Top Ten 72 Hour Shootout Films Announced

NEW YORK - July 29, 2023 - PRLog -- The top ten films of the Film Lab's 19^th annual 72 Hour Shootout filmmaking competition (the "Shootout") premiered on July 29, 2023, at The Asian American International Film Festival.  The films showcase new and emerging writers, directors, producers, and actors of color, with a focus on Asian Americans, women and other filmmakers of color based on the theme DiscrimiNATION: A Thousand Tiny Cuts.

Jennifer Betit Yen, actor and President of the Film Lab, said, "Filmmakers this year showed limitless creativity with films showcasing laughter and beauty through pain – it was so hard for the judges this year.  I think they wanted everyone to win!"  Shootout Coordinator Andy Lee agreed, noting that the theme of the competition required filmmakers to address the cumulative effect of microaggressions based on race, gender or sexuality.

The theme of this year's Shootout, "DiscrimiNATION: A Thousand Tiny Cuts," created the focal point for the top ten winning line-up of films which included:

GRAND PRIZE: Kevanu by Team The Chew Tube

1st Runner Up:  Tiny Cuts by Hannah So

2nd Runner Up:  Check by Team 3 Pieceus Entertainment

Remaining Top Ten Films:

Curb Bias by Team Not Doing That

Asiancy by Team Sedulous Films

The Plastic Smile by Team Troupe 6 Productions

Dent by Team Key and Fill

The Karen Issue by Team The Anti Karen Krew

It's Another One by Cho-Veri-Goo

Trinh's Tacos by Team Spiky Fruits

Individual Prize Winner included: Francis Chin of Team Triscribe - Most Original Use of Theme, Jenni Lo Pan of Team Rice Lovers - Best Direction, Ino Yang Popper of Team Fears of Joy – Best Cinematography, Sean Nguyen of Team Sedulous Films – Best Actor, Lois Shih of Team Spiky Fruits – Best Actress, Aman Bains, Amanda Chu, Jenni Loo, and Tasnuva Shehrin of Team Mango Mango – Best Screenwriting, Hannah So won Outstanding Female Content Creator for her film Tiny Cuts, and Bantay Productions team captain Jeremy Rafal took the award for Best LGBTQ Content Creator.  The top 50 films will be televised this fall as part of Film lab's long-running series, Film Lab Presents.  The top 100 films will be released online at www.YouTube.com/AsAmFilmLab.  Subscribe for free to gain access when each one premieres.

The Shootout is a worldwide filmmaking competition celebrating gender and ethnic diversity in film in which filmmaking teams are given this common theme at the start and have 72 hours to write, shoot, edit, and complete short films up to five minutes in length.
More information at www.film-lab.org (http://www.asianamericanfilmlab.com/72-hour-shootout/) and https://www.facebook.com/72hrshootout.