Austin Asian American Film Festival

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Austin Asian American Film Festival

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We are the Austin Asian American Film Festival!

We showcase the best in Asian and Asian American cinema in order to celebrate our communities, entertain and enlighten the public, and support the creative talents of Asian American and Asian artists.

11/03/2026

🎉 AAAFF 2027 FILM SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN 🎉

The 19th Annual Austin Asian American Film Festival is now accepting short and full-length film submissions by Asian and Asian American filmmakers, featuring Asian and Asian American actors/subjects, as well as films about the Asian and Asian American experience. Want to see YOUR work and YOUR story on the big screen at one of the finest independent theaters in the country (AFS Cinema), being watched and admired by a spirited and enthusiastic audience of real cinema lovers? Submit your film today! ♥

We program narrative and documentary work for both shorts and features, and our Jury Award Winners for Narrative Short and Documentary Short both receive a $500 prize! Plus we always have lots of free and delicious food (like Texas BBQ and AYCE hotpot) for filmmakers and attendees. All premiere statuses welcome. Submit at filmfreeway.com/AAAFF 💪

TIMELINE
🏁Submissions open: November 2nd
🐣Early Bird deadline: December 18th
🗓️ Regular deadline: January 22nd
⌛ Late deadline: February 26th
⏰Last Chance deadline: March 19th
👀Notification date: May 7th
🎉 Festival: June 23rd-27th, 2027

We look forward to seeing your films! 🔥

11/01/2026

In 2021, we had a very special world premiere of Mohit Jaswal's very tender NIGHT ON SIXTH on the Long Center Terrace. It was a wonderfulnight filled with Seattle-style hot dogs, comedy, and connection! So OF COURSE we're bringing it back for a 5th year anniversary screening at the Asian American Resource Center on Thursday, November 5th at 7PM with a special pre-show by our friends, Y'all We Asian ft. guests from Shoes Off Improv. 👏

Shot entirely in Austin as an ode and love letter, Yola journeys downtown looking for an escape from life after ditching her friends at a bar. What she finds is a ragtag group of artists that take her in and make her question everything. 👀

Tickets can be purchased at a tiered level; please select the ticket level you are comfortable paying for this event. If buying a ticket to attend is a barrier, email [email protected] with your name to request a ticket to this event. Doors open 30 min before the event with complimentary drinks and snacks available on a first-come first-served basis: goelevent.com/AAAFF/e/night-on-sixth

"As people, we are constantly thinking about our decisions, how we ended up in our current predicaments, what we have, and what we don’t. We often wonder if something is missing from our lives, or if the things we want are still attainable. In Mohit Jaswal’s NIGHT ON SIXTH, Yola (Yola Lu) has all of these thoughts, and more swirling around in her head. While out with her friends, she impulsively decides to ditch them and yearns to escape, if only for the evening. During her journey around Austin, she meets new and interesting people which leads her to question everything. A charming, funny, and sometimes poignant film, NIGHT ON SIXTH delivers a sweet and grounded story about connection." -Mohit Jaswal, Director

SEE YOU AT THE SCREENING ♥

10/28/2026

We're teaming up with Austin Film Festival to present FIVE AAPI Feature Films (including two world premieres!!!) at this year's AFF, running from October 29th through November 5th. 🤝 AAAFF family can use the special code AFF33FP for a $10 discount on Austin Film Festival 2026 Film Passes, which offer unlimited access to all of these films, and more! Get yours now: austinfilmfestival.com/product/film-pass-2/

Films include:
TIGER MOM ACADEMY dir. Shawn Shao-Wen Chou (World Premiere)
A family comedy about a desperate housewife who joins a cult of Tiger Moms to discipline her rebellious children. 🐅

CHOPIN dir. Vincent Lin (World Premiere)
A second-generation Taiwanese American returns to his small American hometown to reconnect with the workaholic father he barely knows. 🎶

SISA dir. Jun Robles Lana (Texas Premiere)
In 1902, a "mad woman" who witnessed the slaughter of her family during the gruesome Philippine-American War turns out to be a spy for the Filipino revolutionaries. 🔮

LOOK BACK dir. Hirokazu Koreeda (Austin Premiere)
Two manga artists, the brash Fujino and the reclusive Kyomoto, meet and develop a bond over making manga. ✏

SUMO: SPIRIT WEIGHS NOTHING dir. Erik Shirai (Texas Premiere)
A rare insider look into Japan’s hidden world of sumo. Over a turbulent year, wrestlers at every stage of their career fight to endure, revealing that true strength is measured not in flesh, but in spirit. 🤼‍♂️

