Amplifying Voices: The Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience Marks Six Years of Storytelling in NYC
Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience and Asian CineVision volunteer teams with the filmmakers and cast from THE PATEL MOTEL STORY, THE ROSE: COME BACK TO ME, ROSEMEAD films which premiered at the 24th Tribeca Film Festival / Photo Credit: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
By Laarni Rosca Dacanay
On Sunday, June 8, 2025, the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience (APFE), in partnership with Asian CineVision, hosted its sixth annual filmmaker reception during the 24th Tribeca Film Festival. Held at the Asian American-owned Sugar Mouse in the East Village, the vibrant, standing-room-only event welcomed over 200 attendees. The evening featured two dynamic filmmaker panels spotlighting projects showcased at this year’s festival, followed by a lively networking mixer with food from local AANHPI vendors and drinks from a hosted bar.
Guests networking at the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival / Photo Credit: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
The Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience volunteer team welcomes the full room at the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival / Photo by: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
The event kicked off with a welcome from the APFE Team, including filmmaker and Executive Director, Asian American Media Alliance, Milton Liu, who addressed the protests in Los Angeles, “Our home in LA is being assaulted now during June’s Immigrant Heritage Month, we need our community now more than ever, we need our stories to be told and our voices to be heard.”
Founding APFE Leader and award-winning publicist David Magdael shares history of Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival / Photo by: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
Founding APFE Leader and award-winning publicist David Magdael added why APFE was created":
“The reason why we created the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience back in 2002 at the Sundance Film Festival was to bring all of us together at one of the larger mainstream film festivals where number one, to celebrate with each other, and number two, to see who need to be collaborating with. You might meet someone here who might fund your next film, you might meet someone who can come on as your DP, you might someone to run your craft services. You need to network here. We set this up for you, not for us. We have volunteers from different organizations and communities because we all care, and we’re fortunate to partner with ACV here in New York.”
After the welcome, the two filmmaker panels were introduced – the “Documentary Filmmakers of Tribeca” and “A Conversation on ROSEMEAD” – which were both moderated by author, journalist and filmmaker Richard Lui (MSNBC, NBC News). Featured on the documentary panel was Amar Shah (Director, THE PATEL MOTEL STORY) and Eugene Yi (Director, THE ROSE: COME BACK TO ME).
Director Amar Shah (THE PATEL MOTEL STORY), Director Eugene Yi (THE ROSE: COME BACK TO ME) with Moderator Richard Lui (Author, Journalist & Filmmaker) on the “Documentary Filmmakers of Tribeca” panel at the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival / Photo by: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
The documentary, THE PATEL MOTEL STORY, reveals how South Asian immigrants, led by one undocumented man’s journey from Gujarat, built a hotel empire—transforming American hospitality through resilience, identity, and belonging. On the panel, director Amar Shah noted that in the United States today, two-thirds of motels are owned and operated by South Asian and Indian immigrants, a fascinating fact that traces back to the man behind the film’s origin. During World War II, when Japanese Americans were interned and had to relinquish their businesses and property, an Indian immigrant took over the motel and thus, began the birth of an empire that carries on 80 years later.
Guests at the “Documentary Filmmakers of Tribeca” panel during the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival / Photo by: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
Next came the narrative panel, “A Conversation on ROSEMEAD,” featuring acclaimed actor and producer Lucy Liu, actor Lawrence Shou, director and executive producer Eric Lin, producer Mynette Louie and writer Marilyn Fu – who spoke about the film’s inception, which is based on a true story first reported by Frank Shyong for the Los Angeles Times.
Acclaimed actor and producer Lucy Liu shares why she wanted to work on ROSEMEAD during the “A Conversation on ROSEMEAD” panel during the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival, as writer Marilyn Fu and director and executive producer Eric Lin look on / Photo by: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
When asked what drew to her to working on ROSEMEAD, Lucy Liu shared a story from her childhood:
“When I was a young girl, I remember watching my mom experience racism at the grocery store, while I didn’t know at the time what racism was, I knew even at a young age that how my mom was being treated was wrong, all because she spoke with an accent, she speaks multiple languages. The way people were talking to my mom, they treated her in a condescending manner.”
Lucy added that representation for the AANHPI community is incredibly important to break the stereotypes often seen in casting and on screen:
“We’re either kicking ass or we’re ‘crazy rich Asians,’ there are so many more stories from our community, so many more layers to be told.”
Mynette Louie (Producer), Marilyn Fu (Writer), Lucy Liu (Actor & Producer), Eric Lin (Director & Executive Producer), Lawrence Shou (Actor) speak on the “A Conversation on ROSEMEAD” panel with Moderator Richard Lui (Author, Journalist & Filmmaker) during the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival / Photo by: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
The event concluded with continued networking, where guests mingled with other AANHPI filmmakers, industry professionals, community supporters, and allies. Guests also enjoyed tasty treats from NYC Chinatown’s own Lucky King Bakery – the pineapple topped bun was a hit!
Priscilla Chen (far left) and Thomas Skowronski (far right) with the Asian Pacific Americans @ NBCUniversal employee resource group Board Members Jessica Yu (inner left) and Theresa Dueno (inner right) at the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival / Photo Credit: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
John Woo (Founder and Executive Director, Asian CineVision, second from left) with guests at the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival / Photo Credit: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
Guests posing in front of the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience step and repeat at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival / Photo Credit: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
Guests enjoying fresh, delicious treats from Lucky King Bakery from NYC’s Chinatown at the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival / Photo Credit: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
Guests networking at the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival / Photo Credit: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
APFE “Roll Call” photo at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival / Photo Credit: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
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Photo Credit: Raymond Tisch (@rayjmon)
Thank you to our partners, Warner Bros. Discovery Access and NBCUniversal – for without their support, none of this would be possible.
Thank you to the entire APFE team — David Magdael, Minji Chang, Laarni Rosca Dacanay, Francis Cullado, Emily Hoang, Michelle Sugihara, Milton Liu, Rhian Moore, Jes Vu, Grace Kao, Chandni Sharma Modi, and Kenny Ng — for your tireless efforts. Thank you to our local partners at Asian CineVision, including David Rances, Tiffany Bai, Kayla Wong, and Young Chen, for your continued support and (volunteer) work. Thank you, Lucky King Bakery, for allowing us to serve and highlight your delicious treats. Thank you, Raymond Tisch, for capturing the moments so beautifully. And, thank you to Sugar Mouse owner Aaron Ho, manager Tom Cheng, and the staff for the hospitality.
Learn more about the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience and how it all began in 2002.
Next stop, the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, in partnership with the Reel Asian International Film Festival!
Be sure to follow APFE (@apfexp) on Instagram for more updates.
ABOUT APFE: Established in 2002 in Park City, Utah to honor and recognize the cinematic artists whose works premiered at the Sundance and Slamdance Film Festivals, the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience foregrounds and celebrates the creative products of Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Asian international cinema artists. APFE is a collective whose core programmers include the Asian American Media Alliance (AAMA), CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment), David Magdael & Associates, Kollaboration, and Laarni Rosca Dacanay.
Learn more about the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience and how it all began in 2002 and follow APFE (@apfexp) on Instagram for more updates.
