So something I’ve been working on throughout the year is now a few short weeks away from happening, and in this announcement, there are multiple components to it. Allow me to walk you through them:
For those who read my writing on the other sites I contribute to and/or follow me on social media, you might recall how a year ago, I joined the team over at Mixed Asian Media (MAM for short). Formerly known as Hapa Mag, it’s an online lifestyle outlet devoted to exploring the nuanced experiences of people who are of partial Asian and/or Pacific Islander descent. I’ve been a fan of the quarterly publication since its inception in 2017, and so to be recruited to join the team was truly an honor and a pleasure.
Little did I expect at the time of recruitment that I would eventually be applying skill sets from my day job into making an idea of the chief editor, Alex Chester, a reality: a creative festival for mixed APIs. And hence, Mixed Asian Media Fest (MAM Fest) was born.
Now just to be clear, MAM Fest is not a film festival. Although films play a large part of what we have lined up, it’s not the sole focus of what you’ll find throughout its five-day duration. With MAM’s roots in the theatre community, there will also be theatrical productions available to watch, as well as new media, episodes of shows, and more.
As the director of programming for MAM Fest, it’s been a grueling yet cathartic experience to be overseeing what stories will be shared in the first of hopefully many more festivals to come, in celebration of this often overlooked intersection of the API community. I’m quite proud of what we – the team behind the festival – have been creating throughout the past eight months, and to be that much closer from the rest of the world getting to experience it is truly exciting.
Due to the pandemic, MAM Fest will be an entirely virtual festival, with no geoblocking to worry about. However, there is hope for there to be opportunities for in-person events in future installments of this festival.
As I mentioned at the head of this announcement, there are multiple components to it; specifically regarding my involvement. Aside from overseeing its programming as well as being the moderator for some of our Q&As, there’s more.
MAM Fest will also be having the inaugural MAM Labs. Produced by Blended Future Project, it’s a day-long writers intensive for a selected number of screenwriters and playwrights to receive feedback on their works-in-progress. It is an honor to be one of the mentors to be involved in this intensive, and I’m looking forward to working with the selected pool of writers on developing their stories.
Just when you think that that wasn’t enough, there’s one more component to this announcement that I’m thrilled to share. MAM is comprised of a wide variety of creatives. Aside from running both an online publication and a festival, some of us are actors, others are dancers, singer-songwriters, and in my instance, creative writers. It’s because so many of us have our own creative skills that one of the on-demand programs we will have featured will be dedicated to works we’ve created (which, by the way, will not be eligible for any awards).
It’s been a couple of months since I revealed that “Interview with an Aswang” has been made into a short film. Well, if you didn’t get to see the Zoom play version of it when it played back in February, then you’ll be happy to hear that the film adaptation has been included in this program.
Please go check it out, as well as all the other amazing programs we have lined up. Tickets are now available for $25. MAM Fest will be happening from Wednesday September 15th-Sunday September 19th.
Lola By The Bay 
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