CHOSEN FAM: SEASON 1

CHOSEN FAM: SEASON 1 is an electric and hilarious new series by Bay Area BIPOC and LGBQT storytellers (also CAAMFest alums). Shot in the Bay Area, this fantastic series is brimming with charisma and vision.  Meet our characters:

When quippy, sensitive, co-dependent Bassist, Cody, violates the terms of his newly-polyamorous relationship, he sleeps with randos to evade inner demons. But after a casual encounter gone wrong, he gains a fresh, necessary perspective on his identity. 

When QUNTY Feminist blog’s Senior Queer Issues Editor mysteriously up and quits, band manager, Evie, pitches a hard-hitting story to compete against a white feminist for the newly-vacant Senior Editor position. Little does she realize, her pitched story has high stakes and consequences for both the Chosen Fam band, and her friends. 

Guitarist maddox’s dreams to become pregnant with longtime partner, Anna, are answered when an estranged relative offers help… with strings attached. maddox must ask themself what they’re willing to sacrifice to start the family they’ve always wanted.

Fired from yet another job, drummer Dani moves in with her mom. Only after quarreling with her mom, and trying to move into a punk house to up her social capital, does Dani uncover the true meaning of home.

Join the CHOSEN FAM team for their inaugural series!

Program includes exclusive Q&A with Kyle Casey Chu (creator/co-writer/executive producer) and Donna Mae Foronda (co-writer/executive producer).

Director Biographies: Natalie Tsui is a media artist born in Hong Kong, now living and working in Oakland, CA and Brooklyn, NY. Coming from a background as a filmmaker, Tsui appropriates traditional cinematic techniques to bring awareness to the exaptation of photography and motion imaging to propagate Western, heteronormative ideologies. Her work utilizes rhizomatic structures, spatial-temporal displacement, repetition, and performance to unsettle the cinematic gaze, inviting poetic interpretation and critical reflection on visual culture. Tsui received a BA in Film Studies and English from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2008 and an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University in 2014. 

Lindsay Sunada was born and raised in Los Angeles where she still lives and accumulates parking tickets. She has directed and produced content for Grammy-nominated artists, and her background in production design and music videos makes her obsessed with the intersection of light and color in film. She’s always been drawn to stories with heart and humor, so she was super excited for the chance to join the Chosen Fam Fam. 

Co-presented by: Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center, APIENC (API Equality Northern California), Prism Foundation

THIS FILM IS AVAILABLE ON CAAMFEST ON-DEMAND, BUT LIMITED TO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS.