Asian Film Festival Berlin
AFFB is a platform that provides networking and exchange for people from the fields of visual art, academia and politics concerned about the issues of gender, ethnicity and nation-building.
2007
The first edition of the Asian Women’s Film Festival Berlin (AWFF) was successfully launched in October 2007 at the Cinema Arsenal, Berlin. The AWFF screened more than 40 film and video works directed, written, shot, edited and produced by women from East Asia and Southeast Asia. Film directors from Korea, China and Japan attended the festival which also included a symposium and networking opportunities.
2009
The second edition of the festival "MOVEMENTS" was held in 2009 in the same location with guests from Hong Kong, New York and London/Beijing. The focus was set on Asian Diaspora, Korean Feature and short films from the Philippines, dealing with the interdependence of migration, movement, belonging and home.
2010
In early spring 2010 the AWFF team decided to change the festival´s name to Asian Film Festival Berlin (AFFB) in order to present a broader spectrum of films and filmmakers. The emphasis on works by female directors, screen writers, cinematographers, editors, and producers remains a priority in our programming. However, the larger approach is to show images and incite discussions that point to and question hegemonic concepts of gender, ethnicity, and class. The film selection will focus on works from East Asia (Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) and South East Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam). Films from the Asian diaspora constitute a further integral part of the festival program.
2011
For its third edition "Imagine(d) Kinships" in October 2011, the Asian Film Festival Berlin showed works that take a critical look at traditional bonds of belonging among Asian subjects. The festival was in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt for the first time and showed over 30 short and feature films fromm East Asia (South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong), South East Asia (Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand). Films from the Asian Diaspora continued to be an integral part of the program.
2017
We are excited to announce the 5th edition of the Asian Film Festival Berlin taking place in the Year of the Fire Rooster, October 7-14, 2017. This year's motto busy bodies aims to highlight current developments of migration as captured in Asian and Asian-diaspora film productions. We welcome documentary and fiction films of all lengths which engage histories of past and present border-crossing, displacements, returns, and with a particular interest in narratives of Asia-Europe. A series of workshops and panel discussions providing networking opportunities and direct exchange between filmmakers and local audience will complement the screening programs.