Nearly 4,000 people packed the theaters for four days of film programming in San Francisco! We had three sold-out CAAMFest screenings including Opening Night film Third Act directed by Tadashi Nakamura, Closing Night narrative Yellow Face starring Daniel Dae Kim, Francis Jue and Shannon Tyo, and documentary feature Making Waves directed by Jon Osaki.
The festival brought the community together to showcase and celebrate stories from Asian America and beyond. “All of us coming together like this, it makes hope all the more possible,” says CAAM Executive Director Don Young. “Even at this time when the arts and public media are under threat of funding cuts, the audience at CAAMFest is proof that people care about the stories from Asian America.”
CAAMFEST 2025 AWARD WINNERS
CAAMFEST 2025 Ready, Set, Pitch! Winner
Jury members: Theresa Navarro, Co-Director and Chief Operations Officer, Catapult Film Fund; Keri Archer Brown, Director of Content and Initiatives, ITVS; Masashi Niwano, Director of Artist Development, SFFILM; and Cecilia Mejia, Vice President of External Affairs, American Documentary (AmDoc). The winner receives a $10,000 grant from CAAM supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Winner: Manish Khanal for his project Sukha
Jury Statement: 2025 Ready Set Pitch! Jury Statement
“First off, we the jury would like to acknowledge the tremendous performances by all three pitch participants; they made it incredibly hard for us to make a decision. They are all stars on the rise and deserve the funding they need to make their poignant films a reality.
We selected the pitch that commanded our attention with an impressive precision in clarity and with undeniable passion for their project, and participants involved. This film is both personal and universal, as it shines a much needed light on immigrant communities and explores what happens after one achieves the American Dream. What then? We were especially impressed how this project beautifully explores aging with dignity and desire.
This film is a perfect reflection of the type of bold work CAAM supports and exhibits and because of its abundance of heart and love, it’s the ideal story we need in the tumultuous times we live in. It is our (lasting) pleasure to announce we have selected the Sukha by Manish Khanal.”
InspirASIAN Award
This award recognizes promising voices in Asian and Asian American media, the InspirASIAN Student Film Award is presented to college students who exemplify the voice of a new generation. One award is presented to an undergraduate student, and a second award is presented to a graduate student. Special thanks to InspirASIAN, a nonprofit and AT&T Employee Group.
Jury members: Erina Alejo, Artist and Office of the Vice President for the Arts Program Associate, Stanford University; Zaha Cheema, Senior Program Coordinator, Juma Ventures; Jerry Dear, Information Strategist, San Francisco Public Library; Delaney Chieyen Holton, Programs Manager, CAAM; Lauren Lola, Distribution and Outreach Coordinator, CAAM.
Undergraduate Winner: On My Road to Dharma, directed by Yihuan Zhang
A documentary follows De Hong, a monk who has been teaching meditation in prisons in California for ten years, and explores what motivates him to practice in such a way.
Graduate Winner: A Brighter Summer Day for the Lady Avengers, directed by Birdy Wei-ting Hung
Taiwan, 1980s. A hot summer day, watermelon juice, and teenage girl Ming’s sexual awakening with her celluloid fantasies. Shot on 16mm.
CAAMFEST 2025 AUDIENCE AWARD
The CAAMFest Audience Award gives members of our audience the honor of selecting their favorite film of the Festival.
Audience Award Winner: Year of the Cat, directed by Tony Nguyen
Year of the Cat follows filmmaker Tony Nguyen on an extraordinary quest to solve the mystery of his father, lost in the chaos of the Fall of Saigon 50 years ago. Crafted as an investigative home movie, this intensely raw documentary weaves together moments of humor and heartache, offering an intimate look at how the children of refugees are shaped by war and loss. As Tony delves into his family’s history, the film reveals the emotional lengths we go to in confronting the ghosts of the past—and the possibility of healing as we reclaim and transform our futures. This is a CAAM-funded film.
CAAMFest 2025 DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
The Documentary Competition showcases a dynamic selection of films that fearlessly capture the challenging reality and surprising beauty inherent in the human experience.
Jury members: Cecilia Mejia, Vice President, External Affairs, American Documentary; Bao Nguyen, Filmmaker and 2025 CAAM Fellowship Mentor; Anuj Vaidya, Communications Director, Imagining America.
