By Mabel Pais

• ROSHAN SETHI’S ‘7 DAYS’ – CLOSING NIGHT
• SATYAJIT RAY’S ‘JALSAGHAR’ – NARRATIVE
• NIKITA HATTANGADY’S ‘FALAFEL’ – SHORT

The Asian Film Festival of Dallas (AFFD), 21st edition, takes place July 21-24 at the Angelika Film Center Dallas (5321 E. Mockingbird Lane, #230), and the Texas Theatre (231 Jefferson Blvd.)

AFFD will screen 16 feature films (12 Narrative, 4 Documentary), and 11 short films as the popular film festival makes a big return to theaters and in-person events after a two-year hiatus aside from a couple special events due to the pandemic.

AFFD Executive Director Thomas Schubert, said, “Our board and staff are excited about the prospects of returning to our regular July timeslot and we are taking advantage of this edition of the film festival to look at what we do through a different lens and a fresh approach. AFFD has always been a signature event for Dallas film lovers, introducing exciting films and cinema to DFW, and this year we hope to shake up the event aspect of the film festival in our return, as well.”

Lead Programmer Paul Theiss added, “We made no assumptions with our programming this year, prioritizing films and filmmakers that would inspire audiences to come back for that big screen experience. To that end, adding a handful of films from our guest programmers will also add surprises and new perspectives to the schedule.”

TICKETS

To purchase badges, tickets and for more information, visit asianfilmdallas.com.

ASIAN FILM FEST OF DALLAS: 2022 LINEUP

OPENING NIGHT SELECTION

Too Cool to Kill

Dir: Wenxiong Xing l China l 1h 49m

FRIDAY SPOTLIGHT SCREENING

The Witch 2: The Other One

Dir: Park Hoon-Jung l South Korea l 1h 37m

SATURDAY SPOTLIGHT SCREENING

Small, Slow but Steady

Dir: Shô Miyake l Japan/France l 1h 39m

CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION

7 Days

Dir: Roshan Sethi l USA l 1h 26m

ADDITIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURES

A New Old Play

Dir: Qiu Jiongjiong l Hong Kong l 2h 59m

Baby Assassins

Dir: Yugo Sakamoto l Japan l 1h 35m

Dealing With Dad

Dir: Tom Huang l USA l 1h 46m

Erzulie

Dir: Christine W Chen l USA l 1h 26m

Jalsaghar (The Music Room)

Dir: Satyajit Ray l India l 1h 35

Lonely Glory

Dir: Keitaro Sakon l Japan l 1h 22m

Preman

Dir: Randolph Zaini l Indonesia l 1h 32m

Yellow Dragon’s Village

Dir: Sakamoto Yugo l Japan l 1h 6m

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

Ascension

Dir: Jessica Kingdon l USA l 1h 37m

Cat Daddies

Dir: Mye Hoang l USA l 1h 30m

Dark Red Forest

Dir: Huaqing Jin l China l 1h 25m

Singing In the Wilderness

Dir: Dongnan Chen l China l 1h 34m

SHORT FILMS

An Island Drifts

Dir: Vivian Ip l Singapore l 18m

Falafel 

Dir: Nikita Hattangady l USA l 19m

Foster Fail

Dir: Kate Feldt l USA l 8m

The Han Flows

Dir: Park Seung Chan l Korea l 10m

I want to hear the word on the street

Dir: Yuki Takashima l Japan l 15m

The Man of the Terms of Service

Dir: Yuki Takashima l Japan l 13m

Misdelivered

Dir: Jaehyeok Kwak l Korea l 10m

Nai

Dirs: Hsiu Lin, Minori Uemura l USA l 6m

Secret Recipe

Dir: Yuan Yang l USA l 6m

Spider

Dir: Minami Goto l Japan l 8m

Veils

Dir: Erika Nakayama l Japan l 17m

ABOUT AFFD

The Asian Film Festival of Dallas (AFFD) 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 last 20+ years, the festival has provided opportunities for over 400 Asian and Asian-American filmmakers 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.

(Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Health & Wellness, Cuisine and Spirituality)