Boston Asian American Film Festival

Co-presentations at WQ

SHORT FILM PROGRAM

A Useful Ghost

FREE

Mon, Apr 06 2026 @ 8:00 pm

Brattle Theatre

March is mourning his wife Nat who has recently passed away due to dust pollution. He discovers her spirit has returned by possessing a vacuum cleaner. Disturbed by a ghost that appeared after a worker’s death shut down their factory, his family reject their unconventional human-ghost relationship. Trying to convince them of their love, Nat offers to cleanse the factory. To become a useful ghost, she must first get rid of the useless ones.

Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Open Endings

FREE

Mon, Apr 06 2026 @ 7:00 pm

Coolidge Corner Theatre

Open Endings is a highly acclaimed 2025 Philippine queer film by Nigel Santos, celebrated for its realistic portrayal of sapphic relationships, focusing on four queer women (exes-turned-best-friends) navigating love, heartbreak, friendship, and chosen family, offering a nuanced look at queer lives beyond typical tropes, and highlighting the depth of lesbian bonds

SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Old Endings, New Beginnings

FREE

Queer Asian Stories

Sun, Apr 05 2026 @ 2:00 pm

Brattle Theatre

As painful as some chapters are to close, another inevitably waits to unfold. In the fragile space before and during an ending, one can feel suspended or stuck, unsure of what comes next. Even in the ashes, these films suggest that within every ending lies the possibility of a new beginning.

min

min total program

Director Maggie Huang in person

SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Unspoken Connections

FREE

Queer Asian Stories

Sun, Apr 13 2025 @ 3:00 pm

ArtsEmerson Paramount Center

The bonds that shape our lives are quiet yet powerful, no matter whether they're between family, friends, lovers, or even strangers. Fleeting or enduring, tender or fraught, these connections reveal the comforts and tensions present in our relationships. Understanding, longing, love— These ingredients bring us together even in the most unexpected of situations.

SHORT FILM PROGRAM

The Wedding Banquet

FREE

Fri, Apr 11 2025 @ 7:00 pm

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris and running out of time, Min makes a proposal: a green-card marriage with their friend Angela in exchange for her partner Lee's expensive IVF. Elopement plans are upended, however, when Min's grandmother surprises them with an extravagant Korean wedding banquet.

SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Some Nights I Feel Like Walking

FREE

Thu, Apr 10 2025 @ 9:00 pm

Brattle Theatre

A band of street hustlers brave the dark corners of the Manila night time and into the outskirts of a forlorn country to fulfill their friend’s dying wish: to take his body home.

Petersen Vargas

103

min

Philippines/Singapore/Italy

min total program

in person

SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Pooja, Sir

FREE

Wed, Apr 09 2025 @ 6:00 pm

Brattle Theatre

When two boys are kidnapped in a border town in Nepal, Detective Inspector Pooja is sent from Kathmandu to solve the case. But when she arrives, the brewing political unrest and violent protests throw her off course, and she is forced to seek help from Mamata, a local Madhesi policewoman. By putting aside systemic discrimination and pushing through everyday misogyny, the women solve the case - but at what personal cost?

Deepak Rauniyar

118

min

Nepali, Hindi & Maithili

Nepal, United States & Norway

min total program

in person

SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Queer Asian Stories

FREE

This is a Life

Sat, Apr 08 2023 @ 4:00 pm

ArtsEmerson Paramount Center

This year, we want to embrace and celebrate the diverse journeys that Queer and Asian individuals embark on no matter where they are in life. From young adults discovering themselves to seniors reflecting on their past, each story in our shorts program offers a unique perspective on the current realities and future dreams Queer Asians have all around the world.

min

min total program

in person

SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Joyland

FREE

Sat, Apr 08 2023 @ 2:30 pm

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The youngest son in a traditional Pakistani family takes a job as a backup dancer in a Bollywood-style burlesque, and he quickly becomes infatuated with the strong-willed trans woman who runs the show.

As a patriarchal family yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue their family line, their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for a transgender starlet.

SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Being Thunder

FREE

Sat, Apr 16 2022 @ 3:30 pm

ArtsEmerson Paramount Center

We are pleased to be partnering with the ArtsEmerson Shared Stories screening series, a collaboration of BAAFF, BLIFF and RoxFilm, to bring St‚àö¬©phanie Lamorr‚àö¬©'s documentary Being Thunder.

A two-spirit genderqueer teenager from the Narragansett tribe in Rhode Island boldly challenges the status quo of what it means to be a queer Indigenous person in a world bound by binary gender roles.

SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Men’s Shorts

FREE

Get Out of My DMs and Into These Sheets

Thu, Apr 14 2022 @ 7:00 pm

Brattle Theatre

Sup? Into? I don't know about you but with all this social distance, we are craving for something a bit more intimate. Come over for a cuddle, we got that good thread count ;).

min

min total program

in person

SHORT FILM PROGRAM

Comedy Web Series

FREE

Sat, Apr 06 2019 @ 6:00 pm

ArtsEmerson Paramount Center

Not everything in life is funny....luckily this program is. From bisexual mothers coming out late in life, to dildos, to Weho sluts, to even a woman marrying herself...this program has it all. Curated by Katie Shannon.

min

min total program

in person

Other co-presented events

CO-PRESENTED BY WQ

FROM

Boston Asian American Film Festival

Oh, Queer

FREE

Fri, Oct 18 2024 @ 8:30 pm

ArtsEmerson Paramount Center

A staple of every BAAFF season, Oh, Queer is a self-expression and complexities of identity beyond orientation.

Boston Asian American Film Festival

All That We Love

FREE

Thu, Oct 17 2024 @ 7:00 pm

Brattle Theatre

Following the death of her family dog, Emma finds herself at a crossroads where grief and release play together: a midlife awakening is now in full throttle, and those closest to Emma feel the impact, including her best friend Stan and her rambunctious daughter Maggie. To make matters more complicated and ripe for comedic mishaps, Emma’s estranged ex-husband Andy returns to the city from Singapore down on his professional luck and aiming to rekindle things with his lost love.

Director Yen Tan in person

CO-PRESENTED BY WQ

FROM

Boston Asian American Film Festival

BAAFF's Here and Queer

FREE

Fri, Oct 13 2023 @ 9:00 pm

Brattle Theatre

A staple of every BAAFF season, Queer and Here is self-expression and identity beyond orientation.

Boston Asian American Film Festival

"Be True" Short Film Program

FREE

Sat, Oct 22 2016 @ 2:00 pm

ArtsEmerson Paramount Center

Includes Got it Maid, Encore, The Monkey King is in Town, Fanny Pack, Ba, Gaysians, and Pamanhikan. The last two short films show the intersections of Asian American and LGBT identities.

Boston Asian American Film Festival

Front Cover

FREE

Fri, Oct 21 2016 @ 9:30 pm

ArtsEmerson Paramount Center

One man does all he can to veil his Asian heritage; the other takes great pains to hide his sexual orientation. Both of these things begin to change when Ryan is hired to prepare film star Ning for a fashion shoot, and the men develop a bond.