Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival Featuring Plenty of LGBTQ Offerings

A scene from “Changing Season.”

This year’s Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival will be showcasing a variety of LGBTQ films that highlight the diverse nature of the AAPI community and that “demonstrate the Festival’s commitment to including all members” in their programing and conversation.

Most notable is the festival’s screening of the documentary Changing Season on Friday, November 21 at 8 pm at the Asian Arts Initiative. The film chronicles farmer and slow-food advocate David “Mas” Masumoto and his relationship with his daughter, Nikko, a queer, progressive farmer in the Central Valley. According to film producers, “Mas’ hopes and hesitations for the future are shored up with his daughter’s return, as the family must navigate the implications of Mas’ 60th birthday and triple bypass surgery, interspliced with moments of Nikko’s razor-sharp meditations on her family’s internment during WWII.”

Other highlights include the short Pamanhikan, part of a Mockumentary Double Feature on Friday, November 13th at 2:15 pm at I-House, which tells the store of an interracial gay couple who “engage in the Filipino tradition of ‘pamanhikan,’ or introducing their parents to each other in advance of their marriage.”

Distance Between and Family Gathering, both with LGBTQ themes, are part of a All in the Family Shorts presentation on Friday, November 13th at 3:59 pm at I-House. Also, When Mom Visits, a short about a Taiwanese lesbian who reconnects with her conservative mother, plays the Women’s Shorts presentation on Saturday, November 21st at 2:15 pm at the Asian Arts Initiative.

For tickets and more information, visit the PAAFF website.