Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival

Events

Film Screening Series: Limited Partnership

Asian Arts Initiative is partnering with the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (PAAFF) to do monthly film screenings through this summer and fall! June’s feature film is Limited Partnership, a touching documentary about an Asian American man and his Australian lover who were legally married in the state of Colorado in the 1970s, but then faced deportation over immigration policies that did no accept same sex marriage as grounds for naturalization. Co-produced and shot by PAAFF alumni Leo Chiang. Thursday, June 25 7pm, doors open at 6:30pm $8 General Admission | $6 Students and Seniors Asian Arts Initiative 1219 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA

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Plastic Paradise

Plastic Paradise, 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.  WHEN: Friday, June 12 – Sunday, June 14 WHERE: Theater N COST: $9

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9th Annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Festival

Mark your calendars, Saturday, May 9th in Franklin Square Park for a day of festivities to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! Not only will we be screening short films, but there will also be Asian food trucks, a beer garden, a children’s fair, and more! Admission is free and the event will run from 1:00pm – 9:00pm, rain or shine!

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Film Series: Cab Calloway’s Hi-De-Ho & Don’t Lose Your Soul

Film Series: Cab Calloway’s Hi-De-Ho and Don’t Lose Your Soul At The Clef Club Wednesday, April 29th @ 6:30pm This free screening in partnership with PAAFF at the Clef Club, pairs Cab Calloway’s Hi-De-Ho, a jazz musical short with a comedic take on marital infidelity with Don’t Lose Your Soul directed by PAAFF alum Jim Choi. The film traces the origin of the Asian American Jazz Movement through the partnership of pioneering bassist Mark Izu and drummer Anthony Brown. Taking root during the ethnic identity movements of the 1970s, their band United Front provided a voice to their generation through music. This film culminates at Sanju, the 30th Anniversary of the Asian American Jazz Festival, featuring legendary saxophonist George Yoshida, for one electric night of performance at Yoshi’s Oakland Jazz Club. Click here for more information.

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Dead Banging Movie

Movie Monday at the Troc Presents: Dead Banging (Metaruka) Monday, April 20th @ 9:30pm The event is 21+ and $10. Dead Banging the 2013 Japanese horror/comedy also directed by Eiji Uchida, will be screening at the Trocadero for their Movie Monday on April 20th. The film stars Ryusuke Komakine, Shôko Nakahara, Shûgo Oshinari and Kyoko Watanabe (a real-life all-girl rock band, Gacharic Spin) as a failing rock band who instantly make it big after recruiting a zombie, as their lead singer.

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Greatful Dead Movie Screening

PAAFF and PIFF Present: Greatful Dead with Director Eiji Uchida in Attendance Friday, April 17th @ 8:15pm At the Gershman Y, tickets $10 We are very excited to be teaming up with the The Philadelphia Independent Film Festival for a screening of the Japanese black comedy Greatful Dead Friday, April 17th with director Eiji Uchida in attendance. It’s REAR WINDOW meets AUDITION in this Japanese independent horror comedy. Nami, a cynical young woman without a family, spends her days people watching. During one of her spying sessions, she becomes fascinated by an elderly man whose curmudgeonly ways she finds relatable. But when the man finds solace and joy in a religious community, Nami must intervene to preserve his solitary lifestyle. The screening will take place Friday April 17th from 8:15pm – 10:00pm at the Gershman Y 401 S Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19147, tickets for the event will be $10. If you enjoy the film, April 18th from 8:00pm – 10:00pm stop by for a meet and greet with director Eiji Uchida at BarLy. Rumor has it the director is in town shooting a new genre film.

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Tour de Film Event: Bicycle-centric Films & Photography

