THURSDAY, OCT. 12 | 7PM
Coolidge Corner Theater, Brookline
Featured Conversation with
Jeff Yang & Renee Tajima-Peña
Hosted by
Chelsea Vuong, Miss Massachusetts
AND OPENING PERFORMANCES BY
Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy Malden/Quincy
New England Bhangra Club
BAAFF joins forces with Jeff Yang to kick-off the 15th Annual Festival and celebrate the national Release of his highly anticipated book, The Golden Screen.
Renee Tajima-Peña, Academy Award nominated filmmaker will join Jeff Yang for a special conversation about The Golden Screen, and Miss Massachusetts, Chelsea Vuong, will emcee this special night hosted at the historic Coolidge Corner Theater.
New York Times bestselling author, Jeff Yang presents a groundbreaking book that celebrates and examines the history of Asian Americans on the big screen, exploring how iconic films (many that have screened at BAAFF!) have shaped Hollywood, representation, and American culture.
In 2018, the critical and financial success of Crazy Rich Asians ignited new fires in Hollywood to create and back Asian-centric stories. Since then, the number of movies featuring Asian Americans, either in front or behind the camera, has boomed and ushered in a new era of filmmaking. But many films, like The Joy Luck Club in 1993, paved the way for Asian American-led films before Crazy Rich Asians and to today. The Golden Screen is an in-depth look at those films, and the factors that played into their success. The Golden Screen includes commentary and conversations from Hollywood’s most visible faces, such as Simu Liu, Lulu Wang, Daniel Dae Kim, Janet Yang, Ronny Chieng, Alice Wu, and Ken Jeong. See the movies that inspired today’s modern stars to enter moviemaking, and how they’re paying it forward to the next wave of creators.
Jeff Yang | Writer, Journalist, Businessman
Jeff Yang has been observing, exploring, and writing about the Asian American community for over thirty years. He launched one of the first Asian American national magazines, A. Magazine,, and now writes frequently for The New York Times, CNN, Quartz, Slate and elsewhere. He has written/co-authored/edited books including—RISE: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now; Jackie Chan’s New York Times-best-selling memoir I Am Jackie Chan; and Eastern Standard Time: A Guide to Asian Influence on American Culture. He co-hosts the podcast They Call us Bruce with Phil Yu.
Renee Tajima-Peña | Filmmaker, Professor, Media Activist
Renee Tajima-Peña is an Academy Award nominated filmmaker and multimedia producer. Her films, including Who Killed Vincent Chin?, My America…or Honk if You Love Buddha, Calavera Highway, Skate Manzanar, Labor Women, No Más Bebés, explore themes of immigration, race, ethnicity, gender, and social justice. She was series producer/showrunner of PBS’s Asian Americans, a ground-breaking 5-hour docuseries collaboration of Asian American filmmakers, scholars, community, and public media. Tajima-Peña’s films have screened at the Cannes Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, the Whitney Biennial, and venues around the world. In 2016 she co-founded the Nikkei Democracy Project, a multimedia collective that uses the power of the Japanese American imprisonment story to expose current threats to constitutional rights. At UCLA she is a Professor of Asian American Studies, the Director of the Center for EthnoCommunications, and the holder of the Alumni and Friends of Japanese American Ancestry Endowed Chair.
Chelsea Vuong | Miss Massachusetts, Personal Finance, Podcast Host
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Chelsea Vuong is a 2021 graduate of Harvard University with a degree in Economics and Global Health and Health Policy. She is the co-founder of FinancialMile, a non-profit organization that inspires and educates students and community members about the importance of financial literacy. Through FinancialMile, she has been able to speak to 1000 students, partner with six colleges, and work with churches, military veterans, and women’s shelters. Additionally, she is involved in the Miss America Organization, where she is the current Miss San Bernardino County and will compete for Miss California in June.
