AWFF Lines Up 27 Oscar Submissions; Kyrgyz 'Kassandra' Opens

Twenty-seven official International Oscar submissions will screen at this year's Asian World Film Festival, which runs November 12–19 at the Culver Theater in Los Angeles. Sixteen of them compete. That's the headline, and in the Best International Feature race, AWFF has become a reliable early bellwether.

The proof sits in last cycle's numbers. In 2025, eight films shown at the festival made the Oscars shortlist (the round of fifteen that precedes nominations), and two of those went on to earn nominations. No other Los Angeles-area showcase gives this many national submissions a single roof.

Which film opens the race?

Kyrgyzstan's Kassandra, directed by Bekzat Pirmatov, will open the festival. The country's submission for Best International Feature at the Oscars, it blends mysticism and psychological horror, following a grieving woman who seeks help from a healer after being attacked by an unseen presence. Genre entries rarely open festivals of this kind. A horror-adjacent submission landing the slot signals programmers' confidence in its visibility with Academy voters in the room.

Closing duties go to The Road Not Taken, from Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Ho-sun Chan. Iraq's No Paradise If You Are Killed By A Woman, directed by Halkawt Mustafa, takes the Centerpiece slot. Mustafa is one of 13 filmmakers from across the line-up who will attend the festival and take part in audience Q&As — direct access that campaign consultants tend to value highly.

Who judges the competition?

U.S. producer Arthur Sarkissian presides over the jury. Joining him:

• Mina Chow, Chinese-US documentary filmmaker
• Zaur Darabzada, Azerbaijan media executive
• Jasmine Suraya Chin, Malaysian actress and producer

The festival, founded in 2015 by Kyrgyz director-producer Sadyk Sher-Niyaz, operates under Executive Director Georges N. Chamchoum. "Asian cinema continues to redefine what filmmaking can achieve, transcending borders and illuminating the ideas, emotions and shared humanity of our time," Chamchoum said. "This year's festival will bring us boldly imagined, artfully told stories that entertain, move and inspire us, opening our eyes to the lives we share and to cultures beyond our own."

What's in the main competition?

In total, AWFF will screen features from more than 33 nations and autonomous regions across Asia, including eight North American premieres, four U.S. premieres and one world premiere. The 2026 Main Competition:

• Roid, Mejbaur Rahman Sumon (Bangladesh)
• Once Upon A Time In The Middle East, Wen Muye (China)
• Gondhal, Santosh Davakhar (India)
• No Paradise If You Are Killed By A Woman, Halkawt Mustafa (Iraq) — Centerpiece
• Tell Me Everything, Moshe Rosenthal (Israel)
• Abel, Elzat Eskendir (Kazakhstan) — U.S. Premiere
• The Fox King, Ming Jin Woo (Malaysia)
• Independence: Keeper Of The Prophecy, Tamir Bat-Ulzii (Mongolia)
• Hanging By A Wire, Mohammed Ali Naqvi (Pakistan)
• Citizen Osama, Ahmed Hassouna (Palestine)
• Filipiñana, Rafael Manuel (Philippines)
• Riverstone, Lalith Rathnayake (Sri Lanka) — N.A. Premiere
• Other Side Of The Sun, Tawfik Sabouni (Syria) — N.A. Premiere
• A Foggy Tale, Yu-Hsun Chen (Taiwan)
• Like A Limbless Tree, Tunç Davut (Turkey) — N.A. Premiere
• Spirit Guardians: The Last Secret Of The First Emperor, Nguyễn Phan Quang Bình (Vietnam)

For an International Feature race still dominated by European titles at the nomination stage, a festival that put two of its films into Oscar nominations last year matters. Keep an eye on Culver City in November.