LINDA
MABALOT
Linda
Mabalot passed away on May 19, 2003 in Los Angeles at the age of 49,
after a short battle with cancer.
She
was the executive director of Visual Communications (VC) for over two
decades, Filipina American filmmaker, community activist, VC Film Fest
director (L.A. Asian Pacific Film and Video Festival), one of founders
of the APA Filmmakers Experience at Park City (annual event held for Asian
Pacific Filmmakers at Sundance) and a light of encouragement and source
of inspiration for many Asian American filmmakers.
She
has worked with many prominent APA directors such as Justin Lin, Gene
Cajayon, Eric Byler and Rod Pulido.
Linda
produced and directed such projects as the following projects:
Linda
advocated for the democratization of media in which communities control,
own and produce their truthful images. Linda
also believed that with access to the technologies and the delivery systems,
the voices and stories from communities of color will have an impact to
effect positive social change.
VC FilmFest has had a long history of
providing the first avenue for Asian filmmakers to have their works introduced
to American audiences. Many of these filmmakers have continued their craft
and have become very prominent artists in the cinema world. Important
and award-winning filmmakers whose films have been showcased in previous
VC Film Festivals include the following directors:
| John Woo |
Ang Lee |
Lino Brocks |
| Gregg Araki |
Mira Nair |
Chen Kaige |
| Wayne Wang |
Wong kar-wai |
Tony Bui |
| Arthur Dong |
Renee Tajima-Pena |
Keiko Ibi |
| Steve Okazaki |
Greg Pak |
Chris Tashima |
| Jessica Yu |
Justin Lin |
Eric Byler |
and countless other
independent directors |
ZHANG WEI QIANG
|
|
Zhang
Wei Qiang |
Zhang
Weiqiang, Johnny W. Chang, formerly Zhang Wei-Qiang, from the People's
Republic of China, joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet as Principal Dancer
in January, 1992. For the company's 1999/2000 season, he became a Resident
Guest Artist, in order to devote more time to international guest appearances.
Formerly
a Principal Dancer with the Central Ballet of China, Johnny toured with
the Central Ballet throughout the United States, to the United Kingdom
and the U.S.S.R. Previous to joining the Central Ballet in 1984, Johnny
was a Principal Dancer with the Beijing Dance Academy Ballet Company from
1981–84. He also trained there, graduating with top honours in 1979
and continued to dance as guest principal artist in Japan from 1986–
1992.
Zhang (aka
Johnny Chang) is the featured dancer (Dracula) of Canadian cult auteur
Guy Maddin's ravishingly stylized cinematic transposition of Royal Winnipeg
Ballet's interpretation of Bram Stoker's classic vampire yarn from stage
to screen. Maddin has forged a sumptuous, erotically charged feast of
dance, drama and shadow in Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary.It is
a Gothic grand guignol of the notorious Count and his bodice-ripped victims,
fringed with the expressionistic strains of Gustav Mahler.
DOMINIC
DINH MAI LUONG
Dominic
Dinh Mai Luong is the nation’s first Vietnamese American Roman
Catholic bishop. The first Asian American bishop is Ignatius C. Wang,
a Chinese American, an auxiliary bishop in San Francisco.
He
is one of 11 children, was born in Bui Chu, a town 45 miles southeast
of Hanoi born on December 20, 1940. He
came to the U.S. in 1958, when he was 18, to attend seminary in Rochester,
N.Y. Ordained in 1966 by the Diocese of Da Nang, he worked for a decade
in Buffalo, N.Y., before moving to the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
He is currently pastor of Mary, Queen
of Vietnam in east New Orleans and director of the National Center for
the Vietnamese Apostolate.
He
was based at the center of the country's largest Vietnamese population
when he was appointed by Pope John Paul II. (Note: He was ordained on
June 11, 2003 at St. Columban Church in Garden Grove, California.)
Luong's appointment also marks another
step in efforts by Roman Catholic officials to diversify the church's
hierarchy in the United States to make the ranks of bishops more closely
reflect the growing number of Asians and Latinos among the faithful.
His position reflects the rapid, one-generation
maturation of the Vietnamese American community within the Catholic Church
since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.
Even though the 1.2 million Vietnamese
American Catholics represent less than 1% of the estimated 64 million
U.S. Catholic church members - since 1975, about 350 Vietnamese American
priests have been ordained, the largest contribution to the vocation of
any ethnic group.
