The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival heads to Los Angeles from May 1 to May 7, 2025. The festival is set to feature a robust lineup of in-person programming, along with virtual programming for our audiences at home in Southern California and beyond.

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is a proud Academy Award®-qualifying film festival for Short Film Awards. Recipient(s) of the Film Festival’s Golden Reel Award for Narrative/Animated Short Film will be eligible to submit in the Animated Short Film/Live-Action Short Film category of the Academy Awards®.

Some of the anticipated films and programs to be shown include:

MOLOKAʻI BOUND Directed by Alika Tengan In “Moloka’i Bound,” Kainoa De Silva, a wayward Hawaiian man, is on parole and committed to reconnecting with his family. Most important to Kainoa is rebuilding his relationship with his adolescent son Jonathan after years of being incarcerated. But acclimating to a normal life in Hawai‘i is harder than it seems and Kainoa tends to do all the wrong things for the right reasons. In trying to prove himself worthy of his family and his native heritage, Kainoa’s journey is a story of both reconciliation and redemption.

Maybe It’s Just the Rain Directed by Reina Bonta In “Maybe It’s Just the Rain,” At the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a diasporic, underdog group of young women represent the Philippines at the country’s maiden appearance on the global stage. Despite all odds, they write history by beating the tournament hosts on “enemy” soil, netting the first goal to ever be scored at the World Cup for their country. Reina Bonta, Fil-Am center back, brings us along on this turbulent journey, showing us the intimate moments in between the hardship and glory. After the tournament, Reina’s lola, brings Reina to her hometown province in the Philippines. In the wake of the team’s historic 2023 campaign, this intimate family trip between grandmother and granddaughter underscores what representing the Filipino flag at the World Cup truly means to the diasporic Filipinas team.

WHERE THE LIGHT ENTERS YOU Directed by Hemal Trivedi, Matt Alesevich In “Where The Light Enters You,” Aney, a New York City med student, returns to rural India after her mother dies due to lack of medical care. Driven by grief and anger, she sets up a clinic for village outcasts, hoping to change the system. There she meets Farida, a wise and charming teenager from a nomadic tribe. Aney’s work with the village helps her heal from her mother’s death, but Farida’s life takes a tragic turn when her father dies because he can no longer afford his hospital stay. As Farida’s life unravels, Aney discovers that her utopian dreams are no match for harsh reality. Filmed over seven years, this deeply personal East-meets-West story of mutual healing shows how the sufferings and joys of the human experience blurs borders and boundaries; countries and caste.

THE GROCERY LIST SHOW Digital Series Directed by Emily Strong In the three-episode series, Host Chrissy Camba, former Top Chef contender, and guests visit international grocery stores across the U.S. and cook together, illustrating how cuisine can forge cultural connections.

THIRD ACT Directed by Tad Nakamura In “Third Act,” Generations of artists call Robert A. Nakamura “The Godfather of Asian American film,” but his son, Tad, calls him Dad. As the filmmaking son of a filmmaking legend, Tad uses the lessons his dad taught him to decipher the legacy of an aging man who was a child survivor of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans, a successful photographer who gave it up to tell his own story, an activist at the dawn of a social movement—and a father whose struggles have won his son freedoms that eluded Japanese Americans of his generation. As Parkinson’s Disease clouds his memory, Tad sets out to retrieve his story—and in the process discovers his own. The two have made films together, with Robert always by Tad’s side. THIRD ACT is most likely the last.

FOREVER WE ARE YOUNG Directed by Grace Lee, Patty Ahn In “Forever We Are Young,” From Seoul to Los Angeles, Texas to Mexico City, BTS ARMY is everywhere. FOREVER WE ARE YOUNG dives into the passionate fandom that catapulted the K-pop band BTS into a global household name. We meet fans at a BTS-focused ReactorCon in Lewisville, Texas, a dance instructor in Seoul that only teaches BTS choreography, and fans who’ve been organizing since 2013 to help BTS dominate the charts. Defying stereotypes of pop fans as screaming teen girls, ARMY is an intergenerational, culturally savvy, and politically active movement that is as diverse as the world itself. The film captures the powerful spirit of activism and collectivity that make ARMY a symbol of hope and unity in our ever-fractured world.

LEE SOO MAN: KING OF K-POP Directed by Ting Poo In “Lee Soo Man: King of Pop,” From man to maestro, look into the past and see the inception of the Hallyu Wave from Lee’s personal archives, as well as music and material from SM Entertainment’s most popular artists: BoA, Girls’ Generation, EXO, and the latest sensation, Aespa. LEE SOO MAN: KING OF K-POP is the feature documentary chronicling the enthralling life of a bold visionary whose work put his country on the map, sparked a global movement, and continues to define an era.

 

For a complete list of programs, visit the festival’s official site at: Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

The festival is set to take place at several venues across Los Angeles

Venues:

AMC Atlantic Times Square 14
450 N Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754

Aratani Theatre @ JACCC
244 S San Pedro St Los Angeles, CA 90012

CENTRL OFFICE
360 E 2nd St, Suite 800, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Democracy Center @ JANM
100 N Central Ave Los Angeles, CA 90012

Directors Guild of America
7920 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046

Far Bar
347 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Gardena Cinema
14948 Crenshaw Blvd, Gardena, CA 90249

Landmark Theatres Sunset
8000 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046