else, they can’t seem to forget each other and are torn between fidelity towards their new partners and following their hearts. Attending the Festival will be Actress Miriam Yeung

IP Man (Presented at the AMC Empire 25, Thursday, November 7 at 11:00am) 

Directed by Wilson Yip. This is the story of IP Man, a legendary Wing Chun Kung Fu master set in Foshan, China in the 1930s. IP Man becomes a hero and creates a craze for Wing Chun. During the Japanese invasion, General Miura, a fanatical practitioner in martial arts, demands that IP Man teach Wing Chun martial arts to the Japanese Army, but IP Man refuses and takes up Miura’s challenge. A fierce fight is going to start.... Attending the Festival will be Actor Donnie Yen.

Special ID (Presented at the AMC Empire 25, Thursday, November 7 at 2:00pm) – Directed by Clarence Fok Yiu-leung. A cop and his team of comrades go undercover in one of China's most ruthless underworld organizations to stop a gang leader, only to put themselves in great danger after being exposed one by one. Attending the Festival will be Actor Donnie Yen.

The NYCFF is produced by Qi Jia, Alan Chow, Kaijie Wang and Kate Lin, and is presented by the highly successful Chinese American Arts Council (CAAC) and the Chinese Movie Channel, CCTV-6. The culture of Chinese Cinema has transformed itself in the past one hundred years becoming a major influential player in International Cinema. Established in 1975, The Chinese American Arts Council has gone above and beyond, expanding the existence and the culture of the Chinese Community within the city of New York. The CAAC’s main objective is to maintain Chinese Heritage both domestically and internationally in the greater New York area. Being the entertainment capital of the world, there is no better place than New York to present and display the latest in Chinese filming to America.

DSQUARED2 Show at Style.Uz Art Week 2013

DSQUARED2 showed at the Hotel International Tashkenton the second day of Style.Uz Art Week 2013.  The collection reflected the retro glam of the ‘50s. The setting was a tiki bar on the sandy beaches of a tropical island.  Women sashayed down the sand sprinkled runway with voluminous wavy hair sporting fun butterfly sunglasses and conical hats, while dapper men with black rim glasses wore smart suits with bow ties.   The animal print trend continues with high cut bathing suits in leopard and zebra print.  DSQUARED2, famous for putting on elaborate and highly stylized shows, brought their usual showmanship to Tashkent. 

Ms. Gulnara Karimova (founder of Style.Uz Art Week) and Designers Dean and Dan Caten.

Italian fashion house Dsquared2 was founded by identical twin brothers Dean and Dan Caten born in Canada.   The brothers design men's and women's apparel, foot ware and fragrances.  Their designs have been worn by the like of Madonna, Ricky Martin and Justin Timberlake. 

Style.Uz Art Week 2013: Kosuke Tsumura, Final Home Fashion Show

Koksuke Tsumura's Final Home showed his collection with a runway show at Style.Uz Art Week 2013.  Kosuke Tsumura is an acclaimed Japanese fashion designer, who in 1994 created the survival brand Final Home.  Its concept is "Survival - Protection - Function - Recycle".  The creativity of the Final Home also resides in their ability to use a wide variety of materials from filters to air conditions to 'akasuri' (a cloth used to scrub oneself in a bath).  The brand also designs other products such as sofas made form cardboard or candles made of chocolate.  I spoke to Mr. Tsumura backstage about his inspiration, which he said was the future and materials.  He said that people used to think that natural materials were primitive, but now new chemical and manmade materials are considered primitive.  Tsumura considers his designs as art and not fashion.

Final Home's jackets are multi-purpose and utilitarian.  When its pockets are stuffed with newspapers, they protect the wearer from the bitter cold. When filled with emergency goods, it becomes an evacuation jacket. 

With Designer Kosuke Tsumura

LORIS DIRAN Spring/summer 2014 "SAMARKAND" with GULI collection

LORIS DIRAN presented his Women’s and Men’s Collections for Spring/summer 2014 on Thursday, September 12th 2013 at the Dimenna Center for Classical Music in New York City for this September’s New York Fashion Week.  Known as a regular on the NYFW schedule for 9 previous seasons, this runway presentation marked Mr. Diran’s return to the New York Fashion Week schedule after a 2 year absence during which his collections were shown exclusively in Italy and Asia.

The Spring/Summer 2014 collection, entitled “SAMARKAND”,  draws its inspiration from Diran’s time spent in Central Asia’s Uzbekistan. From the deep, Warm Spice tones of the Souks to the opulence and ancient grandeur of its Mosques,

JSong and ...Way Spring/Summer 2014 Collection

The JSong and …Way Spring/Summer 2014 collection of easy-to-wear pieces in vibrant colors and flattering silhouettes, showed that comfort is not a compromise to style.

