Presenters of the Asian American International Film Festival
Big Brother is Watching What must it be like, to live in constant fear of a government you escaped from but can never truly abandon? C35 Film’s Yi Chen explores that question in her latest film to grace the film festival circuit: “Dissidents.” Chen remar ...
When the American Dream is a Calvino dreamed by the whole world, respectively. In Mandarin, “Yi” means “one,” and “Nan” means “man.” “Many people think that my name has something to do with the one-child policy, but my mom said the name was given by a ...
Subverting Asian Stereotypes Through Art When Preston Choi popped into our Zoom meeting, he had a smile that could light up a room and a calmness that was in direct juxtaposition to the heavy topics he often covers in his plays. Forty-five minutes was not ...
A conversation between Celine Song and Jeff Yang On January 23rd, the Lila Acheson Wallace Auditorium at the Asia Society was packed with people who had come to hear a conversation between author Jeff Yang and director Celine Song. Just that morning, Song ...
An Immigrant’s Story Told Through Dance Even the editing feels like a slow and perfectly punctuated tango in Ryan Moore’s award-winning short film “When We Danced” (2023). The flow of the opening and the magnificent visuals move together gracefully, trans ...
A film by the community, for the community “I’m Not An Activist” takes an inside look at the Dragon Combat Club (DCC), “an NYC-based volunteer initiative for community self-defense.” The club was formed in 2020. They offer free, self-defense classes in N ...
A Personal Look Into Finding a Character’s Desires In many ways, filmmaking is a personal outlet for filmmakers. Since graduating from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Kathy Meng has aimed to tell stories through the medium that are personal and familiar. He ...
The reflections on mortality and mother-daughter relationship of Siyi Chen Siyi Chen wrote and directed the documentary “Dear Mother, I Meant to Write about Death (我们在黑夜的海上)” about the effects of her mother’s post-cancer treatment and aftermath o ...
Decolonization, and the Power of Intercultural Alliances in Philadelphia The creative discussion at the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, ‘The Fight For Our Communities: Save Chinatown,’ unveils a conversation that revolves around the ongoing gen ...