English – CAAMFest 2019

Language

English

140 LBS: HOW BEAUTY KILLED MY MOTHER

Special Event 140 LBS: HOW BEAUTY KILLED MY MOTHER Award-winning playwright and activist Susan Lieu brings to light the tragic story of her mother’s unexpected death. Sifting…

Special Presentations

AAM: VALERIE SOE AND KRISTINA WONG EVENT

Special Event AAM: VALERIE SOE AND KRISTINA WONG EVENT A mélange of Valerie Soe’s groundbreaking feminist short films, along with special guest, comedian, and performance artist, Kristina…

ABOUT A SHORT FILM

Film ABOUT A SHORT FILM A gay Asian musical-comedian from Canada gets super meta in this short film about – wait for it…

ALTERNATIVE FACTS: THE LIES OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066

Film ALTERNATIVE FACTS: THE LIES OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066 ALTERNATIVE FACTS highlights the racism and political maneuvering behind Executive Order 9066 that led to the World War…

COMCAST Narratives

BABYSPLITTERS

Film BABYSPLITTERS BABYSPLITTERS takes the sharing economy to its conceptual extreme - literally. Danny Pudi and Emily Chang undergo hilarious…

BARAHA

Film BARAHA Baraha is a visual chapbook that combines visual storytelling and poetry to uncover the layered identities of a…

BED & BREAKFAST

Film BED & BREAKFAST Words are not needed when two couples have a run-in at a bed and breakfast inn, and glances…

BEI BEI

Film BEI BEI Inside the criminal defense of Bei Bei Shuai, an Indiana resident charged with murder after attempting suicide while…

Special Presentations

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT

Film BLINDED BY THE LIGHT From writer/director/producer Gurinder Chadha (“Bend It Like Beckham”) comes the inspirational drama “Blinded by the Light,” set to…

BUFFALO NICKEL

Film BUFFALO NICKEL A bored and lonely Indian American woman unwittingly calls upon the powers of a Social Media Influencer who…

CHERRY

Film CHERRY When a down-on-his-luck former R&B singer discovers his car has been towed and a girl’s number missing, he…

CHINATOWN RISING

Film CHINATOWN RISING CHINATOWN RISING, directed by Bay Area natives Harry and Josh Chuck, is a love letter to San Francisco’s…

COMING HOME: The 990 Pacific Relocation Story

Film COMING HOME: The 990 Pacific Relocation Story COMING HOME: The 990 Pacific Relocation Story shares how one nonprofit, Chinatown Community Development Center, transitioned a building…

CONTINUUM

Film CONTINUUM On the night his daughter is killed in an accident, an estranged father attempts to save her life…

CONTOURS

Film CONTOURS Existing between her parents' unfamiliar heritage and the norms of Western society, a teenage girl’s refuge in a…

DAUGHTER

Film DAUGHTER DAUGHTER explores an immigrant mother’s pain and worry about her transgender daughter and examines the perspective of a…

DÉTOURNING ASIA/AMERICA WITH VALERIE SOE

Film DÉTOURNING ASIA/AMERICA WITH VALERIE SOE A visual discussion between filmmakers Valerie Soe and Mila Zuo, exploring contemporary topics related to race, feminism, art,…

THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US

Film THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US Accompanied by his father and equipped with filming gear, a grandson travels to his homeland in China to…

DOWN ON THE SIDEWALK IN WAIKIKI

Film DOWN ON THE SIDEWALK IN WAIKIKI In between his growing frustrations toward cleaning up after tourists and reflections on a traumatizing memory, a voice…

Special Presentations

EATING UP EASTER

Film EATING UP EASTER Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, is under economic and ecological threat. Sergio Rapu follows stalwart, outspoken indigenous defenders…

COMCAST Narratives

EMPTY BY DESIGN

Film EMPTY BY DESIGN Two strangers rediscover the Philippines after life abroad, finding both familiarity and detachment in their journeys. As they…

ENGAGED

Film ENGAGED Darren is struggling to propose to Elliott when the universe continues to seemingly sidetrack him. However, after being…

FINDING THE VIRGO

Film FINDING THE VIRGO Nearly 40 years ago, Lauren Vuong and her fam- ily were rescued from the South China Sea by…

Special Presentations

FIRST PERSON PLURAL

Film FIRST PERSON PLURAL In 1966, Deann Borshay Liem was adopted by an American family and was sent from Korea to her…

FLO’S BUS

Film FLO’S BUS For over 15 years, 77-year-old Flo Matsuda has organized quarterly bus trips from Los Angeles to Las Vegas…

GAMERS

Film GAMERS An amateur female gamer is given a once in a lifetime opportunity to try out for a pro…

Galas, Special Presentations

GEOGRAPHIES OF KINSHIP

Film GEOGRAPHIES OF KINSHIP GEOGRAPHIES OF KINSHIP traces the legacy of war and political upheaval on vulnerable members of a traditionally patriarchal…

COMCAST Narratives

GO BACK TO CHINA

Film GO BACK TO CHINA Trust fund princess Sasha lives on daddy’sbankroll, so any disturbance to the filial order means goodbye credit cards…

GOLDTHREAD

Special Event GOLDTHREAD CAAMFest and Gold Thread are pleased to bring you a selection of videos celebrating Chinese food and the…

JADDOLAND

Film JADDOLAND On a trip to visit her Iraqi mother in West Texas, filmmaker Nadia Shihab paints an intimate portrait…

JANE

Film JANE When an isolated multiracial woman rediscovers a childhood diary, painful memories threaten to derail her attempt to take…

Special Presentations

THE JOY LUCK CLUB

Film THE JOY LUCK CLUB Come join us as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of THE JOY LUCK CLUB, one of the most…

Special Presentations

LOOK BACK: JEFF ADACHI

Special Event LOOK BACK: JEFF ADACHI Please join CAAMFest as we honor and celebrate the life of San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, with…

Special Presentations

LOVE BOAT: TAIWAN

Film LOVE BOAT: TAIWAN Fearless, inventive and outspoken are a few words to describe CAAMFest37 Spotlight Honoree Valerie Soe. From the 80’s…

LUMPIA CAMPESINA

Film LUMPIA CAMPESINA Fake mustaches are stroked in this parody of how to make community-uniting lumpia. Spoiler alert: It’s delicious!

