WATCHLIST: 15 Pan-Asian films centering mental health experiences

Across the Asian diaspora, mental health is often shaped by silence, stigma, and survival. It’s not that these experiences don’t exist; rather, they’re unnamed, misunderstood, or carried quietly across generations.

According to Nielsen, 58% of AANHPI audiences make a conscious effort to support media from creators that reflect their identity. Long and short films has become some of the most powerful ways we begin to acknowledge and give language to those experiences. Through storytelling, we see grief, caregiving, identity, migration, and healing unfold in ways that feel both deeply personal and collective.

This watchlist brings together 15 Pan-Asian films that center mental health in all its complexity, from intergenerational trauma and disability to love, loss, and the quiet process of becoming.

Take Me Home

A deeply personal story about sibling caregiving within the intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) community, exploring responsibility, love, and long-term care. Learn more about the feature film screening and watch the short film here.

Directed & Written by: Liz Sargent
Starring: Anna Sargent, Victor Slezak, Ali Ahn, Marceline Hugot, Shane Harper
Awards: Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award (Sundance 2026); AT&T Untold Stories Grand Prize (2025)

Paper Flowers

Paper Flowers is a tender exploration of terminal illness, capturing grief, acceptance, and the emotional weight of preparing to say goodbye.

Directed by: Mahesh Pailoor
Written by: Mahesh Pailoor, Mary Krell-Oishi
Starring: Kapil Talwalkar, Olivia Liang, Karan Soni
Awards: Best of Fest (Palm Springs International Film Festival); Audience Award (San Luis Obispo Film Festival), among others

100 Days by Long Lost Cousin LLC

A modern Asian family gathers at a Chinese restaurant to celebrate a baby’s 100-day milestone, but an unexpected guest brings underlying tensions to the surface. Centered around red bean dessert soup (紅豆沙), this dramedy explores family dynamics, tradition, and emotional undercurrents.

Directed & Written by: Derek Kwan
Starring: Phoebe Miu, Doris Lum, Ryan Jinn
Awards: Telefilm Canada Not Short on Talent (Cannes 2023); Outstanding Short Director (Reelworld Film Festival 2023); Winner, CBC Short Film Face Off (2024)

Gloria

Gloria is a short film centered on dementia, and a Chinese woman’s love of learning, reflecting on memory, identity, and caregiving.

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Directed & Written by: Kim Blanck
Starring: Emily Kuroda
Awards: Narrative Short Jury Award + Audience Award (Austin Film Festival); Official Selection (Tribeca 2025)

Milk & Honey

A Filipina nurse navigates migration, ambition, and isolation, reflecting the emotional toll of the American Dream. Discover where to watch premieres and screenings of Milk & Honey.

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Directed & Written by: Rachel Leyco
Starring: Jessica Aquino, Princess Punzalan, Sarah Carlos
Awards: CAPE Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge Grantee (2025)

Making Space: A Goodbye Love Story

Screening at the Beverly Hills Film Festival, this short film explores intimacy, heartbreak, and letting go, capturing the emotional vulnerability in relationships.

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Directed & Written by: Christine Chang
Starring: Jessika Van, Tim Chiou, Sarah Wang
Awards: Beverly Hills Film Festival selection

Crosswalk

Crosswalk is a dramedy short film as part of the Easterseal Disability Film Challenge exploring autism and neurodivergence, culture, communication differences, disability, independence, and the experience of being misunderstood in everyday life.

Directed by: Keili Fernando
Written by: Dennis Tran, Keili Fernando
Starring: Dennis Tran, Keili Fernando, Frankie Young, Aaron Trimble

Standing Above the Clouds

A Hawaiian documentary centered on protecting Mauna Kea, exploring land, identity, and collective healing.

Directed by: Jalena Keane-Lee
Written/Produced by: Jalena Keane-Lee, Amber Espinosa-Jones, and Erin Lau
Starring: Native Hawaiian kiaʻi and families
Awards: Audience Award (Hot Docs)

Before the Moon Falls

Before the Moon Falls is a documentary exploring untreated mental illness, creativity, and emotional instability.

Directed & Produced by: Kimberlee Bassford
Written by Kimberlee Bassford and Sia Figiel
Starring: Sia Figiel
Awards: Best Feature (DOCUTAH); Grand Jury Prize (FIFO); Best Made in Hawai‘i Feature (HIFF)

Winning

A queer Filipina artist navigates sudden wealth while her father struggles with gambling addiction, exploring scarcity, addiction, and generational trauma. Learn more about Winning.

Directed & Written by: Rachel Leyco

Riceboy Sleeps

Featured at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Riceboys is a story about a Korean mother and son as they navigate migration, grief, and starting over in a new country.

Directed & Written by: Anthony Shim
Starring: Choi Seung-yoon, Ethan Hwang
Awards: Platform Prize (Toronto International Film Festival); multiple Canadian Screen Awards

The Adoptees

A documentary following Vietnamese adoptees from Operation Babylift, exploring identity, displacement, and belonging. Learn more about The Adoptee’s impact and when it premieres in 2027.

Directed by: Mike Frailey, Derrick Owens
Produced by: Anjali Alwis

Silent War: Asian American Reckonings with Mental Health

Silent War amplifies lived experiences with mental illness, confronting stigma and cultural silence.

Directed by: Changfu Chang
Produced by: Lily Chen
Starring: Asian American students and community voices

A Little Bit Sweet (Hot Sauce Film)

A documentary follows a journey to Taiwan rooted in grief, family, and cultural reconnection. Through food, memory, and identity, it explores healing and belonging. Learn more about A Little Bit Sweet.

Directed & Produced by: Sophia J. Chang

Dealing with Dad

Dealing with Dad is a dramedy exploring depression, masculinity, and emotional repression within an Asian American family.

Directed & Written by: Tom Huang
Starring: Ally Maki, Hayden Szeto, Peter Kim, Dana Lee, Miya Cech
Awards: Best Screenplay (Rhode Island International Film Festival); Best Narrative Feature (Austin Asian American Film Festival)

Why this watchlist matters

With 61% of ANHPI audiences spending more time streaming than broadcast and cable combined (leading every other demographic group), audiences can support filmmakers through digital screenings or film festivals.

Mental health in AANHPI communities is often shaped by the unspoken, held within families, shaped by migration, and carried across generations.

These films challenge that silence. They offer language where there wasn’t any, reflection where there was avoidance, and visibility where there was invisibility.

Representation isn’t just about being seen, it’s about being understood.

Dennis Tran

Dennis Tran (he/him) is a queer, disabled, late-identified autistic-ADHDer and partially blind Vietnamese American storyteller, speaker, and inclusion strategist based in Los Angeles. With a background in public health, media, digital health, and nonprofit leadership, Dennis bridges lived experience with systems change to advance neurodiversity, disability justice, mental health advocacy, and psychological safety, particularly the AANHPI community, building systems rooted in access and community care that is humane and inclusive. He has consulted on inclusive storytelling and representation in children’s media, including Blue’s Clues & You, introducing its first autistic character, and developed accessibility-focused curricula and national resource toolkits. His work has helped shape inclusive curricula, accessible digital platforms, and community-centered programs impacting thousands nationwide. A LEAP Impact Program 2024–2025 alumnus, Dennis has spoken at UCLA, UCSF, Sony Pictures, Autodesk, and the ADHD International Conference, leveraging storytelling as a tool for healing, advocacy, and belonging. His work and lived experience expertise have been featured in Jubilee Media, the Mighty, Business Insider, AsAM New, SHRM, and more.