Press Kit
About Us Philadelphia Asian American Film & Filmmakers is a nonprofit organization founded in 2008 to showcase films by and about Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans for the city of Philadelphia and Greater Philadelphia region. We aim to present captivating programs that engage, inspire, and connect our community both to one another and the non-Asian mainstream. Our marquee celebration is the annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, the first and only event of its kind in Philadelphia. The festival brings in audience members from all over the region and Asian American filmmakers, actors, and leaders from around the world. We also host numerous screenings year-round. We look forward to welcoming you to our next event! Sincerely,
Rob Buscher Festival Director rob@phillyasianfilmfest.org 203.449.6140 About the Director: Rob is a film and media specialist who has worked in many aspects of film including production, administration, and distribution. Due in part to his biracial Japanese American heritage, Rob’s expertise is Japanese and East Asian Cinema, although he has worked as a professional film programmer in a wide variety of genres. Some of his career highlights include co-founding Zipangu Fest - the UK’s premier Japanese Film Festival, co-hosting and programming Philadelphia Japan Arts Matsuri Tohoku Earthquake relief charity film festival, and creating the Japanese Cinema Studies curriculum at Arcadia University. Rob is an active member of Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia and serves on the National Strategic Planning Committee for Japanese American Citizens League. Rob’s other board engagements include JACL Philadelphia Chapter, PHL Convention & Visitor’s Bureau Mulitcultural Affairs Congress, and Pan Asian Association of Greater Philadelphia.
2015 Festival PAAFF’s eighth annual festival promises to be our most successful yet! 11 days across multiple locations in Philadelphia, PAAFF 2015 is expected to feature approximately 20 film screenings, speaker panels, cooking demonstrations, musical performances, and special events. Many of these events are highlighted by guest appearances from today’s most popular Asian American filmmakers, actors and directors. Unlike any other event in Philadelphia, the Festival brings together the Asian American community as they connect not only with our films and peripheral programming, but also with each other. Building upon the successes of our 2014 Pre-Festival Program, PAAFF now offers year-round programming through our monthly screening series leading up to the Main Festival Program in November. Screenings take place at various venues throughout Philadelphia and typically involve partnerships with other diverse community organizations.
What’s New? In a few short years PAAFF has quickly emerged as the East Coast’s premier Asian American film festival. Screening films year-round and expanding our festival to a full 11 days of music, food, and other cultural performance events, PAAFF has not only surpassed its competitors on the East Coast, but is now regarded as an industry leader amongst festival programmers in our niche demographic nation-wide. Here are a few of our cutting-edge program sections that debuted in our 2014 festival. PAAFF Eats A food centric program section that centers around culinary arts on screen, and in person. Our 2014 program featured live cooking demonstrations by Madame Saito, inventor of the Philly roll, and Master Chef Joseph Poon, who was partnered with actor Teddy Chen Culver from feature film “Eat With Me” as his sous chef.
PAAFF Pride A program section showcasing LGBTQ content that demonstrates our commitment to including all of members of our community. We programmed two features and two shorts at PAAFF’14, and have included two films under this section in our 2015 year-round program.
PAAFF Pulse A music based section that explores the rising numbers of APAs working in the music industry. PAAFF’14 focused on the influence of APAs in Hip Hop through a panel discussion led by author Jeff Chang and featuring Scott CHOPS Jung from the Mountain Brothers, along with several live music events.
Screening Sponsor Year-round Program Festival Sponsorship Since 2013, PAAFF has expanded our activities to include monthly screenings at a variety of venues throughout the city of Philadelphia. These screenings have allowed us to develop a larger audience and sustain year-round engagement with our existing supporters. Additionally we have been able to increase the diversity of our audience by incorporating specific ethnic communities and interest groups into our programs. To date our outreach has included African Americans, Latino Americans, Jewish Americans, Middle Eastern Americans, LGBTQ individuals, and people with disabilities. Our current series is scheduled to take place on the fourth Thursday of each month from May-September at Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia’s Chinatown. Recently we were given an exciting opportunity to expand our festival outside of Philadelphia through a series of satelite screenings at Theatre N in Wilmington, DE, consisting of the six award winning films from the 2014 festival on the second weekend of each month May-October.
MONTHLY SCREENING SERIES MAY–SEPTEMBER, 2015 | ASIAN ARTS INITIATIVE PAAFF is Philadelphia’s premiere cinema showcase celebrating and elevating the Asian American experience both on screen and behind the camera. We present the best in Asian and Asian American cinema through our year round programming and annual festival each November.
MANNY
GARUDA 19
Thu, May 28, 2015
Thu, August 27, 2015
Director: Leon Gast, Ryan Moore | 88 mins
Director: Andibachtiar Yusuf | 105 mins
A gripping feature doc about Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao and his tremendous rise to success, to be screened just weeks after his title match with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather.
A coming of age sports film about the true story of Indonesia’s Under 19 soccer team who won the ASEAN Football Federation’s Youth Championship in 2013. This optimistic film celebrates Indonesia’s bright future in the sport, and is a perfect way to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Indonesian Independence.
LIMITED PARTNERSHIP Thu, June 25, 2015 Director: Thomas G. Miller | 74 mins A touching documentary about an Asian American man and his Australian lover who were legally married in the state of Colorado in the 1970s, but then faced deportation over bigoted immigration policies that did not accept same sex marriage as grounds for naturalization. Co-Produced and shot by PAAFF alumni Leo Chiang.
ASIAN ARTS INITIATIVE
CHEETAH: THE NELSON VAILS STORY
1219 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 215.557.0455 | www.asianartsinitiative.org
Thu, July 23, 2015 A terrific rags to riches sports documentary about Nelson Vails, the first African American to win an Olympic medal in cycling who began riding as a bike courier in NYC in the 1970s. Produced by Scott Nguyen and directed by PAAFF alumni Stephane Gauger.
www.paaff.org
MANNY
Director: Stephane Gauger | 60 mins
LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
CHEETAH: THE NELSON VAILS STORY
GARUDA 19
ROOTS IN THE SAND Thu, September 24, 2015 Director: Jayasri Hart | 57 mins An informative documentary about the little known Punjabi-Mexican community of Southern California that began due to a combination of racially motivated immigration policy and antimiscegenation laws. This film will be screened to honor Latino American Heritage Month.
Tickets can be purchased online by visiting www.paaff.org or at the door. General Admission: $8 Students | $6 Seniors
DESIGNED BY MARUGRAPHIS | WWW.MARUGRAPHIS.COM
ROOTS IN THE SAND
PAAFF Banquet PAAFF Banquet Festival Sponsorship One of the more unique events that PAAFF hosts is our Annual Benefit Banquet held in September of each year. The PAAFF Banquet is our first major event of the 2015 Festival, where we will provide early details about our gala presentations and featured programming to our individual supporters, community leaders, and sponsors. Along with a delectable 8-course traditional Chinese dinner, the banquet also features live entertainment, a silent auction, and appearances by special guests. The 2015 Banquet will be held on Friday, September 11 at Ocean City Restaurant in Philadelphia’s Chinatown.
See you Sponsorship at the festival! Festival