Ciné-Asie announces its 2nd Annual National Portrait Contest being held on May 22nd 2009 at the Cinémathèque Québécoise Café-Bar, 335 Blvd. De Maisoneuve Est. from 18:00 – 22:00 pm (screenings start at 19:00pm)

Ciné-Asie’s National Portrait Contest is an annual event that encourages and supports emerging Asian and Canadian visual media artists. The screening of short films and video entries at this years event have been received from all across Canada such as Quebec, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. The theme for this year’s edition is Portraiture, and the presentations lasting anywhere between 30 secs in length to 10 mins, explore a vast array of topics such as youth, identity, belonging, nomenclature, history, family, heritage, sexuality, culture, distance, and community. These unique short-film submissions that range in genres and styles from dramatic, documentary, experimental, to animation, will be presented in a one & a half hour length contest program.

Jury members:

Yung Chang, Director, Up the Yangtze – 2009 Genie award winner for best documentary film.

Germaine Ying Gee Wong, Producer, Up the Yangtze (2007), Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001)

Malcolm Guy, Producer, Director, and President of Productions Multi-Monde

Liz Ferguson, Film Critic & Writer, for the Montreal Gazette

François Laurent, Director and President of the Cinema Students Association (CSA) of Concordia University

AWARDS

-National Award: $500 in cash made possible through sponsorship support from the Montréal Film and TV Commission.

-Quebec Provincial Award: $1 000 in value, Post-production facility rental & production equipment services, with a one-year membership provided by Vidéographe.

-Audience Choice Award: $500 in value, Post-production facility & Production equipment rental services provided by Main Film.

-Visual Media Artists Award for Asian & Canadian Women Filmmakers: $500 in value, Post-production facility & equipment rental services provided by GIV (Groupe Intervention Vidéo)

About ‘Ciné-Asie’

Started in 1996, Ciné-Asie is a non-profit arts organization that was founded by the distinguished visual media artist Mi Jeong Lee. The voluntary staff of Ciné-Asie is comprised by a culturally diverse group of talented individuals working in film, journalism, and the media arts industries in Montreal. Introduced by Ciné-Asie in 2008 – the National Portrait Contest, is an example of the value and commitment we share for supporting Asian and Canadian cinema and emerging Canadian talent. With various collaborations with other art organizations, Ciné-Asie has been able to perform yearly activities that include: monthly film screenings presented at the Cinémathèque Québécoise, scheduled workshops and artist presentations held throughout the year, annual film festival participation: such as the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal (amongst others), and our active promotion of Asian and Canadian Cinema carried out each year through print and new media. This year, with their expertise in Asian networks, Ciné-Asie has launched a newly incorporated entity called Ciné-Asie Creatives. Under this umbrella, they specialize in Co-Production, Sales & Distribution, and Location Scouting between Canada and Asia.

For further information, please contact

Heetesh Patel, Project Coordinator at heeteshpatel@cineasiecreatives.com
or Fatima Arkin, Communication & Marketing Assistant at fartimaarkin@cineasiecreatives.com

Tel: 514 544 5865
Ciné-Asie on Facebook: cineasieonfacebook@gmail.com
www.cineasie.ca