31 Oct Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival Gears Up for Another Amazing Year at Their Preview Party

BY ANDRE CHERRY

Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (PAAFF) officially kicked off its 17th year with their annual festival preview party on Thursday, October 17, 2024 at Asian Arts Initiative. PAAFF is an esteemed festival in the city that celebrates and showcases Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) diaspora filmmakers. Its mission is to propel the voices of these diasporic storytellers out into the world via their art.

PAAFF preview party guests experienced a sneak peek of what’s to come during the 17th annual film festival scheduled for November 7 to 17, 2024. The space really came alive with folks who packed the room from end to end, enjoying good food and fellowship as they excitedly waited for the film trailer to drop. 

The local indie band, Moonroof, performed live in the background and helped set the mood for party goers as the festivities got underway. The group’s frontman, Dave Kim, is Asian American and his band was thrilled to be at PAAFF. “There’s not many Asian fronted [bands] in our genre,” said Kim. “So this year we’ve been doing a lot of events with a lot of Asian culture and I think it’s [a] great thing to do.”

Kim believes in the power of PAAFF which continues to showcase the artistic side of Asian culture that he says has expanded over the years. “I love seeing a lot of people passionate about their craft.”

PAAFF added to its preview party this year by welcoming local vendors to the party to celebrate the works of Asian, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) artists and entrepreneurs. The event was co-presented by Baisun Candle Co. and sponsored by Quaint Oak Bank. The featured vendors included handmade jewelry from Chaotic Neutral, prints from Peri Law Designs, free acupuncture from The Healing Arts Center, fine Japanese goods from Rikumo, delicious small bites and matcha drinks from Baby’s Kusina, and works from PAAFF’s Design Team. “These vendors are really bringing a really exciting energy to it all. It’s really lovely to be here to watch the kickoff,” said filmmaker Van Tran Nguyen.

By partnering with these like-minded local and national small businesses, PAAFF is actively building a more expansive community for AANHPI artists of all kinds. “We came here because my friend is a major in film and she’s also an Asian American so we thought it’d be kind of cool to come here and check this space out,” said guest Alan Grissette, who attended the event for the first time. “I think there’s a lot of cool vendors around. There’s cool food, there’s matcha I’ve never tried [before]. My friend got acupuncture for the first time. So, it’s a pretty cool space to try new stuff.”

Representatives from Asian Americans United (AAU) were also at the party educating guests on some of their current projects, including getting people registered to vote. “Obviously this upcoming election is a really important one, so really important for folks to get their voice out there and get registered,” said AAU Communications and Youth Programs Manager Cinthya Hioe.

Hioe enjoys connecting with the local community through PAAFF’s events. “It’s really exciting to be here at PAAFF to be celebrating the art of Asian American folks, especially locals to the city, and to be in a space to celebrate that I think is so special,” said Hioe. “We look forward to showing up to PAAFF every single year and really getting to know the community and really continue reaching folks through tonight.”

Festival Co-Directors Arzhang Zafar and Joseph Carranza return for their second year leading PAAFF. “As always, we hope folks come away from the preview party with renewed excitement for our festival,” said Zafar ahead of the party. “Since we will be premiering our festival trailer there, as well as trailers for various films in the festival program, we hope folks learn about films they would not have known about otherwise, and purchase tickets to see them in November!”

During the event, PAAFF unveiled that the festival’s theme is “Reflections.” Zafar explained, “This past year has been extremely tumultuous and we would be remiss to ignore the larger forces in the world which dominate our lives. We will be reflecting on what it means to be Asian American and how we can speak to the reality of the world we live in.”

This year, 30 films will be screened in person while 83 films will be available for viewing online. “I am excited about several films, including two feature debuts, Van Tran Nguyen’s The

Motherload and Nida Chowdhry’s Anxious.,” described Zafar. “I am always thrilled to get to showcase the work of emerging filmmakers.”

Anxious. is a surreal, dark comedy feature film about a woman named Ruby who has an anxiety attack and trips down the rabbit hole of her mind, where she meets versions of herself who take over her life. Filmmaker Nida Chowdhry wrote, directed, produced, and starred in this feature film.

The Motherload is a narrative feature film which Van Tran Nguyen co-directs and stars in alongside her mother. The mother and daughter duo play every single role, with multiple different characters featured. The filmmakers, Nguyen and Alex Derwick, were in attendance at the preview party and shared details about their film.

“It’s kind of this absurd critique about movies that are made about the American war in Vietnam,” said Nguyen. “We reenact some of those scenes, shot for shot, from these famous movies, to kind of add our new perspective to this kind of old myth about what Vietnam is and isn’t.”

The filmmaking team had a short film, Erie County Smile, in the festival last year, and are elated about having their first feature film debut at PAAFF this year. “It’s quite an honor, it’s really exciting,” said Nguyen. Co-Director Alex Derwick added, “I’m hoping that [audiences] are able to get excited about seeing all different types of stories that can come out of the Vietnamese diaspora.” 

PAAFF has operated in a hybrid model these past few years but looks forward to adding more in-person events. “We hope folks appreciate that PAAFF is growing and accommodating more in-person events than in the past few years, not just film screenings but live performances as well,” said Zafar.

Other local filmmakers were in attendance, including King Lu. “I came last year to a few of the screenings, and I’m excited to see that there’s a larger program this year,” said Lu. “I think in the film community it’s really important to be able to sit and share the experience of watching something together that someone’s put their heart and soul into and be able to sort of celebrate that.”

PAAFF takes pride in the programming they’ve curated for their 17th year. “Really, I think our

program this year covers such a broad range of genres, mediums, and topics, from the local

dance scene in Aidan Un’s You Don’t Have to Go Home, But… to a mysterious religious sect in

Jude Chehab’s Q,” said Zafar.

Towards the end of the party, guests were treated to an exclusive first look at the trailers for some of the featured films and this year’s festival trailer. Lu was intrigued by what he saw, as all of the films feel different tonally. “It seems that the programming team did an excellent job curating a diverse slate of movies,” said Lu. “I’m really happy that these filmmakers are getting a chance to share their work with audiences at the festival, and I can’t wait to watch their work.”

PAAFF will run from November 7-17, 2024. Make sure to check out the full festival schedule and purchase tickets and passes. cinéSPEAK is also co-presenting a screening of Saving Face at PAAFF on Saturday, November 9, 2024.

Featured Image: Image of people posing at the PAAFF preview party. Courtesy of PAAFF.

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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.