Schedule of Events

10:00 am - TEA HOUSE SALON at KOHO Creative Hub

Storyline Partners and CAAM are piloting a revolving tea salon inspired by cultures and traditions from West Asia to East and Southeast Asia, where, historically, these third spaces housed conversations and cultural discourses in their times. A space where we highlight industry partners that are leading the charge in developing dynamic content and elevating creatives in front of and behind the camera.

10:00 AM Welcome In partnership with Storyline Partners

10:15 AM Japanese Tea Ceremony

11:00 AM The Bitterroot Case Study

1:00 PM Paging the Comedy Ward: A Dose of NBC's "St. Denis Medical"

In partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal

2:30 PM Japantown Art Activations

Origami | Get Mossy | Shadow Puppets

RSVP Now

12:00 pm - MISTRESS DISPELLER at Roxie Theater

Directed by Elizabeth Lo

In China, a new industry has emerged devoted to helping couples stay married in the face of infidelity. Wang Zhenxi is part of this growing profession, a "mistress dispeller" who is hired to maintain the bonds of marriage — and break up affairs — by any means necessary.

Offering strikingly intimate access to private dramas usually hidden behind closed doors, Mistress Dispeller follows a real, unfolding case of infidelity, as Teacher Wang attempts to bring a couple back from the edge of crisis. Their story shifts our sympathies between husband, wife and mistress to explore the ways emotion, pragmatism, and cultural norms collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.

Director Elizabeth Lo will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

Click here to buy tickets

12:00 pm - TO BE CONTINUED at AMC Kabuki 3

Directed by Dora Choi, Haider Kikabhoy

The convenient, tired and vapid "East-meets-West" is a cliché that has for decades been used to sell the Hong Kong story to the world. Yet in the forgotten legend of Harry Odell, Hong Kong's first impresario, a rediscovery of the city's soul awaits.

Flamboyant and cigar-chomping, Odell was a Cairo-born, Shanghai-bred Russian Jew who stamped his mark on the cultural life of post-war Hong Kong. His hopeful, if chronically loss-making, adventures pushed the cultural frontiers of his adopted home, capturing the open, dynamic and inclusive spirit of a bygone era to leave a legacy that resonates to this day.

What began as a grassroot conservation campaign to save the iconic State Theatre in Hong Kong morphed into five years of research and interviews with those who witnessed Odell in action. The result: a film that is as much a study of one indomitable pioneer as it is a soul-searching journey of what defines Hong Kong.

Click here to buy tickets

12:30 pm - BETWEEN PICTURES: THE LENS OF TAMIO WAKAYAMA at AMC Kabuki 4

Directed by Cindy Mochizuki

Between Pictures: The Lens of Tamio Wakayama tells the epic journey of the late Japanese Canadian photographer Tamio Wakayama who decides to join the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the deep south during the 1960's American civil rights movement. Learning the art of dark room photography along the way, this transformative moment in time allows him to confront his own identity and return "home" to the West coast of Canada to begin a body of photographic work that continues to celebrate, re-present and document the spirit of Japanese Canadians who resided in the former Paueru Gai/Powell Street neighborhoods.

The documentary features nine artists, activists, and friends who speak about the significant legacy of Wakayama's black and white photography.

Click here to buy tickets

12:30 pm - CENTERPIECE: YOUR TOUCH MAKES OTHERS INVISIBLE at SFMOMA

Rajee Samarasinghe's debut feature documentary, Your Touch Makes Others Invisible, premiered at the 2025 International Film Festival Rotterdam. Sri Lanka ranks among the highest in the number of enforced disappearances in the world, and most of the disappeared are Tamils. Samarasinghe has spent the last decade creating short films that examine sociopolitical conditions in Sri Lanka.

Fusing allegorical magic realism and investigative documentary, and made collaboratively with impacted locals clandestinely in a region still occupied by the military, Your Touch Makes Others Invisible is a lyrical examination of these missing persons through 26 years of civil war in Sri Lanka. The nonfiction elements in this film are structured by a fictional narrative thread which tells the surreal tale of a mother who loses her son to a supernatural entity plaguing her community—a nod to the actual disappearances in the region. This is a CAAMFest Centerpiece Documentary presentation.

