Features

A) Database Search Engine

A search engine will make finding information easier for researchers. Our goal is to be the site where significant feature films from Asia and Pacific from 2002 onward will be listed with fields of entries that subscribers can search. When the prototype is introduced, a selection of feature films from Vietnam, China, and the Pacific Islands will be searchable. Gradually we will add more titles from other contemporary Asian and Pacific film cultures.

Searchable fields of interest include

Title (in English and in its original language)
Director's name
Country of origin
Language of dialogue
Year of production
Length in minutes
Synopsis
Creative crew (writer, director, producer, cinematographer, music composer, editor)
Cast Production House or studio producing it with address details
Who owns distribution rights in what areas and how to reach these organizations
Director's bio/filmography
Awards and film festival participation
Photos Link and where to purchase or to download
Link to official website
Link to film reviews

B) Asia Pacific Film Festival Online

Curators from throughout Asia and the Pacific will select significant but rarely seen Asian and Pacific feature films for subscribers to stream to their computers. As subscriptions increase, so will the number of films available. The goal is to have at least six feature films available for subscribers by the end of the first year. By year five, the number is expected to reach 50 films or more.

The feature films selected will reflect contemporary issues in the cultures of Asia and the Pacific. It is particularly important to the site curators that feature films selected for streaming illustrate the influence of globalization on the diverse cultures of Asia and the Pacific. Also, the Asia Pacific Film Festival will give viewers an opportunity to study representations of cultures as well cross-cultural themes. Original materials developed by our scholars to accompany the films will add illumination in these areas of study.

The feature films streamed on the site will not be ones normally seen in commercial theaters or even art theaters. They will be "little undiscovered gems" that film distributors and even most film festival directors may have overlooked. Many will be award winners whose artistic excellence has been recognized. For example, when the prototype is introduced, there will be at least two award winners – one from Vietnam and the other from Fiji – neither receiving wide distribution.

Eventually, the Asia Pacific Film Festival online will include introductions to the film by Asian and Pacific film experts. These may include interactive after-film discussions where subscribers e-mail their questions to the filmmakers after seeing the film.

C) Podcasts, Interactive Discussions, Blogs

Podcasts with interviews with filmmakers and critics discussing featured Asia and Pacific films will be an important feature of the site. When the site debuts as a subscription site, it will have a blog and podcast created by Jay Hubert, a filmmaker and graduate student from the East-West Center and University of Hawai‘i who is attending the Beijing Film Academy this year. He will be giving us insight into what it is like to be an American student at the Beijing Film Academy as well as interview filmmakers from Asia teaching or visiting the Academy. Later he will be traveling to other parts of Asia as our "roving reporter" to survey the film scene as he goes.

D) Information on Asia and Pacific Island Film Cultures

Information on Asian Film Industries

The site will include pragmatic annual film industry reports by Asian and Pacific film experts, including at its debut, current information about China's film industry written by film critic Dr. Shaoyi Sun of Shanghai and Los Angeles. Dr Sun's report will serve as a model on what kind of current news subscribers can expect in the future from film experts. The reports will typically cover the following information:

1. box office reports, including statistics and facts regarding the number and titles of feature-films exported and imported into each film culture, along with other economically related film industry news, such as budget costs of significant films;
2. critical evaluations (cultural, artistic international contributions) of specific film titles or directors by noted film scholars or critics from Asian or Pacific film cultures;
3. lists of film awards from each country's leading award ceremonies or leading film festival competitions. This list will also contain awards won by Asian and Pacific films at festivals outside Asia and the Pacific; and
4. lists of major film festivals in specific film cultures.

Essays and Interviews by Film Scholars

The site currently features essays by Asia and Pacific film scholars as well as resource materials and syllabi designed especially for use in university classrooms. These provide insight into issues of globalization and representation as reflected in feature films from Asia and the Pacific. The materials are appropriate for use in classes in arts, humanities, and the social sciences. There will be video and written interviews with featured filmmakers to clarify cultural nuances and express the filmmakers' visions. This feature will assist in the classroom and also provide content for use by those working in media. The site also will offer a comprehensive selection of links to other important Asian and Pacific film websites that can supplement the subscribers' research.

E) Special Highlight

In order to demonstrate a commitment to expand with information from other film cultures outside East Asia, we introduce iFilm Connections: Asia & Pacific with a salute to Vietnam.

This includes a review of Sand Life and an excerpt from an award-winning book on the history of Vietnam cinema by noted Vietnam based film critic and author Ngo Phuong Lan. Her groundbreaking book, Tinh Hien Dai Va Tinh Dan Toc (Modernity and Nationality in Vietnamese Cinema) is currently being translated into English by NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) and will be launched by NETPAC later in 2007.

F) Archives

The "old" Asia Film Connections website www.asianfilms.org provided important basic information and resources about contemporary feature films from Taiwan, Korea, China, India, Japan, and Hong Kong not found in any other one central place on the Internet. This information is available at this site under "archives."