Bertha Bay-Sa Pan has been a staple in the independent film world in New York for over a decade. She was educated at the prestigious Columbia University Graduate Film program, where she received an MFA in Directing. It was when she was at Columbia that she made her thesis short film Face.

As a student filmmaker she received the Directors Guild Award for Best Asian-American Student Filmmaker, the Polo Ralph Lauren Award for Best Screenplay, as well as numerous other awards at film festivals worldwide.

Fast-forward some years and that short was made into a feature film also titled Face. Her feature film debut starred Bai Ling and Treach of Naughty by Nature, and was one of the official dramatic competition selections at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

Genie (Kristy Wu) is a hip Chinese American teenage girl, who falls for Michael (Treach),an attractive young DJ, who happens to be black.So Genie,by dating him,is breaking chinese traditions,but finds true love. Both mother and daughter fight the eternal struggle between tradition and freedom and are unequally successful. And even though the stories take place in a chinese family,they really could take place in any other culture, if Italian, Jewish, Greek,.....The themes have a global appeal and many viewers will identify automaticly. Director Bay-Sa Pan directs very self-assured,knowing when to dramatize and when to slow down and is rewarded by strong performances from her actors, especially Kristy Wu, who's keen on demonstrating her talent. You'll absolutely will enjoy this movie!!!

You can check out the film trailer and look for it at www.indicanpictures.com.

I recently had time to sit down and chat with Bertha and talk about her film from it’s creation to it’s success and her future plans as a director.

Why did you want to make the feature Face?

Because I really wanted to direct a feature and that was the first feature script I actually completed writing.

Tell me some of the hardest parts about making an indie movie?

It's ALL hard!! No, actually, the creative process was really fun, the collaboration with all my amazing creative partners throughout the different stages of production was fun.... other than that ---- raising the budget was hard; finding good producers who really knew what they're doing and also share similar principles but is willing to work with a first-timer doing a movie that does not fall into any conventional marketing category is hard; securing distribution was really hard; once distribution was secured, the process of actually getting it into theaters was another long and winding journey full of trials and tribulations.... Now that it looks like everything's finally really happening - keeping the movie in theaters, opening in different cities without much financial resources is going to be hard too... That's why I appreciate folks like you who are willing to help spread the word!

Where did you get the inspiration for your film?

I started writing it in my screenwriting class at Columbia Film School, it was originally inspired by a good friend's life, but six years and about twenty drafts later it evolved into a whole other monster...

Can you explain what Sundance was like, both the good and the bad?

Sundance was surreal... beyond anything I'd imagined... As a filmmaker, especially being in Dramatic Competition, you're really touted like a rock star, starting from before the festival even begins... it's a constant frenzy, you're expected to be at five places at the same time.... having to do so much press was also a big culture shock to me... I always just assumed that the filmmaker remains behind the scenes... thinking back, I just remember being shuttled from one thing to another back to back non-stop for ten days.... It's quite exciting but can be exhausting too... I was also constantly overloaded with information on who showed up, at which screening of ours, who didn't, who's supposed to... what they said, how they felt about the film, how the offer or deal or review or possible interest was shaping up.... it's hard not to go along the emotional roller-coaster ride no matter how grounded you try to remain...

All in all, the experience was amazing... having the world premiere of your first feature film in front of 1,100 people is something you just don't ever forget... and having people you grew up watching on the big screen or reading in Tiger Beat come up and tell you they're a fan of yours is even weirder...As for the bad ---- I'd say it was just too darn cold there ...

Did you accomplish everything you wanted to with the film?

I'm sure if I thought about it, there will always be some aspect I can find ways to do better in hindsight... But ultimately, I'm a firm believer of making the most out of what you got and not looking back. With "Face," I feel very blessed with the cast and crew I got to work with, I am very proud of the movie, I believe I gave my all and did the best I could do; and with my amazing creative collaborators we were able to tell the story I set out to tell.

Talk about some of your moves for the near future.

I am finishing up a script called "Almost Perfect" of which I am developing with my managers Pop Art Films, and would like to hopefully direct soon. There are a few other scripts I've written in the last two years of which I would like to somehow find time to revise and polish as well... I would love to continue directing more music videos too - hopefully "Just Can't Hold On" by Tre Hardson (slim kid tre of Pharcyde) will be well received on Vh1-Soul.

But as for the near-near future ----- talking with supportive press like you, doing lots of interviews, talks, q&a's, panels, classes, traveling... praying that people will go to the theaters in the cities the movie's opening and see "Face," hoping that the audiences will be entertained and moved somehow.