Director Rajee Samarasinghe will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

Click here to buy tickets

1:00 pm - SLUMLORD MILLIONAIRE at AMC Kabuki 1

Directed by Ellen Martinez, Steph Ching

Directors Steph Ching and Ellen Martinez (After Spring) were inspired to make a documentary about the housing crisis after hearing stories of New York landlords refusing to fix basic repairs and provide a liveable space for their tenants. Activists explain that this is a tactic to pressure their rent-stabilized tenants into moving out, so the landlords can turn their property around for a higher profit. But what is the human cost of real estate profit and gentrification? 

This CAAM-funded film follows four community members' stories. The Bravo family helped pass the statewide "Asthma Free Housing Act", when their landlord refused to remove toxic mold in their bathroom. Former supermodel Janina Davis, who wanted to help create more affordable housing, lost everything when she fell victim to a deed theft scam. Ren Ping Chen, a Manhattan Chinatown resident and advocate fights the construction of new 100-story glass luxury towers that will displace his working-class neighbors. And Bangladeshi American activist Moumita Ahmed runs for city council to hold corrupt landlords accountable, only to become the target of a smear campaign funded by real estate developers.

Director Steph Ching and Producer Nicole Tsien will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

Click here to buy tickets

2:30 pm - BECAUSE OF YOU: A HISTORY OF KILAWIN KOLEKTIBO at Roxie Theater

Directed by Barbara Malaran, Desireena Almoradie

This archival documentary traces the history of Kilawin Kolektibo, a pioneering collective of Filipnxs who came together in NYC in the mid-nineties. Having experienced marginalization in Filipino culture because of their queerness, as well as in mainstream gay culture because of their race, language, and gender, the members of the group sought political empowerment and increased visibility. But above all, they sought to create a space of friendship and safety for those who found themselves suspended between cultures and identities.

Directors Desireena Almoradie and Barbara Malaran will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

Click here to buy tickets

3:00 pm - SHORTS PROGRAM: THROUGH CHILDREN'S EYES at AMC Kabuki 4

These films highlight the unique perspectives of the youngest members in our communities. With whimsical reimaginings of hard-hitting realities and the unfiltered emotions only children are brave enough to show, these shorts help us see familiar narratives anew.

Writer/Producer Joy Regullano (Te Seguiré a la Oscuridad), Director Nick Hartanto (Daly City), Director Anthony Ma (God & Buddha Are Friends), and Director Sharon Park (The Unreachable Star) will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

GOD & BUDDHA ARE FRIENDS
Directed by Anthony Ma
A young boy finds himself at the crossroads of faith when his Buddhist mother goes head to head…

TE SEGUIRÉ A LA OSCURIDAD
Directed by Nicholas Luciano
A driven high school sophomore obsessively studies Spanish all year, so she can test up a level into…

DALY CITY
Directed by Nick Hartanto
An Indonesian boy and his mother attend a church potluck and lie about their dish.

CHATURANGA
Directed by Sidartha Murjani
A young girl must unlock her late father's final message by beating a humanoid AI in a game…

THE UNREACHABLE STAR
Directed by Sharon S. Park
Inspired by the grand tales of Don Quixote, a brother and sister set off in search of adventure…

Click here to buy tickets

3:00 pm - CU LI NEVER CRIES at SFMOMA

Directed by Pham Ngoc Lan

A woman tries to cling onto dimming links to her past after inheriting a pygmy slow loris from her long-estranged husband. Meanwhile, her niece prepares for marriage, as the young couple ponders their uncertain future together. The present and the complex echoes of Vietnamese history intertwine with a contemplative and poetic perspective.

