2025 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Unveils Feature Film and Special Presentation Presentations

(LOS ANGELES, CA) April 1, 2025 — The nonprofit organization Visual Communications announced today their lineup for the 2025 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF). This 41st edition bridges filmmakers of past and present to honor the role and power of storytelling in building and connecting communities. The Festival will take place from May 1 to May 7, 2025 in-person across multiple locations in Los Angeles, CA and select programs online beginning on May 5. Tickets go on sale for members on Thursday, April 3 and widely to the public on Monday, April 7. Visit the LAAPFF website for more information: festival.vcmedia.org/2025.

The Festival will open with a multi-screen kick-off at the Directors Guild of America on Thursday, May 1, featuring the world premiere of scripted feature, Surrender, written and directed by Jess Dang. This is her feature directorial debut. Starring Andrea Bang and Keiko Agena, the film participated in Film Independent’s 2022 Fast Track Fellowship program and The Gotham Media & Film Institute’s Owning It program. Also screening on May 1 will be the world premiere of the short documentary, Māhū: A Trans-Pacific Love Story. Directed by Lisette Marie Flanary, the film explores the Native Hawaiian concept of gender fluidity as it follows an innovative theater production by Kumu Hula Patrick Makuakāne.

A trio of LA premieres rounds out Day 1 and Day 2, including director Jason Park’s Transplant, featuring the feature film acting debut of Eric Nam; New Zealand standout Tinā, by director Miki Magasiva; and Molokaʻi Bound from Alika Tengan, the director of 2022 Sundance Film Festival standout Every Day In Kaimuki.

“The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival builds upon Visual Communications’ year round work of connecting audiences with  stories that both challenge and reflect our shared connections,” said Visual Communications Executive Director and LAAPFF Festival Director, Francis Cullado.  “In a time of profound social, cultural, and political divisiveness, we celebrate diverse artists who believe in the power of our stories to compel change.”

“We’re proud to share the range and depth of this year’s program — made possible through the thoughtful work and fresh perspectives of the programming team who led this year’s curatorial effort. Together, we shaped a lineup that highlights both emerging and established voices in fostering dialogue and connection. The work of our artists is sure to move, challenge, and inspire audiences — there’s truly something for everyone,”shared LAAPFF Senior Programmer, Kirby Peñafiel.

This year will feature two Centerpiece Film presentations, both screening at the Aratani Theater at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center. THIRD ACT, directed by Tadashi Nakamura, will make a homecoming of sorts with its LA premiere in Little Tokyo. The film premiered in Sundance’s US Documentary competition earlier this year and is the filmmaker’s love letter to his father, Robert A. Nakamura, known to many as the godfather of Asian American media. Standing Above The Clouds, directed by Jalena Keane-Lee, tells the story of the movement to protect Mauna Kea through the intergenerational stories of three Native Hawaiian women. The film first screened at LAAPFF in 2020 as a short documentary.

Special Presentations include Lee Soo-Man: The King of K-Pop, directed by Ting Poo, at the Landmark Theater Sunset on Friday, May 2 and DOC NYC 40 Under 40 honoree Emily Strong’s episodic, The Grocery List Show, which will screen on Saturday, May 3 at the Japanese American National Museum.

This year’s lineup will feature 27 features and over 110 shorts curated from nearly 900 submissions. These films represent 13 countries or territories, and of those selected, 102 are from the U.S. and 33 are international. Premieres and in-person screenings will take place in West Hollywood, Little Tokyo, and Monterey Park. Announcement of the competition programs, shorts, and online lineup will follow.

The 2025 LAAPFF Feature Films announced today include:

Between Goodbyes / South Korea, Netherlands, United States, Directed by Jota Mun
When a queer Korean adoptee visits her original mother in Seoul, long-held regrets and cultural misunderstandings come to the surface alongside tenderness, humor, and tenacity.

Bitterroot / USA, Directed by Vera Brunner-Sung
Reeling from a failed marriage and seeking solace and a new perspective, a Hmong man cares for his aging mother amidst the deceptively tranquil landscape of rural Montana.

