Minya "Miss Info" Oh of Hot 97 is hosting "Rebuilding the Bridge: New York to Sichuan", a benefit to raise awareness and dollars for disaster relief funds to help rebuild China's Sichuan region after one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent memory.

Minya "Miss Info" Oh of Hot 97 is hosting "Rebuilding the Bridge: New York to Sichuan", a benefit evening of performances featuring Ryan Leslie, J Lim, Beau Sia, Andrew Choi and others on Saturday, July 12, from 7:30pm - 10:30pm at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, Pace University in New York. The event was organized by a coalition of Asian American performers and not-for-profit organizations to raise awareness and dollars for disaster relief funds established by the charitable organization Mercy Corps, and to help rebuild China's Sichuan region after one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent memory.

Rebuilding the Bridge: New York to Sichuan
When: Saturday, July 12, 7:30 10:30pm
Where: Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, Pace University
3 Spruce Street
New York
Buy Tickets Online
For more information, please contact: Nancy Bulalacao, Director of Public Programs, (212)619-4785 ext.106.

Academy-Award-winning director Jessica Yu's PING PONG PLAYA is the AAIFF08 Closing Night Presentation.

COMPILED BY LIA CHANG FROM THE AAIFF.ORG/2008 WEBSITE

In her narrative feature debut, Academy-Award-winning director Jessica Yu (BREATHING LESSONS: THE LIFE AND WORK OF MARK O'BRIEN, IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL) departs from her usual fare of documentary film into the sport of ping pong and, along the way, lampoons the common perceptions and misconceptions regarding the Asian American experience for the AAIFF08 Closing Night Presentation: PING PONG PLAYA.

In PING PONG PLAYA, all that's politically correct and incorrect coalesces in Christopher "C-dub" Wang, Jimmy Tsai's caricature of a trash talkin', smart aleck, b-baller-wannabe who spends his time lamenting the genetic shortcomings that have prevented him from becoming the first Chinese American to play in the NBA. When older brother, doctor and model minority, Michael (Roger Fan, FINISHING THE GAME, BETTER LUCK TOMORROW), sustains a wrist injury, it's up to C-dub to defend the family's title at the National Golden Cock Tournament.

The Closing Night Reception & Awards Ceremony will follow the screening. The filmmaker discusses her creative process in an intimate "One On One with Jessica Yu," Saturday, July 19 at 145pm, as part of our inaugural New Landscapes: Media & Its Adaptations panel series.

When: Thursday, Jul 19, 700pm
Where: Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue (at 70th St)

The top three awards of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) will be presented to Dith Pran (posthumous), former photographer of The New York Times ; Simon Li, former assistant managing editor of the Los Angeles Times ; and Dori Maynard, president and chief executive officer of The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

SAN FRANCISCO (June 26, 2008) The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) announced the winners of three of its top awards for 2008: Dith Pran (posthumous), former photographer of The New York Times ; Simon Li, former assistant managing editor of the Los Angeles Times ; and Dori Maynard, president and chief executive officer of The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

AAJA will present the awards at the Hyatt Regency Chicago on Friday, July 25 during its gala scholarship and awards banquet, which is part of the UNITY: Journalists of Color Convention. Ti-Hua Chang and JuJu Chang will emcee the banquet. Martin Bashir, co-anchor of ABC's "Nightline" and correspondent on "20/20", will be the keynote speaker.

AAJA is the nation's largest professional organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) journalists. Representing approximately 2,000 members, AAJA promotes fair and accurate news coverage, develops managers in the media industry and encourages young people to consider journalism as a career.

Lifetime Achievement Award:

Oscar-winning filmmaker discusses her creative process in an intimate "One On One" on Saturday, July 19 at 1:45PM at the Asia Society in New York.

Compiled by LIA CHANG from the AAIFF.ORG/2008 website.

Oscar-winner Jessica Yu entered filmmaking through the world of documentaries with award-winning projects such as BREATHING LESSONS , PROTAGONIST , and IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL . She has demonstrated wider talents, expanding her directorial repertoire to include television (Grey's Anatomy and The West Wing ) and commercial spots. This year marks her narrative feature debut with the AAIFF08 Closing Night Presentation, the hilarious comedy PING PONG PLAYA . The filmmaker discusses her creative process in an intimate "One On One with Jessica Yu," Saturday, July 19 at 1:45PM.

Moderator: Andrew Hsiao is the executive editor of the non-profit publishing house The New Press, where he has worked with authors like Bill Moyers, Jesse Jackson, Sen. John Edwards, Vijay Prashad, Frances Fox Piven, Juan Gonzalez, Peter Kwong, Sonia Shah, Ruben Martinez, J. Hoberman, Jeff Yang , and many others. He was an editor and staff writer for The Village Voice , and has written for The New York Times , The Washington Post , Spin , and other publications. He co-produces a weekly radio program, Asia Pacific Forum on WBAI 99.5 FM in New York, and is the author of a deck of playing cards, Regime Change Begins at Home. He lives in Brooklyn.

Asian American International Film Festival