Oct 15 – Oct 25, 2026
Boston Asian American Film Festival 2026
Boston Asian American Film Festival runs in person October 15–25, 2026, showcasing Asian American narratives across Greater Boston venues.
Boston Asian American Film Festival (BAAFF) lists its 2026 in-person edition for October 15–25 across Greater Boston venues. The festival is a co-production of Asian American Resource Workshop and ArtsEmerson, programming features, documentaries, and shorts that center Asian American experience for New England audiences.
BAAFF bills itself as New England's largest Asian American film festival, building on more than four decades of AARW film programming in Boston. October is the anchor month after summer street festivals in Chinatown, Quincy, and Lowell, and after Taiwan Film Festival of Boston and Experience Chinatown in September.
Venue-by-venue showtimes and tickets typically land closer to October on baaff.org. ArtsEmerson's downtown theaters often host opening and closing nights; partner cinemas and community spaces fill the middle of the schedule. Expect filmmaker Q&As, shorts blocks, and documentary threads that reward picking a theme rather than one blockbuster title.
Past editions have screened at Paramount, Bright Lights, and community venues across Cambridge and Boston. The festival grew out of Asian American Resource Workshop's decades of film programming and now shares production duties with ArtsEmerson, which gives BAAFF both grassroots credibility and downtown theater infrastructure.
Who this is for: Asian American viewers who want stories by and about the community, film students, and anyone who wants receipts on screen instead of panel talk alone. Pick three films across the eleven-day window rather than one marathon weekend.
The festival overlaps the final days of Experience Chinatown murals (through October 18) and precedes the Asian Food and Beer Tasting Festival on October 24 at City Hall Plaza. Film Friday, mural walk Saturday, plaza food Saturday the next week is a plausible October stack.
Our take: watch baaff.org for the schedule drop, then buy early for opening night and any shorts programs that sell out fast. BAAFF is the October bet when you want Asian American voice on screen, not only on the Greenway lawn.
When: October 15–25, 2026
Where: Greater Boston venues (ArtsEmerson and partners)
Tickets and schedule on baaff.org.
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