A fixture of Austin's cultural calendar is back this week: the Austin Asian American Film Festival (AAAFF) runs June 24–28 at the AFS Cinema, marking its 18th year. The festival — a registered nonprofit supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of Austin's Cultural Arts Division, and the Texas Commission on the Arts — is showing 34 films by Asian, Asian American, and Middle Eastern filmmakers.
This year's slate opens with Honeyjoon, anchors on the Sundance-honored centerpiece Traces of Home, and closes with Gloaming in Luomu. The program also includes a Texas shorts showcase spotlighting local filmmakers, the documentary TikTok Never Dies, and the festival's first-ever Taiwan VR activation.
The week's standout is The Gas Station Attendant, screening Sunday with a Q&A. Filmmaker Karla Murthy assembles home movies and recorded phone calls into a portrait of her father's journey from India to the overnight shift at a Texas gas station — a film that has won documentary honors across the festival circuit.
A full screening-by-screening guide, with every film, venue, and a closer look at The Gas Station Attendant, is available here: the complete AAAFF 2026 schedule & guide. Tickets, five-ticket packages, and badges are at aaafilmfest.org.