SUBMIT TO
    PAAFF 2025

The Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival focuses on film and other media by, for, and/or about the Asian & Pacific Islander* diaspora community.

PAAFF accepts films and other media that have at least one person of Asian & Pacific Islander descent in a key creative role (director, DP, producer, writer, actor, etc…) and/or are about the Asian & Pacific Islander experience both in the United States and internationally. PAAFF has historically featured works with themes involving, but NOT limited to, Asian and Pacific Islander cultures, histories, and experiences.

Asian & Pacific Islander includes, but is not necessarily limited to, people from and descended from areas now known as Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Yemen; and the indigenous peoples of Oceania and the Pacific Islands.

PAAFF requires all films in its program to include closed captions.

PAAFF does not and will not accept films which have received funding from the State of Israel or financial institutions incorporated therein.

PAAFF does not and will not accept films for which human labor has been supplanted with generative AI.

SUBMISSION CATEGORIES

• Feature Film (Narrative, Documentary): Fiction or non-fiction film of any genre, principally created by and/or about Asian & Pacific Islander diasporic storytellers. Films eligible for this category MUST have a running time of at least 40 minutes.
  

• Short Film (Narrative, Documentary): Fiction or non-fiction film (including music videos, episodic, etc…) principally created by and/or about Asian & Pacific Islander diasporic storytellers. Films eligible for this category MUST have a running time under 40 minutes.