We are grateful to announce U.S. Bank’s support of CAAMFest 2021, CAAM, and helping bring Asian and Asian American stories to light. In our shared belief in the power of storytelling to combat hate, as an initial step, CAAM and U.S. Bank are proud to highlight crucial Asian American stories and educational resources with the wider community.

As a good starting primer to learn about the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played in shaping our nation’s history, we recommend the five-part Asian Americans PBS documentary series. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

In the coming weeks, we look forward to sharing on this page more films and conversations that speak to the breadth and depth of the Asian American experience.

By uplifting our rich and diverse narratives, we proudly declare that we are not invisible, and that our grief and our joy are fundamental to our national experience. Further, we remain hopeful that in sharing and learning from our stories, we will help foster a society with more empathy, compassion, and equality.

Learn more about U.S. Bank’s commitment to the AAPI community here.


ASIAN AMERICANS

Told through intimate and personal lives, Asian Americans casts a new lens on U.S. history and the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played in shaping the nation’s story. All of the episodes are currently available for streaming on the PBS website. For those looking to dive deeper, we recommend these PBS lesson plans as well; while developed for students, they can be meaningful reflection starting points for all ages.

Asian Americans is a production of the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and WETA Washington, DC for PBS, in association with the Independent Television Service (ITVS), Flash Cuts, and Tajima-Peña Productions.

Asian Americans Trailer

Asian Americans Trailer

ASIAN AMERICANS is a five-hour film series that delivers a bold, fresh perspective on a history that matters today, more than ever. As America becomes more diverse—and more divided—while facing unimaginable challenges, how do we move forward together? Told through intimate and personal lives, the series cast a new lens on U.S. history and the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played in shaping the nation’s story.
Episode 1: Breaking Ground

Episode 1: Breaking Ground

In an era of U.S. expansion, new immigrants arrive from China, India, Japan, the Philippines and beyond. Eventually barred by anti-Asian laws, and become America’s first “undocumented immigrants.” Yet they build railroads, take their fight for equality to the U.S. Supreme Court, and dazzle on the silver screen.
Episode 2: A Question of Loyalty

Episode 2: A Question of Loyalty

An American-born generation straddles their country of birth and their familial homelands in Asia. Family loyalties are tested during World War II, when Japanese Americans are imprisoned in detention camps, and brothers find themselves on opposite sides of the battle lines. For Koreans and other Asian Americans, joining the U.S. war effort also means the fight for independence in Asia.
Episode 3: Good Americans

Episode 3: Good Americans

During the Cold War years, Asian Americans are simultaneously heralded as a Model Minority, and suspected as the perpetual foreigner. It is also a time of bold ambition, as Asian Americans aspire for the first time to national political office, and an emerging culture-quake rises to the surface.
Episode 4: Generation Rising

Episode 4: Generation Rising

During a time of war and social tumult, a young generation fights for equality in the fields, on campuses and in the culture, and claim a new identity: Asian Americans. The aftermath of the Vietnam War brings new immigrants and refugees who expand the definition of Asian America.
Episode 5: Breaking Through

Episode 5: Breaking Through

At the turn of the millennium, Asian Americans have become the fastest growing population in the U.S. It is a time of tremendous change, as the country tackles urgent debates over immigration, race and economic disparity. Asian Americans, newly empowered by growing numbers and rising influence, must navigate their role in the American future.

CAAM Recommended Films and Conversations (coming soon)