Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is a time to honor the rich and diverse cultures, stories, and contributions of AAPI communities. One of the most powerful ways to celebrate this heritage is through film. From documentaries to dramas, comedies to coming-of-age tales, AAPI filmmakers have crafted stories that reflect resilience, joy, complexity, and history. The ten films in this list offer a wide range of experiences and voices, making them essential viewing for classrooms and invaluable additions to library collections.
Minari
Writer-director Lee Isaac Chung draws on his own childhood to follow the Yi family, Korean immigrants who relocate from California to rural Arkansas in the 1980s. Patriarch Jacob buys a patch of Ozark farmland, convinced he can grow Korean produce for fellow immigrants, while wife Monica worries about money and their son David who has a heart murmur. Their American dream is tested by drought, isolation, and marital strain, yet renewed by the arrival of irreverent grandmother Soon-ja and by the stubborn hope that roots can grow even in rocky soil.
Why it’s great for classrooms and libraries: Minari sparks age-appropriate discussion about immigrant entrepreneurship, inter-generational conflict, and the myth of the “model minority.” Because it centers a rural Korean-American experience rarely seen on screen, librarians can pair the film with works on diaspora agriculture or oral history projects, while social-studies teachers can use it to examine Reagan-era economics through a family lens. Its PG-13 rating and universal themes of resilience make it accessible to middle-school readers up through college seminars.
Stream Minari on Amazon Prime Video.
Buy a copy of Minari on DVD here.
Chinatown Rising LLC
Chinatown Rising
Drawing on 16 mm footage he shot as a teen in the 1960s–70s, filmmaker Harry Chuck revisits San Francisco’s Chinatown at the height of civil-rights organizing. The documentary chronicles youth protests against police brutality, battles for bilingual education, and struggles over redevelopment that threatened to displace low-income elders. Interviews with activists, students, and merchants reveal how one immigrant neighborhood transformed political marginalization into collective power.
Why it’s great for classrooms and libraries: For ethnic-studies or U.S. history classes, Chinatown Rising bridges community memory with national social-justice movements. Librarians serving genealogy and local-history patrons will value its trove of archival images, while civics instructors can contrast the film’s grassroots tactics with contemporary AAPI activism. The West Coast perspective complements East-Coast–centric civil-rights curricula, making it an essential counterpoint.
Read the full review of Chinatown Rising here.
Stream Chinatown Rising on Amazon Prime Video.
Yellow Rose
Set in small-town Texas, the film centers on 17-year-old Rose Garcia, an undocumented Filipino-American who dreams of becoming a country-music star. After her mother is detained by ICE, Rose embarks on a road trip, guitar in hand, balancing the pull of community with the risk of deportation. Her journey captures both the loneliness and defiant joy of pursuing art while fighting for belonging.
Why it’s great for classrooms and libraries: Yellow Rose pairs superbly with lessons on immigration policy, labor rights, and rural racial dynamics. Music programs can analyze its soundtrack’s blend of Tagalog lullabies and Nashville twang, while English teachers might assign reflective essays on border narratives. Stocking the film also expands library representation of Filipino-American stories that are still vastly under-collected despite rapid demographic growth.
Stream Yellow Rose on Amazon Prime Video.
Buy a copy of Yellow Rose on DVD here.
Off the Menu: Asian America
Filmmaker Grace Lee’s road-trip doc travels from Texas BBQ joints to Alaskan salmon fisheries, tracing how food serves as memory bank, protest tool, and cultural glue for Asian-American communities. Interviews with restaurateurs, grandmothers, monks, and organic farmers reveal both shared flavors and regional quirks that complicate the notion of a monolithic “Asian cuisine.”
Why it’s great for classrooms and libraries: Because culinary heritage is an inviting gateway topic, the film fuels interdisciplinary projects combining sociology, economics, and even chemistry lessons on fermentation. Librarians can program tasting events or oral-history workshops alongside screenings, while educators can examine food justice, labor migrants, and media stereotypes. Its one-hour PBS cut makes it logistically friendly for class periods.
Read the full review of Off the Menu: Asian America here.
Buy a copy of Off the Menu: Asian America here.
Princess Kaiulani
This historical drama chronicles the life of Hawai‘i’s last crown princess during the islands’ 1890s annexation crisis. Sent to boarding school in England for safety, Kaiulani confronts racism and homesickness yet uses diplomacy to advocate for her people’s sovereignty. The film culminates in her return to an American-controlled Honolulu, where she seeks compromise to protect Hawaiian rights and dignity
Why it’s great for classrooms and libraries: The feature introduces learners to Pacific-Islander history beyond tourist imagery, filling a gap in many U.S. textbooks. Paired with primary-source speeches or the Hawaiian Constitution of 1893, teachers can facilitate debates on colonialism and self-determination. Public libraries in tourism-heavy regions will appreciate having a nuanced narrative that counters commercialized narratives of Hawai‘i.
