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World Premiere of " Yours Truly, Miss Chinatown" at the Los Angeles Asian American Film Festival on May 3rd

Feature documentary paints intimate portraits of the women behind the icon on the fiftieth anniversary of the Miss Chinatown pageant.

(Hollywood) –  " Yours Truly, Miss Chinatown," a feature documentary five years in the making, will debut at the Los Angeles Asian American Film Festival, the most prestigious festival of its kind in Southern California, on Saturday, May 3rd, at 4p at the Director's Guild on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood.

Set against the backdrop of glittering crowns, colorful dresses, and lively dance music in one of the oldest and biggest ethnic pageants in the United States, this documentary features the intimate stories of some unforgettable young women who vie for the title Miss Los Angeles Chinatown, while struggling to find themselves in two cultures with different values and expectations.  The crown is a link to the past, while the women's lives are a sign of the changing times.

A beautiful and poised teacher is the perfect candidate but a disappointment in her father's eyes because her boyfriend is African American; a half White, half Chinese tomboy joins the pageant because she thinks it will make her more Chinese. Meanwhile, a Miss Chinatown imposter shows up around town - she wears a sash and gown, but sports a cigar, granny glasses, and tells bad jokes.  Turns out she is really performance artist Kristina Wong, who grew up in the shadow of Miss Chinatown but found that she could never live up to this ideal image.   If she couldn't beat them, she figured she'd join them.

Documentary cameras follow the lives of these three subjects for several years, at a pivotal time as they are just starting to find out who they are as women.   As the drama of their lives unfold, so do frank conversations about romantic relationships, familial dynamics, body image, mental health, career, and identity.   What emerges are some of the rarely heard voices of young Asian American women at the turn of the 21st century.

" Yours

Truly, Miss Chinatown" is directed by award winning documentary filmmaker Daisy Lin Shapiro.  Executive Producer is Stephen C. Liu.  To purchase tickets, go to http://www.vconline.org /festival/program.cfm?program _id=15  More info on the film is at  http://yourstrulymisschinatown .com/