Group 1 Blog 2

Chinese Cinema in the Bay Area Research Project: Group 1 Blog 2

Found Sources, Challenges, and Questions: Center for Asian American Film Festival (CAAMfest)

Grisis Yu, Jessica Nye, Katie Scarlett Day, Ryan Wexler

Grisis：

Initially our group was going to research the Great Star Theater, but with the help of our professor Linda Zhang we decided to narrow our research focus on the past series of screenings from the CAAMfest (Center for Asian American Film Festival), and to investigate what kind of programs it has had with Chinese-language cinema, and what local/historical theaters it has held screenings with before. Since the materials I had prepared were mostly about the Great Star Theater, I will talk about how CAAM is related to Great Star Theater, and some relative challenges between them. The research focus and challenge I was thinking about at the office hour with Professor was about the operation mode of the Great Star Theater, since it is a non-government funded theater. According to my study in theater, there are two types of non-government funded theaters, one is for-profit, and the other is non-profit. Non-government funded non-profit theaters need to find some ways to keep the theater running normally (facility maintenance, staff salaries, etc.). According to Lei's article, I found out that the Great Star Theater is usually funded by the actors themselves or by others who the actors found for raising funds. (Lei, p.159) Based on that the Great Star Theater not only presents films but also Cantonese Opera (Lei, p.158), which caused heavier economic issues, they are also looking for sponsors and co-partners. CAAM is one of those they are looking for. CAAM partnered with GFI (The Global Film Initiative) in 2012 and chose to present their Arthouse Revival Program at the Great Star Theater (Mike), and from 2013 to 2015 and 2017 they presented some of the films in their festival CAAMFest’s list in the Great Star Theater. For example, CAAMFest 2015's film One Armed Swordsman was screened at the Great Star Theater, where many people went to see the film (see photo for details). One of their similarities is that they are both non-profit organizations that need to seek financial help in their operation model, which is one of their challenges. Secondly, during the Covid situation, it can be very difficult to hold in-person events, and the format of their events and fundraising is another challenge. The rest of the issues can also be about prejudice and national recognition, as Lei's article states, the population of Chinatown seems insignificant compared to the Chinese population in the Bay Area as a whole, and the stereotype that many people have of Chinatown is that it is "old". (Lei, p.161&165) This stereotype has led to a decline in population and the inability to bring in more people, which may be why CAAM has not chosen to continue its partnership with the Great Star Theater since 2015, but has instead chosen other places with stable sponsorship, such as the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, sponsored by Olympian Avery Brundage. But I think we will find answers to these challenges and questions in future research.

Jessica:

After deciding to re-center our topic from the Great Star Theater to the CAAMfest, we were able to research several sources provided by our professor Linda Zhang. I chose to focus upon the primary sources circulating this film festival, most of which include flyers and website pages. One primary source includes a flyer from October 12, 1982 that advertises the film festival’s showings. Under a large graphic, the flyer features the festival’s former name, titled NAATA (National Asian American Telecommunications Association) and different showing times. This flyer was provided to us by Jason Sanders from the Pacific Film Archive library. One specific aspect to this flyer that fascinated me was the address in the bottom right corner, which reads 2625 Durant Avenue, Berkeley. As a Berkeley student, I naturally recognized the street name but had never noticed any form of a theater venue (or at least one that still runs in this area) that resembled those we have discussed in this class. However, after researching this address, it pinpointed a building named Woo Han Fai Hall, which after further research I came to realize was the mysterious building I lived across the street from back when I was in Unit 1 -  a building I never really understood. Surprisingly, I never realized this building was the former location of BAMPFA (Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive), now being converted into a new research center.

It’s really interesting to see the difference in design looking at the CAAMfest flyer from 2021.

Overall, I think after examining these two flyers, our main challenge will be finding further flyers that detail which films were showcased during these festivals, as it’s more difficult to find this information from earlier on. I’m curious to see how the overall festival itself evolved throughout the years, so locating more flyers could help clarify this bigger picture.

Katie: 

For this blog post I am going to focus on the historical aspect of CAAM and other film groups of the Asian American cinema. CAAM films have been seen by audiences all across America since 1982. They work in coordination with PBS to help film maker’s films get broadcasted to millions of people. Dating back to the 1970s Asian American filmmakers were inspired by the active socialism from the 1960s. CAAM is a space for unique stories and voices to tell their stories to a national audience. Their first series titled Silk Screen has allowed them to become successful in broadcasting content to the audiences. In the 1980s Loni Dong, independent filmmaker, along with several others took the next steps and created NAATA, National Asian American Telecommunications Association. Through this their goal was to combat negative stereotypes about the Asian American group on public television. With the success of the film Chan is Missing in 1981 film makers felt the start of success. CAAM currently holds their own screening called “CAAMfest”. Last year they held their festival in San Francisco as a drive in to encourage audiences to watch. 

https://caamedia.org/caamfest-history/ 

https://caamedia.org/public-media/history/ 

Ryan:

One of the challenges I found when researching CAAM was thinking of what makes it stand out from other bay area film festivals. Aside from the festival focusing strictly on Asian American stories, the board of executives are all also Asian American. The festival has been ongoing for over 40 years and in 2020 was held at San Francisco’s only drive-in theater, Fort Mason Center. Unlike other festivals, CAAM offers a unique “on-demand” experience in which viewers can choose to watch a collection of around 50 festival films at their own convenience. Similar to live experiences, these recorded screenings have pre-recorded Q&A footage to allow for max exposure to Asian American cinema while adhering to COVID protocol. Although the festival was originally created specifically with Asian Americans in mind, it was expanded upon in the 90’s to include all asian cinema and provoke more inclusivity. I had a great time researching about CAAMfest and look forward to visiting some of the local venues that have previously hosted this festival to learn more about it. 

https://caamedia.org/about-caam/

https://caamfest.com/forward/on-demand/

Work Cited

Lei, Daphne. Virtual Chinatown and New Racial Formation: Performance of Cantonese Opera in the Bay Area. Edited by Janelle G. Reinelt and Joseph R. Roach. Critical Theory and Performance, Revised and Enlarged Edition ed., Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2006, drive.google.com/file/d/1g9OMM5jbb-H8ebs2ZHLjFnm50Dx2v7FN/view?usp=sharing. Accessed 16 Nov. 2021.

Mike. “CAAM Co-Presents Global Lens @ Great Star Theater on December 1st.” CAAM Home, Center for Asian American Media, 8 Nov. 2012, caamedia.org/blog/2012/11/08/caam-co-presents-global-lens-great-star-theater-on-december-1st/. Accessed 23 Feb. 2022.

CAAMFest. 

“That’s a Wrap! CAAMFest 2015 Highlights.” CAAM Home, 24 Mar. 2015, caamedia.org/blog/2015/03/24/its-a-wrap-caamfest-2015-highlights/. Accessed 25 Feb. 2022.