PAAFF 2015
  NOV. 12-NOV. 22

Director’s Statement

Greetings friends! It is with great excitement that I welcome you to the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival. In this guide you will find details about all the features, shorts programs, food events, musical performances, panels, workshops, and a host of other peripheral programming at this year’s festival

This is our 8th anniversary, which according to Chinese numerology, is an auspicious number, associated with luck and good fortune. Because of this I was mindful of other significant numbers while selecting the program of this year’s festival.

2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, concluding the disastrous conflict wrought by Imperial Japan in Asia. The impacts of this war led to a large influx of new Asian immigration in the post-war era. Asian Americans were also affected by rampant anti-Asian racism and most notably the mass incarceration of 120,000+ people of Japanese descent.

We acknowledge the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, taking important steps to prohibit racial discrimination in voting, impacting communities of color across the US. We also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Immigration Act of 1965, which caused a radical break from racialized policies of the past and created a precedent for immigration and naturalization of Asians.

40 years have passed since the end of the Vietnam War, which catalyzed the mass migration of Southeast Asians to the uS, and Philadelphia specifically.

10 years ago YouTube launched its revolutionary video platform that forever changed the way we consume content. Some of our most talented contemporary Asian American artists have found success this way, at a time when Hollywood and mainstream television was not yet willing to reflect the true diversity of our society. With all these auspicious numbers, we are pleased to announce that PAAFF has become the #1 Asian American film festival on the East Coast, with more films and programs than any other festival.

PAAFF’15 would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of our volunteer staff, community partners, venue partners, and sponsors.

Thank you all for attending and I look forward to welcoming you to our festival.

Rob Buscher
Festival Director