The San Diego Asian Film Festival Unveils Huge Film Lineup for 25th Anniversary, Featuring World Premieres and Global Cinema

October 14, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Carmela Prudencio, media@sdaff.org

SAN DIEGO, October 8, 2024

The San Diego Asian Film Festival Unveils Huge Film Lineup for 25th Anniversary, Featuring World Premieres and Global Cinema

October 8, 2024—Pacific Arts Movement (Pac Arts) is thrilled to announce the 25th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF), taking place November 7-16, 2024. The festival will take place at the Regal Edwards Mira Mesa, with additional screenings and special events at the San Diego Natural History Museum and Museum of Photographic Arts @ SDMA in Balboa Park.

For the 25th anniversary, Pac Arts is proud to announce one of the largest film programs in the festival’s history, with over 170 films from more than 35 countries in 35 different languages. This year’s program will showcase a massive selection of films from across Asia and the Asian American diaspora, reflecting the depth and breadth of Asian cinema and storytelling. As the organization celebrates 25 years of championing Asian and Asian American voices, this monumental lineup sets the stage for the biggest and most exciting festival yet.

“The San Diego Asian Film Festival takes over a year of planning and organizing in order to bring this many films and filmmakers to our region,” says Alex Villafuerte, Executive Director. “I’m grateful for our board, staff, and volunteers, as well as members and sponsors who make all of this possible. See you at the cinema!”

This year’s festival will feature a carefully curated lineup showcasing the best in global Asian cinema, including 22 premieres: 2 world premieres, 2 international premieres, 5 North American premieres, 1 US premiere, and 12 West Coast premieres. Attendees will not only enjoy a diverse range of films but also 30+ Q&As with filmmakers, offering opportunities to engage directly with the cast and crew.

The highly anticipated premieres include, but are not limited to the international premiere of the Opening Night film Cells at Work!, the world premiere of the biopic documentary Tura! Spotlighting cult icon Tura Satana and the Korean romantic comedy Güle-Güle, the international premiere of Love Child starring Jane Oineza and RK Bagatsing, and the North American premieres of the Hong Kong family drama Little Red Sweet, Nepalese crime drama Pooja, Sir, Filipino auteur Lav Diaz’s latest film Phantosmia, and Thailand’s Sivaroj Kongsakul’s second feature Regretfully at Dawn, and the west coast premiere of All We Imagine as Light, winner of the Grand Prix at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Films will represent a global range of voices, with works from countries including Aotearoa (New Zealand), Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and more.

“In our 25th year, we’re in the mood for excitement, horror, anime adaptation, thrillers from Taiwan to Kazakhstan,” says Brian Hu, SDAFF Artistic Director. “The times call for cult heroes like Tura Satana and political firebrands like Nobuko Miyamoto, and we’re here to keep audiences engaged, enraged, and on the edge of their seats.”

Additional highlights include the screenings of Extremely Unique Dynamic, Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement, and All We Imagine As Light, winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes Film Festival 2024. The festival will also feature special restorations of iconic films, including legendary Filipino director Lino Brocka’s Bona, prolific Taiwanese auteur Edward Yang’s Mahjong, the beloved Hong Kong comedy Shanghai Blues, the controversial Vietnamese war drama When the Tenth Month Comes, and Eddie Romero’s cult horror film Beast of the Yellow Night.

Opening Night kicks off at the San Diego Natural History Museum on November 7 with the international premiere of Cells at Work!, a live-action adaptation of the popular anime and manga series, where hardworking cells battle pathogens inside the body of a teenage girl juggling family and romance.

The Centerpiece Film is the world premiere of All That We Love on November 10 at Regal Edwards Mira Mesa, starring Margaret Cho and directed by SDAFF alum Yen Tan. The heartfelt drama explores the complexities of grief, family, and life’s unexpected turns after the loss of a beloved pet.

