Ysa starts involving with the art activism in 2000 when she volunteers for VAALA (Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association), a non-profit organization. Since then, she has produced and co-produced many events such as Dang Thai Son Piano Recital; Little Saigon Book Fair I; F.O.B.: A Multi-Art Show; Cinema Symposium 1; and most recently, Vietnamese International Film Festival (ViFF) 2003.

Since 2001, Ysa has been hosting "Vong Chan Troi Van Hoc Nghe Thuat" (The Art Horizon) program on VNCR 106.3 FM weekly reporting art events in the community and interviewing the artists. She received the Arts and Culture (In-Language) Award from New California Media in 2003 for her article on Mimi News reporting the revival of the traditional performing art Cai Luong in the Vietnamese community.

For more information, please visit http://www.vietfilmfest.com.

Held over two consecutive weekends of October 23-26 and October 31 – November 2, 2003 mainly on the campus of the University of California, Irvine (UCI), Vietnamese International Film Festival (ViFF) drew more than 4000 people to all events including screenings, galas, and symposiums. Organized by Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association (VAALA) and VietNamese Language & Culture (VNLC), ViFF was the very first film festival in the Viet community. This first edition of ViFF with the theme of "Films Beyond Viet Nam" was dedicated to the Vietnamese diasporic filmmakers.

ViFF 2003 screened 48 films by 40 directors from the U.S., France, Canada, and Australia. The youngest filmmaker was 17 years old and the oldest 72. The median age was 24 -30 years old. The Audience Choice Award for Best Short Film went to Ham Tran's "The Anniversary" (USA) and Luu Huynh's "Passage of Life" (USA). ViFF also presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to renowned actress Kieu Chinh. With a variety of themes (from Vietnam War, post-war, to issues of identity or daily life), ViFF was able to attract different age groups. In addition, special free-admission programs such as Senior Citizen Day and High School Day lured a diverse audience. All Q & A sessions after each screening and symposiums were bilingual.

Following the success of ViFF 2003, ViFF 2005, set to be in April, with the theme "Beyond Boundaries," begins a biannual tradition of celebrating cinema by people of Vietnamese descent. Through the universal language of cinema, ViFF 2005 seeks to transcend the boundaries that separate people of different generations, sexuality, geography, social economics, and religions. ViFF continues to provide a nurturing environment for its filmmakers to engage in a broadening dialogue with the world community, and serving as an educational tool for learning about historical and contemporary issues of Vietnamese and Vietnamese Diaspora.

To promote everyone for ViFF 2005, VAALA & VNLC will organize Cinema Symposium 2 on November 7, 2004 at UCLA. Cinema Symposium 2 includes a panel discussion followed by the screening of short films. Established in 1992, VAALA is a community-based non-profit organization, which has organized many art exhibitions, recitals, Little Saigon Book Fair I, etc. VNLC is a student-based organization at UCLA. VNLC has organized Tet festivals at UCLA, Vietnamese tutoring classes, art events, etc. For more information on ViFF or Cinema Symposium 2, please visit www.VietFilmFest.com. ViFF 2005 trailer and ViFF 2003 photos/stills and selected VAALA's activities will be shown during this presentation.