Part of the 42nd Asian American International Film Festival
Presented by Asian CineVision in association with Asia Society

Empty By Design
Dir. Andrea A. Walter. 83 mins. DCP.

EMPTY BY DESIGN is a feature film about the struggle of identity experienced living and growing up in multiple places surrounded by different cultures, and what it means to call a place home. 

The film takes place in Manila, Philippines and follows Samantha, a recent university graduate who moves back home after her parents have passed away, and Eric, a Hollywood stuntman and body double who comes back to shoot a new film. Since moving back home, Samantha can’t seem to connect with anyone in her life, and has difficulty expressing her frustration and feeling of being back home to her sister Patricia. Similarly, Eric struggles with forming a bond with his estranged grandmother and culture, and aspects surround his job. On a night out, Eric has a brief encounter with Samantha and the two meet again later on and rekindle an acquaintance from high school that forms into an unexpected friendship and a new found meaning of what it means to be "home."

Followed by a Q&A. 

The 42nd Asian American International Film Festival runs from July 25 to August 3.

The Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) premiered in the summer of 1978 in New York City answering a growing need for social understanding, cultural diversity in American life, and independent cinema. AAIFF is the first festival in the U.S. to showcase film and video work by artists of the Asian Diaspora. Forty years later, the AAIFF has grown to include films and video from more than 30 countries, a variety of topical panels and workshops, industry mixers, staged readings, exclusive interviews, receptions and more.