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2017 San Diego Asian Film Festival

All Films & Events

  1. SHORTS: LOVE ME TINDER

    Asian American Panorama / 95 mins
    Modern romancing meets modern heartbreak in these youthful shorts about hook-ups, hang-ups, and the hard-to-get.

    In This Program: EMPATHY (A DIGITAL LOVE LETTER), FINE., MWAH, THE FUTURE LOOKED BRIGHT, SANTA CLAUS, FLOAT, F**KED UP

    SHORTS: LOVE ME TINDER

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, Nov 12, 2017 1:30PM


  2. SHORTS: NEW MUTANTS

    Asian American Panorama / 93 mins
    Transformations of the third kind populate this collection of shorts about the camouflage we wear and the psychic intrusions of play.

    In This Program: A GRAIN OF WHITE RICE IN THE ENDLESS YELLOW SUN, THE CUTTING SHADOW, TOURING, SHUAI, MADNESS, GIRL AT THE DOOR, IMAN AND THE LIGHT WARRIORS

    SHORTS: NEW MUTANTS

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Friday, Nov 10, 2017 4:00PM Buy Tickets


  3. SHORTS: QUEER AS US. NOT SAD!

    Asian American Panorama / 93 mins
    From a sacred journey to bold loves, we celebrate unique LGBT stories of self-discovery, quiet desires, and family drama.

    In This Program: CAKE, FAULT, GODDESS, LADY EVA, LIKE ANIMALS, CHROMOSOME SWEETHEART, TEAR OF THE PEONY, LOVE THE SINNER

    SHORTS: QUEER AS US. NOT SAD!

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, Nov 11, 2017 6:20PM


  4. SHORTS: WHERE THE LIGHT DON’T SHINE

    Asian American Panorama / 98 mins
    From drug-filled dirty diapers, to the undying love of a game show contestant, and even a heinous traveling board game, these rowdy comedies are sure to leave you needing a drink – or at least a boba.

    In This Program: 127 MINUTES, BAO, THE AUTOGRAPH, PLAZA BLVD, THE LAST STRAW, ALMOST ASIAN: WHITE NOISE, THE GAME: THE DOC, LAUNDRY

    SHORTS: WHERE THE LIGHT DON’T SHINE

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Monday, Nov 13, 2017 4:00PM Buy Tickets


  5. SHUBH MANGAL SAAVDHAN

    R.S. Prasanna / Asia Pop! / India / 2017 / Comedy, Romance / 119 mins
    Mudit and Sugandha meet cute and soon engage cute, to the delight of their respective parents. But one premarital rendezvous reveals his gentlemanly dysfunction, and soon everyone in the wedding party knows. The parents, to say the least, are not delighted. As the film spins into a sex comedy with a light, wholesome touch, the delight is all ours.
    SHUBH MANGAL SAAVDHAN

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, Nov 12, 2017 7:55PM

    SHUBH MANGAL SAAVDHAN

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Tuesday, Nov 14, 2017 8:20PM


  6. THE SILENT TEACHER

    Maso Chen / Asia Pop! / Taiwan / 2017 / Documentary, Drama / 73 mins
    Because of cultural mores pertaining to the afterlife, medical schools in Taiwan don’t receive many cadaver donations. So when wife, mother, and now “silent teacher” Hsu Yu-e leaves her body to science, her death sets off two years of waiting, grief, but above all gratitude between her family and a medical school.

    Preceded by: 100TH BIRTHDAY WISH

    THE SILENT TEACHER

    UCSD Price Center Theater
    Tuesday, Nov 14, 2017 7:20PM


  7. SMALL TALK

    Huang Hui-chen / Discoveries / Taiwan / 2016 / Documentary, Family, LGBT / 88 mins
    Director Huang Hui-chen sits down with her mother to talk about their family’s open secret, the assumption that everyone has made but which nobody dares discuss: that her mother is a lesbian. Gripping and emotional, this award-winning personal documentary forges a bond between women and across generations.
    SMALL TALK

    UCSD Price Center Theater
    Monday, Nov 13, 2017 6:00PM


  8. SOMEWHERE BEYOND THE MIST

    Cheung King-wai / Discoveries / Hong Kong / 2017 / Drama, Thriller / 86 mins
    A teenager confesses to killing her parents and dumping their bodies in a reservoir. The cold, clinical confession startles the policewoman investigating the case and presses her to look more closely. Violence hangs over Cheung King-wai’s Hong Kong like an unmovable fog, as the two women slither into each other’s lives, shaking off layers of guilt, sadness, and emotional fatigue.

