The complete festival, every event in one place. Full write-ups follow below.
| Time | Event | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, June 23 — Pre-Festival | ||
| 4:00 PM | Early Badge Pickup | Holiday Inn Midtown |
| Wednesday, June 24 — Opening Night | ||
| All week | Kiss — experimental short (virtual) | Online |
| 6:30 PM | Honeyjoon — Opening Night + Q&A | AFS Cinema |
| 9:00 PM | Opening Night Afterparty | Soupleaf Hotpot |
| Thursday, June 25 | ||
| 5:25 PM | Texas Shorts Block + Q&A | AFS Cinema |
| 7:35 PM | TikTok Never Dies + Q&A | AFS Cinema |
| 9:00 PM | Softserve Stampede | Somi Somi |
| Friday, June 26 — Centerpiece Night | ||
| 12:00 PM | Taiwan VR Activation — Day 1 (18+) | Holiday Inn Midtown |
| 3:00 PM | A-DOC Mixer | Austin PBS |
| 5:00 PM | 100 Sunset | AFS Cinema |
| 6:30 PM | The Mane Event: Red Carpet | AFS Cinema |
| 7:45 PM | Traces of Home — Centerpiece + Q&A | AFS Cinema |
| 9:30 PM | Centerpiece Corral Party | St. John Studios |
| Saturday, June 27 | ||
| 11:00 AM | Documentary Shorts + Q&A | AFS Cinema |
| 12:00 PM | Taiwan VR Activation — Day 2 (18+) | Holiday Inn Midtown |
| 1:10 PM | Filipiñana | AFS Cinema |
| 2:00 PM | Taiwan VR Meet & Greet | Holiday Inn Midtown |
| 3:25 PM | Before the Call + Q&A | AFS Cinema |
| 5:00 PM | Saddle Up for Samosas! | AFS Cinema |
| 6:00 PM | Superstitious Saturday Double Feature: Ghost School & Lali | AFS Cinema |
| Sunday, June 28 — Closing Day | ||
| 10:00 AM | Asian Film Creatives Mixer | Đậm Coffee Bar |
| 10:30 AM | Brokeback Baos Brunch | AFS Cinema |
| 11:30 AM | Narrative Shorts + Q&A | AFS Cinema |
| 2:00 PM | ★ The Gas Station Attendant + Q&A | AFS Cinema |
| 3:30 PM | Hay! It’s Snacktime | AFS Cinema |
| 4:30 PM | Not-So-Short Shorts + Q&A | AFS Cinema |
| 6:45 PM | Do You Love Me | AFS Cinema |
| 8:45 PM | Gloaming in Luomu — Closing Film | AFS Cinema |
| 10:30 PM | Winners Circle Closing Party (21+) | The Golden Horn |
Tuesday June 23 • Pre-Festival
4:00 PM– 7:00 PM
Early Badge Pickup Pre-Fest
Holiday Inn Midtown
Beat the opening-night line. The first 20 attendees walk away with a limited-edition AAAFF bolo tie — a very Austin touch.
Wednesday June 24 • Opening Night
All WeekVirtual
Kiss
dir. Chou Tung-yen • experimental short
A quarantine-born short streaming online June 24–28 and pairing with the Taiwan VR activation. Meditative and image-driven rather than narrative.
6:30 PM– 9:15 PM • + Q&A
Honeyjoon Opening Night
dir. Lilian T. Mehrel • Ayden Mayeri, Amira Casar
The festival opens with a tender mother-and-daughter two-hander: a grieving pair take a trip in the wake of a family loss and find that sorrow and comedy travel together. An AT&T Untold Stories prize winner with Tribeca.
9:00 PM– 11:00 PM
Opening Night Afterparty Party
Soupleaf Hotpot
Badgeholders get an all-you-can-eat hot pot spread — AAAFF’s claim to being the only fest in town that feeds you this well on your badge alone.
Thursday June 25
5:25 PM– 7:00 PM • + Q&A
Texas Shorts Block
Five narrative & documentary shorts
A homegrown showcase of Texas filmmakers: Winter Ceremony, Taemong, How We Grieve, Firewall, and Cindy Tran: From Here to Here, a poetry portrait of an Austin-based poet.
7:35 PM– 9:35 PM • + Q&A
TikTok Never Dies
dir. Hao Wu • documentary
From the SXSW Grand Jury winner behind People’s Republic of Desire, a fast, funny, alarming look at the fight over the TikTok ban — following three creators into court as free speech, livelihoods, and politics collide.
9:00 PM– 11:00 PM
Softserve Stampede Party
Somi Somi
Wind down with soft serve — badgeholders get a complimentary cup at this fish-shaped-cone institution.
Friday June 26 • Centerpiece Night
12:00 PM– 9:00 PM
Taiwan VR Activation — Day 1 VR • 18+
Holiday Inn Midtown • presented by Taiwan Academy
The festival’s first-ever VR program: the immersive film In the Mist followed by Kiss, with director Chou Tung-yen in attendance. Badgeholders get pre-registration; a rush line is available with proof of a film ticket.
3:00 PM– 4:30 PM
A-DOC Mixer
Austin PBS
The Asian American Documentary Network gathers Central Texas doc-makers, with croffles and coffee from Cafe du Bliss.
5:00 PM– 6:39 PM
100 Sunset
• Tenzin Kunsel, Sonam Choekyi
A shy Tibetan-Canadian teenager films her Toronto community through a camcorder — and shoplifts compulsively — until a charismatic newcomer with a risky scheme pulls her off the sidelines of her own life.
