The Southwest’s largest showcase of Asian and Asian American cinema comes to Houston with a selection of nine experimental shorts. Come experience the rich diversity of Asian culture through new Asian and Asian American works that unapologetically push past the limits of the usual film genres.

Curator Alicia Chang and filmmaker Danny Gow will be in attendance. This program contains mature content.

Selected Works

PLANKING: A TUTORIAL FOR EMPTY NESTERS
Directed by: Danny Gow, 2012 USA
Duration: 1 min

A short video about a soon-to-be empty nester trying to teach other mature adults about the youth fad, ‘planking.’

DREAM
Directed by: Will Kim, 2012 USA
Duration: 3 mins

DREAM is a short animated film about a blind man’s dreams and imagination, inspired by the filmmaker’s grandfather who sees the world through his mind.

MIRROR
Directed by: Q-hyun Kim, 2012 South Korea/USA
Duration: 6 mins

Two cats, living in completely different worlds switch places through a mirror and experience each other’s life. Finally, they realize that happiness is relative.

FISH TANK FANTASY
Directed by: Alison Chin, 2011 USA
Duration: 3 mins

FISH TANK FANTASY is a light-hearted 3-minute stop motion animation about a fish frustrated with his current life in the bowl. An epiphany he has, which results from his own interpretation of a famous inspirational philosophy, leads him to a place he hopes will bring him more happiness.

WILL
Directed by: Eusong Lee, 2012 USA
Duration: 5 mins

A girl recalls her last moments with her father on 9/11 before he leaves for work.

REAL TALK
Directed by: Patrick Ng, 2012 USA
Duration: 15 mins

Pax learns where his best friend’s loyalties truly lie.

THE EATER
Directed by: Wally Chung, 2011 USA
Duration: 3 mins

A man has a strange experience that ends up affecting the people around him.

FIGHTING SPIRITS
Directed by: Gene Kim, 2012 USA
Duration: 4 mins

In the distant future, two rival ballerinas face off at a final audition that takes a turn for the unexpected.

LOVE LIKE ALIENS
Directed by: Rashad Haughton, 2012 USA/Japan
Duration: 7 mins

In a future not too far from now, humanity has advanced to a point where the line between homo sapiens and androids has blurred completely. This is the story of Atterion. He is a soldier on a mission to find and rescue Sparra, A Gynoid Angel Explorer. She has been captured by the Quadropod species while surveying their planet. Atterion’s love for her is a secret he has kept hidden inside his human heart. As one of the last humans with this ability, he must save her, or she will never know.

About the Asian Film Festival of Dallas

The Asian Film Festival of Dallas is dedicated to celebrating and supporting emerging and established Asian and Asian American filmmakers and sharing the rich diversity of Asian culture through the medium of cinema. Over the past 11 years, the annual film festival has grown to become the Southwest’s largest showcase of Asian and Asian American cinema. The festival has provided opportunities for nearly 400 Asian and Asian American filmmakers and documentarians to share their vision, often providing the only venue for their films to be shown in Dallas. The films have also allowed festival goers a chance to experience other lives and cultures without leaving their seats.