Chinatown Cha-Cha / China, Directed by Luka Yuanyuan Yang
The 92-year-old previous nightclub dancer Coby Yee decides to get back on stage again after joining the senior dance troupe Grant Avenue Follies. Together they go on a tour for the last time, bridging once isolated Chinese communities in the US, Cuba and China.

From Okinawa With Love / Japan, USA, Directed by Hiroshi Sunairi
In the 1970s, Okinawan photographer Mao Ishikawa worked as a barmaid for African American GIs and published an impressive photography book.

Grassroots Rising / USA, Directed by Robert C. Winn
Portraits of the re-emergence of Asian Pacific American labor activism in Los Angeles among people from all walks of life.

Hito Hata: Raise the Banner / USA, Directed by Robert A. Nakamura, Duane Kubo
A landmark first feature film by and about Asian Pacific Americans, Hito Hata: Raise the Banner follows Oda, an aging Little Tokyo resident played by Mako, as he reflects on his life from immigration and wartime incarceration to the gentrification of his beloved neighborhood.

Lee Soo Man: King Of K-Pop / USA, South Korea, Directed by Ting Poo
From the traditional town of Jeonju, South Korea came the man that changed the world with music. Lee Soo-Man, the artist who became an innovator, orchestrated one of the most viral global phenomena, K-Pop.

Light Of The Setting Sun / USA, Taiwan, Directed by Vicky Du
A Taiwanese-American filmmaker questions her family’s silence around the cycles of violence that have persisted since the Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949.

Making Waves: The Rise Of Asian America / USA, Directed by Jon Osaki, Josh Chuck
Making Waves documents stories of Asian American activism and efforts to lift-up ethnic studies as a strategy to address present and future anti-Asian hate.

Molokaʻi Bound / USA, Directed by Alika Tengan
A Hawaiian man recently released from prison, struggles to reconnect and reconcile with his son and heritage.

Mongrels / Canada, Directed by Jerome Yoo
In rural Canada in the 1990s, a Korean family – a widower, his teenage son, and young daughter – attempts to find their way in a new land while navigating the darkness of their grief.

Softshell / USA, Directed by Jinho Myung
Following the death of their mother, a Thai-American brother and sister from Queens navigate life in the city and beyond.

Standing Above The Clouds / USA, Directed by Jalena Keane-Lee
When the massive Thirty Meter Telescope is proposed to be built on Mauna Kea, an uprising of kiaʻi (protectors) in Hawaiʻi and around the world dedicate their lives to protecting the sacred mountain from destruction.

Surrender / USA, Directed by Jess Dang
Triggered and wanting to escape her past trauma, Naomi, a young Asian American female, falls into the world of blackjack to regain a sense of control but finds herself addicted to the game.

Te Puna Ora (The Source Of Life) / USA, French Polynesia, Norway, Directed by Virginie Tetoofa
Triggered and wanting to escape her past trauma, Naomi, a young Asian American female, falls into the world of blackjack to regain a sense of control but finds herself addicted to the game.

Third Act / USA, Directed by Tadashi Nakamura
Generations of artists call Robert A. Nakamura “the godfather of Asian American media,” but filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura calls him Dad. What begins as a documentary about his father’s career takes a turn with a Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis, and evolves into an exploration on art, activism, grief, and fatherhood.

Tinā / New Zealand, Directed by Miki Magasiva
In the wake of the Christchurch earthquake, sassy Samoan mother Mareta mentors her newly formed children’s choir to The Big Sing final.

Transplant / USA, Directed by Jason Park
A motivated surgical resident pushes himself to extreme lengths while training under a legendary heart transplant surgeon obsessed with protecting his perfect reputation.

Voices of Deoli / USA, Canada, Directed by Lulu Men
Following the lives of survivors of the Deoli internment camp, their memories of this untold history, and their journey to a new life in the United States and Canada.

Year of the Cat / USA, Vietnam, Directed by Tony Nguyen
Filmmaker Tony Nguyen is on an extraordinary quest to solve the mystery of his father, lost in the chaos of the Fall of Saigon 50 years ago.