The festival’s closing night film punctuates the festival with the documentary New Wave, directed by Elizabeth Ai, a celebration of the 1980s new wave music scene among young Vietnamese refugees. Featuring archival footage and interviews with icons like Lynda Trang Dai, “the Vietnamese Madonna,” the film weaves together post-war trauma, coming-of-age stories, and the escapism of synth-pop dreams in Southern California.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:

• Opening Film: Cells At Work!
  • Thursday, November 7 at 7:00 pm
  • Location: San Diego Natural History Museum
  • Link: https://sdaff.org/2024/movies/cells-at-work
  • A high schooler, Niko juggles caring for her widowed dad and teenage life while her blood cells battle pathogens inside her body, blending action, romance, and family drama in a celebration of youth and love.

• Centerpiece Film: All That We Love
  • Sunday, November 10 at 5:30 PM
  • Location: Regal Edwards Mira Mesa
  • Link: https://sdaff.org/2024/movies/all-that-we-love
  • Margaret Cho stars as Emma, who copes with her dog’s loss and her ex-husband’s return, while her best friend Stan and daughter Maggie support her through their own challenges, revealing humor and hope in unexpected places.

• The 25th SDAFF Anniversary Awards Gala
  • Friday, November 10 at 6:00 pm
  • Location: EVE
  • Link: https://www.pacarts.org/events/gala
  • Celebrate SDAFF’s 25th Anniversary at the San Diego Asian Film Festival Gala Awards Dinner.

• Closing Night Film: New Wave
  • Friday, November 15 at 7:00 PM
  • Location: Regal Edwards Mira Mesa
  • Link: https://sdaff.org/2024/movies/new-wave
  • Elizabeth Ai’s documentary delves into the rise of new wave music among young Vietnamese refugees in the 80s, blending archival footage and interviews with icons like Lynda Trang Dai to explore postwar trauma and the escapism of synth-pop dreams in Southern California.

• Film: REEL VOICES SHORTS
  • Sunday, November 10 at 12:00 PM
  • Q&A: Student filmmakers from the REEL VOICES Class of 2024
  • Link: https://sdaff.org/2024/programs/reel-voices-2024/ 
  • Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Pac Arts’ Reel Voices Program. 12 filmmakers from our Reel Voices documentary filmmaking program break binary boundaries with varying explorations of connection that extend beyond the physical realm.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS: 

• Organization: Pacific Arts Movement
• Dates/ time: November 7 through 16, 2024
• Location: San Diego Natural History Museum, Regal Edwards Mira Mesa, Museum of Photographic Arts @ SDMA 
• Tickets: Available October 8 at https://sdaff.org/
• Interviews available: For interviews with filmmakers, actors, or festival staff and a list of available screeners, please fill out a media accreditation form and contact media@sdaff.org.
• Link to use in your story: sdaff.org

TICKETING:

Tickets ($12–$35 per screening) and passes (starting at $215) are available now online at sdaff.org. Tickets for films and Q&As will be available on our website at sdaff.org. Tickets for all presentations are available at sdaff.org.

Walk-up tickets are available at the SDAFF Box Office, which will be open 1 hour before the first screening. Walk-up tickets at non-Edwards Mira Mesa locations are available at that venue’s box office one hour before the first showtime of the day. All ticket sales are final. 

 

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ABOUT THE SAN DIEGO ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL: 

Pacific Arts Movement (Pac Arts) is the most comprehensive portrait of Asian and Asian American cinema in North America. Located in San Diego, California, Pac Arts is the presenter of the annual San Diego Asian Film Festival, the largest showcase of Asian cinema on the West Coast, and the Spring Showcase of Asian Cinema. The 24th SDAFF is scheduled for November 2-11, 2023. For more information, visit http://pacarts.org. 

 

ABOUT PACIFIC ARTS MOVEMENT:

Pacific Arts Movement (Pac Arts) launched in 2000 when it debuted the San Diego Asian Film Festival, a showcase of Asian American and Asian international cinema. Rooted in the love of film and the arts, global citizenship, and Asian culture and communities, Pac Arts became an official nonprofit media arts organization in 2002, and is now one of the most significant exhibitions of Asian cinema in North America.