Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival

Festival Wrap & Awards

Franklin — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:22:03 +0000

The 1st Annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival Presented by HBO is in the books and was a great success. Special thanks to all of our volunteer staff for giving up much of your time over the past year to make this happen, the Asian Arts Initiative for partnering with us and providing the venue, staff and support. Much appreciation to all the audience members for coming out and supporting Asian American films in Philadelphia.

(Click below for photos)
Set 1
Set 2

We also want to thank all of our sponsors:

Presenting Sponsor: HBO
Silver Sponsors: APABA PA, Harrah’s Chester
and all of our other sponsors.

Congratulations to our award winning films!

Best Feature Film: Santa Mesa
Honorable Mention Feature Film: The Sensei

Best Short Film: Magritte Moment
Honorable Mention Short Film: A Green Mountain in the Drawer

The Philadelphia Asian American Film & Filmmakers plan to do year long screenings of notable Asian American films. Please check our website periodically for updates.

Closing Night Film & Free After Party Presented by Harrah’s Chester

Franklin — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:03:12 +0000

Our Closing Night Film is the hilarious romantic comedy “Kissing Cousins” about a “relationship termination specialist” starring Samrat Chakrabarti (who’s scheduled to attend for Q & A), Rebecca Hazlewood (from the UK hit series “Dog Eat Dog”), Zack Ward (”Transformers”), PJ Byrne (”Evan Almighty”), Gerry Bednob (”40 Year Old Virgin”), Jaleel White (aka “Urkel”!!), and the one and only David Alan Grier along with several more very funny and talented actors.

Preceded by the short film “Loneliness of the Short Order Cook”.

Director: Amyn Kaderali
Cast: Samrat Chakrabarti, Rebecca Hazlewood, Jaleel White & David Alan Greer
Sun. 10.12| 6:00P | Asian Arts Initiative (1219 Vine Street)
View Map

General Admission $8 | Student Price $6

Free After Party also at the Asian Arts Initiative from 8:15-10:15pm. Beer, Wine and Desserts will be served.

Artists scheduled to appear include:
Santalina

Sunny Doro

C. Luk

The 1st Annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival Launches!

Franklin — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:52:25 +0000

The 1st Annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival Presented by HBO will take place Thursday, October 9th to Sunday, October 12th.

Our Opening Night Film (Thursday, Oct. 9th 7-9pm) “Far North” starring Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Michelle Krusiec (Saving Face) & Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings) will premiere at the Bridge: Cinema de Lux (40th & Walnut St). (Validated parking available for $3 across the street)

A free reception will immediately follow for ticket holders at the Carriage House (3907 Spruce Street) on University of Pennsylvania campus, a short 2 block walk from the theater.

The Asian Arts Initiative (AAI) will be hosting all the remaining screenings and events from Friday, October 10th to Sunday, October 12th at their new building on 1219 Vine Street, just outside Chinatown.
View Map

The Saturday After Party which starts at 11pm will be held at:
Ly Michaels
101 N 11th St (11th & Arch St)
Philadelphia, PA 19107

FOR FILM SCHEDULE AND TO ORDER ONLINE TICKETS
(Tickets can be bought online or at venue)

Click here to view our official 2008 Program Guide

Click to view our Film Festival Poster

Check out recent articles written about PAAFF

Special thanks to all of our sponsors for helping launch our film festival!

Presenting: HBO

Silver: APABA PA & Harrah’s Chester

Partner & Host: Asian Arts Initiative

Supporting Sponsors:
Greater Philadelphia Film Office
Temple University School of Tourism & Hospitality
Philippine Folk Arts Society
Councilman Frank DiCicco
Dive
Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian American Affairs
Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP
Ground Up Marketing
History Making Productions
Get Kinetic
Hyphen Magazine
Asian American Film Lab

Community Partners:
Scribe Video Center
PAACH
OFSA
NAAAP
ICON
UPAAN
University City District

Congratulations to the selected Festival Films!

Franklin — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:23:50 +0000

Congratulations to our selected films and filmmakers!

We received a number of quality entries this year - far more entries than we could possibly program. The high quality of entries made the selection process extremely difficult, especially with the limited number of programming spots our festival had available. All submissions deserve applause for their hard work and creativity. Seeing the quantity and quality of the submissions only made us even more excited for next year. Till then though, below are the list of this year’s films.

Click to see the Festival Schedule. Tickets are now available online! Please stay tuned as the festival is just around the corner!

