18th Austin Asian American Film Festival · AFS Cinema · June 24–28, 2026
Watch our AAAFF 2026 video coverage — 45 films, interviews & shorts →Every festival has a film that quietly becomes its heart. At AAAFF 2026 it is The Gas Station Attendant — journalist Karla Murthy’s first feature, and a portrait of the most important man in her life: her father. He clawed his way from poverty in India into an education and a career — and a world away, Murthy finds him working the overnight shift behind a Texas gas-station counter. She builds the film from the most intimate material imaginable: decades of family home movies.
We’re at AFS Cinema today shooting the closing day — video to follow.
The film the festival was built around: a Korean adoptee’s search across three countries for the family she was separated from. We sat with it on centerpiece night — the screening, the reaction, why it lands.
Read the featureAll 34 films, the parties, the first-ever Taiwan VR activation — screening by screening, June 24 to 28.
Open the guide → 02 · HubOur complete AAAFF 2026 desk — features, interviews, and dispatches as they were filed.
See all coverage → 03 · LiveCenterpiece night as it happened — arrivals, filmmakers, and the room before the lights went down.
Read the dispatch → 04 · VoicesWhat the filmmakers and guests actually said on centerpiece night, in their own words.
Hear them → 05 · FilmmakerThe writer/director of ‘11:11’ and ‘Eid Mubarak’ on craft, identity, and making shorts that travel.
Read the profile → 06 · DiaryCenterpiece night start to finish — one reporter’s hour-by-hour through the AAAFF 2026 red carpet.
Walk the day → 07 · ReferenceThe clean, printable five-day grid — every title, time, and venue across the festival.
View schedule → 08 · SpotlightKarla Murthy’s closing-day documentary — the film taking center stage as the festival wraps.
Read the spotlight →Austin is one stop on a year-round circuit. From Busan’s industry-defining giant to the diaspora festivals that put these films in front of new audiences — here’s where Asian and Asian American cinema shows up next.
In Asia
| Austin Asian American FFAAAFF · here now | Austin, USAAFS Cinema | Jun | Read → |
| Busan Intl. Film FestivalBIFF | Busan, South Korea | Oct | Guide → |
| Tokyo Intl. Film FestivalTIFF | Tokyo, Japan | Oct–Nov | Guide → |
| Hong Kong Intl. Film FestivalHKIFF | Hong Kong | Mar–Apr | Guide → |
| Shanghai Intl. Film FestivalSIFF | Shanghai, China | Jun | Guide → |
| Golden Horse Film FestivalTaipei | Taipei, Taiwan | Nov | Guide → |
| Singapore Intl. Film FestivalSGIFF | Singapore | Nov–Dec | Guide → |
| Jogja-NETPAC Asian FFJAFF | Yogyakarta, Indonesia | Nov–Dec | Guide → |
Diaspora & North America
| CAAMFestSan Francisco | San Francisco, USA | May | Guide → |
| Asian American Intl. FFAAIFF | New York, USA | Jul–Aug | Guide → |
| New York Asian Film FestivalNYAFF | New York, USA | Jul | Guide → |
| Los Angeles Asian Pacific FFLAAPFF | Los Angeles, USA | May | Guide → |
| San Diego Asian Film FestivalSDAFF | San Diego, USA | Nov | Guide → |
| Reel Asian Intl. FFToronto | Toronto, Canada | Nov | Guide → |
Dates shift year to year — check each festival for current programming. Spot one we should be covering? Tell us.
The Gas Station Attendant screens today at 2:00 PM with a Q&A, as AAAFF 2026 closes out its 18th year at AFS Cinema.