FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MAY 21, 2020 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 41
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Flushing Town Hall celebrates Asian
Pacifi c American Heritage Month
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
May is Asian Pacifi c American Heritage
Month and in celebration of its neighborhood’s
Photo by Nir Arieli
Hsiang Chin Moe, BFA animation chair at the
School of Visual Arts
Photo courtesy of Flushing Town Hall
Otter Lee, actor, playwright, comedian and voiceover artist.
thriving and diverse population,
Flushing Town Hall will close the month
with a special livestream presentation of
artists on Saturday, May 30.
Th is fun evening of live comedy and
animation shorts will be streamed on
Flushing Town Hall’s Facebook page as
part of its new series of virtual programming,
Flushing Town Hall at Home.
“Crazy Talented Asians and Friends” will
begin at 6 p.m. with an hour of animated
short fi lms and a live panel discussion
with seasoned professional animators and
fi lmmakers. An hour of live stand-up and
sketch comedy will follow at 8:30 p.m.
with some of New York City’s premier
Asian-American talent.
“Flushing Town Hall has been a strong
advocate of arts equity since 1979. We
support local, immigrant, national and
international artists, developing partnerships
and collaborations that enhance our
eff orts in supporting the global arts community,”
said Ellen Kodadek, Flushing
Town Hall’s executive and artistic director.
“It is even more critical in this unprecedented
global pandemic for the community
to come together.”
Th e event’s fi rst hour will feature exceptional
animation shorts curated from the
top 4 percent of several hundred submitted
fi lms, many from New York-based,
college animation programs. Th ey were
selected for their superb art direction,
storytelling, animation, production and
sound design.
Th e moving stories include a mother
and son’s struggle to express their love,
two painters battling over space to paint
in their own style, and another on the
ever-present stress of urban living. Th e
selection committee was led by the event’s
animation lead adviser, Hsiang Chin Moe,
BFA animation chair at the School of
Visual Arts. Moe is an active member of
the global animation community, working
with animation executives, recruiters
and artists to foster talents all over
the world.
“It is my extreme honor to celebrate
APA Heritage Month with an amazing
selection of animated fi lms. Special
thanks to all the fi lmmakers for sharing
their stories with our audience and inviting
us on a journey of imagination,” Moe
said. “Th eir talent is a true representation
of how unique and creative Asian-
American fi lmmakers are, and the celebration
is expanded to all the Asian creators
in the world.”
Aside from organizing and moderating
an annual talent panel at the Annecy
International Animation Film Festival, Moe
has made her own documentary, short and
animated fi lms that have screened in the
United States and abroad, including Japan,
Sweden, Taiwan and Th ailand.
Th e live comedy hour will be hosted by
Otter Lee, an actor, playwright, comedian
and voiceover artist born and raised in
New York City. He produced and co-organized
New York City’s First Asian Comedy
Festival at the PIT in January 2020.
His sketch, standup and improv have
appeared at such venues as the
Upright Citizens Brigade,
Face-Off Unlimited,
Caveat, Union Hall,
Th e Magnet, Th e
Asian American
Writer’s
Workshop and
Buzzfeed.
Lee is the
co-founder
of Overstep
Comedy,
which has
performed
sketches to soldout
venues in
Manhattan. Th eir
live performances
cover a
broad
array of relatable Asian-American experiences.
In partnership with the nonprofit
Charles B. Wang Community Health
Center, which has provided comprehensive
primary medical care since 1971
with over 300,000 annual service visits,
Overstep Comedy will perform a sketch
on mental health to help de-stigmatize
this important topic in Asian-American
communities, an even more pressing issue
amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Th is show highlights a bunch of super
funny and super talented Asian-American
comedians while celebrating Asian Pacifi c
American Heritage Month and highlighting
the importance of mental health. A
two-for-one! Come see for yourself just
how many talented and diverse voices are
out there,” said Andy Shartzer, a member
of the Overstep Comedy Group.
Th e live comedy hour will feature hilarious
New York City-based comedians and
comedy groups, including Michael Cruz
Kayne, Dylan Adler, Nadia Iqbal, Srilatha
Rajamani, Angel Yau, and Overstep
Comedy comedians Aarushi Agni, Jatin
Chhugani, Jonathan Lu, Christian Luu,
Andy Shartze, Helen Shih and Migina
Tsai. Flushing Town Hall’s facilities are
temporarily closed to the public in accordance
with COVID-19 safety regulations.
Th e latest information on Flushing
Town Hall pertaining to COVID-19 can
be found here. For more information,
visit fl ushingtownhall.org, or call 718-
463-7700 ext. 222.
Photo courtesy of Flushing Town Hall
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