27th San Diego Asian Film Festival 2026

The 27th San Diego Asian Film Festival runs November 5–14, 2026. That window is on sdaff.org/2026, the festival’s own save-the-date. Pacific Arts Movement, PacArts, presents it. Screenings are in person at select cinemas in San Diego County. The houses are not named yet.

PacArts’ SDAFF page writes November 4–15 and has carried an Opening Night note at the San Diego Natural History Museum, 1788 El Prado. That page still mixes leftover “event passed” copy. Treat November 5–14 as the festival lock. Treat November 4 as opening night only after PacArts refreshes it.

This is a ticketed film festival. The 2026 save-the-date already teases an All-Fest Pass once the full site launches. Buy on sdaff.org when the cart opens. Do not invent a single-screening price or a pass tier until the festival posts one. Questions go to info@sdaff.org. PacArts sits at 7675 Dagget Street, Suite 360, in Kearny Mesa, (619) 400-5911, info@pacarts.org.

SDAFF is PacArts’ flagship. The org’s own language is Asian and Asian Pacific Islander images: independents, documentaries, bigger-continent hits, and APIA filmmakers. Brian Hu is among the programmers named on the PacArts page, with a long bench behind him. The vision copy also talks about local students and San Diego as a place to shoot and watch. That is the institution talking. The 2026 titles are not posted.

Diwali is Sunday, November 8, in the middle of the run. Deepotsav at the Organ Pavilion is already over by then, on October 3. If you want a park Diwali and a film week, they are different months. Kiku Matsuri is October 25 in Kearny Mesa, closer to the PacArts office than to any still-unnamed cinema.

Past festivals have used a mix of Landmark, museum, and campus rooms. Wait for the 2026 venue list before you plan a trolley night. Kearny Mesa is where the org lives, not necessarily where you watch. PacArts also runs year-round education and smaller showcases from that Dagget office. SDAFF is the week the whole county shows up. Until houses post, treat the ten days as a hold on the calendar, not a finished itinerary.

FilAm Creative Film Festival is already done by then, October 2–4 at the Luckman in Los Angeles. That is a different festival and a different drive. SDAFF is the San Diego week. If you only fly for one AAPI film run this fall, this is the county flagship.

Our take: put the ten days on the calendar if you already do SDAFF. Buy a pass when the grid appears. If you only have one November weekend, wait for opening night plus one local-filmmaker block. Do not treat PacArts’ November 4–15 line as a reason to fly in on the 4th until that page is clean.

When: November 5–14, 2026 (confirm opening night if PacArts posts November 4)
Where: Select cinemas in San Diego County (venues not posted)