The Asian Film Festival of Dallas is celebrating a milestone this week.
Now in its 25th year, the four-day festival returns to the Angelika Film Center Dallas with 27 films from across Asia and the Asian diaspora, including one world premiere, three international premieres and anniversary screenings of films that have become modern classics.
For co-executive director David Chong, the anniversary is about more than longevity. It's about continuing to create space for stories that might otherwise never reach North Texas audiences.
"The Asian Film Festival of Dallas is a showcase of Asian and Asian American films that we bring to the community," Chong said. "We just want to showcase bold, authentic storytelling and unique voices from the region."
Founded in 2002, AFFD has screened more than 600 films over the past quarter century, making it one of the region's longest-running film festivals. This year's lineup spans documentaries, horror, dramas, thrillers and short films representing the United States, China,
Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong.
Chong says that variety reflects both Asia's film industries and North Texas itself. But he says the festival isn't intended only for Asian audiences.
"We want it to be for everybody," Chong said. "We want everybody to see our stories and see something in themselves in these films."
One Filmmakers Search for Truth
Among the films screening this year is Year of the Cat, a documentary that follows filmmaker Tony Nguyen as he searches for the father he never knew.
Nguyen was born after his mother fled Vietnam in 1975 while pregnant with him. Growing up in Indiana, he knew almost nothing about his father, beyond a name on his birth certificate.
"It was only in my late 40s that I felt the courage to finally search," Nguyen said.
Rather than reconstructing the journey after the fact, Nguyen documented it as it unfolded over five years. The result captures both his investigation into his family's past and the emotional uncertainty that came with asking difficult questions of relatives who had remained silent for decades.
"I was a nervous wreck," Nguyen said. "There were many moments where I just felt nervous around potentially being rejected."
The documentary also explores how the Vietnam War continues to shape the lives of refugees and their children decades after the fall of Saigon.
"I really deeply think about my own experience as being born into loss," Nguyen said. "My mother lost her country, her culture, her way of life. ... On my dad's side, not knowing anything—that's another kind of loss that I was born into."
Year of the Cat will screen Saturday afternoon, followed by a filmmaker Q&A.
Nguyen says he's especially looking forward to sharing the film in Dallas after learning the metroplex is home to one of the country's largest Vietnamese American communities.
"I think it's a film that works best in a theater," he said. "You hear people laugh and you hear sniffles. It's just different to watch it with others."
The festival also includes anniversary screenings of Ichi the Killer, which screened during AFFD's inaugural festival in 2002, and Train to Busan, celebrating its 10th anniversary. Other highlights include the world premiere of the Japanese film Gamaland, two North American premieres and filmmaker discussions following several documentary screenings.
DETAILS: The Asian Film Festival of Dallas runs July 23- 26 at the Angelika Film Center Dallas. Individual tickets start at $15.
