March Recap 〰️ March Recap〰️ March Recap 〰️ Hey AAAFF friends We hope y’all had a joyful Easter and Ramadan Mubarak to our Muslim supporters! March was an eventful month from Diasporic Disco Queer Prom to SXSW. Let’s get into it and debrief!   Diasporic Disco It's time to Disco! Earlier last month, we hosted our first fundraiser of the year taking over the Austin Public Library Central branch. I know I said library but it was decked. Think sequin fabric and retro TVs in a room full of hot Asian & queer people. We danced to DJ sets and sang to Prom Queen’s new songs. If the pandemic c ..read more

Article Written by: Josh Martin, 2016 With A Brighter Summer Day playing at the AFS through this weekend (first week of April 2024), we’re resharing an article on the film written by AAAFF Special Programs & Film Programmer, Josh Martin, back in 2016. The “New Cinema”—the 1980s explosion of talent that put Taiwanese film on the world map—is also known as the “Taiwanese New Wave,” part of a still-prevalent tendency to liken any emergent national cinema to the French example of the ’50s and ’60s. In at least one small and accidental sense, the analogy is apt. Much as Godard and Truffaut are ..read more

Hi AAAFF Friends, Hope y’all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Earlier this month we hosted an event at AFS Cinema called Art In Motion: Expressions Through Film with our friends at aGLIFF, Cine Las Americas, IndieMeme, and Austin Jewish Film Festival in collaboration with Big Medium’s Studio Tour. This showcase explores art in practice, expressionism, and performance through the medium of film. Take a look at the selections below to learn more and check out our gallery of photos from the event. GEFILTE FISH (AJFF) Directed by: Yuliya Lanina On its surface, Gefilte Fish is a story of one family m ..read more

Hi Friends, The 30th edition of the Austin Film Festival kicks off their full day of programming on Thursday, and we are excited to share their Asian and AANHPI feature films! From movies like EGGHEAD & TWINKIE from Sarah Kambe Holland (AAAFF 2023 Narrative Jury Member) to Hirokazu Kore-eda’s MONSTER, take a look at the list below! You can find their entire lineup here. Pssst…There may also be some discount codes at the bottom of this post! ? Cannibal Mukbang (USA, 100 MIN) Writer/Director: Aimee Kuge Key Cast: Nate Wise, April Consalo, Clay Von Carlowitz, Madeleine Ours, Diana Cooper ..read more

Congrats to Neha Aziz and Casie Luong for starting new positions ? Congrats to Neha Aziz and Casie Luong for starting new positions? Congrats to Neha Aziz and Casie Luong for starting new positions ? Neha aziz Artistic Director The Artistic Director is in charge of the creative vision of year - round programming at the festival. Neha Aziz is a Pakistani-born writer, filmmaker, festival programmer, and podcaster living in Austin, TX. She associate produced Come & Take It (SXSW 2018) , a documentary short about the #CocksNotGlocks and Gun Free UT movements with acclaimed filmmakers PJ Raval ..read more

Hey Friends! Back in May, we hosted Filmmaker and Head of Creator Success at Seed&Spark Meghan Ross, along with Writer/Director Kayla Abuda Galang and Writer/Actor Yola Lu to discuss all things crowdfunding. Galang recently made the Sundance and SXSW award-winning short WHEN YOU LEFT ME ON THAT BOULEVARD and Lu is currently in post-production on a film she wrote called PATSY. Additionally, Ross is about to premiere her short, HERE TO MAKE FRIENDS which went through the Sundance Development Labs. Here are some key takeaways from this conversation:  Building community is key, you can ..read more

We had IndieMeme Co-Founder Alka Bhanot discuss two hotly anticipated films. Both Polite Society and Joyland mark the directors’ feature debut. Learn more about these phenomenal South Asian films below and where you can watch them!  Polite Society - In theaters 4/28 Polite Society is certainly a dream of all the young brown women growing up around the world. It is refreshing to see representation this cool! As we wrapped up the 8th Indie Meme Film Festival - Polite Society was what we all needed as the Closing Night Film - pure joy and some kick-ass action in lehengas :-) It's been a l ..read more

It doesn’t need to be Valentine's Day for us to watch some romantic films, but if any of y’all are on the hunt to watch something to give y’all the feels and frustrations that come along with romantic love, we got you covered! Need more suggestions? Take a look at our list from last year. BLIND DETECTIVE FAN GIRL FIRE ISLAND HAPPY OLD YEAR KITA KITA MISSISSIPPI MASALA SUPERMARKET WOMAN WORST WOMAN *images are from the films & production companies associated. BLIND DETECTIVE (2013) DIR. Johnnie To | WATCH ON Netflix Blind Detective was sold in the West as one of Johnnie To's hard-bo ..read more

Hey AAAFF Community, We just have a handful of weeks left to submit to our 2023 festival, our regular deadline is February 28. This year marks our 15th Edition! We are currently accepting entries for Narrative Features, Narrative Shorts, Documentary Features, and Documentary Shorts. Use code: RABBIT2023 for $10 off your submission fee until February 12. Here’s what some of our fest alums have to say about being selected for AAAFF: I first heard of AAAFF through a volunteer many years back. The idea of a non-profit in Austin focused on championing Asian + Asian American voices seemed so wonder ..read more

We're sharing some of our fave Asian & AA/PI films of the year. Spoiler alert: it's filled with iconic ♀ energy The end of the year is here (how?!), and the AAAFF staff wanted to reflect on some of our favorite Asian and AA/PI films from 2022! This is by no means an exhaustive list—we are certain there are a bunch missing, including ones we haven’t seen ourselves! But be sure to add these movies to your list if you haven’t already. Happy Holidays, friends! AFTER YANG A24 A NIGHT OF KNOWING NOTHING Square Eyes Film BLUE ISLAND Blue Island Production Company CANE FIRE Cinema Guild DECIS ..read more