Join SPOKE magazine and cineSPEAK for an evening of Bicycle-centric Film, Photography, and Community Engagement TICKETS: Friday, April 10 **ADVANCE: $8 **AT DOOR: Youth 18 and Under: FREE* Students: $8 w/Photo ID General Adult: $10 CASH BAR (suggested donation)::: 21+ for beer/wine; Boylan’s craft soda and seltzer also available *Youth 18 and Under: receive a complimentary Boylan’s craft soda or seltzer cineSPEAK and SPOKE Magazine are partnering to present an evening of foreign language film programming. We will be screening two unique stories, “Wadjda” and “Jitensha,” from around the world, both centered on bicycles. “Jitensha” was directed by PAAFF’14 alumni Dean Yamada. Prior to the viewing there will be beer, music, and photography because we know how you bright young things like to party. Please join us at The Glass Factory (1517 N. Bailey St, 19121) in Brewerytown on Friday April 10 at 6:30pm for this great event! Click here for more info. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:6:30-8pm: Pop-Up Gallery + Community Gathering of Bicycling Advocacy Organizations and Small Businesses8-10pm: Film Screening: “Jitensha” (21 min) + “Wadjda” (98 min)*films shown on DVD and Blu-ray ABOUT THE FILMS:WadjdaSaudi Arabia. 2013. Director: Haifaa al Mansour**This film is the first female directed full-length feature film to come out of Saudi Arabia. It was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2014 BAFTA Awards and was Saudi Arabia’s official submission for the 2014 Academy Awards Best Foreign Film category.SYNOPSIS: Wadjda is a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is fun-loving, entrepreneurial and always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighborhood boy she shouldn’t be playing with, Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. She wants the bicycle desperately so that she can beat Abdullah in a race. But Wadjda’s mother won’t allow it, fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl’s virtue. So Wadjda decides to try and raise the money herself. WATCH THE TRAILER Jitensha (The Bicycle) Japan. 2009. Director: Dean YamadaSYNOPSIS: Jitensha is a story about a young man struggling to find meaning in life. Alone and without work, the young man’s bicycle begins to disappear, piece by piece. He receives a letter from the thief that sends him on a journey to resurrect and reassemble his beloved possession. WATCH THE TRAILER   ABOUT THE ARTIST*: Raphael Xavier is a Philadelphia-based multifaceted artist whose work ranges from breakdancing to music producing. We will be showcasing his documentary short film, “No Bicycle Parking”. Photographed over a 15 year period, Xavier collected hundreds of abandoned and stripped bikes to create a silent tableau of loss and mourning from cities around the world. His project was featured in Bike Magazine 2003, the Sweeney Art Gallery’s Re-Cycle-Bike Culture exhibit in 2010, The Painted Bride Art Center in 2013 and several major online publications. *The artist will be in attendance and will be selling copies of his book. 

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FREE Japanese Film Series At PMA

PAAFF Festival Director Rob Buscher hosts FREE Japanese Film series at PMA The Japanese film industry is one of the most prolific and profitable outside of Hollywood, with a rich history spanning over a century within the medium. The look and feel of Japanese cinema is inextricably linked to the cultural beliefs and artistic traditions of Japan, creating an on-screen aesthetic that is uniquely Japanese. PAAFF Festival Director Rob Buscher will introduce selected films that compliment and elucidate themes treated in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s exhibition “Ink and Gold: The Art of the Kano.” Each screening will be followed by a post-film discussion. From Up on Poppy Hill Sunday, March 22nd at 1PM Directed by Goro MIYAZAKI, son of world-renowned animator Hayao MIYAZAKI, this feature length anime is a nostalgic coming-of-age romance about two teens who ban together to save their high school clubhouse from being demolished. Set in mid-1960s Yokohama, this Studio Ghibli film beautifully captures the essence of urban Japan during the postwar reconstruction period while exploring memories of loss and longing in the aftermath of war. The continuity in storytelling and engrossing animation style shared between father and son reflect an interesting parallel with the apprenticeship system of the Kano School. Both screenings are located in the Van Pelt Auditorium Free, but ticket reservations required Museum admission not required to attend this program Get more info on the event and RSVP here. About the Exhibit Ink and Gold: Art of the Kano February 16, 2015 – May 10, 2015 The Kano family’s creative legacy endured for nearly 400 years, forever defining Japanese art. Experience breathtaking Kano masterpieces-the pride of Japan-in this unprecedented exhibition. Only in Philadelphia. Ink and Gold explores the stunning artistry of the esteemed Kano painters, the most enduring and influential school of painting in Japanese history. Established by Kano Masanobu in the late fifteenth century, the lineage created and upheld standards of artistic excellence in Japan for nearly four hundred years. The exhibition presents more than 120 works of art spanning the school’s long and illustrious history with a focus on large-scale, gold leaf folding screens and sliding doors designed for residences of Japan’s ruling elite. This exhibition, which also includes ink paintings, hanging scrolls, and folding fans, is the first outside Japan-and the first anywhere since 1979-to so fully examine the Kano painters’ legacy. View full details here.  

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