Boston Asian American Film Festival

03/28/2025

Save the date for next month's Shared Stories and Projecting Connections presentations at ArtsEmerson:

Apr 25 | 6:30 pm
Igualada
Directed by Juan Mejia Botero
Get tickets: https://artsemerson.org/events/igualada/

In partnership with Roxbury International Film Festival, BAAFF, CineFest Latino Boston and sponsored by GlobeDocs

In Colombia, a nation marred by profound racial and socio-economic disparities, a Black woman from a rural background challenges the status quo by launching a presidential campaign. Reappropriating the term “Igualada,” Francia Márquez, catapults a movement to the upper echelons of power, by refusing to “know her place.” Fifteen years in the making, this documentary peels back the curtain on how unprecedented change can happen.

Apr 26 | 7:00 pm
Come Home, My Child
Directed by Jasmine Chinghui Lee
Get tickets: https://artsemerson.org/events/come-home-my-child/

In partnership with Taiwan Film Festival of Boston and The Asian Community Fund

For more than two decades, Mama Yang, a Taiwanese immigrant, has dedicated her life to corresponding with inmates in New York’s prison system. Filmed over ten years, the documentary follows Mama Yang’s extraordinary life journey as she tells the stories of a group of people who encounter each other in a world of loneliness.

03/28/2025

BAAFF is proud to co-present the following films at Wicked Q***r: The Boston LGBTQ+ Film Festival!

April 11 - The Wedding Banquet @ Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
April 9 - Pooja, Sir @ Brattle Theatre
April 10 - Some Nights I Feel Like Walking @ Brattle Theatre
April 13 - Unpsoken Connections: Q***r Asian Stories @ ArtsEmerson

Tickets are on sale today at https://www.queer.film/wickedqueer/festival

03/28/2025

Today at 4pm: join BAAFF, Southeast Asian Freedom Network - SEAFN, VietLead and Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) for ArtsEmerson's presentation of Taking Root: Southeast Asian Stories of Resettlement in Philadelphia.

Taking Root amplifies the stories of Southeast Asians who resettled in Philadelphia after the American War in Vietnam. It highlights the intergenerational impact of structural violence and demonstrates the power of Southeast Asians in resisting and rebuilding in America.

Q&A with community leaders follows screening.

Chhaya Chhoum, Executive Director of Southeast Asian Freedom Network (SEAFN)
Nancy Nguyễn, Co-Executive Director, VietLead
Kevin Lam, Co-Executive Director, AARW
Lan Le, Vietnamese Community Organizer, AARW
Ngan Huynh, DOT-I Youth Leader, AARW;
Co-Moderator
Nathalie Cacho, DOT-I Youth Leader, AARW;
Co-Moderator

Get tickets: https://artsemerson.org/events/taking-root/

03/26/2025

03/24/2025

BAAFF is so excited to be co-presenting Wicked Q***r: The Boston LGBTQ+ Film Festival's presentation of Andrew Ahn's updated retelling of Ang Lee's classic, The Wedding Banquet! Starring Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Joan Chen and Youn Yuh-jung.

Tickets on sale March 28!!

From Director Andrew Ahn comes a joyful comedy of errors about a chosen family navigating cultural identity, queerness, and family expectations. Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris and running out of time, Min makes a proposal: a green-card marriage with their friend Angela in exchange for her partner Lee's expensive IVF. Elopement plans are upended, however, when Min's grandmother surprises them with an extravagant Korean wedding banquet. Starring Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Joan Chen, and Youn Yuh-jung, The Wedding Banquet is a poignant and heartfelt reminder that being part of a family means learning to both accept and forgive.

Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris and running out of time, Min makes a proposal: a green-card marriage with their friend Angela in exchange for her partner Lee’s expensive IVF. Elopement plans are upended, however, when Min’s grandmother surprises them with an extravagant Kor...

03/24/2025

Join BAAFF, Southeast Asian Freedom Network - SEAFN, VietLead and the American Resource Workshop (AARW) for a Special Presentation of Taking Root: Southeast Asian Stories of Resettlement in Philadelphia on Saturday, March 29 @ 4pm!

Taking Root amplifies the stories of Southeast Asians who resettled in Philadelphia after the American War in Vietnam. It highlights the intergenerational impact of structural violence and demonstrates the power of Southeast Asians in resisting and rebuilding in America.

Get tickets:

Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song In Movement. A Day of Remembrance Special Presentation event by ArtsEmerson. Directed by Tadashi Nakamura and Quyen Nguyen-Le.

03/22/2025

At 4:30pm today, join us for Home Court, preceded by Yellow Brotherhood! In partnership with the Asian Community Fund and co-presented by the Boston Hurricanes.

Ashley is a Cambodian American basketball phenom. Her natural talent and tenacity makes coaches and family want to support her even when they don’t always know how. Filmed over three years, Home Court is a coming-of-age story that follows Ashley’s family dynamics, both tender and tragic, as she navigates being one of the top basketball recruits in the country.

Home Court draws from the intricate history of Asian Americans and their relationships with sports, community, and the interweaving of the two. Anti-Asian racism and xenophobia that were prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries resulted in Asian Americans forming sports leagues of their own. In the 1930s and 40s, Asian American women began playing for co-ed teams, helping to pave the way for women like Jaime Hagiya, Natalie Nakase and now Asheley Chea to thrive in these spaces.

