Philadelphia Asian American Film Foundation

Poetry, community, body, movement, memory. The documentary is more than a projection of reality, the subject is ever-expanding. Life may be a dream, but we have the honor of capturing it in fragments.

🗓️ November 8 | 11:00am
📍Asian Arts Initiative
🎟️ Tickets on sale at PAAFF.org

Tamai | Directed by Enoch Lui | USA | English | 2026

A son faces his biggest fear of reuniting with his distant father, who spent 15 years in prison, and now faces a new lifetime sentence — deportation.

Philadelphia Premiere

Chasing Dragonflies | Directed by Jaba Keh | USA | English | 2026

After running his grocery store for 42 years, Chuck reflects on his childhood in South Korea and his commitment to Philadelphia’s Caribbean community. Now at 72 years old, his observations and pursuit of peace have brought him full circle.

Philadelphia Premiere

Toward the Sun | Directed by Andrew Nadkarni & Maryam Mir | USA | English | 2026

A group of recently resettled Asian, Arab, and African women embark on their first overnight camping trip in the United States. Through the eyes of Fatima, a young Afghan, and Bashaer, a spirited Iraqi elder, the women discover connection and belonging in the landscape, and with each other.

U.S. Premiere

Cindy Tran: From Here to Here | Directed by Xinyan Yu | USA | English | 2025

From family estrangement to New York City’s overlooked restaurants, Cindy Tran’s poems capture what’s hidden, honest, and beautiful about being human. She invites us into the in-between, where we embrace difficult experiences and reimagine the possibilities of poetry.

Philadelphia Premiere

Bridging Our Stories | Directed by Rafael Bitanga | USA, Philippines | English, Tboli | 2026

When the last Filipino community center in Ketchikan, Alaska, becomes a memory, a 50-year-old Filipina who spent her life resisting her heritage travels to the Philippines to rediscover her roots, preserving her community’s disappearing culture, and teaching indigenous Filipino dances.

East Coast Premiere

TAMASHI | Directed by Ashima Shiraishi & Jess X. Snow | USA, Japan | English, Japanese | 2026

In the once water-rich valley of Payahuunadü, a climber Ashima Shiraishi and their former B

PHILADELPHIA PREMIERE: LEVITATING

Latas Village, a small suburban area, is known for its traditional trance parties, a long-standing ritual and form of entertainment passed down through generations. When the sacred spring where the spirit-channelers seek spirits faces an impending eviction, Bayu determines to become a lead spirit-channeler himself so he can lead a grand fundraising party to buy back the spring. But along the way, Bayu discovers that ambition alone is not enough to make him a true spirit-channeler, or to save the village he calls home.

🎬 Levitating | Directed by Wregas Bhanuteja
📍 Film Society Center
📅 November 8 | 4:00–6:30 PM
🎟️ Tickets on sale at PAAFF.org