11TH FILM FEST OCT 21-28, 2010
Grace Park in WEST 32ND
Justin Lin's BETTER LUCK TOMORROW
Jimmy in CATS OF MIRIKITANI
Ham Tran's JOURNEY FROM THE FALL
Director and cast of SAVING FACE
Jimmy Tsai in PING PONG PLAYA
Sung Kang in THE MOTEL
Our very first film of SDAFF - THE DEBUT
Always: Sunset of Third Street, one of the most magical films ever
Neil Dela Llana's CAVITE
HISTORY
The San Diego Asian Film Festival first began in 2000 as three-day event at the University of San Diego. The festival's founder, Lee Ann Kim, had no prior film festival or fundraising experience, but came up with the idea while serving as president of the San Diego Asian American Journalists Association. With the help of filmmaker Mark Arbitrario, film critic Beth Accomando, local journalists, and a team of passionate volunteers, the festival opened on August 9, 2000 with a sold-out screening of THE DEBUT and ended with the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner GIRLFIGHT with director Karyn Kusama in attendance. About 3,500 people attended the first festival, showing there was a demand for independent cinema.
The second film festival moved into a commercial theatre venue (Hazard Center in Mission Valley) and took place in September 2001, two weeks after the 9/11 tragedy. Coincidentally, the opening night film was AMERICAN CHAI a film set in New York City about an Indian American teenager dealing with cultural identity issues. That film premiered with 80 other films, providing a way for San Diegans to heal through stories that promoting tolerance and cross-cultural understanding. Soon after, the festival achieved 501 (c)(3) status, becoming the San Diego Asian Film Foundation (SDAFF) in 2002.
Since then, the SDAFF has premiered more than1,000 films and videos from around the world, and served nearly 100,000 patrons. Though best known for its annual film festival, the SDAFF offers year-round programs to reach the broadest audience possible.
Celebrities Who Have Attended
Even though our festival focuses on independent cinema (which usually means unknown actors and filmmakers), we are always asked the question, "Which celebrities have come out to the festival?" Here's a look at some of the stars:
Dante Basco, Zoe Bell, Joy Bisco, Joan Chen, Lynn Chen, Karin Anna Cheung, Kieu Chinh, John Cho, Margaret Cho, David Choi, Justin Chon, MC Hammer, David Huynh, Kelly Hu, Sung Kang, Daniel Dae Kim, Eddie Kim, Michelle Krusiec, Hiep Thi Le, C.S. Lee, Harlemm Lee, James Kyson Lee, Jim Lee, Lisa Ling, Marie Matiko, Ajay Mehta, Ming Na, Leonardo Nam, Dustin Nguyen, Sandra Oh, Soon Tek-Oh, SuChin Pak, Grace Park, Dat Phan, Phillip Rhee, Jelynn Rodriguez, Perry Shen, Sheetal Sheth, Eddie Shin, Chris Tashima, George Takei, Tamlyn Tomita, Aaron Yoo, Jessica Yu, Roger Yuan, Ron Yuan, Karl Yune, and Rick Yune.