    Preceded by: DEATH OF THE SOUND MAN

    SOMEWHERE BEYOND THE MIST

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Thursday, Nov 16, 2017 7:50PM


  9. STAND UP MAN

    Aram Collier / Asian American Panorama / Canada / 2017 / Comedy / 86 mins
    The joke’s on rising comedian Moses Kim when his spoiled cousin from Seoul arrives at his doorstep, culminating in a career crisis, a crossroads for his family’s sushi restaurant, and – why not – a dance contest. STAND UP MAN is a buddy film about two very different Koreans carving something genuine in a small nowhere town.
    STAND UP MAN

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, Nov 12, 2017 1:15PM


  10. A TAXI DRIVER

    Jang Hoon / Asia Pop! / South Korea / 2017 / Comedy, Drama, Thriller / 137 mins
    With casualties mounting during the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, a decidedly apolitical taxi driver unknowingly smuggles a foreign journalist onto the front lines between student demonstrators and the police state. Alternating between laughs and flying bullets, this touching true story captures an unlikely friendship and a turn of events that would forever alter Korean history.
    A TAXI DRIVER

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, Nov 11, 2017 12:50PM

    A TAXI DRIVER

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, Nov 12, 2017 7:40PM


  11. TAXI STORIES

    Doris Yeung / Discoveries / China, Hong Kong, Indonesia / 2017 / Drama, LGBT, Romance / 97 mins
    Three parallel stories in and around taxis in Asia reveal characters seeking connections, a sense of belonging, and love. A kid in Jakarta gives a ride to a beautiful foreigner. A domestic worker in Hong Kong is linked unexpectedly with her wealthy boss. A taxi driver in Beijing picks up a gay couple outside a club.
    TAXI STORIES

    Digital Gym Cinema
    Thursday, Nov 16, 2017 6:30PM


  12. THEY

    Anahita Ghazvinizadeh / Asian American Panorama / Qatar, USA / 2017 / Drama, LGBT / 80 mins
    The delicate dance of transition enlivens THEY, Anahita Ghazvinizadeh’s debut feature about a teenager in the process of undergoing hormone blockers while observing family coming and going. Ghazvinizadeh then transitions the film altogether to a lively Iranian American family gathering, sweeping up the audience with the grace of simple naturalism and the acknowledgement there are plenty of possible futures ahead.
    THEY

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, Nov 12, 2017 4:05PM


  13. THOSE LONG HAIRED NIGHTS

    Gerardo Calagui / Discoveries / Philippines / 2017 / Drama, LGBT / 72 mins
    Tuesday is looking for love, Amanda is searching for family, and Barbie...well, Barbie just can't stay away from trouble. Together, these trans women work their way through the hurdles of the world: the violence, the exploitation, the attitude. And under the direction of Gerardo Calagui, they do so within a refreshing space of romance, warmth, and endless charm.
    THOSE LONG HAIRED NIGHTS

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Monday, Nov 13, 2017 7:35PM


  14. THE VALLEY

    Saila Kariat / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2017 / Drama, Family / 95 mins
    A Silicon Valley entrepreneur is at the pinnacle of his career and has attained a prosperous life for his family. But the death of a child leads him on a reckless quest for the reasons behind her demise, opening wounds he may not have known were there. THE VALLEY is a searing deconstruction of the myths of immigrant success.
    THE VALLEY

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Tuesday, Nov 14, 2017 6:15PM


  15. THE VILLAINESS

    Jung Byung-gil / Asia Pop! / South Korea / 2017 / Martial Arts, Thriller / 124 mins
    A vengeful assassin explodes through armies of gangland thugs, but before long, she’s also busted through every safe convention of the action genre, laying waste to good taste and leaving the audience with nested dolls of narrative twists. Blood will shed, jaws will drop, and the history of Korean action will be rewritten.
    THE VILLAINESS

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, Nov 11, 2017 8:40PM

    THE VILLAINESS

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Wednesday, Nov 15, 2017 8:55PM


  16. WE THE WORKERS

    Wen Hai / Discoveries / China, Hong Kong / 2017 / Documentary / 174 mins
    This raw and extraordinary documentary captures in epic fashion the tenacity, personality, and gravity of labor activism in contemporary China, from the lawyers and allies, to the workers themselves. Eschewing the heroic triumphantalism of more idealistic films, WE THE WORKERS shows activism as work itself. Menial, tough, strategic, and essential.
    WE THE WORKERS

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, Nov 11, 2017 1:45PM


  17. WEXFORD PLAZA

    Joyce Wong / Asian American Panorama / Canada / 2016 / Comedy, Drama / 87 mins
    A security guard falls for a bartender in Joyce Wong’s superbly awkward dramedy about the innocent encounters that take young suburbanites down paths of most resistance.
    WEXFORD PLAZA

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, Nov 12, 2017 3:25PM


  18. WHO IS ARTHUR CHU?

    Scott Drucker, Yu Gu / Asian American Panorama / USA / 2017 / Documentary / 90 mins
    From his legendary, highly-controversial eleven-game run on Jeopardy!, to his online career as a commentator for nerd culture and social justice, Arthur Chu has shrugged off the haters, sought peace with family, and confronted the personal stakes of keeping his eyes on the prize.
    WHO IS ARTHUR CHU?

    UCSD Price Center Theater
    Sunday, Nov 12, 2017 1:40PM


  19. YOUTH

    Feng Xiaogang / Masters / China / 2017 / Drama, Historical, Romance / 146 mins
    The ardor of youth and the aromas of romanticism, tucked safely in the haven of a Cultural Revolution dance troupe, get blown into the wind in Feng Xiaogang’s poignant epic of lithe bodies, fleeting fancies, and the callous weight of China’s turbulent political history. The craft and the critique are as sweeping as they are impeccable.
    YOUTH

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Wednesday, Nov 15, 2017 6:00PM

    YOUTH

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Thursday, Nov 16, 2017 6:15PM