See you at the fest! 👊

09/14/2026

📽 Short Films, Long Journeys; A Film Screening & Panel Discussion 📽

The gestation period for a short film is a lot longer than most people think. So how does one go about that task? 👀Join AAPI filmmakers Neha Aziz, Kayla Abuda Galang, and Meghan Ross for a screening and panel discussion on how they made their films in Austin, from inception to distribution. 👏

Films include SO, THAT HAPPENED (Neha Aziz), AN ONGOING LIST OF THINGS FOUND IN THE LIBRARY BOOK DROP, USUALLY BEING USED AS BOOKMARKS (Kayla Abuda Galang), and HERE TO MAKE FRIENDS (Meghan Ross). 🎬

Co-presented by Neha Aziz & Austin Asian American Film Festival at ArtUs Co, located at 10000 Research Boulevard Suite 141, doors open at 7PM with programming starting at 7:30PM sharp. Light food & beverages provided. The event is FREE to attend but spots are limited so please RSVP here: eventbrite.com/e/short-films-long-journeys-screening-panel-tickets-2000182355268 🎟️

This project is supported in part by a Nexus Grant of Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment. 🫂

Let's demystify the journey of the short film! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

07/14/2026

🐎 THANK YOU FOR THE HORSEPOWER 🐎

For keeping us fed, hydrated, fueled, and looking and feeling our best, we’d like to give a standing ovation to all of our Premiere, Patron, and Supporting Sponsors for helping us make our 18th edition so special! ❤️

WE COULDNT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT
City of Austin
Austin Film Society
Hold Out Brewing
HEB
Color Congress
Texas Commission on the Arts
Taiwan Ministry of Culture
Taiwan Academy
Austin PBS
Asian American Cultural Center
Yeo's
Holiday Inn Austin Midtown
Better Sour
Yellow Bird
Shaz & Kiks
Fermenteria
Juice Consulting
St. John Studios
Umma Juice
ATX Cold Brew
Kaiju Cut and Sew
Numa Foods
Topo Chico
Timothy Joseph Phillips
Coca Cola
DP Events

YOU HAVE OUR ETERNAL GRATITUDE 🙏🙏🙏

06/30/2026

may be over, but that doesn't mean there isn't more to share! As we prepare to announce Jury and Audience awards, we'd like to introduce you to our 2026 Narrative and Documentary Jury. 👋 Comprised of longtime filmmakers, AAAFF alumni, and film community pillars, we've tasked them with the difficult job of determining awards given how incredible our 2026 film lineup has been. 📝

So get to know them and get ready for some awards! 🎉

06/29/2026

🐎 THAT'S A WRAP ON 🐎

We rode all day and night for 5 full days of film, fun, and friendship. We laughed. We cried. We grieved. We were angry at times at all the traumas that constitute living in this world. Ultimately, we healed. We sat together. With friends. With strangers that became new friends. We ate together. Drank together. Clapped and cheered together. We received new work together with open arms. Hosted our visiting filmmakers with true, community Southern Hospitality ™, and all learned a little (or a lot) more about life. ❤️

On behalf of our entire board and staff (some of whom are not pictured here but we still love you), thank you to for allowing us to takeover your space. Thank you to our community partners, sponsors, and volunteers, who we couldn't have done this without and can never do without. To our visiting filmmakers who took a chance on us to become family for life. Our videographers, photographers, and jurors for making our memories alongside us. Most importantly, thank you from the bottom of our hearts to our community of film-going and film-loving AAAFF supporters who were here day-in and day-out to help us champion Asian and Asian American stories! ❤️

Turning 18 isn't so bad when it's with all of you!!! ❤️

The fest may be over but there's still lots more to come, including AWARDS so stay tuned and ty ty ty. 'Til we ride again... 🐎

06/28/2026

🫶 DAWN OF THE FINAL DAY 🫶

We've had the best time of our lives the last four days, and as we celebrate one last ride together, we want to bring special attention to the NOT-SO-SHORT SHORTS BLOCK at 4:30PM, which features three incredible films (including a world premiere!!!) in the ~30min runtime range. A Q&A with visiting directors Lisette Flanary and Myles Matsuno as well as producer Lailanie Gadia will follow, so do NOT miss this incredibly invigorating block. Plus there's snacks beforehand... goelevent.com/AAAFF/e/NOT-SO-SHORTSHORTS 😋

After all tonight's films, please join us at Yellow Ranger for our CLOSING PARTY from 10:30-late, where we will have fun and announce our jury winners 🎉

