Shorts Collection:
Learn Who we arE
Sunday october 25, 2026
4:30PM - 7:00PM
Discover who we are and where we are headed often begins with understanding where we came from. These films explore journeys of self-discovery through the connections and experiences of family and community.
Feeling stuck in her acting career, Rachel decides to write and star in a film about her mother, who was a struggling Japanese American actress in 1980s Hollywood. But as she tries to adapt her mother’s story, and digs deeper into her grandmother’s history being sent to and falling in love in a Japanese American incarceration camp during WWII, she is torn between exploiting her family and friends to create a compelling narrative and honoring their privacy.
*Yonsei means fourth generation Japanese American
Yonsei
Oakland Ilokana (2025) is a short documentary following a 90-year-old Filipina American grandmother — one of the first Filipino children born in 1930s Oakland — as she reflects on a life shaped by migration, displacement, and the women in her community. Seen through the lens of her granddaughter, the film brings four generations of Bay Area Filipinas into focus, exploring the enduring power of memory to connect people across place and time.
Oakland Ilokana
The Making of Kangie
In 1984, Rev. Masao "Mas" Kodani asked singer-songwriter and activist Nobuko Miyamoto to do something unprecedented: write an Obon song in English. The result, "Yuiyo," fused traditional Japanese folk music with Japanese American experience — and later reached global audiences through Karate Kid Part II. Nearly forty years later, as communities struggled to reconnect after pandemic isolation, Reverand Mas and Nobuko are called to collaborate again.
"Tiu Talented": The Ginny Tiu story
Five year old Ginny Tiu burst on the national scene when she appeared on the Ed Sullivan show in 1959. She would go on to become a regular on network variety shows, play for President Kennedy and perform with Elvis Presley in one of his movies. For many Asian Americans, Ginny broke stereotypes and became a symbol of what they could become in this country. She now lives in Honolulu and has become one of the state's biggest benefactors for the Hawaii Humane Society and the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra.
Shoebox
A Filipino kid discovers a pair of Jordans & embarks on a journey through his gentrified neighborhood to return home but stumbles across a young black man that wants the shoes. He begins to ask the question “whose shoes are these?”
My Father Was a Footballer
Through a blend of archival footage and spoken interview, I investigate the intersection of football, ambition, and responsibility as it relates to my relationship with my Father.
Audience Award for Short Documentary at the 49th Asian American International Film Festival. Screened at LAAPFF, HAAPIFEST, Nöt Film Festival
Q&A panelists and Special guest
Moderator: David Louie
David Louie is an award-winning journalist and trailblazer in broadcast news. As the first Asian American on-air reporter at KGO-TV San Francisco, he paved the way for greater representation over 50 years. Louie is celebrated not only for his impactful storytelling but also for his dedication to mentoring emerging journalists and strengthening community organizations throughout the Bay Area and beyond.
ShoeBox
Writer/Director: Troy Tibayan
Troy Tibayan is a Bay Area filmmaker with Filipino American roots. He strives to capture and create inspirational stories that represent the Asian American Pacific Islander community and are inclusive to all. He is an award winning filmmaker. He recently graduated with his MFA in Cinema from SF State.
The Making of Kangie
Director/Producer: Derek Damon Nakamoto
"The Making of Kangie" marks the film directorial debut of Derek Nakamoto, whose career as a record producer, arranger, and composer spans four decades and bridges genres and cultures. Nakamoto co-wrote Hiroshima's signature song "Thousand Cranes". He has arranged and produced 23 albums for Keiko Matsui, and produced Angolan legend Waldemar Bastos' Classics of My Soul.
Oakland Ilokana
Director/Producer: Elenita Makani O’Malley
Elenita Makani O’Malley is a queer Filipina and Irish American storyteller from the San Francisco Bay Area. With a background in anthropology, museums, and media production, she uses video to tell stories about culture, history, and human connection.
Yonsei
Director: Rachel Michiko Whitney
Rachel Michiko Whitney is a half Japanese American filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She most recently acted in and produced a short film, WABI-SABI, a rom com with a 70s samurai genre twist. She produced and stars in the recently released comedy/mystery feature film SNOW VALLEY. She acted opposite George Takei in a short film AMERICAN about the Japanese American Internment camps.
ShoeBox
Cinematographer: Juan Agguire
Juan is a San Francisco-based filmmaker and critic dedicated to the power of community-focused storytelling. Drawing from his immigrant background, Juan’s work highlights unique perspectives from underrepresented communities, ensuring that often-overlooked narratives are brought to the forefront.
My Father was a Footballer
Writer/Director: Matthew Kim
Matthew Yae Kim is a Korean American artist based in Los Angeles, California. Working in film, photography, and printmaking, his works engage with working class Asian American perspectives. His undergraduate thesis film Conventional Green, explored Asian American perceptions of masculinity.
"Tiu Talented": The Ginny Tiu story
Writer/Director: Rick Quan
Rick Quan is an Emmy award winning journalist and documentarian. He is the first Chinese American TV sports anchor in the country and the first Asian American male to be a full time anchor in San Francisco. He has received numerous awards for his documentaries on pioneering Asian Americans.
Yonsei
Co-Director: Jeff Mizushima
Jeff Mizushima is an award-winning writer, editor, and director based in Los Angeles. His debut feature, ETIENNE!, follows a terminally ill dwarf hamster on a bicycle road trip and earned him a place among Filmmaker magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film.
The Making of Kangie
Post-Q&A Special Guest: Nobuko Miyamoto
Nobuko Miyamoto is a songwriter, dance and theater artist who began as a dancer on Broadway and in films such as Flower Drum Song and West Side Story. She became an activist and singer in the 70’s movements, co-creating a ground-breaking album of Asian American songs, A Grain of Sand. In 1978 she founded community-based arts organization,Great Leap, collaborating with an array of artists to tell the Asian American story.