2026 CAAM Fellows

Eli Hiller

Eli Hiller is a documentary director and photographer based in Columbus, Ohio. With a background in photojournalism, he has contributed to publications and agencies including The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Washington Post, AFP, and Getty Images. As a one-man-band directing, shooting vérité, and running sound he has worked in video production since 2017, creating branded documentaries for non-profits and corporate clients.  He is currently directing his debut feature documentary, Becoming Us, a project that marks a significant evolution in his filmmaking practice. The film has received support from the Sundance Institute, Firelight Media, Berkeley Film Foundation, Greater Columbus Arts Council, Kartemquin Films, and the Wexner Center for the Arts. 

Project: Becoming Us
After taking a DNA test, a mixed-race filmmaker goes on an emotional journey to connect with his four donor-conceived siblings and newly-found biological father to redefine the meaning of family and reconcile their connection with their Filipino heritage.

Asuka Lin 

Asuka Lin is a Chicago-based filmmaker known for their short documentaries and narratives including Distant Bison (Fisura Int’l Film Festival), Into the Emerald Sea (Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival), and A.I. Mama (London Short Film Festival). Straddling fiction and non-fiction, their work travels from anarchic analog textures to meditative folktale-inspired reflections, united by stories of diaspora and socio-ecological phases. They are a film/video graduate of California Institute of the Arts, a recipient of the Chicago DCASE IAP Award and a 2026 Sustainability Lab Fellow at the Portland Art Museum.

Project: Chicago to Okinawa

An exploration of two US military-backed coastal construction sites located on opposite ends of the world: Chicago and Okinawa, told by the land, the people affected, and a migrating bird.

 

Cindy Martin

Cindy Martin is an award-winning documentary filmmaker of Filipina-Japanese-American descent from Chicago committed to elevating voices from underrepresented communities, focusing on AAPI, BIPOC and women’s stories. Cindy’s films have been supported by the Asian Cultural Council, CNN/Film Independent, Illinois Arts Council, DCASE (Chicago), Kartemquin and Filipino Young Leaders Program. Prior to films, Cindy was an award-winning journalist in London and LA with Reuters, AP, ABC and Sky News. She has a degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, specializing in Politics and Psychology. She is currently the Supervising Producer of the Zhao-Chen Family AAPI Voices Fund at Kartemquin and a board member of Doc Chicago. She co-produced the award-winning documentary, The Fight for Black Lives and is directing her first feature, Love Is A Stranger and a short, Untitled Black Chess Queen Documentary. 

Project: Love is a Stranger

While investigating the mysterious disappearance of their grandfather in World War II, a Filipino-American family loses their nearly 50 year old home in a Chicago suburb to a raging, midnight fire.