Phạm Ngọc Lân's first feature-length film was inspired by the multiple Vietnamese meanings for cu li — an unskilled laborer, a primate, a golden chicken fern plant — that evoked different allusions to his homeland. It also tells the story of Lân's aunt, who was part of the groups of Vietnamese laborers, students and specialists that were sent to East Germany under socialist cooperation agreements prior to 1990.

Click here to buy tickets

4:00 pm - MAKING WAVES at AMC Kabuki 1

Directed by Jon Osaki, Josh Chuck

Making Waves is a timely, thought-provoking documentary about how ethnic studies – and specifically Asian American Studies (AAS) – dramatically influenced and empowered a generation. They leveraged their heightened awareness of history to build community organizations, political power, and collaboration.

Helmed by Bay Area filmmakers Jon Osaki (Not Your Model Minority, Alternative Faces: The Lies of Executive Order 9066) and Josh Chuck (Chinatown Rising), the CAAM-funded film follows a group of youth who travel to the Texas state capitol to fight for Asian American Studies in the deep South. This type of activism harks back to the Bay Area-based ethnic studies movement of the 1960's, and the film highlights recent efforts by youth to address anti-Asian hate and learn Asian American history.

Director Jon Osaki will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

Click here to buy tickets

4:30 pm - CENTERPIECE: CHARACTERS DISAPPEARING at Roxie Theater

Directed by Connor Sen Warnick

For his visually rigorous debut feature, director Connor Sen Warnick crafts a meditative portrait of young people grappling with disillusionment and failure as they navigate collective and individual desires. He brings Asian American movement building to life through Mei (Yuka Murakami), a radical leftist activist, Chris (Warnick), her mixed-race Chinese American cousin, and her partner Leonard (Dylan Breaux). 

After Mei and Chris' grandfather goes missing, Chris becomes obsessed with following the teachings of a 250-year-old monk their grandfather once knew. As more people disappear, the film focuses on the ways that politics and grief affect young people's personal lives. These characters' struggles, divisions and attempts at solidarity linger like ghosts as the film unfolds ambiguously between the 1970s and the present.

The world premiere of Characters Disappearing will be preceded by the short film, ping pong ping pong ping pong ping pong ping pong, another portrayal of Asian American youth in 1970s Cold War New York.

Director Connor Sen Warnick will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

Click here to buy tickets

4:30 pm - BLOSSOMS UNDER SOMEWHERE at AMC Kabuki 3

Directed by Riley Yip

Ching, a high school girl who was born with a stutter, runs a used lingerie business online with her best friend, Rachel. Ching wears an outgoing persona on the Internet that is the opposite of her real introverted self. Buried in the unethical business, she gradually embellishes the relationship with her buyers, gaining the attention and bonding she has always longed for, only to be failed and left heartbroken. Produced by renowned Hong Kong director Fruit Chan and featuring Gen Z star Marf Yau, screenwriter-turned-director Riley Yip's heartful debut presents an unordinary spring story that offers unforgettable life lessons.

Director Riley Yip will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

Click here to buy tickets

5:00 pm - SHORTS PROGRAM: COMING OF AGES at AMC Kabuki 4

Directed by Vera Brunner-Sung

Coming of age is not simply about transitioning from childhood to adulthood. It represents a process of growing into oneself.

Producer Yen Sen (Clementine), Director Marion Hoang Ngoc Hill (Spring Will Come), Director Angeline Gragasin (Myself When I Am Real), and Director Suhashini Krishnan (Legends) will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

CLEMENTINE
Directed by Sally Tran
A late-blooming trans woman, with the help of her besties, navigates the complexities of a life-altering dilemma, as…

ZARI
Directed by Shruti Parekh
American teen Neelu feels like a fish out of water amidst preparations for her sister's wedding in Delhi,…

SPRING WILL COME
Directed by Linh Dan Phan Nguyen, Marion Hoang Ngoc Hill
Two women are struggling to end their relationship, when a strange woman shows up to free the spirit…

MYSELF WHEN I AM REAL
Directed by Angeline Gragasin
On MiniDV tape, a single mother and her teenage daughter struggle to make friends and find belonging at a Filipino Christmas party in suburban Wisconsin.