Over the last three decades, the Vietnamese
community in the U.S has coalesced in several areas, including San Jose,
along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, and in the Washington, D.C.,
area. But the largest -- and some say most influential -- population has
emerged in Orange County, where about 5% of the population is of Vietnamese
ancestry. The county is home to 141,000 people of Vietnamese ancestry,
nearly as many as the entire state of Texas, with 143,000.
Catholics make up about 8% of the population
of Vietnam, which is predominantly Buddhist. But among Vietnamese in the
United States, about one-third are Catholic, reflecting the larger concentration
of Catholics in the former South Vietnam than in North Vietnam.
The high-profile role that Orange County
plays for Vietnamese Americans led some to predict that Luong, in his
new post, will have influence beyond the diocese.
Luong
is predicted to be "a bridge between our community here, his homeland
in Vietnam, other overseas Vietnamese and other cultures."
NORIKA
ANN KARIYA
Noriko Kariya is undefeated in her young
boxing career. The 5’2 125 pound sister of Anaheim Mighty Ducks’
Paul Kariya, has been chasing opponents into corners, stunning them with
quick jabs and waiting to deliver her knock-out punch.
This 23 years old Vancouver native (who boxes 5 days a week at the sun-drenched
East York gym, K.O. King Boxing club, under the eyes of Brian Bynoe and
coach Donnie Clarke, runs 4+ days, weight trains and practices yoga while
working as a waitress at a bar/restaurant at night) is a 126-pound featherweight
who is 5-0 in less than one year.
Her early fights were so impressive that
seven consecutive potential opponents have refuse matches with her because
of her great had speed and tremendous punching power.
This budding athlete is part of the family
of Tetsuhiko (“T.K.” died in Vancouver on December 27, 2002)
and Sharon Kariya (who is Scottish) where all the siblings (three boys
and two girls/Michiko Joanna, Steven Tetsuo, Martin Tetsu, Steve and Paul)
are gifted in sports.
Born in a Second World War Japanese internment
camp to Isamu and Fumiko Kariya, he is the antithesis of the stereotypical
"hockey dad." This is seen in his parenting philosophy of “making
sure they're (his children) busy with good things -- athletics, dance,
music. . . once they have the basic understanding of what they want to
do then they can branch out and decide what they want to focus on."
Her college sports activities started
in field hockey where she became a two-time second team All-American player
at the University of Maine (she led the Black Bears field hockey team
in points during her senior year), where she has a degree in psychology.
Her past experiences in lacrosse, ringette,
basketball and track and field helped with her athletic success. While
waiting to decide on which sports she would specialize in, she was a stylist
and cosmetologist in a fancy Toronto hair salon.
Kariya got into the sport by working out
with a personal trainer who boxes. He introduced her to Clarke and Brian
Bynoe, a coach, trainer, and owner of the gym. They've worked out a routine,
and while always been active, Kariya now works out differently.
Her immediate goal is the national championships
this fall. After that, world championships, and after that, a shot at
a pro career. She's already the provincial champion in two categories,
notes Clarke — novice and under 10 fights — and he sees nothing
but promise.
STEPHEN
CHRISTOPHER LIU
Stephen Christopher Liu is the CEO of
Creative Interplay, which does strategy, business and venture development
for early stage companies.
He was previously the Co-Founder/President
of Reelplay, the leading B2B digital marketplace and ASP e-business solution
provider for the worldwide film and television distribution industry.
Reelplay was backed by a number of Silicon
Valley and Hollywood heavyweights that includes the following companies:
-
SOFTBANK Venture Capital
-
WaterView Advisors run by Frank Biondi,
Jr. (former chief executive at Viacom, Universal Studios and HBO),
-
CEO Pehong Chen of Broadvision
-
former EVP Universal Studios Howard
Weitzman
-
CEO Dominic Orr of Alteon Web Systems
and the
-
Wellspring/Idealflow Fund.
For Liu, Reelplay naturally culminates
a ten-year career in business, entertainment and community building --
a career focused on creating enterprises that make a difference, and helping
organizations and individuals maximize their potential.
Liu started out his career as a commercial
banker at Wells Fargo Bank, where was an Assistant Vice President in the
Premier Banking Group and responsible for managing a $60 million portfolio
of prime commercial clients and high-net-worth
individuals.
Liu
serves on various boards and committees of local community and entertainment
organizations, including the LA Asian Pacific Film & Video Festival,
Junior Achievement, East West Players, Loyola Marymount MBA in Media/Entertainment.
He is also the Founder/Chairman of the Asian Professional Exchange (APEX).
