The Austin Asian Film Festival is dead; long live the Austin Asian American Film Festival. You'd be forgiven for mistaking the two, especially since the former's former director, Masashi Niwano, founded the latter, and the aim is the same: to bring an international slate of Asian-made and Asian-themed films to Austin. This weekend's highlights include opening night film Hollywood Chinese from Oscar-nominated documentarian Arthur Dong (who'll be in attendance); a two-film tribute to Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American hate-crime victim whose death galvanized the Asian-American community in the Eighties; a Saturday night concert at Club de Ville featuring Japanese bands Black Panda and Giant Hornets; and closing-night film Still Life, a haunting narrative about the devastating effect of the Three Gorges Dam on those living along the banks of the Yangtze River.
The Austin Asian American Film Festival runs Thursday, Oct. 9, through Sunday, Oct. 12. For more info, including ticket prices and opening and closing party details, visit www.aaaff.org.
Thursday, Oct. 9
Hollywood Chinese* (D: Arthur Dong, USA), 7pm, Alamo Ritz
Friday, Oct. 10
Long Story Short* (D: Christine Choy, USA), 4pm, Alamo Village
Tribute to Vincent Chin*, 5:30pm, Alamo Village
Behind Forgotten Eyes (D: Anthony Gilmore, USA), 6pm, UT (CAL 100)
Joyful Life (D: Anita Wen-Shen Chang, Taiwan), 8pm, UT (CAL 100)
Wonderful Town (D: Aditya Assarat, Thailand), 8pm, Alamo Village
Saturday, Oct. 11
Shorts 1: Identity Crisis*, noon, Alamo Village
Lovers (D: Carl Zhang, Australia/China), 2pm, Alamo Village
Shorts 3: Tales of Love*, 4pm, Alamo Village
Pretty to Think So* (D: Francis Hsueh & Steven Hahn, USA), 6pm, Alamo Village
No Smoking (D: Anurag Kashyap, India), 8pm, Alamo Village
Sunday, Oct. 12
Shorts 4: What Ails Us, noon, Alamo Village
Shorts 2: Transforming/Performing Iran, 2pm, Alamo Village
Wings of Defeat (D: Risa Morimoto, USA/Japan), 4pm, Alamo Village
Santa Mesa (D: Ron Morales, Phillipines), 6pm, Alamo Village
Still Life (D: Jia Zhang Ke, China), 8pm, Alamo Village