Documentary Feature Winner: Slumlord Millionaire, directed by Steph Ching & Ellen Martinez
In New York City’s most quickly gentrifying neighborhoods, a group of fearless residents, activists, and nonprofit attorneys fight corrupt landlords for the basic human right to a home. This film follows the story of the Bravo family who have endured leaks, mold, infestations and harassment and been in a legal battle with their landlord for 15 years; Janina Davis, a former supermodel who is reclaiming her Brooklyn brownstone after a deed theft scam; Mr. Chen, a resident of Manhattan Chinatown who fears the construction of four luxury towers might destroy his historic community; and Moumita Ahmed whose Queens City Council race was viciously targeted by billionaire real estate developers.
CAAMFest 2025 NARRATIVE COMPETITION
The Narrative Competition Award highlights the diversity and ingenuity of modern cinema and recognizes excellence in narrative filmmaking.
Jury members: Sanaz Alesafar, Executive Director, Storyline Partners; Zander Kim, Film & TV Assistant, 3AD; Mayuran Tiruchelvam, Marcus Endowed Chair of Social Justice Filmmaking, San Francisco State University.
Narrative Feature Winner: Mongrels, directed by Jerome Yoo
In the summer of 1991, a Canadian prairie town finds itself plagued by an unsettling rise in the population of feral dogs. In desperate need for a remedy, Gwang-Sun Lee, a former Korean hunter, is enlisted by the affluent farmer, Scott Larson, to confront this burgeoning “rodent” problem. Gwang-Sun, or ‘Sonny,’ carries the heavy burden of his wife’s recent passing. Despite this torment, he works daily to assimilate and move on alongside his dutiful son Ha-Joon and naive daughter Hana. However, beneath the surface, tragedy runs deep within the family. The Lees paint a personal portrait of their fractured lives, all desperately grappling with their own mourning trials, and tribulations.
Loni Ding Award
Each year at CAAMFest, we present an award in memory of Loni Ding, a veteran independent filmmaker, television producer, and university instructor and an incredible Mentor to so many in this community. The Loni Ding Award for Social Issue Documentary recognizes the film and filmmaker whose work most reflects Loni’s ethos of highlighting underrepresented voices with a focus on reflecting social issues affecting Asian American communities. She devoted her life to advocacy and played a vital role in the establishment of multiple public media organizations, including CAAM.
This $1,000 award is given to a promising short-form filmmaker whose work about Asian American experiences embodies what Loni stood for.
Selection Committee: Czarina Garcia, CAAM Media Fund Manager, Sapana Sakya, Talent Development & Special Projects Director and Don Young, CAAM Executive Director
The committee reviewed three shorts equally rich and inspiring short films by talented filmmakers:
- Why My Dad Loves by filmmaker Nkaujoua (NK) Xiong
- Painted Ones by Julia Husain Nacario
- On the Road to Dharma by Yihuan Zhang
Loni Ding Award Winner: Why My Dad Loves, directed by Nkaujoua Xiong
A daughter explores her father’s experiences – before he left his homeland of Laos and after – and how they shape his understanding of love.
Jury Statement:
“We recognize this year’s Loni Ding Award winning film for the beautiful animation and the profoundly moving storytelling. At its core, Why My Dad Loves is an intergenerational story that captures the shared history and resilience of the Hmong community and a father’s quiet strength and devotion to his family. It beautifully illustrates how collective experiences and cultural heritage influence our identities and the decisions we make for future generations. The film serves as a reminder that our actions today have deep significance for our families and communities.
For all these reasons and more, we are proud to award the Loni Ding Award filmmaker NK Xiong to Why My Dad Loves. May it inspire conversations about love, sacrifice, and the powerful bonds that unite us across generations.”
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
Opening Night Film: Third Act, directed by Tadashi Nakamura
CAAMFest 2025 opened with Third Act, a documentary by former CAAM mentor, Tadashi Nakamura about his father Bob Nakamura. Attendees filled two theaters at the AMC Kabuki in Japantown, followed by a Q&A with director Tad Nakamura, editor Victoria Chalk, and producer Eurie Chung, moderated by Programs Manager Del Holton.
Opening Night Gala
Opening Night Gala returned to the Asian Art Museum featuring a scavenger hunt of the galleries and music by DJ Lia Ouyang Rusli. Guests enjoyed choice eats by Sitha’s Khmer Kitchen, Bake Sum, The Sarap Shop, Nusa, Hết Sẩy, Mama Lamees, Socola Chocolatier, Kitiya Ditpare, Sugoi Brewing, and Tashi. Over 800 attendees ate, drank, and explored the museum’s exhibits including Yuan Goang-Ming: Everyday War, straight from the Venice Biennale. They also enjoyed the East West Bank Art Terrace: the Museum’s newly opened, 7,500-square-foot outdoor rooftop venue. This program was made possible with support from the Asian Art Museum.
Centerpiece Documentary: Love Chaos Kin, directed by Chithra Jeyaram
When Lakshmi, an Indian immigrant, and adoptive mother, unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she takes her White-passing adopted twin daughters, Anjali and Meghna on a journey of self-discovery. This leads them to reconnect with their struggling birth mother and find their estranged Navajo father, forcing them to confront their past, embrace their multiracial identity, and redefine what it means to be a family. The screening was followed by a Q&A with director Chithra Jeyaram moderated by Gretchen Sisson.
Centerpiece Documentary: Your Touch Makes Others Invisible, directed by Rajee Samarasinghe
The surreal tale of a spellbound Tamil factory worker who loses her son to a supernatural entity. Collaboratively enacted by impacted locals, Your Touch Makes Others Invisible is a lyrical exploration of disappearances in a small post-war community in northern Sri Lanka where memories of interactions between the Tamils and the Sinhalese linger. The screening was followed by a Q&A with director Rajee Samarasinghe moderated by Mayuran Tiruchelvam.
Centerpiece Narrative: Bitterroot, directed by Vera Brunner-Sung
Reeling from a failed marriage and seeking solace and a new perspective, a Hmong man cares for his aging mother amidst the deceptively tranquil landscape of rural Montana. The screening was followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers moderated by Sapana Sakya. This is a CAAM-funded film. This screening was made possible with support from Motion Picture Association and AARP.
Centerpiece Narrative: Characters Disappearing, directed by Connor Sen Warnick
The narrative feature celebrated its world premiere at the Roxie Theater, preceded by the short ping pong ping pong ping pong ping pong ping pong, directed by Daphne Xu. In Characters Disappearing, when their grandfather Gong Gong goes missing, twenty-something cousins Mei and Chris cut diverging paths through a haunting vision of New York’s Chinatown. Director Connor Sen Warnick participated in a Q&A moderated by Emily Chao and celebrated the premiere with extended family.
Closing Night Film: Yellow Face, directed by Annette Jolles
Fans flocked to a sold out showing of Great Performance’s Yellow Face, a Tony-nominated Broadway play that follows a fictionalized version of playwright David Henry Hwang, as he joins Asian American protesters speaking out against the casting of a white actor as the Eurasian lead of Miss Saigon – a real-life controversy in the 1990s – only to find that when it comes time for him to cast his next play, he makes the same mistake by casting a white actor as his lead, thinking he is multiracial Asian.
The screening was followed by a Q&A with lead actor Daniel Dae Kim, Broadway debutante Shannon Tyo, San Francisco native Francis Jue, and director Leigh Silverman. This screening was made possible with support from Rakuten Viki.
Industry Hub
This year’s Industry Hub at CAAMFest featured three days of industry and community conversations bringing together an intergenerational cross section of over 200 filmmakers, mentors, fellows, and industry leaders. This year we highlighted our 2025 CAAM Fellows at the live Ready, Set, Pitch!, brought back the Filmmaker Summit with four enlightening panels featuring CAAMFest filmmakers and we added a Tea House Salon space focusing on scripted film to elevate creatives in front of and behind the camera. We are grateful to KOHO Co-Creative Hub and the Japantown Cultural District Visitor Center for hosting all our Industry Hub events this year, they helped us create a welcoming and warm vibe for everyone!
CAAM’s Industry Hub is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal, Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc), Prologis, Storyline Partners, Jessie Cheng Charitable Foundation, Film SF | San Francisco Film Commission, ITVS, SAG-AFTRA, and American Documentary/POV. Special thanks to the following institutional funders: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Bank of America.
Thanks to Our Supporters!
CAAMFest 2025 is made possible with support from Grand Sponsors Asian Art Museum, Bloomberg, and Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco. Additional support is provided by Comcast NBCUniversal, AARP, Motion Picture Association, Pacific Islanders in Communications, Rakuten Viki, Film SF | San Francisco Film Commission, San Francisco Symphony, Minami Tamaki LLP, Southwest Airlines, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, ITVS, Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc), SAG-AFTRA, and American Documentary/POV.
Special thanks to the following institutional funders and government agencies: Corporation for Public Broadcasting, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Ford Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation, Bank of America, Prologis, Sheng-Yen Lu Foundation, Robert Joseph Louie Memorial Fund, Jessie Cheng Charitable Foundation, and APA Heritage Foundation. Thank you also to the following media supporters: BART, iHeartRadio, KQED, KTSF Channel 26, NBC Bay Area, iHeartRadio, India Currents, Nichi Bei News, SF/Arts.org, SFGovTV, and SF Station.
