Center For Asian American Media Fest

Schedule of Events

9:30 am - FILMMAKER SUMMIT at KOHO Creative Hub

The Summit space will feature CAAMFest filmmakers and industry partners in conversations that uplift storytelling practices across our many communities, and support one another in a shifting media and cultural landscape.

9:30 AM Registration & Welcome
Grounding Ceremony led by Reverend Rodney Kano

10:15 AM Unpacking Courageous Conversations

11:30 AM Lunch & Learn

12:15 PM Navigating Participant Care & Impact In partnership with A-Doc

1:15 PM Behind the Scenes with Our Roots, Our Power

2:30 PM Coffee Break with Roaming Bean

3:15 PM A-Doc Impact Showcase: AAPI Stories for our Movements followed by A-Doc Breakout Sessions: AAPI Stories of Legacy In partnership with A-Doc

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5:00 pm - A TRAVELER'S NEEDS at Roxie Theater

Yeohaengjaui pilyo
Directed by Hong Sang-soo

Iris (Isabelle Huppert), a woman who finds herself adrift in Seoul and without any means to make ends meet, turns to teaching French, albeit via a very peculiar method. As she navigates a series of encounters, details of Iris’ situation slowly emerge—but the mysteries surrounding her only deepen. Acclaimed Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo’s latest film premiered at the 29th Busan International Film Festival. This is his third collaboration with Huppert, following 2012’s In Another Country and 2017’s Claire’s Camera.

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7:00 pm - BOAT PEOPLE at Roxie Theater

Tau ban no hoi
Directed by Ann Hui

One of the preeminent works of the Hong Kong New Wave, Boat People is a shattering look at the circumstances that drove hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees to flee their homeland in the wake of the Vietnam War, told through images of haunting, unforgettable power. Three years after the Communist takeover, a Japanese photo­journalist (George Lam) travels to Vietnam to document the country’s seemingly triumphant rebirth. When he befriends a teenage girl (Season Ma) and her destitute family, however, he begins to discover what the government doesn’t want him to see: the brutal, often shocking reality of life in a country where political repression and poverty have forced many to resort to desperate measures in order to survive. Transcending polemic, renowned director Ann Hui takes a deeply humanistic approach to a harrowing and urgent subject with searing contemporary resonance.

Plays in
HONG KONG CINEMA SHOWCASE
With support from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco, CAAMFest 2025 presents the best…

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8:00 pm - CHINATOWN CHA-CHA at AMC Kabuki 3

Directed by Luka Yuanyuan Yang

In Chinatown Cha-Cha, director Luka Yuanyuan Yang (Coby and Stephen Are in Love) unearths black-and-white beach footage of a troupe of 1940s Chinese American women dancers, shedding their traditional Chinese opera costumes for modern American swimsuits. These were San Francisco Chinatown dancers who made the City's nightclubs a notorious tourist destination. One of the owners of the Forbidden City, the famous nightclub that inspired the musical Flower Drum Song, was Coby Yee, a burlesque dancer known as the “Daring Chinese Dancing Doll.”

Cut to 60 years later, 92-year-old Yee – still decked out in sequins, feather and lace – receives a standing ovation after a performance with the Grant Avenue Follies, former nightclub dancers who continue to perform in San Francisco. The documentary follows this troupe of seniors, led by Cynthia Yee, as they embark on a tour around China, Cuba and the U.S. It celebrates these vibrant elderly Chinese American women, still sparkling with the spirit of their youth.

Chinatown Cha-Cha had its world premiere at the 2024 Pingyao International Film Festival, and is played in Chinese theaters nationwide. This is the Bay Area premiere.

Director/Producer Luka Yuanyuan Yang, Producer Lou Wang-Holborn, and the Grant Avenue Follies will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

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8:30 pm - YEAR OF THE CAT at AMC Kabuki 1

Year of the Cat follows filmmaker Tony Nguyen on an extraordinary quest to solve the mystery of his father, lost in the chaos of the fall of Saigon 50 years ago. Told as an investigative home movie, this powerful documentary weaves together moments of humor and heartache, offering an intimate look at how the children of refugees are shaped by war and loss. As Tony delves into his family's history, the film reveals the emotional lengths we go to in confronting the ghosts of the past—and the possibility of healing as we reclaim and transform our futures.

Director Tony Nguyen will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

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9:00 pm - SHORTS PROGRAM: LET IT OUT at AMC Kabuki 4

How do we process the messy feelings of grief, loss, loneliness, or regret? In shades of animation, documentary, and narrative, these films explore the raucous ways difficult emotions spill out along the path to healing.

Director Yang Hu (Grandma), Producer Meg Indurti (Mango Chile Pie), Writer Kyle Casey Chu (After What Happened at the Library), Director M.G. Evangelista (To Dance Again), and Director Pacqui Pascual (Awit Natin) will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

GRANDMA
Directed by Yang Hu
Through charcoal-drawn animation, a grandmother's life unfolds through a rapidly evolving family portrait.

MANGO CHILE PIE
Directed by Karan Sunil
On the anniversary of their mother's death, three estranged sisters get stuck in their family fire station, where…

SPLASH BACK
Directed by Yufei Xiao
A young masseuse recognizes her client as a childhood friend and enters a flashback of a withheld memory.

AFTER WHAT HAPPENED AT THE LIBRARY
Directed by Syra McCarthy
In the wake of a terrifying encounter, an overwhelmed drag queen struggles under the weight of public attention.

TO DANCE AGAIN
Directed by M.G. Evangelista
After an unprecedented tragedy for the Asian American community of Monterey Park, ballroom dancing offers an unexpected path…

ON MY ROAD TO DHARMA
Directed by Yihuan Zhang
A monk who has been teaching meditation for ten years in California prisons shares his story and motivation…

AWIT NATIN (OUR SONG)
Directed by Pacqui Pascual
When their father dies during their mother's hospitalization, a Filipino family bands together and goes ridiculously far to…

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