Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) Returns to New York City July 31–August 10
The nation’s first and longest-running festival dedicated to Asian American cinema, the Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF), is about to kick off its 48th edition. AAIFF48 runs from July 31 - August 10 in New York City at a variety of venues and online.
Opening the festival is the SXSW-award winning Slanted. Written and directed by Amy Wang, Slanted tells the story of a Chinese-American teenage girl, Joan (Shirley Chen), struggling to fit in. She dreams of becoming Prom Queen and finds herself wishing she looked like the mean girls at school. Joan decides to undergo an experimental surgery to make her White so that she can finally fit in. AAIFF’s screening of Slanted will be preceded by a red carpet and introduction with a filmmaker Q&A and opening night reception to follow.
courtesy of AAIFF
Director Jason Park’s Transplant is a Centerpiece presentation on August 3 at Regal Union Square. Park produced and co-wrote, along with David Joohun Lee, the film that’s described as having the same tense, frenetic energy as Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, but trades the world of music for medicine. The film follows a surgical resident (Eric Nam) as he pushes himself to extreme lengths under the supervision of a perfection-obsessed surgeon (Bill Camp). The screening of Transplant will have a post-screening filmmaker Q&A and reception with light bites and raffle opportunities.
The festival ends with Moloka'i Bound on August 10 at 7pm at Regal Union Square. The screening will feature a post-screening Q&A and a closing night reception. Moloka'i Bound is written and directed by Alika Tengan, a Native Hawaiian/Asian American writer-director based out of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. Moloka'i Bound began as a short film that was marked for Oscar Consideration in 2021. Now, Tengan brings the feature version of the film to AAIFF48.
courtesy of ACV
The 48th edition of AAIFF also coincides with the 50th anniversary of Asian CineVision, the nonprofit behind the festival. To commemorate this legacy, AAIFF48 will showcase special presentations including ACV 50 Retrospective Screening – Fruit Fly and Captain America: Albert Pyun Cut. Additional tributes, filmmaker panels, and community events will be announced in the coming weeks.
“On the 50th anniversary of our organization, AAIFF is harkening back to our underground origins by highlighting scrappy young AAPI filmmakers from New York and beyond. We are also showcasing a legacy of unsung and "sung" indies in our special presentations of Albert Pyun's recently unthawed Captain America director's cut and festival alum H.P. Mendoza's 2009 musical Fruit Fly. We hope to continue being NYC's number one festival for nurturing and celebrating the next generation of Asian American and Pacific Islander filmmakers.” – Kris Montello, AAIFF Programming Director
Tickets are now available to the general public. Visit for full program details.
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