The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) has released a film as part of AAPI Heritage Month; and in celebration of its first anniversary.
An early preview of the film ‘Heritage Heroes’ took place at its summit which brought together TAAF’s grantees, corporate partners, policymakers, non-profit leaders, and influencers from the cultural and media sectors; to build community and foster collaboration across industries. “Heritage Heroes”, which will officially premiere this week on 26 May spotlights six unsung AAPI heroes from across the country. They are everyday Americans who were nominated by friends or fellow community members; to be featured in this special streaming event.
The six heroes were publicly announced at TAAF’s Partner Summit last week. This year’s 2022 Heritage Heroes include Nurse-turned-chef Justin Foronda; Hawaii Police Major Mike Lambert; Paralympian Justin Phongsavanh; the high school students of Livingston Asian Youth Alliance (LAYA), Fisherman Thiện Nguyễn; and AAPI Activist Suki Terada Ports.
CELEBRATING EVERYDAY HEROES
The AAPI Heritage Heroes film tells the tales of Asian leaders who rarely get the spotlight; including educators, first responders, fishermen, healthcare workers, paralympians, mentors, and community advocates. The stories of the heroes are woven together in the special by celebrity presenters; and comedy and musical performances from stars like Japanese Breakfast and MC Jin.
AAPI celebrities and allies such as Grammy award winner Olivia Rodrigo, gold medalist Nathan Chen, “Shang-Chi” star Simu Liu, and “Never Have I Ever” star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, are featured in the special film discussing their own heritage. Some of the celebrities featured in the “Heritage Heroes” film attended TAAF’s Partner Summit; including TAAF Advisory Council members, Daniel Dae Kim and Lisa Ling. “Heritage Heroes” was directed, edited, and produced almost entirely by AAPI creatives; including the film crew and production and editing staff.
CREATING A SENSE OF BELONGING
“TAAF was founded with the bold mission of achieving a permanent and irrevocable sense of belonging for AAPIs everywhere. But we’ve known from the very beginning that it’s going to take the full force of our communities – and our allies and partners; to ensure AAPIs finally feel that we belong,” stated CEO of TAAF Norman Chen. “TAAF hosted this Partner Summit to honour our partners in this shared effort; and to honour the stories of our communities’ unsung heroes. We hope the “Heritage Heroes” special brings much-needed attention to the experiences of everyday AAPIs; who represent the very best of this nation. We look forward to unveiling the full film later this month; and we’re grateful to our production partners for bringing it to life.”
The Partner Summit and Heritage Month Reception were made possible by TAAF Giving Challenge Partners LingoAce, Nike, P&G, United Airlines and Verizon. The event was catered by award-winning chefs from Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate, an organisation created in response to escalating hate crimes and xenophobic attacks on AAPI communities across the country, including chefs Kevin Tien and Susan Bae of Moon Rabbit; Danny Lee and Yesoon Lee of Anju; Tim Ma of Lucky Danger; and Roren Choi of Magpie & Tiger. Click here to find out more about the film.
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