New venue and industry networking hub for 2024 CAAMFest

SAN FRANCISCO -  The Center for Asian American Media held it's 2024 CAAMFest launch party on Thursday night at Victory Hall in San Francisco.

People gathered to celebrate and raise a glass to the 42nd year of the film, music and food event, which has served as a showcase and support system for Asian American film and media makers.
"Having a platform to display our art and the art our team and I made. It's really a dream come true to be able to share that with our community," Mitch Truong, the writer and director of the film "Dawn of Skates" which is part of the festival.

"Very few of us really want to make a film just for profit. Most of us really want to make an impact, especially within our own communities. So it's really nice to find a community that's very supportive," Jenn Lee Smith, film producer of  the documentary "Home Court" said.

New this year is a change to the opening night screening venue, which will be held May ninth at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater instead of the Castro Theatre which is under rennovation.

The opening film called "Admissions Granted" tackles affirmative action, an issue that has divided Asian Americans.

"Those kinds of questions are vitally important that we talk about, talk them through, understand what is our relationship with other communities in America," Stephen Gong, executive director of the Center for Asian American Media.

Gong says many of the films this year tackle difficult issues.

"With the pandemic, with violence against our community, I think we're still trying to work our way through that on that," Gong said.

Also new, is an industry hub space at Four One Nine Gallery in SOMA for networking and panel discussions.

"We wanted to congregate and have everyone under one roof. Just as a way to nurture and cultivate like, more of these connections between our filmmakers and media makers," Thuy Tran, the Festival Director for CAAMFest said.

Staff hope CAAMFest can spark dialogue during these divisive times and seismic shifts in the film industry.

"It's really dangerous if we stop talking to one another inside our own families and inside our communities," Gong said.

"It's totally changing, with all of these platforms and dwindling movie theaters, so for us, this is a really important space," Tran said.