Featured Programs
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Propaganda Film Night
Music Conference Free / Presentation / 120 mins
As one of the special events during the American Peril Exhibit, PAAFF returns to Twelve Gates Arts for an evening of American propaganda. Our definition of Propaganda is content that: 1) promotes one-sided or biased information, 2) reinforces ideology central to systems of control (political, religious, class/race hierarchy), and 3) reduces complex concepts into simple dichotomies. Highly problematic by today’s standards, both Hollywood and independent filmmakers have utilized their craft to shape the opinions of the American public during times of war and during the occupation of conquered territories. Films will be introduced by and contextualized for their historical significance. The content is offensive in its portrayal of Asian subjects, but important for understanding the causes of anti-Asian sentiment in previous generations.
Propaganda Film Night
Twelve Gates Arts
November 14, 2018 6:30 pm -
HBO: FOLKLORE
Joko Anwar & Eric Khoo / Horror / Indonesia, Singapore / Horror, Narrative / 100 mins
PAAFF will be screening episodes 1 and 3 from this six-episode horror anthology series HBO Asia teams up with veteran Singaporean filmmaker Eric Khoo as showrunner. Each episode has a standalone story helmed by genre directors from six different countries in Asia that each involve folklore at the core of their terrifying stories. As a special presentation at PAAFF'18, HBO will present two back-to-back episodes directed by Indonesia's Joko Anwar (Satan's Slaves) and Eric Khoo (Ramen Shop, Tatsumi).
HBO: Folklore
Lightbox Film Center
November 9, 2018 11:45 pm Buy Tickets
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An American Story: Norman Mineta & His Legacy
Dianne Fukami / Tentpoles, Documentary / USA / Documentary / 60 mins
A film about injustice, redemption, and a burning desire for all people to be treated equally, Norman’s American Story is a path from shame and humiliation as a child in a U.S. concentration camp to seeking justice for all Americans while serving 20 years in Congress and two presidential cabinets.
An American Story: Norman Mineta & His Legacy
Asian Arts Initiative
November 18, 2018 7:00 pm -
Prison Food
Aditya Thayi / Filipino Food Sunday, Free Movies, Documentary / Indonesia, Philippines / Documentary / 44 mins
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.
Prison Food
Reading Terminal Market
November 11, 2018 12:00 pm
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Keep Me Posted
PAPA Mini-Residencies Showcase, Live Performance / Live Performance / 90 mins
Celeste Moon is new to internet fame. Followed on social media and IRL, this hyper-trendy insta-poet is no stranger to looking over her shoulder. But after a series of mysteriously specific packages falls into her hands, she is forced to face her stalker. Will he ghost her or haunt her? Keep Me Posted by Stephanie Kyung-Sun Walters examines the presence of technology in our society and the struggles of online dating.
Keep Me Posted
InterAct Theatre
November 12, 2018 7:00 pm -
Music Of Asian America Conference: Day 1
Music Conference Free, Free Events / Presentation / 180 mins
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 musical showcases on Friday and Saturday nights during Opening Weekend. Bringing together filmmakers, academics, and other creatives - the PAAFF Conference presentations include many of the leading scholars on these subjects and top performing artists in their field. All conference programs are FREE and open to the public, RSVP advised due to limited seating capacity. Check guide listing for location information since the conference will be traveling between venues.
Music Of Asian America Conference: Day 1
Twelve Gates Arts
November 9, 2018 1:45 pm
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In the Life of Music
Caylee So and Sok Visal / Tentpoles, Drama / Cambodia / Narrative / 92 mins
IN 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 Sinn Sisamuth (the King of Khmer Music), plays a role in the lives of three different generations. It is a powerful intergenerational tale that explores love and war as it depicts the lives of people whose world is inevitably transformed by the emergence of the Khmer Rouge.
Opening: In the Life of Music
Lightbox Film Center
November 8, 2018 7:00 pm Buy Tickets -
American Peril Exhibit: Imagining The Foreign Threat
Free Events / Art Exihibit
PAAFF is presenting a special gallery exhibit on the history of anti-Asian racial propaganda in partnership with Twelve Gates Arts.
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Musical Showcase: Folk & Indie
Live Music / Live Performance / 120 mins
The lineup includes Americana story songs to Filipino folk traditions, and an American-born Korean making music in return diaspora. Each of these acts deal with questions of authenticity, ancestral memory, and preserving the legacies of those who came before.
Musical Showcase: Folk & Indie
Lightbox Film Center
November 10, 2018 9:30 pm Buy Tickets -
Music Of Asian America Conference: Day 3
Music Conference Free, Free Events / Presentation / 135 mins
"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 musical showcases on Friday and Saturday nights during Opening Weekend. Bringing together filmmakers, academics, and other creatives - the PAAFF Conference presentations include many of the leading scholars on these subjects and top performing artists in their field. All conference programs are FREE and open to the public, RSVP advised due to limited seating capacity. Check guide listing for location information since the conference will be traveling between venues."
Music Of Asian America Conference: Day 3
Institute of Contemporary Arts
November 11, 2018 10:15 am
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Musical Showcase: Traditional & Hip Hop
Live Music / Live Performance / 120 mins
In this showcase we will be exploring the connections between traditional and contemporary, showing how the lineage of musical practice within multiple generations of diaspora communities has helped create innovative approaches to the wholly American genre of hip hop.
Musical Showcase: Traditional & Hip Hop
Lightbox Film Center
November 9, 2018 9:30 pm Buy Tickets -
Music Of Asian America Conference: Day 2
Music Conference Free, Free Events / Presentation / 150 mins
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 musical showcases on Friday and Saturday nights during Opening Weekend. Bringing together filmmakers, academics, and other creatives - the PAAFF Conference presentations include many of the leading scholars on these subjects and top performing artists in their field. All conference programs are FREE and open to the public, RSVP advised due to limited seating capacity. Check guide listing for location information since the conference will be traveling between venues.
Music Of Asian America Conference: Day 2
University of Pennsylvania
November 10, 2018 10:15 am
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Ulam: Main Dish
Alexandra Cuerdo / Tentpoles, Filipino Food Sunday, Documentary / USA / Documentary / 79 mins
In this delicious new documentary, Filipino-American filmmaker Alexandra Cuerdo follows the rise of Filipino food via the award-winning chefs who are crossing over to the center of the American table.
Ulam: Main Dish
Lightbox Film Center
November 11, 2018 6:15 pm Buy Tickets -
Fiction and Other Realities
Bobby Choy and Steve Lee / Tentpoles, Drama / South Korea, USA / Narrative / 85 mins
Fiction and Other Realities is the story of Bobby Choy, a 20-something Korean American residing in New York City who feels like a stranger in the country in which he was born.
Fiction and Other Realities
Lightbox Film Center
November 10, 2018 7:35 pm Buy Tickets
