2025 BAAFF SCHEDULE
2025 audience Award Winners
We are thrilled to announce the recipients of this year’s BAAFF Audience Awards! Congratulations to the award winners and thank you to everyone who voted!
MUSTACHE
Best Narrative Feature
Directed by Imran J. Khan
THE ROSE: COME BACK TO ME
Best Documentary Feature
Directed by Eugene Yi
TECHNICIANS
Best Narrative Short
Directed by Kelly Luu & Kevin Luu
LOVE, CHINATOWN
Best Documentary Short
Directed by Lukas Dong
BAAFF Lineup-at-a-glance
Thursday, Oct. 2 (Pao Arts Center)
6:30PM Preview Party [FREE]
Thursday, October 16 (Coolidge Corner Theatre)
7:00PM OPENING NIGHT Forge [SOLD OUT]
Friday, October 17 (Emerson Paramount Center)
6:00PM CENTERPIECE Love, Chinatown (preceded by Shorts: Building Our Histories) [SOLD OUT]
9:00PM The Rose: Come Back to Me
Saturday, October 18 (Emerson Paramount Center)
1:00PM Between Goodbyes
4:30PM Love, Chinatown (Encore Screening) [SOLD OUT]
8:00PM CENTERPIECE Rosemead
Sunday, October 19 (Emerson Paramount Center)
12:00PM Shorts: Across the Divide
3:00PM Year of the Cat
6:30PM CLOSING NIGHT Mustache
Friday, October 24
7:00PM Special Presentation: Can I Get A Witness?
Friday, October 17 – Sunday, October 26
(Virtual Shorts Programs available on-demand)
Shorts: Across the Divide
Shorts: Building Our Histories
Shorts: My Own Worst Enemy
Shorts: Night Visions
Shorts: Queer & Here
Shorts: Respect Your Elders
Guests attending in person
OPENING NIGHT
Forge – Director Jing Ai Ng, Actors Andie Ju & Brandon Soohoo
CENTERPIECE
Love, Chinatown – Director Lukas Dong, Cynthia Yee, Gwen Liu
Rosemead – Producer Mynette Louie
CLOSING NIGHT
Mustache – Director Imran J. Khan, Actors Rizwan Manji & Melody Cao
Year of the Cat – Director Tony Nguyen
Between Goodbyes – Panelists
The Rose: Come Back to Me – Director Eugene Yi
Can I Get A Witness? – Director Ann Marie Fleming, Actor Keira Jang
Ticket details
- $25 Opening Night Film & Closing Night Film
- $15 Feature Films
(excludes Opening Film, Closing Film) - $15 Shorts Programs (In-Person & Virtual)
- $150 All-Access Festival Pass
(All 2025 Film Programs except Special Presentation) To purchase a festival pass, please contact the Box office directly by phone: (617) 824-8400 or email: [email protected] - $65 All-Access Shorts Pass
(All 2025 Virtual Shorts Programs)
20% off for group sales of 10+, please call 617-824-8400 or email [email protected] for more information.
Opening night venue
Coolidge corner theater
290 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446
MBTA Accessible: Green Line (C branch to Cleveland Circle) trolley to Coolidge Corner via Beacon Street.
