Art In Action - Shorts
Sunday october 19, 2025
5:30 PM - 7:15 PM
This collection of AAPI short films celebrates the power of creativity to inspire, challenge, and transform. Through dance, music, visual art, and performance, these stories reveal how artists turn imagination into action, using their craft to spark dialogue, uplift communities, and express bold ideas. Together, they showcase the courage and energy that drive both personal expression and collective change.
Korean-American sisters and classical musicians, Viv and Gia, struggle to practice a piano and violin duet, as their mother May, reminds them about the importance of harmony. Their bond is tested as adulthood brings conflicting priorities—Gia pursues her musical dreams while Viv chooses to care for their ailing mother.
Sonata
Along Comes Larry,
The Larry Ramos StorY
This documentary is about Hawaii's Larry Ramos, the first Asian American to win a Grammy. An ukulele child prodigy, he would go on to be a key member of the New Christy Minstrels and The Association.
The Photographer
Prematho
When a perfectionist teenage Bharatanatyam dancer is denied her Arangatram (recital), she must realize that impeccable technique alone is insufficient, for only a lesson in gratitude and a reevaluation of her relationship with her mother will bring her dance to new heights.
A Stranger confronts a Street Photographer for taking his photo without permission.
Into the Void
A spoken word poem about sexual assault.
Q&A Guests and moderator
Moderator: David Louie
David Louie is a retired business and tech reporter at KGO-TV in San Francisco. He retired from the Disney-ABC owned station in 2022 after 50 years of service. A Chinese American, he became the first Asian American to report on-air at KGO-TV in 1972.Louie was part of the first local TV news team to report from China in 1979, one yearafter the normalization of relations with the U.S. Louie has been honored with numerous accolades through the years, including regional Emmys and the Governors’ Award, the highest honor bestowed by the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS). He was also inducted into the Golden Circle and Silver Circle for his contributions to the northern California television industry.
Sonata
Director: Eljin Yoo
Jinoo Eljin Yoo is a Korean-American filmmaker and violinist, with a B.A. in Film & TV Production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Born in the heart of Los Angeles, CA, but nurtured amidst the dynamic landscape of Dubai, UAE, Eljin imparts a unique blend of cultures to his storytelling, revolving around crafting subtle portraits of mysterious worlds, realities, and characters that pulse with visual and narrative poetry, interwoven with ardent social themes that provoke thought in a lyrical manner.
Prematho
Director: Harshith Surya Kotni
Harshith Kotni, an Indian American Director, Writer, and Producer hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area and now based in LA, is a recent graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. With a focus on Line Producing and UPM roles, his notable achievements include work on the TV pilot "Marvin is Sorry," set to premiere at SXSW, and production coordination for Blink 182's "TURPENTINE" music video. Passionate about illuminating South Asian narratives, Harshith has seamlessly integrated his cultural heritage into various music videos, commercials, and short films.
Along Comes Larry, The Larry Ramos Story
Director: Rick Quan
Rick Quan is an Emmy award winning news anchor and reporter. He is the first Chinese American television sportscaster in the country and the first Asian American male to be a full-time anchor in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rick was recently inducted into the NATAS Silver Circle for his more than 25 years of broadcast excellence in the Northern California and Hawaii TV markets. Rick is also an award winning documentarian, having produced several short documentaries on various Asian American pioneers.
Into the Void
Director: Giovannie Espiritu
Giovannie Espiritu's identity is inherently political: A bisexual, once-undocumented immigrant Filipina mom who spent time in a Biblical doomsday cult as a teen.
Most of her work has taken aim at dismantling the patriarchy, healing generational trauma, and exposing systems of bias with humor. She just finished writing and directing the feature film, "Love & Karma," with Oscar nominee Eric Roberts (Runaway Train), Golden Globe nominee Joanna Pacula (Tombstone), Golden Horse nominee Bai Ling (Anna & the King), starring Filipino talent Belinda Panelo and Jojo Riguerra.