It’s been three years since CAAMFest, a celebration of international Asian American film, music and food, had a proper festival, and the folks at CAAM — the Center for Asian American Media — are pulling out all the stops for their 40th anniversary event.(Because of the pandemic, the festival held virtual and drive-in events in2020and2021.)
Check out The Chronicle’s guide to films and events at the festival,which runs May 12-22,in chronological order. For the full schedule, go tovisitcaamedia.org:
Opening night: ‘Free Chol Soo Lee’
This must-see documentary, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, is about a Korean American immigrant who was wrongfully convicted of the 1973 murder of a gang leader in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Lee’s case caught the attention of social justice advocates, including a young Jeff Adachi —the late San Francisco public defender— who worked to overturn the conviction. Most heartbreaking is Lee’s personal story, so touchingly told by director Julie Ha and Eugene Yi.
6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 12. Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., S.F. Followed by opening night party featuring music by hip-hop orchestra Ensemble Mik Nawooj, led by Oakland composer and pianist JooWan Kim. Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St, S.F.
‘Leonor Will Never Die’
If you loved the Michelle Yeoh multiverse in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” you might enjoy Martika Ramirez Escobar’s tale of an aging filmmaker who becomes the hero of her own unfinished script, after she is knocked into a coma by a television. The wacky crowd-pleaser is part of the festival’s Filipino culture section.
5:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s Phyllis Wattis Theater, 151 Third St., S.F.
‘Bad Axe’
Director David Siev returned to his hometown of Bad Axe, Mich., to make this documentary about members of a Cambodian-Mexican family in Trump’s rural America who struggle to keep their restaurant open.
6 p.m. Sunday, May 15. Great Star Theater, 636 Jackson St., S.F.
“安妮塔”
没有恒星捕获的粉丝们的想象力lden Age of Hong Kong music and cinema quite like Anita Mui, who packed a full life into her 40 years on Earth. Portraying the singer and actress would seem like an impossible task, but Louise Wong rises to the challenge in this 2021 Hong Kong-made biopic. Terrance Lau is less convincing as fellow singer-actor Leslie Cheung, but director Longman Leung perfectly captures the nostalgia of the Hong Kong entertainment scene from the 1970s through the 1990s.
6 p.m. May 19. SFMOMA’s Phyllis Wattis Theater
‘Silent River’
Korean American filmmaker Chris Chan Lee was part of that magical Asian American indie film movement that exploded in 1997 and launched the careers of stars like John Cho and directors such as Justin Lin and Quentin Lee. Chris Chan Lee’s “Yellow,” which starred Cho, was part of that movement. Now the filmmaker is back with an indie drama about a man who meets a woman on the run at a desert motel.
6 p.m. May 20, SFMOMA’s Phyllis Wattis Theater
‘Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres’
San Francisco’s own pioneer of rock journalism is celebrated inSuzanne Joe Kai’s affectionate portraitof an Asian American trailblazer, with stars such as Elton John popping by to pay tribute.
5月21日中午。SFMOMA的菲利斯Wattis Theater
Pinays on the Rise
CAAM’s collaboration with SOMA Pilipinas Cultural District at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival features an outdoor music showcase featuring emerging Bay Area Filipino voices, including singer-songwriter Kiyomi, who specializes in R&B stylings based on personal experiences; Ouida, named one of Nylon Magazine’s rising musicians; and DJ Bitesize, who is scheduled to be spinning and scratching party tunes. The outdoor event is free.
12:30 p.m. May 21. Yerba Buena Gardens, 750 Howard St., S.F.
‘Mud Water’
Directed by My-Linh Le, who co-founded the Mud Water Theatre, the 31-minute film is a celebration of “turfing,” a dance style that arose from Oakland’s Black community in the 1990s and became entwined with the hyphy movement, which was embraced by the Asian American hip-hop community. The special event will include a live performance by Mud Water Theatre dancers.
4:30 p.m. May 22. The New Parkway, 474 24th St., Oakland
Closing night: ‘Every Day in Kaimuki’
The first feature from Hawaiian writer-director Alika Tengan follows a DJ and skateboard artist who is unsure whether he wants to leave his sleepy Hawaiian town to accompany his girlfriend, a promising ceramic artist, to New York. What’s cool about this closing night is the venue — the New Parkway, a comfy and intimate Oakland arthouse with couch seating.
7 p.m. May 22. The New Parkway
CAAMFest 40:May 12-22.General admission, free to $14; Specialpresentations,$20-$65. For the full schedule, tickets and other details, visitcaamedia.org.