Started in 2004 by OCA-Greater Houston, the Houston Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival, or HAAPIFEST, was created to highlight and celebrate the diversity of AAPI culture, food, and family, to support AAPI artists and filmmakers, and to share the untold AAPI experience for the Greater Houston metropolitan area through edutainment. Today, HAAPIFEST is an immersive, multi-day celebration of film, music, and art, showcased by a dedicated committee of volunteers. The mission of HAAPIFEST is to promote and develop Asian and Asian American innovators in the film and entertainment industry, promote Houston as a cultural destination for the arts, and educate the AAPI and wider communities through the visual storytelling of Asians and Asian Americans.