From VAALA

Anaheim, CA – Organizers of the Vietnamese International Film Festival (ViFF), the nation’s premier film festival showcasing films by, for, and about the Vietnamese people and culture, announced today that they are changing their name to “Viet Film Fest,” making the event annual with screenings spanning four days instead of the previous biennial festival lasting for eight days. The screening location is also being moved closer to Little Saigon.

Viet Film Fest Poster

Changing the name and shifting it to an annual event comes ten years after the festival was founded in 2003.  “We made this decision because of the growth in Vietnamese cinema, which the festival has helped to expand by providing a high profile platform to showcase these films,” said Ysa Le, Co-Director for the new Viet Film Fest. “Changing our name has the dual purpose of highlighting our mission as well as avoiding confusion with other film festivals who share the acronym ‘VIFF.'”  She continues, “Screening the films over four consecutive days allows for filmmakers, producers, actors, and film industry people who fly in from around the country and the world more opportunities to network.”

The festival’s vision of celebrating the diversity of our communities by bringing together a multiplicity of perspectives and voices through the universal language of cinema remains unchanged.  Viet Film Fest is committed to expanding the horizons of Vietnamese cinema by providing a nurturing environment for artists to engage in meaningful dialogue with an international community.  It also serves as an important educational tool for learning about the historical and contemporary experiences of the Vietnamese in the United States and throughout the world.

Tram Le, Co-Director of Viet Film Fest, remarks, “Our goal in rebranding the festival is to support the filmmakers as well as to expand the audience for Vietnamese cinema.”  She adds, “Moving the festival closer to Little Saigon also maximizes the accessibility of the festival to the local Vietnamese community.”

Transitioning to the new name and design, including rebranding social media and other marketing material, will take place over the next six month as the organizers prepare for the seventh edition of the festival planned for April 10 – 13, 2014 at UltraLuxe Cinemas at Anaheim GardenWalk.

Viet Film Fest logo

About VAALA

Founded in 1991 by a group of Vietnamese American journalists, artists and friends, the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association (VAALA) is a community-based, 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.  VAALA has organized numerous cultural events such as art exhibitions, book fairs, book signings, recitals, plays, lectures, year-long art and music classes, the annual Viet Film Fest, and annual Children’s Moon Festival Art Contest.

STORY and PHOTOS By Tam Nguyen, NGUOI VIET

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — Adalhi Montes is 21 and said pain in his leg drove him to find a clinic with a doctor who could diagnose the problem. Five minutes with the physician left him with some answers — and a big medical bill.

Adalhi Montes tells his personal experience to the media.

Montes was one of three people who attended a news conference Friday, sponsored by New America Media, that aimed to answer questions about the new Affordable Care Act, Montes, joined by two medical professionals, helped to explain how the nation’s new health care law, years in the making, will benefit immigrants and the rest of California’s population.

For Montes and his mother, a non-documented resident, the Affordable Care Act will make a world of difference. As of Tuesday, Montes became eligible to enroll in the new online health-insurance marketplace, called Covered California. It will offer 13 health plans covering a standard set of benefits. Open enrollment runs through March 31, 2014, but for those who enroll by Dec. 15, coverage will begin with the new year on Jan. 1, 2014.

Betzabel Estudillo, the health policy coordinator from the California Immigrant Policy Center, said It is important to enroll in the health plan. Children can be enrolled with their parents until age 26, whether they live with their parents or not. Dr. Clayton Chau, an expert in mental health, said those who need mental health care now can have access they couldn’t pay for before without insurance.

Betzabel Estudillo explains the expansion of Medi-Cal.

Dr. Clayton Chau discusses how non-documented residents can sign up for health care.

More questions that were answered in the conference.

The speaker panel (left to right): Adalhi Montes, Betzabel Estudillo, Dr. Clayton Chau

The expanded Medi-Cal will allow childless adults to enroll in the program. It also allows patients to access comprehensive mental health care services same as they do medical health.

Can green-card holders apply for health care if they lived in the country legally for less than five years, whether via  Medi-Cal or the new health care exchange?

Yes.

What are the financial requirements for Medi-Cal eligibility?

It will cover low-income adults making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which translates to $15,850 for an individual or $32,500 for a family of four. Kids will be eligible for Medi-Cal if their family income is up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level, or $59,000 for a family of four.

Qualifying citizens of the U.S. and legal residents can enroll in the expanded Medi-Cal program. Medi-Cal is California’s name for Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income and disabled people. About 1.4 million people in the state will be eligible to enroll in Medi-Cal, and among them are an estimated 48 percent Latino, 8 percent African American, 7 percent Asian Pacific Islander and 33 percent white.

The federal government will fund the program fully for the first three years, then roll back funding gradually.

By JAMI FARKAS

My friend from the Pacific Northwest has taken good care of her mother, from a distance, for the two decades I’ve known her.

Introduce the topic of estate planning casually in a non-threatening way, such as over a meal, and tell your parent you want to set a time to talk about finances, health care and such. Photo by MangoSalute.com.

And her situation, which she has shared with her friends through her Facebook page, got me to thinking. How many of us really have talked to our parents about their final wishes and also their finances, or to our adult children about our own circumstances?

Not enough of us. In fact, in 2011, online legal company Rocket Lawyer released the results of its survey that showed that 57 percent of adults in the United States do not have a will. Of those between ages 45 and 64, close to half – 44 percent – had not drawn up one. Presumably, then, they hadn’t told their loved ones, either, about finances or desires for care should they become disabled.

Death is hard to talk about, especially when we are accustomed to taking care of our parents. But laws allow us only so much leeway to do so. We can’t sign financial documents on their behalf, sell properties or stocks to pay for medical care, or make health-care decisions in many cases without their consent.

Given my friend’s example, I have readied myself to have this discussion with my mother, who now is 80. She would trust me to make any decisions for her, I know, but doctors and hospitals and banks that must follow laws that are there for her protection don’t know that. Together, we will work on a power of attorney, a health-care proxy and a will. It’s a topic I’ve put off with her, but no more.

And as I think about that, I look to that Rocket Lawyer statistic. My husband and I fall in that critical 45-plus age range, but we haven’t told our adult son our wishes or written a will. Our son, age 23, doesn’t want to face the facts that his parents aren’t immortal; he won’t want to have this talk. But there are things he needs to know, such as what to do with the house and where to find the life insurance policies that will pay for his little brother’s college education. And, yes, we want him to finish the job of raising his brother.

And while we are having that discussion, it’s time for us, as parents, to sit with him and tell him – even at age 23 – the importance of his own planning. Now that he’s over 18, I can no longer discuss medical bills with the health insurer, even though he is on our policy. I can’t call the doctor’s office and ask about a test result. He needs us as much as we need him to be involved in everything from medical issues to bank account numbers.

The conversations with my mother and our son will be tough. Tears will be shed. They both will try to shut down the conversation. That happened when my friend tried to talk to her mother; she was told it was under control. But it wasn’t. And now that mountain of paperwork and permissions is hard to climb.

For those of us in the “sandwich generation,” as it is known – busy caring for parents as their lives wind down and guiding children as they enter their adult lives – we think we’re doing all we can for those we love. Take the extra step, today, to ask your parents about their finances, their wishes. One day, unfortunately, you will be very glad you did.