Welcome from the Artistic Director
September 29, 2022
tweet
share
This year, much has been made of the Asian American multiverse, sparked by the Daniels’ surprise hit Everything Everywhere All at Once. So the fantasy goes, we in our humdrum lives may carry trauma, but in other parallel universes we may carry swords or showtunes or nations into the future. For many audiences, this was an empowering kind of mind bending: to envision ourselves as heroes, villains, lovers, weirdos. For other audiences though, we’ve been doing this for decades—in San Diego, for 22 years to be exact.
At the San Diego Asian Film Festival, every screening beholds another fantasy of ourselves. Through door number one, stumble upon CHOSEN, a documentary about five Korean Americans running for Congress. Through door number two, behold SUBTRACTION, a juicy Hitchcockian doppelgänger drama set in Tehran. Through door number three, fall into the embrace of BROKER, the latest film by Hirokazu Kore-eda, who reminds us every few years that even when worlds are crumbling, in this universe, somewhere, there is home.
For ten days this November, come indulge in the infinite. Not every door promises joy, but all promise visions of ourselves, our colleagues, and our neighbors that gatekeepers lock up the other 50 weeks of the year. Some doors even promise Michelle Yeoh! Come meet us and each other for everything, everywhere, in-person, and into the unknown.
—Brian Hu, Artistic Director
