Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival

The 2010 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival is a movie showcase celebrating and elevating the Asian- American experience.

Presented by HBO, the festival—the only Asian-American film gala in Philadelphia—features exciting and culturally relevant programming and events. The event runs from Thursday, Oct. 21, to Sunday, Oct. 24, at the Asian Arts Initiative, 1219 Vine St., and the Ibrahim Theater at the International House, 3701 Chestnut St.

Opening the festival is Sebastian Conley’s “Colin Hearts Kay,” starring Noah Starr and Emily Chang. This romantic comedy (pictured below) features handdrawn special effects, animation and an innovative blend of live action and cartoon illustration. When cartoonist Colin Jenson breaks up with longterm girlfriend, Kay Ho, he journeys back through a hilarious kaleidoscope of animated cartoon memories to figure out what went wrong and who was to blame. The script is a Brooklyn ode to Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall.”

The closing night film is Quentin Lee’s “The People I’ve Slept With,” a sexy, romantic tale about Angela, a young woman with a zealously active sex life who, after every conquest, makes keepsake “baseball cards” of each of her mates. After she finds out she is pregnant, she begins a quest to find the identity of the father. Together with her gay best friend and co-worker, Gabriel, Angela goes on a comical and raunchy hunt through her past hook-ups and dates to find her “baby daddy.” The cast includes Karin Anna Cheung from “Better Luck Tomorrow” and Wilson Cruz from “My So-Called Life.”

Other films featured include Raul Jocson’s “SF Stories,” Iris K. Shim’s documentary “The House of Suh,” about a Korean-American man serving a 100-year prison sentence for killing his sister’s fiancé, and Leena Pendharkar’s “Raspberry Magic.”

For more information, visit www.phillyasianfilmfest.org. For ticketing information, visit phillyasian.bside.com/2010/schedule/week.

Phladelphia Asian American Film Festival