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CAAMFest 2013

About CAAM

The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences to the broadest audience possible. We do this by funding, producing, distributing and exhibiting works in film, television and digital media.

Educational Distribution
CAAM’s catalog includes more than 250 titles, constituting the country’s largest collection of Asian American films and videos for educational distribution. Our award-winning documentaries, personal stories, dramas and experimental works reflect the rich history and diversity of Asian people in the U.S. and global diaspora.

Digital Media
CAAM presents innovative Asian American works in new forms. Since launching the Digital and Interactive Media program in 2006, CAAM produces and showcases new media projects that educate and engage. CAAM works with new forms of storytelling as an active innovator in the dynamic ecosystem of media creation and distribution.

Film Festival
CAAM presents CAAMFest (formerly the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, or SFIAAFF) every March. CAAMFest is the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films, annually presenting approximately 130 works in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland. Since 1982, the festival has been an important launching point for Asian American independent filmmakers as well as a vital source for new Asian cinema.

Public Broadcast
CAAM presents innovative, engaging Asian American works on public television. Since launching the groundbreaking Asian American anthology series “Silk Screen” (1982-1987) on PBS, CAAM continues to bring award-winning works to millions of viewers nationwide. CAAM is one of five minority public broadcasting consortia designated by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to provide programming to the Public Broadcast Service (PBS).

Filmmaker Support
CAAM provides funding and support for provocative and engaging Asian American film and media projects from independent producers through two programs, Media Fund and the James T. Yee Talent Development Program, named in honor of CAAM’s founding Executive Director.  Media Fund includes the CAAM Documentary Fund, for projects intended for public television broadcast, and the CAAM Innovation Fund, a new initiative to fund and license short online content. The James T. Yee Talent Development Program includes the CAAM Fellowship program, a mentorship program for emerging filmmakers, and the Loni Ding Award in Social Issue Documentary.