Kanopy: Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

 

Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with Kanopy, a streaming service that is free to use with your WPL card. Explore the contributions, culture, and history of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community with the recommended films below. Click here to view the full list of films curated by Kanopy. Sign in to mywpl.kanopy.com to watch on your computer or download the Kanopy app to watch on your mobile device or smart TV. Click here for instructions on how to create an account. 

Looking for more resources? Check out our Asian and Asian American Mysteries booklist, featuring mystery novels with Asian and Asian American protagonists written by authors of Asian heritage. For art and fashion, try the Books to Enjoy WAM's Kimono Exhibit booklist, celebrating kimonos and other Japanese art inspired by exhibits at the Worcester Art Museum. 

Patsy Mink: Ahead of the majority

Tells the remarkable political journey of an Asian American woman who battled racism and sexism, shattered barriers and redefined American politics.

Pidgin: The voice of Hawaii 

What if you are made to feel ashamed when you speak your "mother tongue" or ridiculed because of your accent? Pidgin: The voice of Hawaii addresses these questions through its lively examination of Pidgin, the language spoken by over half of Hawaii’s people.

The Grace Lee Project 

When filmmaker Grace Lee was growing up in Missouri, she was the only Grace Lee she knew. As an adult, she moved to New York and then California, where everyone she met seemed to know another "Grace Lee." But why did they assume that all Grace Lees were nice, dutiful, piano-playing bookworms? This refreshing film reveals the intriguing contradiction of the "Grace Lee" persona-simultaneously impressive and forgettable, special and generic, an emblem of a subculture and an individual who defies categorization.

Kumu Hina

A transgender Hawaiian school teacher inspires a girl to follow her desires and lead the school's male hula troupe.  

Meet the Patels

In this real-life "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," an Indian-American man who is about to turn 30 gets help from his parents and extended family so he can start looking for a wife the traditional Indian way.

Between the Lines: Asian American Women's Poetry

This documentary offers rare interviews with over 15 major Asian-Pacific American women poets. Organized in interwoven sections such as immigration, language, family, memory, and spirituality, it is a sophisticated merging of Asian-American history and identity with performance, voice, and image.