June 23, 2015

PAAFF is Philadelphia’s premiere cinema showcase celebrating and elevating the Asian American experience both on screen and behind the camera. We present the best in Asian and Asian American cinema through our year round programming and annual festival each November. Visit www.paaff.org for more details. MAY–OCTOBER, 2015 Best of PAAFF’14 Program At Theatre N 1007 N Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801 302.571.4699 | www.atheatren.org Tickets are $9 and can be purchased at the box office or online at www.theatren.org Best Narrative Feature FARAH GOES BANG May 8–10, 2015 During a cross-country road-trip campaigning for John Kerry in the 2004 Election, a Persian American woman in her twenties tries to lose her virginity. An interesting revisionist perspective on American life just one decade ago, this buddy-flick coming-of-age comedy confronts stereotypes of gender, and what it means to be a woman of Middle Eastern descent in post-9/11 America. Best Documentary Feature PLASTIC PARADISE June 12–14, 2015 An environmentalist film focusing on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a mass of plastic and non-degradable waste roughly twice the size of Texas that floats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Shot on location in the Midway Islands, this documentary concisely relates the consumption culture of post-industrial global society with the rise in environmental degradation. Audience Choice Narrative Feature CICADA July 10–12, 2015 When Elementary School administrator Jumpei Taneda finds out he is sterile, he is thrust into an existential crisis that turns his life upside down. He begins having clairvoyant flashes that mysteriously lead him to cicada shells. Meanwhile he becomes a father-figure to his sister Nanaka’s young son Ryota, who is being bullied in school. Audience Choice Documentary Feature RICKI’S PROMISE August 7–9, 2015 After establishing contact with her Chinese birth-family, 18-year-old adopted American Ricki Mudd promises to spend one summer in China. Directed by Lancaster native Dr. Changfu Chang, this moving documentary tells the story of one Chinese American getting in touch with her roots, and the family she never knew. Honorable Mention Narrative Feature UZUMASA LIMELIGHT September 11–13, 2015 The Uzumasa studio complex in Kyoto is widely regarded as the Hollywood of Japan, having produced many of the best jidaigeki films (period dramas with sword fighting) beloved by Japanese and the rest of the world. These films would not be what they were if it were not for the kirareyaku, actors whose sole job is to be killed by the lead star in elaborate death scenes. Inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s Limelight, this film tells the story of one aging kirareyaku who takes on a female apprentice in the twilight of his career. See trailer Honorable Mention Documentary Feature KUMU HINA October 9–11, 2015 This touching film documents one year in the life of Hina Wong-Kalu, a native Hawaiian māhū (transgender) hula teacher who inspires a female student to claim her place as leader of the school’s all-male hula troupe. Meanwhile Hina’s longing for love and a committed relationship leads her to marry a headstrong Tongan man. An incredible docu-drama that unfolds like a narrative film, Kumu Hina reveals a side of Hawaii rarely seen on screen.