The color palette was a splendid and full of pretty pastels and bright colors, with appealing names that conjured up images of springtime picnics like green apple, honey yellow, and butter yellow.

Here are some highlights from the show:

The show began with a models in bold contrasting navy linen pantsuit and skirt suit with ice blue geometric stitching.

Next came some everyday looks, such as a versatile pleated surplice top that could be worn as front or back.

Layered pieces followed in a bright pink and pastel chiffon top paired with pastel pink chiffon A-line skirt and a layered citrus green & light green chiffon top with grass green classic linen pants.

Draped chiffon dresses in cream were pretty and romantic, as well as elongating to the figure.

We then traveled back in time for mod and chic look in the form of a orange multi color block dress and orange multi color block top paired with white pants.

One of the showstoppers was a white circle lace pillow tunic paired with beige linen embroidered with white geometric stitching, an unexpected but beautiful combination.

The show ended with an elegant long sleeved red lace dress that was reminiscent of the wedding gown worn by Duchess of Cambridge.

JSong and …Way showed a lovely collection of their signature embroidery and linen pieces, both feminine and wearable.

Article written by Alice Chin, also posted on 247feature.com and AsianinNY.com

Photo credit Emily Cheng/AsianinNY.com

With Scotland With Love "The Scottish Lion Meets the Asian Dragon Fashion Show"

I recently attend  From Scotland With Love's Cocktail Party and Fashion Show Fundraiser on April 8, 2013 at Stage 48. (605 W. 48th St, NY, NY).

Their annual charity event raised money for  The Wounded Warrior Project., which provides aid and support to injured service members.  This year, AsianinNY was honored to be one of the media sponsors of the Scottish and Asian fusion themed fashion show, "The Scottish Lion Meets The Asian Dragon". Here is a glimpse of the fabulous evening through the eyes of our AsianinNY reporters!

Celebrity guests, designers, models, and television personalities posed on the red carpet for photos dressed in Scottish and or Asian accented designs. AsianinNY reporter Alice Chin spoke to Megan Ory, of Once Upon a Time on ABC, who was excited to walk her first runway show modeling for Vivienne Westwood. When asked whether she was nervous, she said having her husband by her side kept her from feeling nervous. She had also practiced her walk before the show and received tips from her model friends.

On the other hand, the beautiful Kelly Hu, former model and actress, felt slightly nervous because it had been while since she had walked a show. Kelly had just finished filming in Vancouver, and is currently shoot for a show called Arrow, among her many projects.  

Designer Chloe Chen also posed on the carpet and told us how she was inspired by the Chinese garden window for one of her pieces.

As you walked around Stage 48,  you could see guests wearing a mix of Scottish kilts, Asian embroidered clothing, or Scottish plaid. One guest wore a black leather kilt decorated with an Asian dragon designed by his sister-in-law, designer Meredith Lockhart, whose designs were part of the show. Guests sipped on special drinks with scotch while being served hors d'oeurves of smoked salmon salsa and stir-fry in a mini take-out boxes. Jars full of Scottish chocolate caramel wafer were placed strategically at the bars for those craving sweets.

 

The fashion show kicked off with hosts Chairman Dr. Geoffrey Scott Carroll and Vice-Chairman Mr. Peter Morris introducing two representatives of the theme, an adorable lion-like Chow-Chow, followed by traditional dragon dancers. 

Gorgeous singer Baiyu Chen then captivated the audience with her soulful rendition of a Scottish melody. Dr. Geoffrey Scott Carroll and Mr. Peter Morris introduced special guest, Sargent Dan Nevins (ret.) US Army, a US Army paratrooper who had lost both his legs as a result of an IED in Iraq. He is now an executive with the Wounded Warrior Project.

Over 40 designers were represented in the show and plenty of stars modeled including athlete Steve Weatherword and Good Morning America anchor Josh Elliot. Some of the well known Asian designers who contributed their designs to the show included Zang Toi, Vivienne Tam, Chloe Chen and Grace Chen. 

Zang Toi walked the show wearing a velvet black kilt of his own design, while the first Asian supermodel Ling Tan twirled in a dramatic House of Toi tartan gown. The most exciting part of the show for AsianinNY reporter, Linda Nguyen, was to see special guest Arun Manilal Gandhi (Gandhi’s frandson) walk the down the runway stage wearing a special peace kilt .  

New York International Auto Show 2013

Photo taken inside Lexus