About

About the Festival

The San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) is San Diego’s premier film showcase of Asian American and international cinema. Founded in 2000, the festival has grown to become the largest exhibition of Asian cinema in the western United States, and has showcased everything from future classics like Bong Joon-ho’s Memories of Murder (US Premiere) to luminary independent work like Patrick Wang’s award-winning In the Family (North American Premiere). Each year, the festival brings West Coast, North American, and World premieres of films from around the world to San Diego and gives audiences unique opportunities to discover international cinema.

This year, the 21st edition of SDAFF will showcase over 125+ films from 24 countries, in 34 languages through our online platform at sdaff.org from October 23-31, 2020.

The San Diego Asian Film Festival is organized by Pacific Arts Movement, a non-profit media arts organization dedicated to sharing Asian American and international films to inspire, entertain, and support a more compassionate society. For more information about Pac Arts, click here.

Past Editions

About Pacific Arts Movement

Pacific Arts Movement (Pac Arts) is one of the largest media arts organizations in North America that focuses on Asian American and Asian international cinema. Our mission is to present Pan Asian media arts to San Diego residents and visitors in order to inspire, entertain, and support a more compassionate society.

Our Programs

Pac Arts is committed to sharing powerful stories with audiences year-round through the San Diego Asian Film Festival, Spring Showcase, Spotlight Screenings, and Outdoor Screenings, and Film Forums. From our award-winning high school documentary program Reel Voices to Youth Days at the festival, we are also dedicated to educating and nurturing a new generation of creative leaders and storytellers.

Spring Showcase: Coming April 2020, an 8-day presentation of the best of Asian and Asian American cinema on the other side of the calendar year.

Youth Days: Two free days of youth-oriented film screenings to culturally educate, enlighten, and enhance local students’ film literacy skills.

Reel Voices: A 10-week summer documentary program training local high school students to become socially conscious digital storytellers. Reel Voices Monarch is a year-long collaboration between Reel Voices and Monarch School that empowers homeless students to tell their stories and those of the community through digital storytelling.

Spotlight & Outdoor Screenings: Pac Arts presents year-round film programs such as Spotlight and Outdoor Screenings throughout San Diego County.

For more information about Pac Arts, visit the organization’s website here.