Check out our official 2008 Festival Program Guide

Feature Films
Far North
Planet B-Boy
Kissing Cousins
Half Life
Pretty To Think So
Santa Mesa
The Sensei
Shiro’s Head

Short Films
72 Hour Shootout Top Ten
Nuptials of the Dead
Red, Yellow & Blue
Kung Fu Granny
Cookies for Sale
The KoAloha Ukulele Story
Fortune Hunters
364 Cranes
Magritte Moment
Bite Me
Passage
Long Distance
Since You’ve Been Ong
Word
Skate Free
In my home
A Green Mountain in the Drawer
Running Dragon
The Offering
Parallel Adele
The Loneliness of the Short-Order Cook

Preview Party & Festival Trailer

Franklin — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 05:40:55 +0000

Join us at our Preview Party/Fundraiser next Tuesday, September 16th from 5:30-7pm at the Asian Arts Initiative (1219 Vine Street).
-Watch a preview of the films that will be playing at the film festival
-Enjoy live music with food and drink
-$10 - $100 sliding scale donations
(All funds go towards launching the film festival. Checks should be made payable to “Philadelphia Asian American Film & Filmmakers”)

Venues and Dates Announced

Franklin — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:23:17 +0000

The 1st Annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival will take place from:

Thursday, October 9th to Sunday, October 12th

Our opening night film will screen at The Bridge: Cinema de Lux (40th & Walnut Sts) from 7-9pm and a reception will immediately follow.

The remaining films and panels will be hosted at the Asian Arts Initiative (12th & Vine Sts).

Stay tuned for a full schedule of films and events that will be posted soon.

PAAFF Postcard

Click on the image below to watch individual videos from some of our supporters:

Submission Deadline Extended to August 25th

Franklin — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:22:19 +0000

Due to overwhelming demand, we’ve extended our call for entries deadline to Monday, August 25th.

To submit a film (short/feature/documentary), please click on the image below. For any questions, email: info@phillyasianfilmfest.org

City Hall wrap & Summer Event @ Denim, Thurs. July 31st

Franklin — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:55:37 +0000

Thanks to everyone who helped make our City Hall fundraiser and silent auction on Wednesday a success.

Special thanks to our guest speakers David Oh, Gregory DeShields, Andrew Toy and our keynote speaker Sharon Pinkenson, Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office.

We also wanted to thank the following people in attendance: our Advisory Board members Joan Bressler, Diane Heery, Gayle Isa, Sam Katz, Louis Massiah, also filmmakers Kevin Hackenberg (Get-Kinetic), Tigre Hill (“Shame of A City” & the upcoming “Barrel of A Gun”), Jake Willing and Violet Mendoza (who recently wrapped “No Boundaries”), Action News and the Korean Daily News for covering the event, and the many people who came out to support Asian American film in Philadelphia.

This event could not have happened without the hard work of our all volunteer festival staff, the hospitality of City Hall and the generous donations from local businesses who truly care about promoting diversity in the Philadelphia film community. (Click to view a full list of our sponsors)

(Watch Sharon Pinkenson’s keynote speech)

Mark your calendars and join us for our next event at Denim Lounge (1712 Walnut Street) on Thursday, July 31st (8pm-12am). DJ Phillee Blunt will be spinning.

City Hall Fundraiser, Wed. July 23rd, 5:30-7:30pm

Franklin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:43:43 +0000

You are cordially invited to a Wine & Beer Fundraiser
to support the

1st Annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (PAAFF)

on

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

5:30 – 7:30pm

City Hall, Conversation Hall (2nd floor)
Philadelphia, PA

Drinks and Hors d’oeuvres will be served.
(Click to view a full list of our sponsors)

Keynote Speakers & Silent Auction
(For a list of auction items, CLICK HERE)

Confirmed Speakers:
Sharon Pinkenson, Executive Director
Greater Philadelphia Film Office
and other Supporters!!

Donation: $50

Please make checks payable to the “Greater Philadelphia Film Office”.
(PAAFF is a nonprofit corporation & the film office is its fiscal sponsor)

Please RSVP via email to Joe Kim or 215.266.4397.

If you would like to donate food, alcohol or an item for our
Silent Auction, please email Diana Kim

If you are unable to attend and would still like to support PAAFF, please mail checks to:
Philadelphia Asian American Film & Filmmakers
PO Box 22444
Attn: Joe Kim
Philadelphia, PA 19110

Festival Sponsorship is also available!

Fundraisers, Interviews and a short film screening

Franklin — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:43:55 +0000

Philadelphia Asian American Film & Filmmakers will be hosting a fundraiser at Conversation Hall which is on the 2nd floor of City Hall, on Wednesday, July 23rd from 5:30-7:30pm. Hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer will be served. Requested donation is $50. (More details to come)

Festival Director Joe Kim was also recently interviewed by 2 local Korean newspapers: Korea Daily & Korean Phila Times (Cover, Part 1, Part 2).

Joe’s (who’s also a filmmaker) short film “lo” (starring Festival Programmer Franklin Shen and Festival Coordinator Michael Wingate Jones) will be having its Philadelphia premiere this Tuesday, July 8th from 6:30-8:30pm at the Prince Music Theater as part of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office’s: Philadelphia Filmmaker Experience.