The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) is presenting numerous events at San Francisco museums during CAAMFest, taking place May 8-11, 2025. The festival, now in its 43rd year, celebrates films from Asian American and beyond. Throughout the four-day festival, screenings and programs will take place at the Kabuki cinemas and venues including the Asian Art Museum and SFMOMA.

OPENING NIGHT GALA
Thursday, May 8, 9:30 PM | Asian Art Museum

Following the Opening Night film screening of "Third Act" at the AMC Kabuki, the Asian Art Museum will open its doors for the Opening Night Gala, offering guests a chance to sample bites and beverages from some of the Bay Area’s most exciting emerging restaurants and pop-up chefs. Guests can access the museum and explore the captivating, globe-spanning galleries of the museum, including current exhibit "Yuan Goang-Ming: Everyday War," a critically acclaimed multi-media exhibition that represented Taiwan at the 60th Venice Biennale. This program is made possible with support from the Asian Art Museum.

"Chinatown Cha-Cha," directed by Luka Yuanyuan Yang
Friday, May 9, 8:00pm | AMC Kabuki 1

Still from "Chinatown Cha-Cha," directed by Luka Yuanyuan Yang

The 92-year-old former San Francisco Chinatown nightclub dancer Coby Yee decides to get back on stage again after joining the senior dance troupe Grant Avenue Follies. Together they go on a tour for the last time, bridging once isolated Chinese communities in the US, Cuba and China.

"To Be Continued," directed by Dora Choi & Haider Kikabhoy
Saturday, May 10, 12:00pm | AMC Kabuki 3

Still from "To Be Continued," directed by Dora Choi & Haider Kikabhoy

Convenient, tired and vapid, ‘East-meets-West’ is a cliché that has for decades been used to sell the ‘Hong Kong story’ to the world. Yet in the forgotten legend of Harry Odell, Hong Kong’s first impresario, a rediscovery of the city’s soul awaits. Flamboyant and cigar-chomping, Odell was a Cairo-born, Shanghai-bred Russian Jew who stamped his mark on the cultural life of post-war Hong Kong. What began as a grassroot conservation campaign to save the iconic State Theatre in Hong Kong morphed into five years of research and interviews with those who
witnessed Odell in action. The result: a film that is as much a study of one indomitable pioneer as it is a soul-searching journey of what defines Hong Kong.

"Between Pictures: The Lens of Tamio Wakayama," directed by Cindy Mochizuki
Saturday, May 10, 12:30pm | AMC Kabuki 4

Still from "Between Pictures: The Lens of Tamio Wakayama," directed by Cindy Mochizuki

Directed by Vancouver-based filmmaker and visual artist Cindy Mochizuki, "Between Pictures: The Lens of Tamio Wakayama," that tells the epic journey of the late Japanese Canadian photographer Wakayama who decides to join Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the deep south during the 1960’s American civil rights movement. Learning the art of dark room photography along the way, this transformative journey allows him to confront his own identity and to return ‘home’ to the west coast of Canada to begin a body of photographic work that continues to document, celebrate and re-present the spirit of Japanese Canadians who resided in the former Paueru Gai/Powell Street neighborhoods.

"What About China," directed by Trinh T. Minh-ha
Sunday, May 11, 12:00 pm | SFMOMA

Still from "What About China," directed by Trinh T. Minh-ha

Trinh explores China through multiple perspectives in this documentary, blending 1990s rural footage with poetry and folk traditions from provinces Anhui, Hubei, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangxi. She examines the process of "harmonising" rural China, focusing on women's voices and communal spaces, offering a journey into the wealth of China’s traditional architecture while exploring the hinterlands of self and other in their encounter.

"New Wave," directed by Elizabeth Ai
Sunday, May 11, 3:00pm | SFMOMA

Still from "New Wave," directed by Elizabeth Ai

A filmmaker on a mission to excavate an untold story of rebellious teens in the electrifying world of 80s Viet new wave in Orange County, California, unexpectedly confronts buried traumas that lead to forgiveness and a new beginning. This is a CAAM-funded film.

Main Image: Still from "Chinatown Cha-Cha," directed by Luka Yuanyuan Yang

About CAAMFest
Celebrating its 43rd year in 2025, CAAMFest is the nation’s leading showcase for films from Asian America and beyond. CAAMFest takes place May 8-11, 2025. Check CAAMFest.com for more programming and ticketing details.

About CAAM
For 45 years, the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) has been dedicated to presenting stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences to the broadest audience possible. As a nonprofit organization, CAAM funds, produces, distributes, and exhibits works in film, television, and digital media. For more information, please visit CAAMedia.org.