Boston Asian American Film Fest Empowers With Empathy
The Boston Asian American Film Festival (BAAFF) celebrated a successful run of its 18th film festival that ended Oct. 25. The BAAFF runs every October, in collaboration with the Asian American Resource Workshop and Arts Emerson, with an emphasis on “showcasing Asian American experiences and serving as a resource to filmmakers and the Greater Boston Community.” Susan Chinsen, the festival director, compared the significance of its anniversary to a step into adulthood: “a time to claim our independence and strengthen what we have built together with care, courage, and intention.”
In line with this theme, many of the films and shorts featured this year centered on identity and community.
The festival opened with “Isle Child,” directed by Thomas Percy Kim. The film follows a Korean-American adoptee who must choose between maintaining his American life or confronting his painful past with his terminally ill birth mother in Korea. Two documentaries followed, “Breaking the Code” by Ben Rekhi, about him retracing his father Kanwal Rekhi’s journey from India to Silicon Valley, and “The Road to Sydney,” by Benito Bautista. The latter is about Philippine dance master and choreographer Sydney Loyola and her journey to healing through dance following a childhood of bullying, and later job loss and eviction after her gender transition.
The centerpiece narrative for this year was “Jersey Boy,” directed by Jaskaran Singh. The narrative follows a Sikh boy struggling to hold onto love, family, and identity after a family tragedy in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. This was followed the next day by the documentary, “Chinatown Cha-Cha,” directed by Luka Yuanyuan Yang, in which 92-year-old former nightclub dancer Coby Yee goes on tour with the senior dance troupe Grant Avenue Follies for the last time, bridging together isolated Chinese communities in the US, Cuba, and China.
The following weekend started strong with centerpiece documentary “Y Vân: The Lost Sounds of Saigon,” directed by Khoa Ha and Victor Velle, which follows Khoa’s journey to preserve the lost music of her grandfather: the legendary Vietnamese composer Y Vân. The last day consisted of the animated movie “In Waves” by Phuong Mai Nguyen and AJ Dungo, which follows the true story of AJ’s connection with his soulmate (voiced by Stephanie Hsu, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”), and the power of love to shape who we become and what we leave behind.
Additionally, there were four short programs: “BAAF After Dark,” “In Transit,” “Drawing Lines,” and “Families Forged & Found.”
As an attendee of the “Families Forged & Found” program, it was apparent through the different formats and stories that the central themes of friends and communities allowed further reflection on our own identities and place in community. The program started off with the comedic “Three Ladies & A Fake ID,” centering on three middle-aged women disguising themselves to get a senior discount at a new restaurant. Amid the jokes and close calls, the short celebrates the importance of friendship amid life’s changes. Next came “Gilbert Gong - The Heart of Lincoln Square,” about Gong’s journey in renewing Oakland’s historic Chinatown as recreation director for the community center. This inspiring story harkens back to all of the unsung heroes fighting for Chinatown communities across the country, including the people keeping programs alive in Boston’s very own Chinatown. The next short was titled “Headbang,” which explores two different characters and their empowerment through the hijab. In this nuanced take, the director explores “the complex power of the hijab, and how a seemingly simple piece of cloth embodies what the wearer imbues it with and what society projects onto it.”
The emotional “Betty St. Clair” began with a funny premise, with a Chinese American drag queen hosting a showcase for an Asian senior center. What follows is an emotional moment as Betty St. Clair connects with her grandfather through her drag performance. The next short was a documentary called “Muoz-Doic Mixtape,” which followed the Mien community in Portland, Oregon, showcasing intergenerational efforts to keep the Mien culture alive in the face of historical and structural displacement. Finally, the program wrapped up with the documentary, “Yu & Me,” following hyperindependent Lucy Yu, who struggles to keep her bookstore alive as the first queer Asian American bookstore in New York City, located in Manhattan’s Chinatown. As a fire destroys the bookstore, Lucy learns how to depend on and rebuild with the community around her. Attending this particular shorts program allowed me to see different perspectives and celebrate what it means to be in community and protect the bonds between families, forged and found.
The program wrapped up with the critically acclaimed “Montreal, My Beautiful,” directed by Xiaodan He and starring Joan Chen (“Saving Face,” “Twin Peaks”). The story follows 53-year-old Chinese immigrant mother Feng Xia as she struggles between her loveless marriage and duty to her family, and her long-buried queer desire. Feng Xia’s journey of forbidden love and queer discovery is ultimately a reflection of her own reckoning with self-identity and liberation, especially as she struggles to balance her familial sacrifices and the life she has built in her immigration journey from China to Canada. Joan Chen opened with a video message before the film itself: “This role speaks to me on a deeply personal level. It’s rare to find a script that explores age, sexuality, and cultural dislocation with such depth. I ... enjoyed exploring and inhabiting Feng Xia’s unique world, and I can’t wait for audiences to do the same.”
With very few queer lesbian stories, especially centering Asian women and especially centering middle-aged immigrant women, the portrayal of Feng Xia is especially important. Her inner conflict and emotions show the nuances of culture and obligations clashing with the self, and how to confront her own identity and desires. What follows is more than just a queer story about identity and breaking free from repression, but also a story about Chinese immigration and sacrifice for family. In the Q&A session, director Xiaodan He spoke to the lack of representation not only in terms of queer media, but also this specific intersection of a Chinese middle-aged immigrant lesbian. She also spoke of her depictions of sacrifice through both Feng Xia and the husband in the story, who pursues his architecture dreams despite only having credentials in China. Rather than being completely villainized, his heartaches in feeling lost and lacking control are clearly depicted, showing the reasons for his actions and complicated dynamic with his wife and kids. Even if not all audiences can relate to the characters, Xiaodan He delicately portrays the conflicts and emotions in a way that is empathetic and touching.
On Nov. 14 the Emerson Paramount Center will host “Tiger Mom Academy” at 6:30 p.m. with a Q&A with the co-producers and director. The movie is about a Chinese-American mother who is unable to control her children. After her kids get expelled from school, she tries to salvage her children’s futures by enrolling them in a prestigious disciplinary school, Tiger Academy. The film features award-winning Michelle Krusiec (“Saving Face”) and Ken Jeong (“Community”). Tickets are at baaff.org/tiger-mom.
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