![\"Hulu's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780444284_174_0x0.jpg\")
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Hulu’s Deli Boys Receives Storyteller Icon Award From Philadelphia Asian American Film Foundation<\/p>\n
Aiden Frank<\/p>\n
Hulu\u2019s Deli Boys was honored this past weekend at the Philadelphia Asian American Film Foundation\u2019s (PAAFF) inaugural Benefit Reception at the Filter Club. The series, which premiered its second season on May 28, received the AANHPI Storyteller Icon Award. Deli Boys stars Asif Ali and Saagar Shaikh were on hand to accept the award, presented by PAAFF board member and Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE)<\/a>\u2019s Jes Vu, during the celebration, alongside Nydia Han of 6ABC News, who received the Philadelphia Icon Award.<\/p>\n “We hope that we come back again and it’s bigger and better each time,\u201d Ali said during his speech. \u201cThis is so special. We hope you watch and continue to support not just us, but all of you. We know all of you here are creators and people in the industry. We hope you guys all take our little award and use that as motivation.”<\/p>\n The series, created by Temple University alum Abdullah Saeed, is set in Philadelphia and follows two wealthy Pakistani-American brothers who have lived a life of privilege until they are forced to take over their late father\u2019s underground drug empire. The dark comedy explores two very different brothers who are processing their grief over losing their father, but also must deal with the truth of where their wealth had always come from \u2013 as well as who to trust in the family<\/a>. The show is also a \u201clove letter\u201d<\/a> to the City of Brotherly Love, which has become one of the fastest-growing AAPI populations<\/a>. <\/p>\n Hulu’s Deli Boys Receives Storyteller Icon Award From Philadelphia Asian American Film Foundation<\/p>\n Aiden Frank<\/p>\n \u201cAwarding the AANHPI Icon Award to Hulu\u2019s Deli Boys is a celebration of what becomes possible when our communities are given the opportunity to tell bold, authentic stories at the highest level,\u201d said Joseph Carranza, Creative Director of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Foundation. \u201cSet in Philadelphia and centered on Pakistani American characters, the series proves that AANHPI stories are not niche stories; they are American stories that deserve to be seen, championed, and remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n Hosted by Philly local comedian Tan Hoang, the sold-out event featured live performances (including jazz vocalist Tina Hashemi), cocktails, and a look inside PAAFF\u2019s long-term strategy to sustain its mission and year-round programming, and to expand support for filmmakers, youth education, and community partnerships. <\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s really, really support AAPI, Black, and Brown projects,\u201d Shaikh said during his speech. \u201cBecause if you\u2019re not watching these projects in the first four weeks that they come out, those numbers are the only numbers that matter. If those numbers aren\u2019t good enough, we\u2019re not coming back for a Season [3]. The next person who looks like any of us and is inspired because of our show, and goes in and tries to pitch a show, they\u2019re going to be like, \u2018We already gave someone like you a shot.\u2019 Meanwhile, a white show can be mediocre. We don\u2019t have that luxury. We don\u2019t have that privilege. We have to be excellent. We have to work twice as hard to get half as far. We don\u2019t have the luxury of being okay. They can have half the numbers we do and still get Season 5 or Season 6. We are scrutinized so much harder, so we have to support each other ten times harder.\u201d<\/p>\n Ali and Shaikh spent the day with PAAFF exploring the city, doing fun content in front of City Hall, the news weather forecast at 6ABC Action News, running the \u201cRocky\u201d steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and speaking to students at Drexel University, where Ali\u2019s Deli Boys character, Mir, is an alumnus.<\/p>\n Season 2 of Deli Boys is out now on Hulu \/ Disney+. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hulu’s Deli Boys Receives Storyteller Icon Award From Philadelphia Asian American Film Foundation Aiden Frank Hulu\u2019s Deli Boys…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":840207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5132],"tags":[344118,36419,323820,5229,70885,344116,212744,1448,344114,2830,1311,344117,344115,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-840206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-aanhpi-storyteller-icon-award","tag-aapi","tag-aapi-heritage-month","tag-america","tag-api","tag-asif-ali","tag-deli-boys","tag-pa","tag-paaff","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-asian-american-film-foundation","tag-saagar-shaikh","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116683204496744506","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}