Set in Karachi, Pakistan, Gardaab (Whirlpool) is an intimate portrait of a city, rife with ethnic & class divisions, and turf wars. In this pulsating cityscape blooms a tender romance between a boy and girl from warring factions. Gardaab is a story of this romance and the violence that surrounds it. Gardaab also lays bare …
Carles Butar Butar (17 years old) is a Parmalim teenage boy who has two major roles in life, as a son who helps his family economy by working in the fields and an ordinary teenage boy who tries to fullfill his dream as a policeman. He may not be able to achieve his dream, due …
Free Screening Director: Aditya Thayi 44 mins | Documentary | Philippines, Indonesia | Indonesian, Tagalog Who says prison food needs to be boring? In this series, Filipino-American Chef Johneric Concordia heads to some of Asia’s most notorious prisons to see what’s cooking behind bars. He meets inmates running the prison kitchens and discovers a hotbed …
A Hip-Hop Exploration of South Asian American Identity with Seti X CHAIR: Annar Desai-Stephens (Eastman School of Music) Join Los Angeles born, South Asian American Sikh Recording Artist SETI X for this workshop exploring Hip-Hop Culture and its relationship with South Asian American youth and their development of self-identity. As a co-founder of India’s First All …
Music of Asian America Workshop: Word To Your Motherland Read More »
Opening Night Film, Narrative Program OPENING RECEPTION 9-11:00pm | Lightbox Film Center Director: Caylee So and Sok Visal 92 mins | Drama | Cambodia | Khmer, English Get Tickets The Life of Music is a story told in three chapters. It tells the story of how one song, “Champa Battambang,” a song made famous by …
In partnership with Music of Asian America Research Center and University of Pennsylvania Asian American Studies Program, we present the third annual PAAFF Conference. This year’s three-day conference explores the Music of Asian America through a series of paper presentations and interactive workshops that will run parallel to festival film programming, punctuated by two live …
Music of Asian American Conference: Asian Musics, Transplanted Read More »
In partnership with Music of Asian America Research Center and University of Pennsylvania Asian American Studies Program, we present the third annual PAAFF Conference. This year’s three-day conference explores the Music of Asian America through a series of paper presentations and interactive workshops that will run parallel to festival film programming, punctuated by two live …
Music of Asian American Conference: Militarism & the music of Asian America Read More »
In partnership with Music of Asian America Research Center and University of Pennsylvania Asian American Studies Program, we present the third annual PAAFF Conference. This year’s three-day conference explores the Music of Asian America through a series of paper presentations and interactive workshops that will run parallel to festival film programming, punctuated by two live …
Music of Asian American Conference: Tour of “American Peril” Read More »
Philadelphia Premiere Director: Emilie Upczak 77 mins | Drama | Trinidad and Tobago | English After the death of her father, Zhenzhen leaves China to be with her brother, who works construction on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Although she gets a job at a restaurant, she is forced into a compromising position when …
US Premiere Director: Mark Bochsler 91 mins | Documentary | Cambodia | Central Khmer, English What started as a genocide survivor’s dream to revive an ancient sport becomes an inspiring mission to heal a nation. Surviving Bokator is a heartfelt story about reclaiming cultural identity and building bridges between generations. Filmed over five years, the …
Live Performance In this showcase we will be exploring the connections between traditional and contemporary, showing how the lineage of musical practice within multiple generations of diasporic communities has helped create innovative approaches to the wholly American genre of hip hop. As we struggle to define what Asian American music is, what better way of …
November 10 – 11, 2018 Co-sponsored by the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival and the Music of Asian America Research Center What is “Asian American music”? This is a question that Asian American musicians and others have asked since the 1970s. Some argue that “Asian American music” is not only a useful political and heuristic device, …
Music of Asian America: History, Activism, and Collaborations Read More »
In partnership with Music of Asian America Research Center and University of Pennsylvania Asian American Studies Program, we present the third annual PAAFF Conference. This year’s three-day conference explores the Music of Asian America through a series of paper presentations and interactive workshops that will run parallel to festival film programming, punctuated by two live …
Music of Asian America Conference: What is Asian American Music? Read More »
Free Screening Drawn Together: Comics, Diversity, and Stereotypes Director: Harleen Singh 40 mins | Documentary | USA | English Drawn Together: Comics, Diversity and Stereotypes follows the journey of three talented artists as they use comics and cartoons to challenge racial, religious, and gender stereotypes and inspire others to breakthrough socially and self-imposed limitations. Keith …
Free Screening Director: Jun Stinson 40 mins | Documentary | USA | English Futbolistas 4 Life is about Oakland teens from Latinx immigrant families and the healing power of soccer. The film takes you into the lives of two high schoolers: one is a college hopeful and DACA applicant navigating the reality of his immigration …
Free Screening 75 mins What do a street dancer, violin virtuoso, keeper of sacred tradition, and femme-forward hip hop artist-activist all have in common? Their love of music. This mixed block of two narrative and two doc shorts explores a few of the many different relationships that people have with music, and the impact it …
In partnership with Music of Asian America Research Center and University of Pennsylvania Asian American Studies Program, we present the third annual PAAFF Conference. This year’s three-day conference explores the Music of Asian America through a series of paper presentations and interactive workshops that will run parallel to festival film programming, punctuated by two live …
Free Screening Director: S. Louisa Wei 90 mins | Documentary | Hong Kong | Chinese Caridad Amaran and Georgina Wong learned the art of Cantonese opera in 1930s Havana. Caridad’s mentor was her foster father, Julian Fong, who immigrated to Cuba in the 1920s after his family forbade him from performing opera. Georgina’s father was …
Free Screening This mixed program of doc and narrative shorts explores the similarities and differences between anti-Japanese sentiment that led to the community’s mass incarceration during WWII and Islamophobic bigotry in the post-9/11 and Trump Era. The block of six shorts is evenly split between Japanese American and Muslim/Sikh/South Asian stories for an evocative program …
In partnership with Music of Asian America Research Center and University of Pennsylvania Asian American Studies Program, we present the third annual PAAFF Conference. This year’s three-day conference explores the Music of Asian America through a series of paper presentations and interactive workshops that will run parallel to festival film programming, punctuated by two live …
Music of Asian America Workshop: Sining Kapuluan Read More »
