PAAFF 2013
  NOV. 13-NOV. 23

Director’s Statement

Welcome to the 6th Annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival presented by HBO (PAAFF’13), the first of its kind in Philadelphia—a film festival celebrating and elevating the Asian American experience. Over the past 6 years, PAAFF has proudly presented dozens of culturally relevant film programs to a broad and diverse audience. Philadelphia Asian American Film & Filmmakers is built upon the dedicated and talented volunteers who have run this nonprofit organization under the leadership of Joe Kim since 2008 in an effort to educate and expose the Philadelphia region to films by and about Asian Americans primarily through an annual film festival, as well as year-round events.

I want to share with you a personal message of my journey as the new Festival Director of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (PAAFF). Some of my journey involved exploring other film festivals such as the Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival in Pittsburgh, PA, The Asian American International Film Festival in New York, NY, and even the Filadelfia Latin American Film Festival right here in Philadelphia. Though I wish I was able to make other film festivals, especially those focusing on other cultures than my own, I’ve learned the importance of having cultural film festivals like PAAFF.

For example, if I would have never seen the film, America in the Filadelfia LAFF, I would have never known the inspirational story of a young woman living in Puerto Rico and her struggle and triumph in getting out of an abusive relationship. Or films like Architect: 101 shown at the Silk Screen AAFF which taught me about some lessons in friendship, relationships, and love. And documentaries like Hafu that show the beauty of merging cultures which I enjoyed at the AAIFF, which is also our festival’s finale film this year. It is films like these that one rarely gets to see that could change one’s perspective in life forever.

I wanted to take the opportunity to say a big “Thank you!” to the PAAFF staff and volunteers who worked so hard in putting this year’s film festival together. They truly are a dedicated and talented crew who have been very cooperative in working together and in making this film festival a success. I could not have done this without them and if you see a staff member, please say, “Thank you” to them for their help in putting this together.

And last but not least, thank you for supporting the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival this year! Watching great films that your rarely get to see together with other people in the community on the big screen is such a great experience and I can’t wait to share that experience with you!

Cheers to many more years to come!

Warmest Regards,
Phuong Nguyen
Festival Director