LEGENDS
Directed by Suhashini Krishnan
When a mistake from the admissions office grants Mahira a full ride dance scholarship to college, she's forced…

Click here to buy tickets

7:00 pm - CENTERPIECE: BITTERROOT at AMC Kabuki 1

Directed by Vera Brunner-Sung

Vera Brunner-Sung's second feature, after 2014's Bella Vista, stars a predominantly Hmong cast and crew and offers a rare glimpse into Missoula's Hmong community against the breathtaking backdrop of Montana's vast landscapes. Lue (Wa Yang) is a recent divorcee caretaking for his aging mother, a refugee from Laos, while helping her harvest and sell mushrooms from their family farm. His mother's incisive critiques are quiet but pack an emotional punch, and without an emotional outlet, he copes by singing dramatic ‘80s power ballads at karaoke. Lue's sister May is played by NBC Bay Area news anchor/reporter, Gia Vang.

The community-supported film features both Hmong and English dialogue and was inspired by Yeej, the film's Hmong American film producer who'd grown up in Missoula and yearned for a second-generation story like his onscreen.

Bitterroot premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and this Centerpiece Narrative presentation is the Bay Area premiere.

Click here to buy tickets

7:30 pm - SHORTS PROGRAM: INHERITANCES at AMC Kabuki 4

While inheritance may invoke histories of those who came before us, these films bring nuance to the ways these histories reach us in the present. Community responsibilities, cultural practices, and even running jokes shape the ways we understand ourselves and relate to others.

Director Shane Chung (Check Please), Director Alfred Bordallo (Daughter of Guam), Director Julia Nacario (Painted Ones), Director James Chung (Import Models), Director Reina Bonta (Maybe It's Just the Rain), Director Evelyn Hang Yin (Rising), and Director Kirthi Nath (Paramita) will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

CHECK PLEASE
Directed by Shane Chung
Dinner for two turns deadly when a Korean and a Korean American escalate a fight over who gets to pay the bill — and who gets to walk out the restaurant alive.

DAUGHTER OF GUAM
Directed by Alfred Bordallo
Contemplating the inherited burden of her island's collective loss, a young woman learns to navigate her responsibility to her island's collective healing.

PAINTED ONES
Directed by Julia Husain Nacario
An Oakland based Bisaya tattoo artist rediscovers and unlocks indigenous Filipino histories through ink.

IMPORT MODELS
Directed by James Chung
Three generations of Asian American women who shaped Import Car culture discuss their struggles, successes, and overall reflections on the impact of modeling.

MAYBE IT'S JUST THE RAIN
Directed by Reina Bonta
The journey of the first winning Filipino soccer team becomes an intimate diasporic return.

RISING
Directed by Evelyn Hang Yin
The little known history of China Alley in California's Central Valley unfolds through four generations of the Wing family.

PARAMITA
Directed by Kirthi Nath
Over the course of a 25-year coming out process, Prajna connects with Buddhist practices and nature as gateways…

Click here to buy tickets

9:00 pm - FUCKTOYS at Roxie Theater

Directed by Annapurna Sriram

Annapurna Sriram's first feature film is a lush 16mm fever dream that reimagines The Fool's Journey in the Tarot through the story of AP, a sanguine young woman seeking salvation from a curse. AP is promised by not one but multiple psychics that, for a cool $1000 and the sacrifice of a baby lamb, the curse can be lifted. So she sets out to find the cash in the only way she knows how: working the uncouth underbelly of Trashtown.

Dark, irreverent, and sexy, AP stumbles upon new characters and absurd situations, each more unhinged than the last. Fucktoys is a campy romp that explores the intersection of intimacy, exploitation, and class in a pre-millenium alternate universe.

The film won the Special Jury Award for a Multi-Hyphenate at SXSW.

Director Annapurna Sriram and Producer Tim Petryni will be in attendance for the screening + Q&A.

Click here to buy tickets