About
The Seattle Asian American Film Festival (SAAFF) showcases feature-length and short format films by and about Asian Americans across North America, with an emphasis on filmmakers from the Pacific Northwest.
SAAFF is the only film festival in Seattle to provide a space for Asian American voices, perspectives and histories by screening independent films that reflect the diversity and richness of the city’s Asian American communities.
Seattle Asian American Film Festival is a volunteer-run organization and an Associated Program of Shunpike. Shunpike is the 501(c)(3) non-profit agency that provides independent arts groups in Washington State with the services, resources, and opportunities they need to forge their own paths to sustainable.
BRIEF HISTORY
From 2003-2007, The Northwest Asian American Film Festival (NWAAFF) directed by Wes Kim showcased works by Asian American filmmakers to Seattle film goers. With the guidance of Kim, new festival directors Kevin Bang and Vanessa Au revived the program in 2013 and gave the event a new name — Seattle Asian American Film Festival.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We at Seattle Asian American Film Festival would like to acknowledge that we occupy and gather on the unceded ancestral lands of Coast Salish Peoples. Based in the city currently known as Seattle, the land we reside on belongs to the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish tribe (Dkhw Duw’Absh). It is our obligation to stand in solidarity with the Duwamish. As we work towards creating visibility for the Asian American & Pacific Islander communities, we are committed to dismantling ongoing legacies of settler colonialism and other systems of oppression that affect us all. We resist the erasure of Indigenous histories and work towards honoring and inviting truth into this space, and encourage our audiences to learn about whose land they reside on.
For more information on land acknowledgements and to give funds directly to the Duwamish tribe, visit: realrentduwamish.org. Find out whose land you reside on through: native-land.ca
MEET THE TEAM
| Victoria Ju Festival Co-Director & Entertainment Producer |
Ellison Shieh Festival Co-Director & Programming Director |
| Andrew Koh Technical Director & Filmmaker Liaison |
Yaoyao Liu Volunteer Director |
| Kristina Chu Public Relations Manager |
Joni Gutierrez Social Media Manager |
| Adrian Alarilla Programming Manager |
Em Halladay Ptacek Choi Programming Manager & Events Manager |
| Shaun Wha Nieh Events Manager |
Catherine-Mercedes Judge Events Manager |
| Mariko Toyoji Special Projects Manager |
Hut Ugalino In-house Designer |
| LeiLani Nishime Grants Manager |
Lina Truong Grants Manager |
| William Ju Technical Manager & Print Traffic Coordinator |
Claire Jung Technical Intern |
Designers and Consultants
| Simson Chantha Designer |
Amber Manuguid Designer |
| Kevin Bang Co-Founder, Advisor |
Martin Tran Advisor |