In celebration of AAPI Heritage Month, we are joining community leaders from the creative and business worlds to launch AAPI Storytellers, a virtual film festival focused on movies made by American filmmakers of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. This special film series aims to help increase representation of the AAPI community in media and showcase the color and diversity of their stories.

We're joined by our incredible festival co-hosts and partners. See the full schedule here along with the filmmakers and co-hosts joining each event.

The AAPI Storytellers Virtual Film Festival will feature films every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday during the month of May as one-time special viewing events here on Kinema. Each film will be paired with a live conversation between the filmmakers and hosts. All proceeds will benefit non-profit organizations focused on defeating anti-Asian racism and harmful legacy biases in the media industry.

From the refugee and immigrant experience as seen in The Donut King and Seadrift, to the connection to our homelands in Waikiki, to the impact of the notable and passed figures of Grace Lee Boggs in American Revolutionary and Bruce Lee in Be Water and the budding youth experience in Try Harder! and Minding the Gap as well as an examination of violence against communities of color. The series will also include moments of joy, love, and pure entertainment from The Paper Tigers and Columbus and Meet the Patels

Over the last year there has been a 150% increase in violence against Asian Americans, a direct result of racist language and negative media portrayals. The films in this series seek to counter these narratives by providing authentic and complex characters and stories, written or directed by Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Directors Bao Nguyen, Bing Liu, Alice Gu, Bao Tran, Debbie Lum, among many others will join their screenings for a live Q&A with the audience. All conversations will be live streamed into the Virtual Kinema where audiences can directly engage and ask questions.

Our intention for Kinema was to enable anyone, anywhere to distribute, exhibit and amplify incredible films. The AAPI Storytellers Festival is an example of how anyone can curate their own virtual film festival, bringing powerful, entertaining and diverse films to communities everywhere.

Check out the full AAPI Storytellers Schedule.