The Seattle Asian American Film Festival returned for its 13th year this month. The festival was composed of several programs, including an opening night centered on the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, a Native Hawaiian Showcase, and a Queer AF Shorts collection. Another highlight of the festival was the Bring it Home: Pacific Northwest Shorts program, held on June 21 at the Broadway Performance Hall. Featuring 11 films, the program was a celebration of the diversity of AAPI experiences in the Pacific Northwest.

On June 10, 2025, I had the fortunate and unique opportunity to sit down with Seattle artist Heidi Fairall. Her quirky and whimsical style shows not only to how she perceives art, but life itself, and was refreshing and inspirational for aspiring creatives alike. For myself, she made me think about how I approach the creative process when it comes to my own projects.

The 2025 Seattle Asian American Film Festival (SAAFF) kicked off its two days of in-person screenings on June 20 and continues virtually through June 29. The opening night screened Reflections & Legacies, a feature-length compilation of films focused on stories of refugees and immigrants of Southeast Asian communities into the United States. While only a few hours of programming in a shorter-than-usual SAAFF, the evening captured a deeper sense of meaning and community than its schedule would suggest.

For the uninitiated, the Triple Door is a longtime dinner-and-a-show venue in Seattle’s downtown that seats some 300, The Sound of Strip is an improv burlesque show set to the music of a live cover of The Cure, and Ruby Mimosa (aka The Effervescent EnterTEASER) is a local star noted as one of the most influential performers in the world by 21st Century Burlesque and the genius mind behind BurlesKaraoke.

It’s opening night! Today marks the start of the Seattle Asian American Film Festival—a two-day affair held in Seattle at the Wing Luke Museum (International District) and Broadway Performance Hall (Capitol Hill), and followed by a week of virtual screenings for those who can’t attend in person. This year commemorates 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War (or “The American War” as it is known in Vietnam).

Jasmine Joshua and Heather Ragusa’s musical Here & Their, starring Chloe Payne and Meg McLynn, is shaping up to be a new Queer musical classic! With top-tier vocals, witty lines, and songs that are sometimes hilarious and sometimes heart-wrenching, Here & Their brings a fresh perspective on Queer stories that many of us can relate to as well as creates levity during these dark times. This musical is joyous, hopeful, and feels like finally taking a deep breath after a tense and stressful start to 2025.

Descendants continue to confront parallel systems of oppression in every aspect of life. This often manifests in resistance by way of creative expressions that support sustainability and showcase ingenuity. Every year on this date, many descendants pause to reflect on the resilience of their ancestors and celebrate their legacy. The Threads of Freedom exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum is one such example in the Puget Sound.

On June 15, millions of Americans took part in the No Kings protest. In Seattle, around 70,000 protestors marched from Cal Anderson Park in Capitol Hill to Seattle Center. Whether you were among them or not, the ripples of the protest could be felt all over the city. For weeks, I have seen people with signs and heard chanting from around my block in the University District, and on my usual weekend commute, I have watched protestors stand together around Seattle Center. This is the first truly hopeful week I have had in a long time, and in the middle of Pride Month, knowing there are so many people willing to fight against this administration has been inspiring.

Sometimes, to see yourself reflected back at you can be a radical experience. 
This was how it felt at Moving History – The Queercrow Archive, Volume 3 on June 8 at Northwest Film Forum. The event was the third annual installment of a collaborative project between two Seattle nonprofits devoted to preserving history through video: Scarecrow Video and MIPoPS (Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound). 

Base Camp Studios 2 isn’t just a studio space. It’s a community. It’s a reminder that art lives through people, through shared space, and through the simple act of saying, “Hey, come take a look.” If you are looking for art that moves, surprises, and welcomes you, head to Base Camp. You won’t just see the art. You’ll feel it.

Back in March, I had the pleasure of interviewing Emergence Films’ cofounder Rachel Noll James and discussed the forthcoming Emerging Filmmakers Program. Open to anyone who identifies as a woman, this program’s mission is to elevate marginalized voices in the filmmaking world while giving filmmakers of all experience levels the opportunity to create a feature length movie. A few months later, this year’s cohort of emerging filmmakers has been selected! There are three groups: Team Pocket Topic (Melissa Tumas and Sonia M. Kandathil), Team Mother Tongue (Jo Woods and Sarah Mona), and Team Cosmic Coyote (Mia McGlinn, Ila Dreesen, and Sydney Renee).

Though you may appreciate the updated and modern conveniences built into the space by the Olympia Film Society, the bones and the spirit of the structure make the Capitol Theater a way to go back in time and see a film like those who experienced the new medium for the first time. It is a bit of magic in the heart of Olympia.

It’s very different from my experiences growing up moderately religious in the South. It took away the shame and self-blame. In heteronormative, vanilla sex, there are too many unspoken expectations, too many assumptions about what’s going to happen, that some people just begin following the script without any sort of communication. This, I believe, leads to situations like what 17-year-old me experienced, where I left thinking I had led someone on and realized years later that I was actually assaulted. I don’t know if he knows this though.

While the play had a lot of workshopping to do, its commentary was important. It gave a wide representation of LGBTQ+ lives and showed the isolation felt beneath the weight of conservative cultures throughout the world. It also showed the resilience of Queer communities in the face of oppression and brought the conflicts in the Middle East centerstage, demanding viewers to remember them. 

Have you noticed that Vampires are making a comeback? With two new iconic vampire movies to swoon over, Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu remake (2024) and—a new personal favorite—Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025), there’s a growing trend towards blood sucking fiends in media (again!). And these aren’t the tame, glittery vampires from Twilight—these are the gritty, murderous creatures from our nightmares, and I love it! After watching Sinners during its box office run, I have been on a major vampire kick. So, naturally, I had to deliver a vampire novel for Parker’s Pages this month, and I found the perfect speculative fiction story for you all.

It is refreshing to have a press dedicated to queer stories. It is even better that these stories are so accessible. Many of Northwest Press' offerings are available digitally for download as well as in traditional paper and hardback. The price of each is much more affordable than the latest from the big publishers as well as in a beautiful package. There is something for everyone at Northwest Press, and as it says on much of their wonderful merch: Comics are for everyone. 

When asked to attend the 2^nd annual Seattle Fetish Ball and write about it, I only had one question at first: What do you even wear to fetish balls? I’m the type of person that needs to look at menus, check parking, and figure out how long a walk from place to place is. I like being informed, but mostly I have a fear of being or looking out of place. Luckily, they had guidelines. Fetish wear required, it was clearly intended to be a safe space for the fetish/kink/alternative communities.

Whole Washington hosted their first philanthropy event to raise money and support toward universal health care. Many health professionals and volunteers joined recognizable political and nonprofit community leaders at The Historic Mt. Baker Community Center on May 17.

Firelight flickered on the walls, and the crackling grew into a roar. In the amber glow, a face watched her pass, little eyes staring out from an old photograph of her daughter. 

Ivy was twelve when Leonna last saw her. The girl was Leonna’s greatest pride. The one creation of hers whose heart seemed truly pure. She hoped Ivy had remained that way, indelible and defiant against the cruelties of the world, never letting them break her. 

On December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor marked the start of the United States’ involvement in World War II. It also started a wave of fear and unrest throughout the country, leading to an overwhelming prejudice against Japanese Americans. “Most of us had no ties to Japan,” Lilly Kodama, a survivor, explained. “We had never been there. We had never even seen it.” Similar to the reactionary racism and prejudice against Arab Americans following 9/11, the discrimination against Japanese Americans had no true basis in fact, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order only created more harm and prejudice against an already vulnerable community.