Since 2000, the San Diego Asian Film Festival has been one of the premier platforms for Asian American cinema and has grown into the largest showcase of Asian and Pacific Islander cinema in the western United States. The festival is borne out of the love for independent film and the desire to showcase the diverse Pan Asian experience through film and other arts.

SDAFF supports both Asian and non-Asian artists by giving them a venue to showcase their work, and it gives the community access to quality films that otherwise would never show in San Diego.

Prizes for both short and feature categories, including Grand Jury Prize (open to all categories), Audience Award, and an Emerging Filmmaker Award.

GENERAL RULES
I. 2025 Festival Dates
November 2025 festival dates to be determined

II. Submission Fees and Deadlines

1. A completed application and entry fee must accompany each entry. There are no exceptions to the entry fee.

III. Programs
The Festival accepts films/videos in the following six categories: narrative feature, narrative short, documentary feature, documentary short, animated short, and experimental short. Festival programming staff may use their discretion to place your film in the appropriate category.

IV. Eligibility

1. Films/videos entered into competition must be directed or principally acted by an artist of Asian or Pacific Islander descent, or contain subject matter relating to Asian or Pacific Islander cultures or communities. Clarify questions of eligibility prior to submission of entry.

2. Entries must have been completed after June 1, 2024. For short films, the date of first public premiere (if any) must be after August 1, 2024. For feature-length films, the date of first public premiere (if any) must be after October 1, 2024.

3. Feature length entries cannot have been previously exhibited in San Diego at another film festival or commercial venue or be available for broadcast, home video, or online for American audiences, before Nov. 20, 2025.

4. Each project entered into competition must pay an entry fee. There is no limit to the number of qualifying entries by any entrant so long as an entry form and fee accompanies each entry.

5. Non-English dialogue must be subtitled in English.

6. Films/videos cannot be re-entered into competition if previously rejected by the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

7. Entrants shall obtain all licenses, royalties, and permits necessary to present their work. Entrant will assume all costs arising from the use of patented, trademarked, franchised, or copyrighted music, materials, devices, processes, or dramatic rights used in production of work.

8. Short films previously exhibited on the Internet are eligible for entry.

V. Feature and Short Definition
A feature is any work of running time forty minutes or longer; less than forty minutes running time designates a short.

VI. Submission Materials

1. All entries must include the following:
(a) a working link to the film.
(b) Completed film information and submission through FilmFreeway
(c) Entry Fee

2. To qualify for the student discount for short films, entry must either:
(a) have a student ID attached to film entry
(b) or be denoted as a "Student Project" in the "Specifications" section of the film entry
Any submission that pays the student discounted rate, but has neither of the above qualifications, may be deemed ineligible.

VII. Selection
1. Festival programming staff will select and invite films at their discretion. Entrants will be notified of their selection status via email or FilmFreeway's notification system on or about July 31, 2025.

2. Selected filmmakers are expected to provide as much of the following as possible:
(a) Exhibition print. The Festival exhibits work in only the following formats, regardless of origination: 35mm film, 16mm film, Blu-ray, DCP, or H.264 file for feature-length works; H.264 file, DCP, 35mm film, or 16mm film for shorts.
(b) Film stills (digital TIFF or JPEG files preferred with minimum 300 dpi), synopsis, and full production credits. Director photo and biography are optional. Additional collateral material including postcards, posters, press kit, etc. may be included if available.
(c) Clips or trailer to be used for press, promotion, and awards ceremony.

3. Selected films may be screened multiple times during the course of the Festival at our discretion.

4. Pacific Arts Movement and the San Diego Asian Film Festival are not responsible for any damage to films/videos during shipping, handling, or screening.

VIII. Screening Fees
The Festival cannot guarantee screening fees. Instead we choose to invest our resources in producing the best possible showcase for your work and promoting your work as widely as possible.

IX. Awards
The Festival presents the following awards to films in competition:
Narrative Feature; Documentary Feature; Narrative Short; Documentary Short; Animated Short; Experimental Film; Emerging Filmmaker Award; Audience Award; Grand Jury Award; International Short

Winners (except for Audience Award and International Short Award) will be recognized during the festival's Gala Awards Dinner. There may or may not be additional awards. If jurors deem all films in a category undeserving of awards, they can elect to not choose an award for that category.

X. Shipping
1. Address:
Pacific Arts Movement
Attn: SDAFF Entries Coordinator
9685 Via Excelencia, Suite 108
San Diego, CA 92126, USA
Email: entries@sdaff.org
phone: +1-619-400-5911

2. Shipping via courier capable of tracking delivery of submission is recommended.

3. Selected filmmakers are responsible for delivery of exhibition prints or DCPs to our offices by the date designated at time of selection notification. The Festival will handle the return shipping of prints and DCPs after the conclusion of the Festival.

Any additional inquiries, please email: programming@sdaff.org

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Nick Hartanto

    I can't say enough good things about the entire festival team. Our programmer was so wonderfully hands on and created opportunities for us to connect with the filmmakers in our shorts block. The screening venues and after parties were incredible. I watched so many amazing films that left me feeling very inspired!

    December 2024
  • A superb festival that has a well thought out programme, and some of the best communication we've seen. We were fortunate to have two clients screen in 2024:

    🎬 Just Kids
    🎬 Lovin' Her

    November 2024
  • Shane Chung

    An incredible celebration of all things Asian-American. Felt very taken care of (and the best food I've ever eaten at a festival!)

    November 2024
  • Alexandra Kumala

    Honored to have my film be a part of SDAFF this year. Excellent communication and incredible programming. Thank you, SDAFF Team!

    November 2024
  • The Queenʻs Flowers

    Grateful to have shown our short film here! Really kind, wonderful staff and always fantastically curated films.

    November 2024