The Auntie Sewing Squad Resistance Playbook: A Story Rooted in Community
📅 June 6, 2026 | 1:30 PM
🎥 Documentary Feature | Texas Premiere | English | 72 mins
📍 DoubleTree by Hilton Westchase
📍 10609 Westpark Dr, Houston, TX
HAAPIFEST 2026 proudly presents The Auntie Sewing Squad Resistance Playbook — a powerful documentary that redefines what community care, activism, and resistance can look like.
✊ Sewing as Survival. Sewing as Resistance.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when fear and uncertainty gripped the world, a group of women came together with a simple yet urgent mission: to help.
The Auntie Sewing Squad — a collective of mostly BIPOC women sewists — mobilized across the country to create and distribute masks to vulnerable communities when resources were scarce.
But their work went far beyond public health.
The Auntie Sewing Squad Resistance Playbook reveals how this grassroots movement became a force for:
Feminism and collective care
Anti-racism and allyship
Community organizing and mutual aid
Challenging systems of inequality and white supremacy
Through sewing, the Aunties didn’t just protect lives — they built a movement.
🌏 A Story Rooted in Community
This documentary captures the spirit, resilience, and humanity of women who turned skill into action and compassion into impact.
Their work reminds us that resistance doesn’t always look like protest — sometimes, it looks like care, connection, and showing up for one another in times of crisis.
🎤 Meet the Filmmaker
Following the screening, join us for a special Meet & Greet with director Valerie Soe.
An award-winning artist and filmmaker, Valerie Soe has been creating groundbreaking work since 1986, with films and installations showcased at festivals, museums, and galleries around the world.
Her work often explores race, representation, and Asian American identity — combining experimental storytelling with powerful social commentary.
Her previous projects, including Love Boat: Taiwan and Radical Care: The Auntie Sewing Squad, have received critical acclaim and numerous awards.
In addition to her filmmaking, Soe is a Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, bringing both artistic and academic depth to her work.
🎟️ Join Us
Don’t miss this inspiring and timely documentary at HAAPIFEST 2026.
🎟️ Get your tickets now:
www.HAAPIFEST.org/tickets
Come witness a story of care, courage, and community — and the power of everyday people to create extraordinary change.
🌏 About HAAPIFEST
Founded in 2004 by OCA-Greater Houston, HAAPIFEST was created to celebrate the diversity of AAPI culture, food, and family while supporting AAPI artists and filmmakers.
Today, HAAPIFEST is an immersive, multi-day celebration of film, music, and art — amplifying voices and sharing the untold AAPI experience through edutainment.
This OCA-Greater Houston event is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.