After counting the ballots, we have a winner! The 2024 SDAFF Audience Award winner is HOME COURT, directed by Erica Tanamachi. The film was voted the audience favorite at the 25th San Diego Asian Film Festival, which took place November 7th-16th, 2024. The film screened on November 9 with a post-screening Q&A with the director.
The runner-ups for the Audience Award were NOBUKO MIYAMOTO: A SONG IN MOVEMENT, POOJA, SIR and STANDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS. Congrats to Erica, and the rest of the HOME COURT cast and crew! And thanks to the audiences for casting their votes during the festival’s milestone anniversary!
See here for the full list of Awardees.
The San Diego Asian Film Festival is a competitive film festival aiming to celebrate achievements in Asian American cinema. An independent jury of filmmakers, curators, critics, academics, and other professionals is chosen to view films and select winners in the following categories: Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Experimental Short, Best International Short, Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize.
SDAFF programmers also select the recipient of the George C. Lin Emerging Filmmaker Award, named after the co-founder of the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival and the former Program Director of the San Diego Asian Film Festival. An advocate for all things independent, George passed away from cancer on October 14, 2008. The award in his memory is given to an emerging filmmaker who embodies his spirit.
Award Winners
Jurors: Sarah S. Kim, Kris Montello, Jason Ooi, Margaret Rhee
Grand Jury Prize: Light of the Setting Sun
Directed by Vicky Du
Best Documentary Feature: Standing Above the Clouds
Directed by Jalena Keane-Lee
Best Narrative Feature: Moloka’i Bound
Directed by Alika Tengan
Best Documentary Short: Wouldn’t Make It Any Other Way
Directed by Hao Zhou
Best Narrative Short: Myself When I Am Real
Directed by Angeline Gragasin
Best Experimental Film: I Would’ve Been Happy
Directed by Jordan Wong
Special Jury Mention: All That We Love
Directed by Yen Tan
Jurors: Whitney Horn, John Torres, Morris Yang
Best International Short: The Inescapable Desire of Roots
Directed by Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen
Non-Juried Awards
George C. Lin Emerging Filmmaker Award: Alison Nguyen – Director of History as Hypnosis
Audience Award: Home Court
Directed by Erica Tanamachi
Generational Impact Award: Sherry Cola
Visionary Award: James Ryu