MĀHŪ: A TRANS-PACIFIC LOVE LETTER
MĀHŪ: A Trans-Pacific Love Letter is a short documentary about an innovative theater production by master hula teacher, Kumu Hula Patrick Makuakāne, which aims to reclaim and celebrate the traditional place of honor and respect given to māhū (transgender) people. 🏝

THIS HOUSE OF OURS
Following her husband’s death, an elderly Vietnamese woman moves through her family home clinging to memory and rituals, pulled apart into different directions by not only grief and tradition but also the pressure from her children. 🏠

LIGHT ON A HILL
When the Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of homes in Altadena, one Korean family’s restaurant survived, though they lost their own home. Supported by their community and organizations, they turned their parking lot into a distribution center, providing meals and clothing to those in need. World-renowned artist Robert Vargas painted a hopeful mural on their wall, symbolizing how art can bring healing and renewal. Told through mixed media and personal home footage, this film reveals a powerful story of resilience, generosity, and recovery rising through the ashes. 🔦

CLOSE OUT WITH US SEE YOU AT THE FEST 👋

06/27/2026

🔥 SUNDAY FEATURES 🔥

We've been having TOO much fun at the fest (what a centerpiece party last night!!!), and it's time to keep it going! This weekend is for the movie lovers who can watch films back-to-back-to-back, and you're gonna wanna pay attention to these Sunday features ☝ As always, tix at goelevent.com/AAAFF/e/List

THE GAS STATION ATTENDANT
A daughter reflects on her father’s life — weaving the story of his miraculous journey from the streets of India with the realities of life in America. Using recorded phone calls with her dad while he worked nights at a gas station along with home movies past and present, this deeply intimate film is a meditation on family, the immigrant experience, and the dreams we carry with us. ⛽

BENEATH WHICH RIVER FLOWS (Precedes DO YOU LOVE ME)
In southern Iraq's marshlands, Ibrahim finds solace with his buffalo companion amidst feeling alienated, but an impending ecological disaster jeopardizes their way of life. 🐃

DO YOU LOVE ME
DO YOU LOVE ME is a playful and personal journey through Lebanon’s audiovisual memory, composed entirely of archival footage. It is a love letter to Beirut, spanning 70 years of film, TV, home videos, and photography, exploring the Lebanese collective psyche – marked by joy and intimacy, destruction and loss. Through the eyes of citizens, filmmakers and artists, the film reconstructs a fragmented history in a country without a national archive, celebrating creative expression as both resistance, renewal and a way to preserve memory. 🇱🇧

GLOAMING IN LUOMU (Closing Film)
Bai receives a postcard from a small town in southwestern China. It's from her boyfriend, who disappeared without a word three years earlier. After wrestling with doubt, she decides to go to the town and uncover the truth. 💌

TWO MORE DAYS LETS KEEP IT GOING 🐎

06/26/2026

🤞 NARRATIVE SHORTS COMING YOUR WAY 🤞

Mark Sunday, 6/28 at 11:30 AM down on your calendar, ‘cause our Narrative Shorts Block is gonna blow you away! 🔥 Fresh ideas. Gripping contexts. Heart in spades. This is short-form narrative filmmaking at its finest—TIX still available: goelevent.com/AAAFF/e/NarrativeShorts 🎟️

PAPER DAUGHTER
Joy, an immigrant from China, enters the U.S. under a false identity as a “Paper Daughter,” memorizing details of a deceased girl named Mae and creating a paper mask in her likeness. Arriving at Angel Island, she faces detention and interrogation, discovering carved poems that echo the struggles of immigrants before her. 🗽

VITAL
A mother in Iran, considers selling her organs to save her daughter, while in the United States, a doctor faces ethical dilemmas to save his daughter, revealing the complexities of organ trade. ⚕️

PILOT
In an orthodox village in India, a young widow defies all norms and learns to ride a bicycle to take her son to school 20 kilometers away. 🚲

11:11
When 16-year-old Pakistani-American Noori’s wish at 11:11 to be her crush’s type goes awry, she’s magically transformed into a white, blonde, blue-eyed girl — and must undo the wish before losing herself completely. Set in affluent Palos Verdes, 11:11 is a comedic and profound exploration of the painful yet liberating realization that true belonging can’t be found by becoming someone else. 💅

ANOTHER DAUGHTER
A mother with two daughters is pregnant again. After finding out through a checkup that the baby is another girl, the family decides to terminate the pregnancy... 🏥

PRAYING MANTIS
A praying mantis mutant seduces and preys on men out of desperation to save her child. A failed mission led to revelations of her past and dark secrets as the story unfolds. 🙏

Address

6406 N I-35, #3100
Austin, TX
78752

Website

http://www.aaafilmfest.org/

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