The 48th Asian American International Film Festival had a vast array of topical films. The Festival just ended, but many screenings were relevant and films may be released later in local theaters.
“Mississippi Triangle” is an intimate portrait of life in the Mississippi Delta, where Chinese, African Americans, and whites live in a complex world of cotton, labor, and racial conflict. The history of the Chinese community, originally brought to the South to work on cotton plantations after the Civil War, is framed against the harsh realities of Civil Rights, religion, politics and class in the South. Rare historical footage and interviews of Delta residents are combined to create this unprecedented document of inter-ethnic relations in the American South.
The film, whose subject matter was further highlighted in Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” was produced by Christine Choy and Third World Newsreel, and was co-directed by Choy, along with Allan Siegel and Worth Long.
Long died earlier this year and was an American folklorist and Civil Rights worker. He organized sit-ins in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1960, before joining SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) as a field secretary in 1963. Long worked to emphasize Black cultural organizing, especially after joining the Smithsonian Institution in 1970, to which he brought projects on African American folklore and music.
“Transplant” features a motivated surgical resident who trains under the notorious Dr. Edward Harmon (Bill Camp), a legendary heart transplant surgeon. Jonah (Eric Nam) must choose between appeasing his abusive mentor and staying true to his values, as well as between career and family, ambition and morality.
As tensions between teacher and student come to a head and conflicts escalate with surprising — and sometimes shocking — outcomes, Jonah learns that perfection comes at a high cost.
This film gives a close and personal view of transplants and the cutthroat world of medical academia, while rooting for the resident.
“Between Goodbyes” adds new dimensions to the typical adoption story by focusing equally on an original (birth) mother and an adoptee. After more than 10 years of searching, Okgyun was able to locate her daughter, Mieke, a Korean adoptee raised in the Netherlands. Instead of that being the end of their story, it was merely the beginning.
Between 1950 and 2020, it’s estimated that more than 200K Koreans, mostly girls, were adopted outside of Korea. Eventually, it was found to be akin to baby selling.
The film delves into their fraught reunion and shows Mieke’s 2021 visit with Okgyun in Seoul; interwoven with flashbacks of each woman’s past.
This was a sad film, although there was a reunion of sorts, Mieke was still conflicted between her European life and that of her homeland.
“Byway” shows Jason who crushes pills and dissolves them into tea and he gives this tea to his hard-working father. The father is also abusive toward Jason’s mother.
Unaware of the drugged tea, his father passes out. Jason drives to a remote motel, carries him into a room, steals his wallet and leaves. Later, a call from his mother fills Jason with guilt. He returns to the motel, only to find his father gone, with only a notepad left behind that reveals the quiet burdens he carried.
Jason learns that his father had great plans for his academic future, but a reconciliation might not be possible, as the short film winds down with Jason driving a lonesome road searching for his dad.
“Check Please:” It’s closing time at the local Korean BBQ restaurant and Jay, a Korean-American, is out to dinner with Su-Bin, his co-worker who was born in Korea and not a hyphenate. When it comes time to pay the bill, the polite atmosphere quickly becomes competitive—both want to treat the other to the meal, both too stubborn and prideful to let the other pay.
What starts as a verbal confrontation escalates into a no-holds-barred martial arts brawl, complete with salad tongs action, broomstick twirls, and credit card clashes. One will pay the bill…the other will pay with his life!
The competition: one man has been in Los Angeles since birth and the other holds closely to his true Korean roots. This was a hilarious short that turns a nice meal into a crazy showdown.
In “Alice Heart,” an aimless college student residing in Philadelphia aspires to be a successful writer but drops out of school in her last semester of senior year on a whim. Immediately cut off from her disappointed Filipino mother and dumped by her studious boyfriend, she finds that she has to pay bills on her own for the first time.
Distraught, she takes solace in her neighbor Tony, a self sufficient freelance photographer who encourages her to pursue her passions and hold onto her friendships.
Alice navigates the beginnings of adulthood and combats “adult baby” allegations along the way.
She really should have gotten herself together and returned home sooner than she did. She went from boyfriend to roommate and much in between.
“Bunnylovr” is a 2025 American drama film written, directed and starring Katarina Zhu. The film follows a Chinese-American cam girl named Rebecca (played by Zhu) who navigates a toxic client relationship while reconnecting with her estranged, dying father.
Rebecca is in a fix. She reunites with her father who uses her as a lucky charm while he’s gambling.
I think she finds her self worth in the type of Only Fans work that she does virtually for this lone, mysterious white client. He sends her a bunny rabbit and asks her to do weird things with it.
She seems pleased because she has low self-esteem and feels as if she only shines through her computer. Much like many who hide behind social media avatars.
Check out aaiff.org for future updates on this film festival.