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San Francisco Chronicle
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Guide to CAAMFest 2025: Must-watch films that celebrate Asian Americans, past and present
As the world's longest-running Asian American-themed film festival, it seems especially timely that this year, CAAMFest turns its focus to community roots. Reflection and retrospection are key themes throughout the films screening during the four-day festival organized by the Center for Asian American Media that runs from Thursday to Sunday, May 8-11. For its 43rd year, not only will CAAMFest spotlight films that mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, but the festival's programming will also point its lens toward the next generation of Asian American filmmakers and activists. As an organization, CAAM itself is in a period of transition. Last December, the nonprofit celebrated the career of its retiring executive director Stephen Gong, capping off more than 40 years of his involvement. So it's fitting that this year's festival schedule honors the stories of Asian Americans who laid down the roots of the vibrant culture that so many enjoy today — which feels all the more important to underscore under a presidential administration that's attacking diversity initiatives and pulling arts funding. Here are seven screenings worth catching during this year's CAAMFest, which commemorate the foundations of Asian America and imagine its future. 'Third Act' Kicking off CAAMFest's opening night is Tadashi Nakamura's intimate documentary about his father, Robert A. Nakamura, known as 'the godfather of Asian American media' who directed the first Asian American feature film 'Hito Hata: Raise the Banner' (1980) and founded the first Asian American media arts organization, Visual Communications. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 8. AMC Kabuki 1, 1881 Post St., S.F. 'Chinatown Cha-Cha' The joy, beauty and glamour of these Asian American senior dancers is a poignant delight to witness. This celebratory documentary traces the history of the nightclub dancers of San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1940s and how in older age, these former professionals inspire their peers to keep dancing. 8 p.m. Friday, May 9. AMC Kabuki 3, 1881 Post St., S.F. Making Waves: The Rise of Asian America While paying homage to the student activists at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State who birthed the Asian American movement in 1968, this moving documentary by Jon Osaki and Josh Chuck also introduces audiences to young activists like the Texas teenagers fighting to add Asian American studies to their state's curriculum. 4 p.m. Saturday, May 10. AMC Kabuki 1, 1881 Post St., S.F. Bitterroot In this feature by Vera Brunner-Sung, care takes multiple forms, from one Hmong family's intergenerational breakfasts to finding solace in natural splendor. Beautifully shot, the story follows recent divorcee Lue as he interacts with his tightly knit community, which includes NBC Bay Area anchor/reporter Gia Vang in the role of his sister, May. 7 p.m. Saturday, May 10. AMC Kabuki 1, 1881 Post St., S.F. Centerpiece Shorts A rarity for CAAMFest, this year a slate of short films get the distinction of being named a festival centerpiece. The seven-film screening includes 'Billo Rani,' a charming story about a 12-year-old figuring out how to feel about her unibrow, and 'Kumar Kumar,' a dark comedy about loneliness. 12 p.m. Sunday, May 11. Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St., S.F. Palestinian Landscapes This two-film showcase asks audiences to consider Palestinians' connection to land and tradition. 'A Stone's Throw' takes an experimental approach in mapping geographies and feelings of loss, while 'Foragers' reveals how harvesting plants in Palestine has become criminalized activity under occupation. 5 p.m. Sunday, May 11. Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St., S.F. Yellow Face CAAMFest's closing night screening returns to events of the 1990s in the filmed 2024 revival of David Henry Hwang's Broadway play 'Yellow Face.' Recorded for PBS's 'Great Performances,' the biting, uproarious theatrical mockumentary about casting a white actor in an Asian role for 'Miss Saigon' on Broadway features standouts like Daniel Dae Kim and Francis Jue. 8 p.m. Sunday, May 11. AMC Kabuki 1, 1881 Post St., S.F.
San Francisco Chronicle
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Longtime CAAM insider steps up as executive director amid industry uncertainty
Call it a trial by fire. Less than 72 hours after the Center for Asian American Media was informed it was losing its federal funding, Donald Young took over the organization. 'It's a really treacherous time. Public media is under pointed scrutiny with their efforts to defund CPB, which is why CAAM initially was founded,' Young told the Chronicle, referring to the Trump administration's executive order to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 'The goal was to create an organization that could be full participants in public media. So we're very concerned about that.' But he is up for the challenge. Young, who has worked for CAAM in various capacities for 30 years, was announced as executive director on the opening night of CAAMFest 43 at the AMC Kabuki 8 on Thursday, May 8. His first official day on the job was Monday, May 5. He succeeds Stephen Gong, who was present during the organization's founding — as the National Asian American Telecommunications Association in 1980 — and served as executive director for the past 18 years before announcing plans to retire in December. 'I'm not anxious about CAAM's future; we will thrive and we'll do great work,' Young told the Chronicle. 'But I am anxious about the moment and the space that we all inhabit together, not just the Asian American community, but our partners in independent film and public media.' Young, 57, was approved unanimously by the nonprofit organization's board members after a nine-month nationwide search conducted by the executive search firm Koya Partners. He was most recently CAAM's director of programs, and programmed CAAMFest 43, which runs through Sunday, May 11. 'Don's experience has proven him to be not only a producer of ground-breaking films about Asian American experiences, but an advocate for inclusive representation in the independent documentary and public media world,' board co-chairs Dipti Ghosh and Vin Pan said in a joint statement. Young executive produced the Peabody Awards nominee 'Rising Against Asian Hate' (2022), the landmark PBS five-part docu-series 'Asian Americans' (2020) and Wayne Wang's indie feature ' Coming Home Again ' (2019). He is a member of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. More than 200 films and television series produced by CAAM have aired on public television since 1982, including nearly 50 this decade alone. Young said he expects that to continue, even with the roadblocks by the federal government. 'We're still trying to understand how this is gonna play out,' said Young, who added that CAAM was notified at 8 p.m. Friday, May 2, that a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts would not be coming through. 'Understandably, people feel very targeted and concerned and anxious, as well as mad, frustrated. But we have a festival (this week) and that is the very best way to demonstrate what we can do.' Born in San Francisco, Young is a fourth generation Chinese American who was raised in San Rafael. He, his wife Lisa Nguyen and their daughter Hannah live in Palo Alto. Young noted it was an honor to succeed Gong, whom he called 'a mentor, confidant and role model.' He added that their time working together was 'an amazing partnership.' 'We're going to miss him,' Young said. 'It's the first time in (CAAM's) history that somebody who was part of our founding is not going to be a part of the organization.'
