It’s the 13th Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF) this year, and boy do they have a treat lined up for you. Abandoned children, panda mascots, vaginas on vacations and plain and simple immigration, this year’s films are chosen to “see more realistic portrayals of Asian North Americans in film.”

In the majority of North American films and television shows, stereotyping is prevailant for Asian roles; gang members, submissive females and martial arts experts. The gritty films shown at VAFF offer a wider scope of images of Asians living in modern North American society.

Despite its successful run of over a decade, the VAFF had a very humble start. The founder of VAFF, Barbara Lee, was inspired by the Seattle Asian American Film Festival in 1995, and wanted to bring a festival of the same flavour to Vancouver. From there, she embarked on a project with the help of several other media artists and friends. With no government funding, just sheer determination, the first VAFF made its debut in September 1997 at Robson Square Conference Centre.

Tammy Tsang, the media and marketing director of the festival, talked about UBC’s involvement. “UBC is full of bright minds and activists of the future,” she said. “VAFF would like to tap into this and hopefully trigger the passion in some of its students to carry on the groundwork VAFF has already done and move it into the future.” In collaboration with the Asian Canadian Cultural Organization (ACCO) on campus, they had a Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM) held at UBC.

Tsang said that films from Asia are not often as relatable to an Asian-Canadian. To bridge that gap, most of the films shown at the VAFF are stories about the Asian-Canadian experience. Primarily from North America, these documentaries tell stories about the Asian-Canadian community. “Films used to be mainly about identity crisis, living in two worlds, now it is much broader and the Asian culture perspectives and stories continue to evolve….It is very exciting to watch and have someone capture this evolution that we are all experiencing, but find it hard to express.”

Despite the common perception of filmmakers as kooky, creative characters, Tsang says probably “80 per cent of VAFF filmmakers and organizers have degrees in law, business, education, science, political science,” but were looking for ways to express themselves and to impact the world in some small way.

One of the headliner documentaries to look out for this VAFF is Whatever It Takes, directed by Christopher Wong. The film is a raw, realistic portrait of the struggles and triumphs of a talented but troubled ninth-grade girl, Sharifea Baskerville, during her first year at the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics. The personal stories of her school’s students and staff bring attention to the themes of school reformation and the “need for educators, parents and policy makers to prioritize the transformation of the public school systems so that all children can receive a quality education,” something almost everyone can relate to.

So go take a look, there’s definitely something for everyone at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival, asian or not.

Vancouver Asian Film Festival runs November 5–8 at the Cinemark Tinseltown Theatre. For more information about film schedule and ticket prices, go to vaff.org.