About the Festival
Oct21
San Diego, CA
Oct 21 - Oct 28, 2010
Website: http://www.sdaff.org/index.php
Phone: 858-565-1264
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The first San Diego Asian Film Festival took place in August 2000 at the University of San Diego, and was founded by local news anchor/reporter Lee Ann Kim. The festival was an event of the San Diego chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, aimed at bringing together the community share in cross-cultural learning and discourse. That first year, nearly 3,500 patrons attended to watch nearly 60 films including THE ...moreDEBUT, by Gene Cajayon, and the closing night feature, GIRLFIGHT by Karyn Kusama, which won the Sundance Audience Award. Special guests included Margaret Cho, Tamlyn Tomita (Joy Luck Club), Yuan (Shanghai), and Dante Basco (Hook).
In 2001, the San Diego Asian Film Festival moved to the Hazard Center theaters, but the 9/11 tragedy struck just two weeks before the festival. Coincidentally, the opening night film, AMERICAN CHAI, was set in New York City about the cultural struggles of South Asian Americans. It was clear from 9/11 and the audience who attended the second year, that the Asian Film Festival served the greater purpose of helping us learn about each other, and celebrating each other’s differences rather than fearing them.
In 2002, the San Diego Asian Film Foundation became its own nonprofit corporation. Since then, the SDAFF has premiered more than 1,000 films and videos from around the world, and served more than 100,000 patrons.
While the SDAFF offers year-round programs, the Foundation is best known for its annual film festival, which has gained an international reputation as one of North America's premiere Asian American film festivals and continues to grow in size each year. Most recently, the 2008 film festival experienced record attendance (nearly 18,000 patrons), and attracted high profile filmmakers and celebrities, including Academy Award-winning director Jessica Yu, Aaron Yoo (Disturbia, Nick and Nora), John Cho (Harold and Kumar), Leonardo Nam (Sisterhood of Traveling Pants), and Youtube sensation Christine Gambito of HappySlip. ...hide
