Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival

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Image of red carpet

May We Have the Envelope Please?

Art, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Local Philly, News /

On November 20, we celebrated a wildly successful 9th annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival with much fanfare, food, and a strong sense of community. We are thrilled to announce the award winners from PAAFF16. Thank you to all who participated and supported our festival, and CONGRATULATIONS to our winners!   Best Narrative Feature – The Tiger Hunter Dir. Lena Khan: The Tiger Hunter is a funny yet poignant reflection on the experiences of many first generation South Asian immigrants in the United States.   Best Documentary Feature – Tyrus Dir. Pamela Tom: Tyrus tells the unlikely story of 105-year old Chinese American artist Tyrus Wong, whose unique style combined Chinese calligraphic and landscape influences with contemporary Western art to define the stylistic look of Disney”s Bambi.   Best Narrative Short – I Won’t Miss You Dir. Bernard Badion: 17-year-old Janey’s best friend Tim begins to appear in her bedroom at night after dying in a car crash and their awkward undeclared feelings begin to surface.   Best Documentary Short – Noodle Deli Dir. David Liu: From China to Los Angeles, an immigrant chef continues one of the world’s fabled culinary traditions — the art of making noodles.   Audience Choice Narrative – The Last Smile Dir. Shankey Srinivasan: Inspired by true events, this film chronicles the struggles of a bereaved father searching for answers to explain the untimely demise of his adult son.   Audience Choice Documentary – Mele Murals Dir. Tadashi Nakamura: Mele Murals is a compelling feature documentary about a young generation of Native Hawaiians who are reclaiming their indigenous culture through the transformative power of graffiti art.   Vijay Mohan Social Change Award – Dear Thalia Dir. Rex Moribe: Dear Thalia offers a firsthand look into the lives of a family living on the streets of Kakaako, Oahu.   Rising Star Award – Danny Pudi: Perhaps best known for his role as Abed Nadir on the NBC/Yahoo! comedy series Community, PAAFF honored Danny Pudi for his leading man-making performance in this year’s Best Narrative Feature, The Tiger Hunter.  

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Photo of Pratima Agrawal wearing a witch outfit

Titles are for Little Witches – Theater Performance

As part of our ongoing commitment to the community, PAAFF’16 will include a series of FREE screenings and live theater performances November 16-17 at Fleisher Art Memorial in South Philadelphia. Titles are for Little Witches: The Salem Bitch Trials The world is full of bitches. Or is it witches? And are they talking about them or us? In this “discoveries we have made so far” showing, the Kaleid ensemble will explore the ways that the word “bitch” is used and history of witchcraft accusations to ask: What is power? How do we take it from each other? How do we claim it for ourselves? And who needs titles anyway? Approximately 55 minutes with audience talk back afterwards. Ensemble: Pratima Agrawal – Creator/Performer Nastassja Baset – Creator/Perfomer Gabriella Sanchez – Creator/Performer Sarah Mitteldorf – Creator/Director Daniel Ison – Sound Designer Gina Purri – Composer Tanaya Thomas – Choreographer Website: kaleidtheatre.org Kaleid Theatre is a project of CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia. Kaleid Theatre, as in kaleidoscope, as in collide, is a physical theatre ensemble. We are interested in how language, movement, music, and sound can come together to create a new, multi-sensory, multi-dimensional language, which allow us to explore issues that are not easy to talk about through one sense or dimension alone. The things that mean the most to our communities are often the hardest to articulate. They frequently deal with emotion, power hierarchy, the divine, trauma, transcendence, even voicelessness. To explore these themes, Kaleid layers consistent and conflicting languages from different mediums – such as text, movement, music, or sound. This method allows us to mirror the layered experience of consistent and conflicting emotions and ideas that embody these human experiences, and to explore them in a more honest and fully articulated way. Facebook Event Page 

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Okay I’ll Tell You + Bi(?!)Lingual – Theater Performances

As part of our ongoing commitment to the community, PAAFF’16 will include a series of FREE screenings and live theater performances November 16-17 at Fleisher Art Memorial in South Philadelphia. Okay I’ll Tell You Four adults, who were adopted when they were young, gather to share their stories of family, loss, love, pride, and identity. Here, they challenge us to face their own questions, stare down narratives that keep being thrown at them, and wonder how, and sometimes even if, this part of their stories matters. Together, they mourn the closures they cannot have, embrace a future that has always been wide open, and celebrate the people with whom they have grown. Please note: this piece is not specifically created for children and does contain cursing, sexual references, and racial anxiety. The original creation of OK, I’ll Tell You received support from a 2015 Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grant. Approximately 55 minutes with audience talk back afterwards. Ensemble: Rae Bradley – Creator/Performer Noah Breymeier – Creator/Performer Siona Stone – Creator/Performer Sarah Mitteldorf – Creator/Director Website: sarahm.net Bi(?!)Lingual Asaki Kuruma’s first solo show that is incubated by Simpatico Theatre Project as a part of 2014 SoLow Festival. The show is inspired by Asaki’s life-time experience as a foreigner- Born in Japan, learned English, came to America to pursue her dream- only life just doesn’t work the way movies do. 10 min excerpt of the 55 minute original will be performed by Asaki in advance of the main event theater performance. Asaki Kuruma – Creator/Performer Facebook Event Page

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