MINIDOKA

Film MINIDOKA A young Seattle activist traces back his family history of incarceration during World War II and applies lessons…

MOONWALK WITH ME

Film MOONWALK WITH ME A story from the heart about a Korean American girl named Juno who is haunted by her father's…

COMCAST Narratives

MS. PURPLE

Film MS. PURPLE On the heels of the Sundance 2019 premiere, writer/director Justin Chon (GOOK, CAAMFest 2017) brings his visionary storytelling…

MY GRANDPA

Film MY GRANDPA Through intimate interviews with his grandpa, Director Chen learns more about his grandpa’s art and the larger cultural…

MAYOR ED LEE

Film MAYOR ED LEE MAYOR ED LEE honors and celebrates the legacy of San Francisco’s late mayor, Edwin Lee. Director Rick Quan…

PERIOD GIRL

Film PERIOD GIRL PERIOD GIRL follows Nadya Okamoto, a 20 year-old Harvard sophomore who started the non-profit PERIOD Org, which distributes…

THE PIT WHERE WE WERE BORN

Film THE PIT WHERE WE WERE BORN Just as a father and son reunite at the family ‘imu, their past makes itself known in the…

REACH

Film REACH When a young woman struggling with body image issues posts a photo of herself online, we follow the…

SEADRIFT

Film SEADRIFT SEADRIFT examines the tensions in a small Gulf Coast fishing town when Vietnamese refugees move there in 1979.…

SELF EVIDENT: ASIAN AMERICA’S STORIES

Special Event SELF EVIDENT: ASIAN AMERICA’S STORIES Self Evident is a new podcast taking on what it means to be American by telling Asian America’s…

SELF PORTRAIT

Film SELF PORTRAIT SELF PORTRAIT is an experimental short of a woman’s journey into her inner well.

SHARE

Film SHARE An 18-year-old Instagram influencer attempts to reconcile his identity online with his identity in real life.

SPEAK EASY B

Film SPEAK EASY B How does one come to terms with depression? For B, it takes a trip deep in the mind…

Special Presentations

STILL HUMAN

Film STILL HUMAN Offering a glimpse of the challenges facing overseas domestic workers in Hong Kong’s projects, Oliver Siu Kuen Chan’s…

SWORDED LOVE

Film SWORDED LOVE Fleeting cinematic impressions of star-crossed swordsmen are captured in the oblique wanderings of emulsion lifted from a stray…

Special Presentations

THE DRAGON PAINTER WITH LIVE SCORE BY GOH NAKAMURA

Film THE DRAGON PAINTER WITH LIVE SCORE BY GOH NAKAMURA One of the first Asian American films in history, THE DRAGON PAINTER is a dreamy and surreal romance…

THE FEELING OF BEING WATCHED

Film THE FEELING OF BEING WATCHED What does it feel like to be watched — surveilled by the state? Director Assia Boundaoui bravely takes…

THE MAGPIES OF SEOUL

Special Event THE MAGPIES OF SEOUL Dan Lee (from the rock band Scrabbel) premieres a dynamic, new live music performance based on the Korean…

Special Presentations

THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR

Film THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR A modern-day story about finding love against all odds, “The Sun Is Also a Star” explores whether our…

COMCAST Narratives

TIGER

Film TIGER TIGER is a powerful film about a Sikh American boxer who is banned from the boxing commission for…

U

Film U A spoken word narrates the reflections Openi makes on the depths of the relationship between their lover and…

WAYWARD EMULSIONS

Film WAYWARD EMULSIONS From the fractals of a 35 mm film, glimpses of a wayward woman emerge.

Special Presentations

WE GON’ BE ALRIGHT

Film WE GON’ BE ALRIGHT “We Gon’ Be Alright” is a series that explores the new dimensions of racial resegregation in the United…

WHEN WE WALK

Film WHEN WE WALK Emmy Award-winning director Jason DaSilva continues the documentation of his diagnosis with multiple sclerosis and its aftermath. WHEN…

WINNER OF PEACE

Film WINNER OF PEACE A young Sikh poet toes the line between her community and personal beliefs, but finds solace in spoken…

A WOMAN’S WORK

Film A WOMAN’S WORK A WOMAN’S WORK follows two former cheerleaders who challenge the multi-billion dollar National Football League by suing for…

YELLOW ROSE

Film YELLOW ROSE Rose Garcia was born to be a star. She’s an aspiring country singer in the heart of Texas…

ZERO ONE

Film ZERO ONE Zero One follows Jimmy Park through NYC for the last 24 hours of 2013. He’s visiting home for…

ZOETIC

Film ZOETIC A coming of age story about a single, 60-year-old Chinese immigrant mother who, for the first time ever,…