“It Is What It Is” – CAAM’s Entry to 2017 PBS Online Film Festival!

Still from Cyrus Tabar's "It Is What It Is"

CAAM is proud to be a part of the 6th annual PBS Online Film Festival. Our entry is the 2017 CAAMFest Loni Ding award-winning film It Is What It Is, directed by Cyrus Yoshi Tabar.

Filmmaker Cyrus Yoshi Tabar, a first-generation Iranian-Japanese-American, has a photo of his grandparents holding him as an infant. The photo captures his first and last encounter with them. Seeking to understand the fracture in his family, Cyrus embarks on a journey into the dark and nebulous corners of his family history. Fragmented and cloudy images of his family speckle his investigation as he talks to his aunt and sister, but discovers that a family’s narrative isn’t linear and that truth is elusive.

Last year’s entry was another CAAMFest favorite, Home is a Hotel, directed by Kevin D. Wong, which landed in the top 5 of the PBS Online Film Festival.

Twenty five short films will be featured in the PBS Online Film Festival this year, which runs July 17-28. Beginning July 17, the festival will be available via PBS and station digital platforms, including PBS.org, YouTube and PBS social media channels. The films will also be available via the PBS app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku and FireTV devices.

Watch, vote and share! Share your thoughts using #ItIsWhatItIs and #PBSFilmFest