Asian American film festival season kicks off in L.A. and S.F.

There is a growing audience for the works shown at Asian American film festivals.

The 2026 Asian American film festival season is officially hitting its stride, and if you haven’t heard the buzz surrounding The A List, you’re clearly not checking your feed. 

Asian American film festivals are not just about seeing movies; they are vital lifelines for a community still fighting to be seen, heard, and understood on its own terms. While Hollywood occasionally pats itself on the back for a single "breakthrough" hit, these festivals have been doing the heavy lifting for decades, proving that our stories are not a monolith or a trend.

As VC Film Fest (the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival) and San Francisco’s CAAMFest kick off the festivities, the community is showing up in force to celebrate stories that refuse to stay on the sidelines.

The opening night feature at CAAMfest in San Francisco will be The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas, the HBO Original documentary everyone is talking about. Directed by Eugene Yi, it’s a high-wattage deep dive into the lives of icons who paved the way.

Among the heavyweights featured are: Sandra Oh (Korean Canadian), Kumail Nanjiani (Pakistani American), Tammy Duckworth (Thai American) and trailblazer Connie Chung (Chinese American).

It’s more than a highlight reel; it’s a raw, intimate look at the struggle for visibility and the weight of being "the first." The documentary serves as a definitive roadmap of the AAPI experience in media, bridging the gap between industry legends and the next generation.

Asian Americans who have become role models including, from left:  Kumail Nanjani,
Tammy Duckworth and Sandra Oh,  are interviewed in The A List documentary.

The "Big Two" are setting the tone for the year with a slate that spans the entire diaspora.

Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (VC Film Fest)

Celebrating its 42nd year, this is one of the most significant festivals for AANHPI storytellers. eneral ticketing goes on sale April 6 at 12 PM PST at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival site. Opening night features Lucky Lu directed by Lloyd Lee Choi. Here are some of the featured films:

• The Furious (Chinese/Indonesian): A high-octane special presentation starring Miao Xie and Joe Taslim. It’s a masterclass in martial arts choreography.
• Honeyjoon (Kurdish American): A touching mother-daughter dramedy from Lilian T. Mehrel that explores grief and heritage with a light, humorous touch.
• Before the Moon Falls (Cambodian American): A spotlight documentary by Kimberlee Bassford that captures the delicate balance of cultural preservation.

CAAMFest (San Francisco)

The nation's leading showcase for Asian American film, music, and food. Opening Night: The A-List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas followed by a gala at the Asian Art Museum. Here are sme key films in the festival:

• Forge (Chinese/Singaporean American): This buzzy centerpiece by Jing Ai Ng follows siblings in Miami running a high-stakes art forgery ring. It’s slick, stylish, and deeply human.
• Traces of Home (Palestinian/Egyptian American): Serving as the Closing Night film, Colette Ghunim takes viewers on a visceral journey to find her parents' ancestral homes.
• Mabuhay (Filipino American): A narrative feature that dives deep into the specific rhythms and challenges of the Pinoy experience in the States.
• Jersey Boy (Indian American): A narrative selection making waves for its sharp writing and relatable exploration of second-generation identity.

---

Cross-over hits

• Diamond Diplomacy (Japanese/American): Screening across the circuit, Yuriko Gamo Romer explores the shared history of baseball, from the professional leagues to the fields behind barbed wire in incarceration camps.
• Y Vân: The Lost Sounds of Saigon (Vietnamese American): Closing out the SDAFF Spring Showcase, this doc profiles a legendary rock 'n roll figure, reclaiming a piece of musical history often lost to war.
  

---

Besides the Big Two, Asian American film festivals will be held in other cities this Spring and Summer.

• Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) – 'Ōpio Fest: April 17–19. This spring weekend in Honolulu at the Consolidated Theatres Kahala focuses on the "Future of Film," spotlighting student creatives (K-12) alongside family-friendly premieres. 

• Seattle Asian American Film Festival (SAAFF): May 29–31. A vital hub for the Pacific Northwest, SAAFF continues to amplify North American Asian and Pacific Islander voices. 

• San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF): April 24-26. This is one of the largest media arts events in North America dedicated to Asian American cinema. A "mini-festival" highlighting over a dozen independent films. Opening Night: The Road to Sydney, a documentary about Filipino master dance choreographer Sydney Loyola.

• Austin Asian American Film Festival (AAAFF): June 24–28. Held at the AFS Cinema, this festival is a key platform for Asian and Asian American cinema in the heart of Texas.

A scene from 'Republic of Pipolipinas, 'a mockumentary, from the Philippines that is making
its North American premiere this year at the San Diego festival.

Fall Highlights

A second flurry of film festivals takes place in the fall.

• 49th Asian American International Film Festival (July 30 – August 9) Known as "The First Home to Asian American Cinema," this is the longest-running Asian American festival in the US. Organized by Asian CineVision, it is held in venues throughout New York City. The program is still being finalized.

