We’re excited to announce that CAAMFest is returning to San Francisco for its 44th year, May 7-10, 2026, featuring over 60 films that capture the current zeitgeist of Asian American communities. The festival’s completely in-person screenings, panel discussions, and other programs will be centered around the AMC Kabuki in Japantown, highlighting the city’s long history as a hub for Asian American community building with national impact.
“After 2025, a year of historic challenges and change for the media, 2026 is shaping up as a time of renewed vigor for Asian American independent storytellers,” says CAAM Executive Director Donald Young. “The energy of the future is palpable. CAAMFest 2026 in many ways returns us to our roots, with an ethos that is scrappy, inspired, and full of attitude.”
This year’s festival also includes five World Premiere films and an increased focus on showcasing documentaries we have funded or produced. Opening Night will begin at the AMC Kabuki Theater with an advance screening of the documentary feature The A-List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas. Following the film, CAAM will host a Gala at the Asian Art Museum featuring tastes of the most talked about Asian American food and beverages in the Bay Area.
Documentaries
“CAAM doesn’t just showcase Asian American stories, we also play an integral role in the pipeline of unique stories that reflect the experiences of our communities,” says CAAM Talent Development and Special Projects Director Sapana Sakya. “We’re proud to screen 11 CAAM supported documentaries in this year’s festival.”
One of the CAAM-funded films is The Gas Station Attendant, directed by Karla Murthy. In this year’s Centerpiece Documentary, a daughter reflects on her father’s life — weaving the story of his miraculous journey from the streets of India with the realities of life in America: a meditation on family, the immigrant experience, and the dreams we carry with us. Other CAAM funded features include The Auntie Sewing Squad Resistance Playbook, About Face: Disrupting Ballet, The Dao of Thao, and Uncommitted.
The Closing Night film is the documentary Traces of Home, by 2024 CAAM Fellow Colette Ghunim. Supported by CAAM’s Building Bridges Documentary Fund, this personal narrative unpacks an extraordinary journey of self-discovery, as Colette undertakes a quest to reunite her parents with the ancestral homes they were forced to flee as children in Palestine and Mexico.
Our Documentary Spotlight Before the Moon Falls, sponsored by Pacific Islanders in Communication (PIC), follows acclaimed Samoan writer Sia Figiel who, after a diagnosis of mental illness, embarks on a path toward healing, but it comes at an unspeakable cost.
We’re also proud to present Revival & Reconnection: three CAAM and ITVS funded short documentaries that underscore how reconnecting with cultural lineage and histories paves the way towards a more grounded present and future. The shorts program includes Bridging Our Stories from 2024 CAAM Fellow Rafael Bitanga, Far East LA: Barrio Beats x Taiko Streets, and Harvest Party at Camp Two.
Narratives
Across the over 60 films that will be shown at this year’s festival, thematic throughlines are emerging.
“Each feature film that we programmed included characters that were morally conflicted, went against the grain, and shook the status quo,” says CAAMFest Program Manager Dino-Ray Ramos. “The stories featured flawed people that defied the model minority myth and subverted stereotypical ‘good Asian’ behavior. Along with similarly themed and defiant documentaries, we were subconsciously building a program of bad Asians causing good trouble.”
The Centerpiece Narrative is Forge, the first feature-length narrative film from writer-director Jing Ai Ng. The crime thriller follows Miami-based siblings Raymond and Coco Zhang’s art forgery ring flourishing when they encounter a disgraced millionaire in need of their expertise. Meanwhile, FBI Art Crimes agent Emily Lee—played by Kelly Marie Tran—moves to Miami to investigate a series of mysterious paintings.
We’re also proud to present our Spotlight Narrative film Honeyjoon from director Lilian T. Mehrel. In this light-and-dark comedy, June and her Persian-exiled mother Lela travel to the romantic Azores islands for a grief anniversary, with contrasting ways of coping. Between honeymooners, Woman Life Freedom, and a charming surfer, they (and we) surf the waves of life, loss, flirting… an unforgettable ride.
Hong Kong Cinema Showcase
Sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco (HKETO) comes the Hong Kong Cinema Showcase, with films Love Massacre and Another World.
Restored in 4K by M+ in 2025, Love Massacre (1981) follows college student Ivy as she tries to help her friend Joy, who is depressed and delirious after a breakup; Ivy soon becomes inadvertently involved with Joy’s brother who eventually spirals into violence as he breaks into Ivy’s dormitory and goes on a killing spree.
Animated feature Another World is set in a fantastical realm after death but before reincarnation, where Gudo, a spirit that helps to shepherd these transient souls to their reincarnation, embarks on a perilous mission to guide a young girl named to control her rage and prevent her transformation into a monster.
To see our full lineup of programs for CAAMFest 2026, visit CAAMFest.com, where you can also buy tickets for all of our shows.
Thanks to Our Supporters
CAAMFest 2026 is made possible with support from Champion Sponsors Acura, Asian Art Museum, Bloomberg, and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco. Additional support is provided by Comcast NBCUniversal, AARP, Rakuten Viki, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Kaiser Permanente, Southwest Airlines, Film SF | San Francisco Film Commission, Minami Tamaki LLP, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, The Maria Elena G. Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program at the University of San Francisco, Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc), and American Documentary. Special thanks to the following institutional funders and government agencies: Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The Asian American Foundation, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Ford Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Henry Luce Foundation, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, Asian Pacific Fund, Color Congress, Campbell Foundation, Robert Joseph Louie Memorial Fund, Jessie Cheng Charitable Foundation, APA Heritage Foundation, and Sheng-Yen Lu Foundation. Thank you also to the following media supporters: BART, Diya TV, iHeartRadio, India Currents, FITNESS SF, KQED, KTSF Channel 26, NBC Bay Area, Nichi Bei News, SF/Arts, SF Station, and SFGovTV.
(Supporters as of April 10, 2026)