Small bit of trivia, if you look closely at the basketball scene in the independent film by Justin Lin called Better Luck Tomorrow, you’ll see me in it, as well as hear my voice yelling really loudly. I bring this up, not because it was my fifteen seconds of fame (Justin Lin has since gone on to direct a number of Fast and the Furious films) but to point out that I have always had close ties to the Asian American film festivals. Better Luck Tomorrow was one of the opening feature films at the San Francisco Asian American Film Festival back in 2002. Fast forward 11 years later and the SFAAFF has since morphed into CAAMfest, a multimedia festival that now encompasses film, music and food. I was lucky to be attend a couple of events at CAAMfest and it was wonderful to see how the festival has evolved. The opening gala, held at the Asian Art Museum integrated the music, the art and the food all together as everyone nibbled on eats, listened to the DJ spin tunes and wandered through the museum looking at the artwork, including examples of China’s Terracotta Warriors. Cooking salons and demos had people mixing flavors to create their own chocolate and condiments as well as giving a short history of chai and tea. I can’t wait to see what next year’s festival entails. Hopefully they will be able to expand the salons and sessions even further!
Special thanks to CAAM, Center for Asian American Media, for providing press tickets to the opening gala event and the Mixing Masala cooking salon. Though I was provided access to these events without charge, I was not monetarily compensated for this post, and all opinions above are my own.
merri says
ooh i am headed to see the terracotta warriors exhibit this saturday!