Ashley is a Cambodian American basketball phenom. Her natural talent and tenacity makes coaches and family want to support her even when they don’t always know how. Filmed over three years, Home Court is a coming-of-age story that follows Ashley’s family dynamics, both tender and tragic, as she ...

03/22/2025

Today at 1:30pm!! Join us for a FREE encore presentation of BAAFF Audience Award winner 9-Man at ArtsEmerson! Co-presented by the Boston Hurricanes and in partnership with the Asian Community Fund.

9-MAN uncovers an isolated and unique streetball tournament played by Chinese-Americans in the heart of Chinatowns across the USA and Canada. Largely undiscovered by the mainstream, the game is a gritty, athletic, chaotic urban treasure traditionally played in parking lots and back alleys and it is fiercely protected by a community of men who require that 2/3 of players are “100% Chinese.” In the 1930’s, a 9-Man tournament was born. It emerged at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment and laws forced restaurant workers and laundrymen to socialize exclusively amongst themselves. Today it’s a lasting connection to Chinatown for a dynamic community of men who know a different, more integrated world, but still fight to maintain autonomy and tradition.

9-MAN uncovers an isolated and unique streetball tournament played by Chinese-Americans in the heart of Chinatowns across the USA and Canada. Largely undiscovered by the mainstream, the game is a gritty, athletic, chaotic urban treasure traditionally played in parking lots and back alleys and it is....

03/21/2025

03/21/2025

Tonight at 6:30pm, join BAAFF, CineFest Latino Boston and International Film Festival for Admissions Granted, the next in the Shared Stories series at ArtsEmerson.

In a landmark Supreme Court case pitting Asian American plaintiffs against Harvard University, activists on both sides wrestle with hard truths about race, equality, and Asian Americans’ precarious status in America, as the fate of affirmative action hangs in the balance.

Q&A follows screening:

Miao Wang, Director
Diti Kholi, Reporter, The Boston Globe
Natasha Warikoo, Stern Professor of Social Sciences, Dept. of Sociology, Tufts University
Susan Chinsen, Moderator; Creative Producer, ArtsEmerson

Dawnland. Part of ArtsEmerson 2024 film series.

03/20/2025

MARCH FILMS! Affirmative action, Chinese volleyball, a Basketball star, and SEAs in Philly - https://mailchi.mp/aarw/baaff-march2025

03/18/2025

"His work has been recognized at prestigious festivals such as LA Shorts, NFFTY, and the Boston Asian American Film Festival, and his collaborations with brands like T-Mobile, Laifen, and Face First Natural have further demonstrated his versatility."

Byron Chang, the editor for BAAFF 2024 official selection When I Die, is profiled in LA Weekly!

Filmmaking is an intricate blend of artistry and technical mastery, requiring a deep understanding of both storytelling and the tools that bring it to life.

03/18/2025

Join Let's Talk! (in-person or virtually) on the campus of the Harvard Graduate School of Education on Sunday, March 30 at 2-4pm to hear from the legendary and iconic Chinese American journalist Connie Chung as she discusses her lived experiences of breaking the bamboo ceiling as an Asian woman in a field that was dominated by white men. Please register in advance to have a chance to win Connie's memoire if joining in-person:

https://calendar.gse.harvard.edu/en/36YmkP6/g/yTNzseH1xh/lets-talk-in-conversation-with-connie-chung-4a5YUYOxN7/overview

03/18/2025

A Hollywood superstar shares the inspiring story of her groundbreaking career. When Nancy Kwan burst onto the scene in the early 1960s, Asian characters in f...

03/18/2025

📣 This weekend! Catch 3 BAAFF co-presented films on March 21 and 22 at ArtsEmerson!!

🎥 Admissions Granted
🗓 Mar 21 | 6:30 pm
🎬 Directed by Hao Wu and Miao Wang
🎟 https://artsemerson.org/events/admissions-granted/

In a landmark Supreme Court case pitting Asian American plaintiffs against Harvard University, activists on both sides wrestle with hard truths about race, equality, and Asian Americans’ precarious status in America, as the fate of affirmative action hangs in the balance.

🎥 9-Man
🗓 Mar 22 | 1:30 pm
🎬 Ursula Liang, Director
🎟 https://artsemerson.org/events/9-man/

9-MAN uncovers an isolated and unique streetball tournament played by Chinese-Americans in the heart of Chinatowns across the USA and Canada. Largely undiscovered by the mainstream, the game is a gritty, athletic, chaotic urban treasure traditionally played in parking lots and back alleys and it is fiercely protected by a community of men who require that 2/3 of players are “100% Chinese.” In the 1930’s, a 9-Man tournament was born. It emerged at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment and laws forced restaurant workers and laundrymen to socialize exclusively amongst themselves. Today it’s a lasting connection to Chinatown for a dynamic community of men who know a different, more integrated world, but still fight to maintain autonomy and tradition.

🎥 Home Court (preceded by Yellow Brotherhood)
🗓 Mar 22 | 4:30 pm
🎬 Erica Tanamachi, Director/Producer | Tadashi Nakamura, Director
🎟 https://artsemerson.org/events/home-court/

Ashley is a Cambodian American basketball phenom. Her natural talent and tenacity makes coaches and family want to support her even when they don’t always know how. Filmed over three years, Home Court is a coming-of-age story that follows Ashley’s family dynamics, both tender and tragic, as she navigates being one of the top basketball recruits in the country.