6:30 PM– 7:30 PM
The Mane Event: Red Carpet Red Carpet
AFS Cinema • “Horse Girl” / Texas chic
Filmmakers and guests on the carpet, press interviews, and giveaways — the public is welcome to come watch the arrivals.
7:45 PM– 9:35 PM • + Q&A
Traces of Home Centerpiece
dir. Colette Ghunim • documentary
The festival’s centerpiece. Ghunim’s directorial debut traces her parents’ histories across Mexico and Palestine, asking how “home” survives in rituals and stories when the map keeps changing. Read our spotlight →
9:30 PM– late
Centerpiece Corral Party Party
St. John Studios
Light bites from Peace Bakery & Deli, paletas, drinks from Umma Juice and Holdout Brewing, and music by Võ.A 2000. Free for badge, film-pass, and centerpiece ticket holders; $10 otherwise.
Saturday June 27
11:00 AM– 12:30 PM • + Q&A
Documentary Shorts
Short documentary block
A program of personal nonfiction in which filmmakers dig into family and political history to ask what kind of legacy a life leaves behind.
12:00 PM– 9:00 PM
Taiwan VR Activation — Day 2 VR • 18+
Holiday Inn Midtown
In the Mist + Kiss again, all afternoon and evening. Same reservation setup as Day 1.
1:10 PM– 2:55 PM
Filipiñana
dir. Rafael Manuel • exec. prod. Jia Zhangke
A slow-burning swing at capitalism set on a lush Manila golf course, where seventeen-year-old Isabel’s fragile paradise gets interrupted. Took a World Cinema Dramatic jury honor at Sundance.
2:00 PM– 3:00 PM
Taiwan VR Meet & Greet
with Chou Tung-yen & editor Huang Chia-wen
A conversation with the creators of In the Mist and Kiss.
3:25 PM– 5:10 PM • + Q&A
Before the Call
• Andy Koh, So-yi Kang, Gwang-rok Oh
A Korean-American dual citizen voluntarily enlists in the South Korean military on the eve of deployment, spending his last free day reconnecting with childhood friends and a distant father as the clock runs down.
5:00 PM– 6:00 PM
Saddle Up for Samosas! Snack
AFS Cinema • co-presented by Indie Meme
Samosas and water kefir before the double feature. Badgeholders and Superstitious Saturday ticket holders first.
6:00 PM– 10:30 PM
Superstitious Saturday Double Feature
Ghost School (Seemab Gul) & Lali (Sarmad Sultan Khoosat)
A late-night Pakistani double bill — come at 5 for the samosa break, then settle in for the eerie and the haunted.
Sunday June 28 • Closing Day
10:00 AM– 11:30 AM
Asian Film Creatives Mixer
Đậm Coffee Bar
A networking morning for Texas Asian film creatives, co-hosted by June Third Films, the Dallas Asian American Art Collective, and Lights, Camera, Asians! Free coffee while it lasts.
10:30 AM– 11:30 AM
Brokeback Baos Brunch Brunch
AFS Cinema
Badgeholder brunch — baos from Breakfast House, drinks from Yeo’s, vegetarian options on hand.
11:30 AM– 1:30 PM • + Q&A
Narrative Shorts
Narrative short block
A set of shorts on the impossible choices women face — from adolescence to motherhood — between desire and survival.
2:00 PM– 3:50 PM • + Q&A
The Gas Station Attendant ★ Spotlight
dir. Karla Murthy • documentary • 1 hr 50 min
Our pick of the festival. A daughter’s portrait of her father — from poverty in India to the night shift at a Texas gas station — built from home movies and recorded phone calls. Read the full spotlight →
3:30 PM– 4:30 PM
Hay! It’s Snacktime Snack
AFS Cinema
Snacks from What the Tea (Hutto) and juice sampling from Umma Juice. Badgeholders first.
4:30 PM– 6:20 PM • + Q&A
Not-So-Short Shorts
Documentary block
Longer-form documentary shorts celebrating human connection in the face of hard circumstances.
6:45 PM– 8:20 PM
Do You Love Me
dir. Lana Daher • documentary
Built entirely from archive — newsreels, home movies, art, TV, music — Daher weaves Lebanon’s war, celebration, and unrest into a poetic, politically charged tapestry.
8:45 PM– 10:30 PM
Gloaming in Luomu Closing Film
dir. Zhang Lu • Wang Chuanjun, Liu Dan
The festival closes on a mood piece: a man drawn to a small town by a cryptic postcard from an ex, drifting among day-drinking innkeepers and cheerful suitors. Soaked in wine and cobblestone.
10:30 PM– late
Winners Circle Closing Party Party • 21+
The Golden Horn
The awards are announced and the 18th AAAFF takes its bow, with food from Yellow Ranger. The proper way to send it off.
AFS Cinema
Primary festival venue — the Austin Film Society’s home theater (6406 N IH-35, Ste 3100). Nearly every screening lives here.
Holiday Inn Midtown
Badge pickup and the two-day Taiwan VR activation (18+).
Austin PBS
The A-DOC documentary mixer.
St. John Studios
Friday’s Centerpiece Corral after-party.
The Golden Horn
Sunday’s Winners Circle closing party (21+).
Soupleaf • Somi Somi • Đậm
Hot pot, soft serve, and coffee — the food stops that make AAAFF’s social calendar.
General admission badge: $200 • Student badge: $95 • Five-ticket package: $60 • Insider badge (limited): $500. Single-film tickets are also available. Buy at aaafilmfest.org.
This is an independent guide and recap by Asia Film Fests — we are not affiliated with AAAFF. Times follow the festival’s published schedule and are subject to change; please confirm on the official schedule.
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