Stream Princess Kaiulani on Amazon Prime Video.
Buy a copy of Princess Kaiulani on DVD here.
Try Harder!
At San Francisco’s elite Lowell High - where Asian-American students form the majority - seniors juggle AP exams, parental expectations, and the opaque college-admissions game. Director Debbie Lum follows five teens through rejection letters and acceptance dances, capturing humor, anxiety, and the myth that straight-A transcripts guarantee Ivy League slots.
Why it’s great for classrooms and libraries: For guidance counselors and psychology teachers, Try Harder! humanizes mental-health pressures amplified by the “model-minority” stereotype. Librarians can host panel discussions with admissions officers, while sociology courses might compare the film’s West Coast academic culture to national data on equity in education. Its upbeat pacing keeps students engaged, even as it critiques systemic bias.
Read our full review of Try Harder here.
Stream Try Harder! on Amazon Prime Video.
Buy a copy of Try Harder! on DVD here.
Boy
Set in rural 1984 New Zealand, Taika Waititi’s coming-of-age dramedy follows 11-year-old Boy, a Māori kid obsessed with Michael Jackson. When his absentee father returns with fantasies of buried treasure, Boy must reconcile hero worship with messy adulthood. The film blends playful imagination sequences with poignant social commentary on indigenous family life.
Why it’s great for classrooms and libraries: While New Zealand is often categorized separately, the film offers Pacific-Islander representation crucial to broader AAPI studies. Teachers can connect it to discussions on colonial legacies, youth resilience, and media representation of indigenous cultures. Libraries gain a family-friendly title that balances humor and heart, appealing to teen readers discovering international cinema.
Stream Boy on Amazon Prime Video.
Cane Fire
Filmmaker Anthony Banua-Simon returns to Kaua‘i to examine Hollywood exotification, sugar-plantation exploitation, and his own family’s four-generation history on the island. Mixing archival melodramas, union footage, and contemporary interviews, the documentary reveals how tourism and corporate agriculture erased native labor stories and environmental stewardship.
Why it’s great for classrooms and libraries: Cane Fire dovetails with ethnic-studies and environmental-justice curricula, highlighting intersectional struggles of Filipino plantation workers and Native Hawaiians. Librarians serving Pacific communities can pair the film with oral-history collections, while media-literacy instructors dissect Hollywood’s role in shaping colonial fantasies. Its reflective tone invites critical thinking about who controls historical narratives.
Read our full review of Cane Fire here.
Buy a copy of Cane Fire on DVD here.
Monsoon Wedding
Mira Nair’s exuberant ensemble comedy follows a Punjabi family in Delhi preparing for an arranged marriage between Aditi and a Texas-based engineer. As monsoon rains threaten to swamp the outdoor festivities, secrets - infidelity, financial stress, and intergenerational trauma - bubble to the surface. Dhol drums, Bollywood tunes, and vivid saris create a sensory feast that celebrates messiness within love and family.
Why it’s great for classrooms and libraries: Though set in India, the film resonates with many AAPI diasporic themes: balancing tradition and modernity, navigating global kinship, and celebrating cultural rituals abroad. Libraries can use it to discuss South Asian wedding customs, gender roles, and the economics of diaspora remittances. Film-studies classes may analyze Nair’s hybrid style and her critique of post-colonial upper-middle-class life. Its PG-13 rating and universal humor make it a community-screening favorite that bridges generational gaps.
Buy a copy of Monsoon Wedding on DVD here.
A Dream in Doubt
After 9/11, Sikh American gas-station owner Balbir Singh Sodhi is murdered in Arizona’s first reported hate crime of the era. The documentary follows his brother Rana as he seeks justice, educates neighbors about Sikh identity, and struggles to protect his family from ongoing threats. Archival news clips, courtroom footage, and community vigils reveal the ripple effects of xenophobia.
Why it’s great for classrooms and libraries: For libraries committed to social-justice resources, this film contextualizes post-9/11 Islamophobia and highlights South Asian faith traditions often conflated in the public eye. Criminal-justice or civics classes can discuss hate-crime legislation, while religious-studies courses examine Sikh beliefs and turbans’ symbolism. Screenings can partner with local gurdwaras to foster interfaith dialogue. Including A Dream in Doubt helps collections address ongoing debates about national security, civil liberties, and the meaning of American belonging.
Buy a copy of A Dream in Doubt on DVD from Collective Eye Films.
By adding these ten films to shelves and syllabi, librarians and educators can ensure that AAPI Heritage Month - and every month - centers voices that reveal the complexity, creativity, and enduring contributions of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.