HAAPIFEST Celebrates 20th Anniversary with Over 100 Films

~ Live and online screenings represent 13 AAPI Communities ~

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2024

Contacts:
- Jordan Smith (713)557-3611, jordan@shinemanagementgroup.com
- Ken Scudder (917) 226-1681, ken.scudder@ocahouston.org

HOUSTON – Celebrating its 20th anniversary, and the amazing work being done by Asian American Pacific Islander filmmakers around the world, this year’s Houston Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival (HAAPIFEST), running from Thursday, May 30 to Friday, June 14, will present more than 100 movies, ranging from three-minute shorts to full-length features, that celebrate stories from all parts of the AAPI community.

“We are thrilled to celebrate our 20th anniversary with such an outstanding line-up,” said HAAPIFEST Director Tengah Nguyen. “We have a diverse collection of movies, both shorts and full-length features, covering a wide range of subjects, film styles, communities, and lifestyles. Our movies have only two things in common – they are all made by members of the AAPI community, and they are all excellent.”

HAAPIFEST, presented by OCA-Greater Houston, is Texas’ oldest continually running AAPI-focused film festival. Since 2004, it has showcased short and full-length films representing the entire Asian American-Pacific Islander community.

“In 2004, we showed six movies, in a community center, on VHS tape, to a total audience of about 100 people,” said festival Co-Founder and OCA-Greater Houston board member Debbie Chen. “This year, we have over 100 films, in four locations, including the Rooftop Cinema Club Uptown, and we’re anticipating thousands of viewers. This festival, like the AAPI film community itself, has come a long way in two decades.”

Fourteen different films will be shown at curated events, featuring appearances by writers, directors, actors, and subjects of the films. The festival starts with a “kickoff” event Monday, May 27, with a showing of “Herricanes,” a six-time award winning documentary about Houston’s team in the first women’s tackle football league in the 1970s. Special guests, including members of the team, will attend the event at Axelrad (1517 Alabama St, Houston) starting at 8:00 p.m. Other live events include Q&A sessions with screenwriters and directors, and a live performance by legendary storyteller and musician Nobuko Miyamoto. OCA Greater Houston and HAAPIFEST, in partnership with Axelrad, will also host film previews on May 9 and 23 from 8-10 p.m.

The 120 films in this year’s festival were created by writers and directors from 13 different AAPI communities – Japanese, Hawaiian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean, Taiwanese, Indian, Cambodian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Pakistani, and Iranian. Highlights include Seadrift, which won Best Historical Film at the Dallas International Film Festival, Grand Jury Awards at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and a Texas Visionary Award from the Houston Film Critics Society; A Great Divide, winner of Best Picture at the Silicon Valley Asian Film Festival 2023, a People’s Choice Award at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival, Best Feature at the DisOrient Film Festival, and an Audience Choice Award at the Gasparilla Film Festival; and Island in Between, which was nominated for a 2024 Best Documentary Academy Award.

All of the films showcase stories about cultural identity, social justice, hate crimes, empowerment, LGBTQ+, family, marriage and parenthood, mental health, animation, romance, and other topics. These weighty issues are handled with passion, sympathy, righteous anger, and humor.

Descriptions of all of the films can be found on the HAAPIFEST website (HAAPIFEST.org) under the Film Festival tab, along with the full festival schedule.

Passes for the entire festival are $199.99. An early bird rate of $129.99 is available until Wednesday, May 14. Tickets for curated events range from $25.99 to $45.99. Online only passes are $99.99 for access to all films, or $19.99 to view up to 3 hours. Festival passes and tickets for all screenings are available on the HAAPIFEST website.

ABOUT OCA-GREATER HOUSTON

OCA-Greater Houston is a volunteer driven organization of community advocates that strives to meet the current and evolving needs of a diverse population through a comprehensive continuum of programs targeting different life stages of AAPIs with a focus on developing advocacy, leadership, and civic engagement participation of AAPIs.