AAIFF44 Open Submissiosn

Submissions for the 44th annual Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF44) are open! This year’s festival (Aug 11–22) will be a hybrid festival: virtual with in-person screenings in NYC with safety first and foremost.

New Category Updates! We’re excited to continue spotlighting the amazing storytelling online by the Asian diaspora. Digital/New Media has been split up to Digital/Web and VR/Interactive. Digital/Web can include IG Reel/TikTok compilations, we’re all addicted and we want to highlight the innovative voices on these platforms. We loved being able to spotlight the amazing work done in video games this year and we’re excited to include video games in the VR/Interactive category.

New Awards! We’re adding craft specific awards this year include best editing, cinematography, and more.

Share with your favorite Asian diaspora creators!

DEADLINES
EARLY BIRD - 2/15
REGULAR - 3/15
EXTENDED - 4/15

ABOUT AAIFF
The Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) is proudly known as “The First Home to Asian American Cinema.” Organized by Asian CineVision, it’s the first and longest-running festival dedicated to showcasing the moving image work by media artists of Asian descent for and about the Asian diaspora experience. The Festival takes place in New York City, the second-largest Asian American market in the U.S. Every year, AAIFF attracts audiences from all five boroughs of New York City, the tri-state region, and around the world.

Asian CineVision (ACV) is a media arts nonprofit devoted to the development, exhibition, promotion, and preservation of Asian and Asian American experiences through storytelling. Our mission is to nurture and grow the community of makers and lovers of Asian and Asian American independent film, television, and digital.

Films submitted and screened at the festival are eligible to participate in our National Tour program, bringing Asian diaspora stories to broader audiences across North America through a rental service for cultural and educational institutions.

Requirements

Eligible projects include:
•Completed submissions that have at least one person of Asian descent from any nationality in a key creative role i.e. Director, Writer, Producer, DP, etc.
•Completed submissions that represent the Asian diaspora experience.

People of Asian descent includes but is not limited to people from and are descended from areas now known as Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Russia, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, and the Pacific Islands

Submissions must be completed after January 1st, 2020. With the exception of: Projects submitted to the Works-in-Progress category
If you held back a piece completed in 2019 in hopes for physical screening in 2020, and the piece has not been screened virtually previously in 2020.

All applicants will be notified by email July 12th, 2021.

You must contact us immediately if you want to withdraw your work from our consideration

The festival does not pay screening fees.

AAIFF is hereby granted the right to utilize an excerpt from any film submitted and accepted for exhibition at the Festival for promotional purposes.

The individual or corporation submitting the film hereby warrants that it is authorized to commit the film for screening, and understands and accepts these requirements and regulations.

The undersigned shall indemnify and hold harmless AAIFF from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney’s fees, and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.