24 Oct Lost and Found: Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival 2023

BY ANDRE CHERRY

The Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (PAAFF) is set to return for its 16th year from  November 2-12, 2023. PAAFF is the third largest film festival in the United States that showcases Asian and Pacific Islander diaspora filmmakers. Its mission strives to propel the voices of these diasporic storytellers out into the world via their art. 

The festival, which is volunteer run, has been a consistent presence over the years by remaining adaptable to meet the ever-changing needs of the public. Whether that meant going completely virtual in 2020 or morphing into a hybrid model in the years that followed, PAAFF continues evolving and innovating. This is also the first year under the new leadership of Festival Co-Directors Arzhang Zafar and Joseph Carranza, after former Festival Director Selena Yip announced they were stepping down last year.

“As a festival, we are in a transition stage, and we still don’t know exactly where we will end up,” said festival co-director Arzhang Zafar. “The past few years have been rocky, with figuring out how to navigate the pandemic and keep the festival afloat.”

This year’s theme is “Lost and Found,” and the lineup is loaded with 99 total films: 12 feature films and 87 shorts. “We are heading in a hopeful direction but a lot still remains unclear,” described Zafar. “For this reason, we have chosen to highlight the stories about people finding themselves, finding new families and communities, experiencing loss, and becoming lost in a chaotic world. I feel that there are many ways in which these ideas intersect and complement one another.”

This year, the festival will remain hybrid but it marks the first time since before the pandemic that most of PAAFF’s feature films will screen in person. Audiences are able to view 10 feature films in person while the shorts programs and two other features are available to view online. The films and shorts cover wide-ranging thought provoking topics. You can peruse the entire PAAFF digital program guide here.

On November 8, the documentary The Grizzlie Truth will premiere in person, featuring the filmmaker Kat Jayme as she sets out to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of her beloved Vancouver Grizzlies in hopes of bringing the franchise back. This “true-crime” style story explores the depths of fandom while attempting to uncover the mystery that’s haunted NBA’s Vancouver Grizzlies fans for two decades. 

There is a big variety of short films available for online rental for the entire duration of the festival. Some highlights of the shorts films include Supermarket Affairs, about a middle-aged Vietnamese immigrant woman and her Americanized adult daughter clashing about how to honor the family’s deceased patriarch while inadvertently dragging a handsome stranger at the Asian market into their messy family dynamic. 27 is a coming-of-age short narrative about Yumi and her record store coworker who both dread turning 27, the age at which many western rock stars passed away. 

The short documentary Mia’s Mission tells the fascinating story about Mia Yamamoto who was born in an incarceration camp during World War II. Mia worked as a criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles for 20 years before coming out as transgender at the age of 60. Mia, who is now 78, is on a mission to rally communities of color around issues of racism and bring visibility to the LGBTQ community. 

The Difference Between Us is a short film about an undocumented immigrant in Philadelphia who falls for a roommate she’s never met, forming a connection that tests the limits of her romantic imagination. And Instant Noodle is about an Indonesian woman who goes to the grocery to buy instant noodles and unexpectedly encounters a series of events that force her to embrace her heritage and grieve her mother’s death. 

In addition to showcasing films, the PAAFF experience also includes live performances, panels, and workshops. On November 9, cinéSPEAK will co-present an In Process salon with award winning filmmaker and new media artist Anula Shetty.

The live panel “The Fight For Our Communities: Stories From Save Chinatown and Save UC Townhomes” will occur on November 4, 2023 at 7PM and will screen three films that feature stories from Chinatown and West Philadelphia. The lineup includes Saving Chinatown, which was made by Chinese community members in Philadelphia to document and aid in the effort to halt the Vine Street Expressway development project from cutting through Chinatown in 1973. Black Journal: Episode 4 examines the misuse of urban renewal and eminent domain by universities in the process of their expansion.The third film, Save UC Townhomes, is a work in progress that documents the journey of residents of the public housing complex UC Townhomes and their fights against the University of Pennsylvania as they try to save their homes after being served eviction papers. The panelists will speak after the screening about how their experiences led to activism. This panel feels especially relevant with the current displacement of people happening domestically and abroad. 

“Just now we are seeing horrific violence meted out against Palestinians who have been dealing with settler colonialism and occupation for the better part of a century, and those atrocities exist on the extreme end of the spectrum along which the gentrification of Chinatown and the destruction of UC Townhomes also lie,” said Zafar.

The in-person closing night film is Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story. This documentary follows Chinese American photographer Corky Lee, who for 50 years documented Asian Pacific Americans in their celebrations and struggles. In this film, director Jennifer Takaki turns the camera on Lee to tell the story of his life in an “intimate portrait that reveals the triumph and tragedies of the man who produced a vast collection of close to a million compelling photographs, which will tell the Asian Pacific American story for generations to come and transform the way America sees itself.”  

Zafar acknowledges that this year’s festival is eclectic. He’s hopeful that festival goers come away with new experiences. “I hope that people get to experience the full breadth of what Asian and Asian American cinema can offer, and are exposed to new ways of storytelling and ideas and cultures they had not encountered previously,” explained Zafar.  “And I hope the filmmakers we have chosen to feature can gain new fans and admirers.”

PAAFF will run from November 2-12, 2023 and tickets can be purchased here.

*Featured Image: Image of PAAFF festival directors Arzhang  Zafar and Joseph Carranza and former director Selena Yip at the 2023 Preview Party. Image Credit: Vinh Dang.

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Andre Cherry’s love of storytelling compels him to create art. He is a former cinéSPEAK Philly Beat Fellow, background actor, and writer. His screenplays have placed within the Austin Film Festival and Stowe Story Labs. Andre is also an avid sports fan and hosts a college football podcast called The Cherry Pickin’ Podcast.