The 2025 Asian Film Festival of Dallas to Celebrate Women in Film

North Texas is a hub for film festivals in Texas, and among the yearly showcases we look forward to is the Asian Film Festival of Dallas (AFFD).

Each year, AFFD brings a selection of films made by artists of the Asian diaspora to Dallas. The festival’s 24th outing returns July 24-27 at the Angelika Film Center in Mockingbird Station.

Paul Theiss, AFFD’s lead programmer, says the festival’s mission remains unchanged, as organizers strive to represent voices from across genres and an array of Asian cultures and experiences. This year, he says, there are two key elements the festival aims to put on people’s radar. First, AFFD’s Women’s Showcase will shine a light on films made by female filmmakers, three of whom will attend screenings in person. And to that end, this year's iteration will host the most filmmakers in person since Theiss joined nearly 15 years ago. That means more Q&As and more opportunities to socialize with the artists themselves at parties between screenings

Part of the reason AFFD is able to attract more filmmakers, in conjunction with sponsorship support, is that its dates overlap with the New York Asian Film Festival, which runs from July 11 to 27.

“It’s actually been a little bit of a boon for us,” says Theiss. “Because often…New York is bringing in filmmakers for their premieres, and so they’re already here in the country, and we can have them swing down to Dallas.”

One of the films Theiss is particularly excited about from this year’s lineup is The Mother and the Bear from Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Johnny Ma. The film, which will serve as AFFD’s Centerpiece screening, is described as “a stylized, whimsical narrative of crossed wires, secret lives and conflicting agendas.” It follows a mother who visits her hospitalized daughter and realizes she does not know her as well as she thought. Ma refers to the film as a “mom-com” and says it was inspired by a woman he met in Korea nearly a decade ago, who made him reconsider his perspective of his own mother.

“I would love for anyone to be able to watch this film on a Saturday afternoon and have their parents fall asleep, because that would be an honor,” he says.

Ma believes that cinema currently caters more to younger audiences, a trend he knew he wanted to buck.

“I made a film for adults and so, you know, come and be ready to enjoy and feel a lot of emotions and share with people who need … some attention at this moment,” he tells us.

Nelicia Low, another filmmaker attending AFFD, has also crafted a film inspired by family. Titled Pierce, Low’s feature is about a fencer whose older brother was arrested for killing someone during a fencing match and is released after seven years in prison. She says the film is about “love and belief and trust, and… how sometimes we don’t … really know the people we love so much.”
The film's inspiration comes from Low’s relationship with her brother, who has autism.

“When I was very young, I didn’t understand that he was autistic, so I idealized our relationship,” she says.

Low recalls building a narrative from the time they spent playing together as kids or holding hands. She says this was to make herself feel like she was doing these things because her brother wanted to, despite the fact that he might not have actually enjoyed it.

“I was very good at gaslighting myself,” says Low.

In addition to the exploration of a complicated sibling relationship, Pierce also gave her an opportunity to portray fencing realistically in a film. Low herself was a national fencer for Singapore and wanted to incorporate the aspects of fencing that go beyond pure swordplay into her debut feature. She says she made a thriller, not a sports movie, but that the fencing has been well-received by other fencers she knows will be traveling to Dallas for the screening.

Making Pierce, which will be featured in AFFD’s Women’s Showcase, was “therapeutic” for Low more than anything.

“It’s really [about] coming to terms with the fact that it doesn’t matter, you know, what was the truth of our childhood," she says. "Because the memories and that love [are] real.”

Those these two films are standouts, they're among more than a dozen films that will screen at AFFD this year. The resulting programming transcends international boundaries and genre conventions: romantic comedies, action films, horror flicks and dramatic features all have their place in this year's festival. Every film shown is an opportunity to visit a new part of the world and broaden your horizons of Asian culture without ever even leaving North Texas.

Additional information on AFFD and individual film screenings can be found here.