Movie lovers, get ready - the 23rd annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival is back. This year’s festival, which opens March 10 will run until March 20.

This is the largest Asian American Film Festival in North America. The National Asian American Telecommunications Association (NAATA) is organizing the entire event.

NAATA, based in San Francisco, is going into its 25th year and its mission, according to their website at naatanet.org, is to present the Asian American experience through film.

This year’s festival will feature 130 feature-length and short films as well as videos from 23 countries. The movies are about and by Asians and Asian Americans. The subject matter varies from basketball star Yao Ming’s rise to fame to closeted homosexual relationships.

Starting off the festivities will be the movie “Saving Face,” which was directed by Alice Wu and stars Joan Chen. Both Wu and Chen are from the Bay Area. The film is a romantic comedy that looks at the concept of saving face in midst of a traditional culture.

“Saving Face,” which looks at the relationship between a mother and daughter, touches on a lot of aspects. For instance, the daughter is afraid to tell her mother that she is a lesbian and the mother has her own secret - she is impregnated by an unnamed partner. Taro Gato, exhibition and festival assistant director, said it was “extremely courageous of the filmmaker (Wu)” to tackle and address the issues that she did in the film.

“We do hope the film will reach the Asian American audience and (be) enjoyed by the larger audience,” Gato said. He said that hopefully the film would bring understanding and compassion to the topic.

“It’s good to have a perspective other than Hollywood,” said Valerie Soe, an SF State cinema teacher and professor of Asian American studies.

Soe added that there are not a lot of Asians in Hollywood, leaving mostly supporting or stereotypical roles for Asian actors.

The audience for Asian cinema is growing and diversifying each year.

According to Gato, in 2001 the festival turnout was about 13,500, last year it doubled. This year, he said they are expecting the turnout to be 30,000 or more people.

The increase and diversification of the audience is due partly to the improving programming and film selections, Gato said.

For example, in 2003 there was a big focus on the Indian community in the festival, Gato said. Their opening film was “Bend It Like Beckham.” Gato added that by showing films like these, the festival reached out more to audiences. He said that a lot of times people see Asians as Korean, Japanese or Chinese, but Indians as well as Iranians are also Asian, along with the people of many other nations in the region.

According to Gato, both the short films and the features are selected by a screening committee, which began looking at the films last August. The committee members then make their recommendations as to what films they feel are the best.

The bare minimum requirements for the films are that they be about or for Asian Americans. The committee, he added, is very open and “sensitive to how (the films) portray Asians or Asian Americans.”

For non-Asians, the festival is a bourgeoning cinema that is gaining a lot of popularity, and is “an eye-opening experience,” said Gato. “I do hope a lot of the students will get excited (about the festival. It makes people realize that there are a lot of Asian American movies out there … it gives a broader view of what makes up the Asian American community.”

The closing night film is “Screening the Motel,” is directed by Michael Kang. Other events besides the films are “Directions in Sound,” which features live performances by IQU, Citizens and Abroad, and Seksu Roba at Café Du Nord on March 11 and also a variety of DJs spinning at Studio Z on March 12. For more information, please visit www.naata.org or call (415) 863-0814.