Street Movies! South Philadelphia

Join us outdoors at the boathouse lawn at FDR Park for a curated night of local, international, and award-winning short films, plus discussion and live music! This event is presented in partnership with the Friends of FDR Park and the Southeast Asian Market at FDR Park. 

There will be vendors with food, snacks, and desserts available throughout the night. Come early to catch an ethereal jazz vibraphone performance by Hudson River, 7-8pm.

BITTERSWEET SURVIVAL: SOUTHEAST ASIAN REFUGEES IN AMERICA (USA / 1982 / 30 MIN)
Dir. JT Tagaki and Christine Choy
This documentary examines the re-settlement of Southeast Asian refugees in the United States in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. The film begins with a montage of riveting footage depicting the devastating effects of the war. It then unveils the mixed reception given Vietnamese refugees in the United States, from battles with local fishermen in Monterey, California, to conflicts in Philadelphia where their arrival in the city's poorest neighborhoods kindled resentment in the Black community. The film also explores their struggle to cope with life in the U.S. and maintain their identity.

Sandcastles (Singapore, USA / 2024 / 17 MIN)
Dir. Carin Leong
As Singapore imports sand for urban expansion, a ghost town bearing its name lies buried underneath sand on the other side of the world. Sandcastles parallels two Singapores: one in Michigan where mass deforestation in the 1800s stirred surrounding sand dunes to swallow it whole, while its namesake in the East emerged from sand by reclaiming what was once only marshland and water. Through a poetic and mythological approach, the ephemeral nature of sand underscores humankind’s fraught relationship with the element: how can we trust the very ground we walk on when it’s built with and destroyed by nothing more than sand?

Sound of Silence (Bangladesh / 2025 / 12 MIN)
Dir: Shoumik Bakshi Dipto and Irfanul Haque    
This experimental short follows Sunny, an ambitious yet restless varsity student, as he ventures into an untouched forest near his university for a break from the pressures of academic life. As he wanders deeper, he encounters a peculiar rabbit. Sunny follows the rabbit, unaware that he may be crossing a boundary between the natural and human world.