The Annual Southeast Asian Cinemas Conference (ASEACC) began in May 2004 with the inaugural conference organized by and held at the Asia Research Institute-National University of Singapore. An organising committee comprising young scholars and film practitioners was formed shortly after 2004 and a decision made to make it an annual event that would rotate through the region: thus far Singapore 2004, Bangkok 2005, Kuala Lumpur 2006 and Jakarta 2007. Future conferences are planned for Manila 2008, and Saigon 2009.

The conference aims are to raise the level of film discourse in the region as well as to promote global awareness about Southeast Asian Cinemas as a diverse field of study within film studies and area studies. It seeks to showcase and create academic and social discourse among scholars, film critics, buffs and media activists about the multiple new cinemas from the region, highlighting film as a vehicle for artistic expression, socio-cultural reflection, as an ideological and educational tool and to provide a forum for international networking among participants. The unique feature of the conference is its interdisciplinarity and combination of theory and practice: it is a place where film scholars, anthropologists and sociologists and cultural activists mingle with filmmakers, critics, programmers, archivists, and other film practitioners. The conference usually includes academic panels focusing on contemporary issues facing filmmakers, history, genre, gender and other identities, etc., film screenings and dialogue with film practitioners.