• Hawaii International Film Festival (Main Fall Festival): October 15–25, 2026. The 46th annual flagship event will span the islands, continuing its mission to bridge the East and West through adventurous storytelling.
  
  
• Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival: October 23–25, 2026. Based in Sunnyvale, California, this festival highlights the intersection of tech, culture, and cinema in the valley.

• San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF): Typically held in November. This is one of the largest media arts events in North America dedicated to Asian American cinema.

View from the edge

The film festivals give filmmakers a chance to show their talent. Before they did Hollywood directors, Ang Lee, Mira Nair, Wayne Wang and Justin Lin were showing their wares in film festivals often telling stories and documenting history unseen and unknown by mainstream audiences.

For too long, the industry has viewed Asian American stories through a narrow lens—Asian Americans are often relegated to sidekicks, martial artists, computer nerds or the perpetual foreigner. Film festivals like AAIFF or CAAMFest flip that script. They provide a sanctuary for "niche" stories that the big studios are too afraid to touch. Here, we see the full spectrum of our lives: the messy, the experimental, the queer, and the mundane. It’s where a documentary about a local Chinatown grocery store is treated with the same reverence as a high-octane thriller.

As we look toward the 2026 festival season, the stakes feel higher than ever with the rise of anti-immigrant rhetoric, threats to birthright citizenship and history being rewritten erasing. We don't just watch these films; we witness our own survival.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

The comedic feature film 'Joy Ride' kicks off the 41st CAAMFest 2023

JOYRIDE

The stars of "Joy Ride" hold nothing back in the raucous comedy.

CAAMFest 2023, the world’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian film, food and music programs, annually will be presenting over 100 works in San Francisco and Oakland starting May 11. 

The 41st CAAMfest featuring movie features, shorts, documentaries and celebration of AANHPI dance and food will be in-person for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

Kicking off the festival on May 11 is a screening of is the stereotype-busting, raunchy comedy Joyride, which could be as impactful among Hollywood studio heads as 2018's Crazy Rich Asians.

Often described as a female Hangover, the movie is a hilarious and unapologetically explicit story of identity and self-discovery centers on four unlikely Asian American women who embark on a once-in-a-lifetime international adventure. It stars Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Sabrina Wu and Oscar-nominated Stephanie Hsu and directed and co-written by Crazy Rich Asians screenplay writer Adele Lim.

After the Joy Ride screening at the funky Castro Theater, the Opening Night Gala will follow at the ornate Asian Art Museum.

“The recent Oscars was a historic night for Asian Americans,” says Stephen Gong, CAAM Executive Director, referring to the Oscar wins of Everything, Everywhere All at Once, including best picture. 

“We hope to continue seeing more of our stories not only just represented on the big screen, but present throughout our communities. Since our first film festival over 40 years ago, CAAM has been working to lift these stories and change perceptions about our ever-evolving Asian American narratives.”

CAAMFest screenings, receptions, and events will be held in San Francisco and Oakland, including venues in neighborhoods rich with Asian American history, such as San Francisco’s Filipino Heritage District in the South of Market and Chinatown. This 11-day festival will be more experiential than ever.

Some of the other highlights include:

• The Accidental Getaway Driver, a feature that was awarded the director's award for Sing J. Lee at Sundance Film Festival. An elderly Vietnamese American driver picks up nightmare passengers who kidnap him. Set in an unnerving tone, intensity is punctuated by moments of humor and warmth. Less a crime film, but a stirring portrait of this lonely, old man. It screens at the Castro Theater, May 12, 6 p.m. The director is expected to be in attendance for a Q&A after the screening.

• The highly-anticipated Disney series, American Born Chinese, fresh off a special screening at the White House, will be shown at the Castro Theatre on May 13 at 3 p.m. Gene Yang, whose graphic novel is the inspiration for the series, will be in attendance along with the show creator Kelvin Yu , an Emmy-award winning writer for a question and answer session following the screening.

• Sneak Peek: Larry the Musical on Sunday, May 14, 6 p.m. at the Great Star Theater. Larry The Musical is based on the book, Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong by Dr. Dawn Mabalon and Gayle Romasanta. Join members of the production team as they take us through the journey of bringing to life the story of Filipino labor organizer, Larry Itliong, who fought for dignity in the fields and united for the first time with the Mexican community in Delano, California.

• 

  "The Right to Rock" is about the historic Filipino American female band of the 1970s

  
  

• Fanny: The Right to Rock is a documentary about a band formed by Filipina Americans from the Central Valley in the 1960s. The film explores Fanny’s uphill battle to complete and release their new album, with the fascinating herstory of the band’s improbable journey during their 70s heyday. It will screen on May 19, 5:30 p.m. at the SFMOMA Phyllis Wattis Theater. Expected guests include filmmaker Bobbi Jo Hart and Fanny members Brie Darling, Alice De Buhr, Jean Millington, June Millington, and Patti Quatro.

