Festival Data:

• Established: 2000
• Genre: General
• Attendance: 15000
• Media Attendance: 15
• Accredited Industry Attendance: 150
• Total Number of Films Submitted: 300
• Total Number of Films Screened: 140
• Total Screenings: 42
• # of Shorts Screened: 110
• # of Features Screened: 30

• Competitive
• Has Panels

Festival Website:

Festival Description:

The San Diego Asian Film Festival premieres films that are made, by, or about persons of Asian descent. It also screens films that have no Asian content, but are directed or principally acted by a person of Asian descent. So don’t expect a kung fu festival (although it does have martial arts films). SDAFF screens everything from arthouse indie films to international blockbusters, short films, animation, and wonderful documentaries.

SDAFF screens Films in the following competitive categories: Dramatic Narrative Feature and Short, Documentary Feature and Animation Short. The Festival is competitive, offering awards in the following categories:

Animated Short

Documentary Short

Narrative Short

Documentary Feature

Narrative Feature

Emerging Filmmaker

Grand Jury Prize

On 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.

In addition, SDAFF offers a quarterly film series, a membership program, and documentary training for local high school students. One of its goals is to build stronger ties with area schools to foster meaningful discourse and cultural learning. It works with more than 100 community, business, and school groups who partner with it on various programs.

The San Diego Asian Film Festival first began in 2000 as a 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. In 2002 the festival achieved 501 (c)(3) status, becoming the San Diego Asian Film Foundation (SDAFF). Since then, the SDAFF has premiered more than 1,000 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.

Film Submissions:

• Call for Entry: http:/ / www.sdaff.org/ festival/ filmmakers.php

Curent Film Previews:

• Lovers