5 Questions With: Director of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, Rob Buscher
5 Questions With is a recurring feature where we sit down with a special guest to get their unique perspective. In this installment we talk with Rob Busher, The Director of the Asian American Film Festival, and Programs Director at the Fleisher Art Memorial ahead of his discussion for The Thief of Bagdad (1940)(Presented as part of our Film 101 series — Playing at the Ambler Theater Thursday, March 14th at 7:30pm).
What was it about The Thief of Bagdad that made you decide to present it?
The Thief of Bagdad was part of a special retrospective of Asian Americans in early Hollywood that I curated for our 10th anniversary festival in November 2017. Given the theme of this series it seemed appropriate to start with a classic film starring Indian immigrant Sabu Dastagir, given that even in the Asian American community, many younger generations are unfamiliar with the history of our community in this industry. Aside from being one of the few major studio films in the 1940s to star an actor of color, the film is visually stunning — achieving a level of big-screen spectacle that outclasses almost all of its contemporaries in the innovative production techniques they used.
How has working in different parts of the film world (production, administration, distribution, and programming) helped you to appreciate film in different ways?
As a film production student or working filmmaker I think it’s easy to forget how complicated this industry is. Especially as independent content producers, the process of getting your film in front of an audience is never a simple one. Despite the advent of streaming services and other online video platforms, there’s just so much content out there these days—it’s difficult to guarantee your film is getting to the intended audience. Working in film administration, and certainly from a distribution and programming perspective, I’ve had to grapple with the fact that just because a film is good doesn’t mean that it will attract an audience. I would encourage all aspiring filmmakers to spend some time volunteering with a local film festival and getting to know what distributors are actually looking for. My advice to audiences would be to keep in mind that you’re only ever seeing about 10% of the content that is being produced on a yearly basis in the theaters. Attending film festivals and investing in alternative online streaming services is a great way to help support emerging artists, and I would argue that is where the best quality work is currently happening.
How does this choice coincide with your work for the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival?
PAAFF’s mission is to celebrate and elevate the Asian American experience onscreen and behind the camera by presenting content created by, about, and/or starring Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans. While The Thief of Bagdad was produced by a major studio, we felt the inclusion of Indian immigrant actor Sabu Dastagir in his co-starring role was a really important landmark in cinematic history. Granted, Sabu (and the rest of the film’s Caucasian cast) is performing the role of a person of Middle Eastern descent, which by today’s standards is actually problematic. That said, I think that we can still appreciate the film for its many positive aspects while also being critical of the issues that are no longer acceptable in 2019. By showing this film to the Ambler Theater audience we hope to inspire the kind of nuanced dialogue about representation that we often engage in during post-film Q&As at our festival.
What advice would you give someone who wants to get involved with a film festival?
The vast majority of film festivals are volunteer-run so it’s really just a matter of getting in touch with the organizers and making yourself known. Volunteers get a ton of great benefits from working behind-the-scenes in terms of developing relationships with filmmakers and distributors, getting to know other festival organizers, and building a larger community within their local region. As a class of organizations, film festivals are notoriously underfunded, so my biggest advice is don’t go into it thinking you will be able to make it your living. Many of the programmers I work with have multiple sources of income even after 10–20+ years in the industry. It raises some questions about the long-term sustainability of festivals and perhaps film culture in general, but for those who are in a position to volunteer their time, it is an incredibly rewarding experience sharing meaningful work with audiences who then get to dialogue about it afterwards.
What advice would you give someone submitting to a festival?
Do your research on the film festival before submitting. You should read through past programs to make sure they have included films similar to yours in the past. Also take a moment to think about why you are submitting. If it’s to try and find a distributor, make sure that the festival actually has a film market or at least works with some distribution companies. If you still aren’t sure whether your film is a good film, festival organizers are usually pretty open to questions — just make sure to do your research beforehand in case that information exists online somewhere.
The Thief of Bagdad is presented as part of our Film 101 series, and plays at the Ambler Theater on Thursday, March 14th at 7:30pm. For more information on our upcoming Film 101 screenings, view our lineup here.
