Female Storytellers – Bold Voices. Real Stories.
At HAAPIFEST 2025, we celebrate the strength, complexity, and creativity of women behind the camera with Female Storytellers, a curated selection of seven short films that explore identity, culture, grief, family, and resilience from powerful female perspectives. From intimate portraits to visionary storytelling, these films illuminate what it means to be a woman navigating layered identities in a shifting world.
📅 June 1 @ 12:00 PM
📍 DoubleTree by Hilton – 10609 Westpark Dr, Houston, TX 77042
🎟️ Get tickets/passes: haapifest.org/tickets
💫 Featured Short Films:
🚗 THE TRUCK
📽️ Director: Elizabeth Rao
🕒 13 minutes
In a post-Roe America, a Chinese American teen and her boyfriend embark on a tense journey to obtain emergency contraception—revealing generational tension and the right to choose in a shifting political climate.
📕 RED PRIOR
📽️ Director: Sophia Lin
🕒 13 minutes
An incarcerated immigrant mother haunted by guilt finds a flicker of hope and connection when a fellow inmate helps her see a path toward emotional reconciliation and forgiveness.
🇺🇸 AMERICAN DAYDREAM
📽️ Director: Ziyu Luo
🕒 15 minutes
An undocumented immigrant mother who has long relied on her daughter must confront a terrifying independence when her child seeks to pursue her own dreams—a poignant look at survival and separation.
💌 DEAR NǍI NAI
📽️ Director: Mary An Nan
🕒 9 minutes
When a Chinese American woman struggles to write a birthday card to her grandmother entirely in Mandarin, she confronts the loss of language and cultural connection during the pandemic.
🌬️ TWO BREATHS
📽️ Director: Kateryna Kurganska
🕒 18 minutes
After a man-made disaster decimates her island, an 11-year-old girl must find the courage to leave behind everything she’s known—embarking on a haunting yet hopeful journey of survival.
🥣 JUK
📽️ Director: Nadine (Misong) Jin
🕒 14 minutes
As a Korean grandmother returns home from a nursing facility, generational wounds resurface—forcing a young woman to reckon with emotional abuse and the expectations of filial love.
🌲 ONE PINE
📽️ Directors: Kaitlyn Fae Fajilan & Allen Chen
🕒 21 minutes
A grieving photographer and his estranged Chinese father accidentally take magic mushrooms during a camping trip, opening the door to vulnerability, honesty, and reconciliation.
🎟️ Don’t miss this inspiring and intimate lineup of short films crafted by women who are redefining storytelling on their own terms.
🎫 Tickets & passes: haapifest.org/tickets
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