MAIN venue
Emerson Paramount Center
559 Washington St. Boston, MA
MBTA Accessible on Orange Line, Red Line, Green Line, Silver Line
OPENING NIGHT
Directed by Jing Ai Ng
Narrative | 112 Minutes | English | Boston Premiere
- Thursday, Oct. 16, 7:00PM EST
- Coolidge Corner Theatre
- Followed by Q&A with Director Jing Ai Ng
- & Actor Andie Ju & Actor Brandon Soohoo
In Miami, siblings Raymond and Coco Zhang run a profitable art forgery ring. When the Zhangs cross paths with millionaire Holden Beaumont, they’re coerced into creating counterfeit masterpieces as a front for his old American family’s art collection, only to become entangled in a web of deception. READ MORE »
Director Jing Ai Ng
Actor Andie Ju
Actor Brandon Soo Hoo
- Friday, Oct. 17, 6:00PM
- Emerson Paramount Center
- Followed by Q&A with filmmakers
(Preceded by Shorts: Building Our Histories)
Building Our Histories spotlights stories of creating and maintaining API spaces from Boston’s Chinatown to communities around the globe…READ MORE »
- Friday, Oct. 17, 9:00PM
- Emerson Paramount Center
- Followed by Q&A with Director Eugene Yi
The Rose: Come Back to Me is an intimate documentary chronicling the remarkable journey of The Rose— from their humble beginnings as a South Korean indie band…READ MORE »
- Saturday, Oct. 18, 1:00PM EST
- Emerson Paramount Center
- Followed by Q&A
When a queer Korean adoptee visits her original mother in Seoul, long-held regrets and cultural misunderstandings come to the surface alongside tenderness, humor, and…READ MORE »
Centerpiece narrative
Directed by Eric Lin
Narrative | 97 Minutes | English, Chinese
- Saturday, Oct. 18, 8:00PM
- Emerson Paramount Center
- Followed by Q&A with Producer Mynette Louie
In a race against time, an ailing woman is stricken by the discovery of her teenage son’s violent obsessions and must go to great lengths to protect him, and possibly others, in this portrait of a Chinese American family. Inspired by true events, ROSEMEAD marks the feature directorial debut of acclaimed cinematographer Eric Lin, and showcases tour-de-force performances by Lucy Liu and newcomer Lawrence Shou…READ MORE»
- Saturday, Oct. 18, 4:30PM
- Emerson Paramount Center
- Followed by Q&A with filmmakers
Chinatown resident Cynthia Yee embarks on an open-hearted walking tour of Boston’s Historic Chinatown in all its vibrancy—extending a discerning welcome to…READ MORE »
- Sunday, Oct. 19, 12:00PM
- Emerson Paramount Center
- Followed by Q&A with filmmakers
Across the Divide explores stories of unlikely connections, whether cultural, economic, or even supernatural. These films demonstrate the power of creating new bonds against all odds…READ MORE »
- Sunday, Oct. 19, 3:00PM
- Emerson Paramount Center
- Followed by Q&A with Tony Nguyen
Year of the Cat follows filmmaker Tony Nguyen on an extraordinary quest to solve the mystery of his father, lost in the chaos of the Fall of Saigon 50 years…READ MORE »
closing night
Directed by Imran J. Khan
Narrative | 84 Minutes | English | New England Premiere
- Sunday, Oct. 19, 6:30PM
- Emerson Paramount Center
- Followed by Q&A with Director Imran J. Khan
- & Actors Rizwan Manji & Melody Cao
In the mid-1990s in Silicon Valley, Ilyas is a 14-year-old Pakistani-American who is forced to leave his private Islamic school to attend a public school. Adding to his struggles is a mustache that he has been growing since he was ten, to his chagrin. READ MORE »
Director Imran J. Khan
Actor Rizwan Manji
Actor Melody Cao
Special Presentation
Directed by Ann Marie Fleming
Narrative | 110 Minutes | English
- Friday, Oct. 24, 7:00PM EST
- Museum of Science
- 1 Science Pk, Boston, MA
- Followed by Q&A with filmmakers
How Much Time is Enough? In the not-too-distant future, we’ve solved all the world’s problems: mitigated climate change, eradicated poverty, achieved true trans-species equality. There’s just one catch… humans have to end life at 50 and teenage artists have to document it. It’s Kiah’s first day on the job. READ MORE »
Director Ann Marie Fleming
Actor Keira Jang
SHORTS PROGRAMS - VIRTUAL ACCESS DETAILS
You will receive a confirmation email and the link to view your content can be found at the bottom of the email. The content must be started within the designated viewing window. Once started, you have up to 24 hrs to finish playing the content or until the end of the viewing window – whichever comes first.
All Shorts Program available on-demand from
Friday, October 17, 2025, 7:30PM until Sunday, October 26, 2025
(Available for viewing after 24 hours of purchase)
IF YOU ENCOUNTER ANY TICKET OR STREAMING ISSUES, PLEASE CALL THE ARTSEMERSON BOX OFFICE
Across the Divide explores stories of unlikely connections, whether cultural, economic, or even supernatural. These films demonstrate the power of creating new bonds against all odds…READ MORE »
Building Our Histories spotlights stories of creating and maintaining API spaces from Boston’s Chinatown to communities around the globe…READ MORE »
My Own Worst Enemy interrogates the insecurities that we all hold within ourselves and how we can work to overcome (or end up succumbing)…READ MORE »
Night Visions is a showcase of the weird and the wacky, films that don’t easily fit into any one box. These shorts subvert the expectations and surprise audiences…READ MORE »
A staple of every BAAFF season, Queer and Here highlights stories of self-expression and the complexities of identity and intersectionality, beyond orientation…READ MORE »
Respect Your Elders honors our older community members, showing us that our elders still have much to share with the world…READ MORE »
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