AAFF alumni filmmaker Kamila Kuc presents Disasters of Peace at Whitechapel Gallery in London, England, at 7:00 pm on Thursday, November 29. This curated program features the work of more than 10 filmmakers, and several of them will be present at the event. Kamila Kuc was well immersed in the 56th Ann Arbor Film Festival, where she presented a short film in competition, I Think You Should Come to America; participated in Off the Screen! events; took part in filmmaker Q+As; an

A Word from Our Executive Director We are currently in the middle of reviewing the nearly 3,000 film submissions received this year. The film review process is at the very heart of what we do. The structure of the film festival was formed around the screening process, and it is at the root of our longevity and success. At the beginning, our founder George Manupelli insisted that there be a minimum of five or six people who would collectively watch all of the films together, e

Xingpei Shen film still from Lotus Lantern (above). Xingpei Shen received the Chris Frayne Award for Best Animated Film at the 56th Ann Arbor Film Festival. How did you come to know that film would be an important medium for you? I did not start working with film/animation until I went to college at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). When I was a child, I used to draw a lot, so I knew that I wanted to be an artist. Because I never had any formal art education before RISD,