Asian American Film Series: Paper Flowers

The Asian American Film Series returns for its third year on Saturday, October 24, at Hillsborough College's Performing Arts Main Stage Theatre in Ybor City. The City of Tampa Mayor's Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Advisory Council is behind it, and the night is built around Paper Flowers, an award-winning feature based on the true story of a young Indian American college student who turns a life-changing diagnosis into a journey of love, gratitude, and purpose. After the feature, the program continues with two short films from the South Asian International Film Festival and the Tigertail Asian Film Festival.

If you're planning to make a night of it, get there early. The evening opens with a red carpet from 5:00 PM to 5:45 PM, which includes media interviews, a Tour of Asia basket raffle, and Asian-inspired snacks and refreshments before the screenings begin. It's the kind of window where you can hang out, grab some food, and chat before the lights go down.

Between the feature and the two shorts, you're getting a full evening of cinema in one sitting. Paper Flowers takes center stage, and the shorts from the South Asian International Film Festival and the Tigertail Asian Film Festival round it out. The whole thing is presented by the Mayor's AAPI Advisory Council, and since it's the series' third year, it's become a regular part of the city's fall calendar. The red carpet runs from 5:00 PM to 5:45 PM, with the screenings to follow.