Taste of Asia

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.

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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