• The band Fanny will give a live performance the next day, May 20, 1 p.m. at Yerba Buena Gardens for Directions in Sound: Fanny and Friends, Saturday, May 20, 1:00 PM | Yerba Buena Gardens Directions in Sound, CAAMFest’s fresh music showcase, returns once more to the SOMA Pilipinas Filipino Heritage District for a renewed collaboration with the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. They'll be joined by rapper  Ruby Ibarra and Peaboo and the Catz

“All of our communities have been so completely transformed these last few years. As we emerge from a place of isolation, CAAMFest becomes a necessary space and practice in how to gather once again,” says Festival and Exhibitions Director Thúy Trần. 

“CAAMFest is a call to gather, an open invitation to everyone to join us in reimagining how we connect through acts of joy, healing, advocacy, and discovery.”

FYI:

• For the complete CAAMFest schedule of films and events, click here.
• General admission tickets $15; seniors and students, $13; not including special events. Click here for box office information.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter or at his blog Views From the Edge.

SF film festival offering drive-in experience and virtual presentations in celebrating Asian and AAPI films, artists

A scene from 'Try Harder!', a documentary about Lowell High School in San Francisco.

A documentary film about San Francisco's highly competitive Lowell High School and its predominantly Asian American students opens the CAAMFest celebration of Asian American films Thursday night.

The film festival, presented by the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) . kicks off with opening night presentations of Try Harder! at the makeshift Fort Mason Flix drive-in. 

Due to the OVID-19 restrictions and a cautionary concern about the health of film fans and filmmakers, the movie was shown in an outdoor drive-in format at Fort Mason.

 “The current COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis of unprecedented scope, one that presents unique challenges to the Asian American community,” says Stephen Gong, executive director of CAAM. “Now, more than ever, the power of storytelling is vital to the health and happiness of our diverse communities.” 

Try Harder!, the acclaimed documentary by local filmmaker Debbie Lum looks at the highly competitive atmosphere at San Francisco’s Lowell High School, where many students are Asian American. The heat is on for these students as they work hard at school while also experiencing the incredibly stressful process of applying to elite colleges and universities where only a few open spots exist for the flood of applications the campuses will receive. 

Try Harder! screens at the Fort Mason Flix drive-in at 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. on Thursday, May 13, 2021.

Several spotlighted films will be exhibited at the makeshift drive-int as CAAM welcomes back fans after resorting to an all-virtual format last year. To enrich the experience, film festival organizers is bringing in food trucks featuring Asian cuisine for festival-goers.

Scene from "Lumpia With A Vengeance," will be shown on Day 2 of CAAMFest.

CAAMFest 2021  offers two films in the special drive-in program, “Celebration Of Filipino American Stories” -- The Fabulous Filipino Brothers and Lumpia With A Vengeance) -- on Friday, May 14, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. (Sold out.)

The drive-in portion of CAAMFest 2021 wraps up on Saturday, May 15, 2021, with the “Hong Kong Cinema Showcase” featuring films by Hong Kong movie makers at 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.

CAAM continues the virtual format with a schedule of over 50 events, including screenings, panels, and live performances. 

One of Basco's earlier films, The Debut, is being made available as one of CAAMFest's virtual screenings. The feature, made in 2001, is perhaps the first movie featuring Filipino American lead characters.

CAAMFest 2021 has offerings for everyone from media makers to film lovers to those interested in Asian and Asian American representation, conveyed through unique voices highlighting the intersections of community - an apt marking of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month during this year when Asian Americans have been targeted for widespread violence.

Comedian and actress Margaret Cho will be present at the screening for 'Korean Ghost Story.'

 Many more virtual programs continue through Sunday, May 23, 2021, with CAAMFest 2021’s eclectic schedule of online screenings.

“The world may have paused due to the pandemic, but our filmmakers didn’t,” says Masashi Niwano, festival and exhibitions director at CAAM. “The vibrancy and energy of this year’s programming is unmatched with our filmmakers bravely telling their unique and vital stories." 

While some screenings are ticketed, CAAMFest also offers free events. Ticket options include $8 to $10 for individual virtual screenings, $12 to $15 for special screening events, $44 to $50 for the CAAMFest On Demand Pass, $44 to $50 per vehicle for single drive-in screenings, and $84 to $90 per vehicle for drive-in double features.

* * *

For a complete list of the CAAMFest film offerings, panels, showcases and celebrations, click here.

To register for the live events and to receive access to the virtual films, click here.

CORRECTION, May 13, 11 a.m.: Earlier version of this post had the wrong film for Day 2. Thursday, May 14, 'Lumpia With A Vengeance' will play alongside 'The Fabulous Filipino Brothers.'