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.
