Get your facts straight! Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been dunking on American history for over a century and we have the replay to prove it. Let’s rewind to the nail-biting drama, the Cinderella stories, the everyday heroes who took control of their own destinies.
This May, in celebration of Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we trace that history the best way we know how: through films that look to the past to imagine a more just, empowered, or enriched future. Each week, we’ll provide a playlist of films you can stream from home, moving forward across the decades.
Watch whichever films catch your eye, though you won’t want to miss the films for which we’ll be holding filmmaker Q&As. Your online rentals or purchases directly support the filmmakers or the distributors who have invested in their stories. Every week, we also suggest a short film you can access for free.
Helmed by four award winning cinematic voices, these four short docs map multiple San Diego’s — all distinctly Asian American. A 2008 University City plane crash that casts a somber shadow over a military city. City Heights mortuary workers who help refugee families grieve. The electric immigrant space of a karaoke-restaurant in National City. And interviews at a South Bay 20th high school reunion that reveal that memories are not always reliable.
Watch THE PARADISE WE ARE LOOKING FOR and join us on Sunday, May 31st at 6:30PM PT for a special Q&A to close out May Madness - featuring filmmakers Norbert Shieh, Quyên Nguyen-Le, RJ Lozada, & Joseph Mangat, and Producer Brian Hu with guest moderator Erin Chew.
On April 29, 1992, Eli will get a black eye and “gook” scribbled on the hood of his car, reminders that he’s not wanted in the neighborhood where he owns a shoe store. In that store, on this day, with the Rodney King verdict playing on TV, he and others in the community are going to confront the pain festering on both sides of the graffiti.
Watch GOOK and join us on Thursday, May 21st at 6:30PM PT for a special Q&A discussion between filmmaker Justin Chon and Pac Arts Founder Lee Ann Kim!
Chances are you have not heard of Filipino American Richard Adams and his Australian husband, Tony Sullivan. This is their powerful love story culminating in the first federal lawsuit seeking equal treatment for a same-sex marriage in U.S. history.
Watch LIMITED PARTNERSHIP and join us on Wednesday, May 13th at 7:00PM PT for a Q&A with filmmaker Thomas Miller, film subject Tony Sullivan, and special guest Assemblymember Todd Gloria!
Inspired by the true stories of Hawaii's picture brides, with only a picture in hand, a spirited young woman leaves behind all she knows in Japan for the far-off islands of Hawaii - and an arranged marriage with a man she has only known through photographs and letters.
Watch PICTURE BRIDE and join us on Thursday, May 7th at 6:30PM PT for a Q&A with producer Lisa Onodera moderated by Artistic Director Brian Hu!
From the golden gleam of the American promise, to the glamorous bodies of the silver screen, these films chronicle stories of racialized immigrant labor, reactions to incarceration, and early victories in self-representation.
Watch PICTURE BRIDE and join us on Thursday, May 7th at 6:30PM PT for a Q&A with producer Lisa Onodera moderated by Artistic Director Brian Hu!
After the sixties, nothing would be the same again. The first generation of self-proclaimed Asian Americans took to the streets – and to public office. Shifting laws and a cold war brought new immigrants and adoptees. These are their stories.
Make sure to watch LIMITED PARTNERSHIP and join us on Wednesday, May 13th at 7:00PM PT for a Q&A with filmmaker Thomas Miller, film subject Tony Sullivan, and special guest Assemblymember Todd Gloria!
Between flash dancing and soul searching, Asian Americans helped to define the contradictions of a nation emerging from external and internal wars.
Did you miss GOOK at SDAFF Spring Showcase 2017? Catch the film and join us Thursday, May 21 at 6:30PM PT for a special Q&A discussion between filmmaker Justin Chon and Pac Arts Founder Lee Ann Kim!
9/11, Katrina, the financial crisis, DACA, Linsanity. These films center Asian Americans in the key moments of our time.
Don’t miss the return of SDAFF 2019 Opening Night film, THE PARADISE WE ARE LOOKING FOR, featuring four San Diego stories. Close out May Madness on Sunday, May 31st at 6:30PM PT with a Q&A featuring filmmakers Norbert Shieh, Quyên Nguyen-Le, RJ Lozada, & Joseph Mangat with guest moderator Erin Chew.
We start things off by partnering with Visual Communications to present a special sneak peek of the upcoming PBS documentary series Asian Americans, produced by some of the biggest names in American documentary.
On Friday, May 1, we partnered with Visual Communications to present a special sneak peek of the upcoming PBS documentary series Asian Americans, produced by some of the biggest names in American documentary. The screening was followed by a Q&A with episode producers S. Leo Chiang and Grace Lee, and series producer Renee Tajima-Peña.
If you missed the online screening, or want to watch the rest of the five-part series, check it out when it premieres on PBS on May 11-12.