The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) is now accepting film and media submissions for the 43rd rendition of CAAMFest! The festival is currently scheduled for May 7 - 11, 2025. Please check back as dates may change.

CAAMFest, presented by the Center for Asian American Media, is one of the nation’s leading showcases for Asian and Asian American talent in film, music, food, and ideas. Since 1982, the annual festival has been an important launching point for Asian American independent filmmakers.

CAAMFest 2025 will be an in-person festival experience in the San Francisco Bay Area that includes a curation of film screenings, dynamic events and industry panels, that dive deep into illuminating the nuances of our vast and diverse diaspora.

“Our stories have the power to catalyze the public imagination, build socio-cultural movements, and influence the way that we want to shape and define our future and the world we want to live in,” says Thúy Trần, Festival & Exhibitions Director.

Filmmakers can submit online using FilmFreeway. For questions or more information about the Call for Entries, please contact the Festival team at festival@caamedia.org.

ABOUT CAAM
For over 40 years, CAAM (Center for Asian American Media) has been dedicated to presenting stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences to the broadest audience possible. As a nonprofit organization, CAAM funds, produces, distributes, and exhibits works in film, television, and digital media. For more information about CAAM, please visit www.CAAMedia.org.

List of CAAMFest 2025 awards

JURIED AWARDS INCLUDE:

NARRATIVE FEATURE
- This award highlights the diversity and ingenuity of modern cinema and recognizes excellence in narrative filmmaking.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
- This award highlights a documentary feature that fearlessly captures the challenging reality and surprising beauty inherent to the human experience.

LONI DING AWARD FOR SOCIAL ISSUE DOCUMENTARY (SHORTS ONLY)
- This award was established in the memory of Loni Ding, a founder of CAAM whose spirit and vision for creating media about the Asian American experience remains a legacy. The award recognizes a first-time filmmaker whose work reflects this spirit and illuminates the experiences of underrepresented communities. The awardee will receive a $1000 prize.

[TBC] STUDENT FILM AWARD (Undergraduate and Graduate, shorts only)
- One or more $1000 prizes will be awarded to an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in an accredited university within the United States during the time of production; additionally, students must be a US citizen or hold permanent residency status in the US.

Other:

AUDIENCE AWARD (Narrative and Documentary Feature)
- This award lets you, our audience, honor your festival favorite. Voting takes place during the festival and winners are announced post-fest.

ELIGIBILITY

--- Films and media works about the Asian American and diasporic experiences are eligible.

--- Films and media works by International filmmakers with subject matter related to the Asian American and diasporic experiences are eligible.

SUBMISSION CATEGORIES

FEATURES (Documentary and Narrative)
--- Running time of at least 41 minutes

SHORTS (Documentary and Narrative)
--- Running time of 40 minutes and under
--- Can include music videos, episodics, etc

ADDITIONAL NOTES

--- We understand that some works can be in multiple categories or defy categorization altogether. Please do your best to choose the category that best fits your work.

--- CAAMFest will consider films that are rough cuts or works-in-progress as long as the work is completed by February 1, 2025. Though we do encourage you to submit as close to the final cut as possible. If you do make an update to your film link after submission, we cannot guarantee that the new version will be considered.

--- Although a Bay Area premiere is strongly preferred for feature length films, we will still consider works of all premiere statuses.

--- All submissions must be digital. We cannot accept DVDs or hard copies.

--- Due to limited capacity, our programming team is not able to offer feedback or notes on your submission.

SUBTITLES
--- All non-English language films with dialogue must have English subtitles
--- English language films with subtitles are appreciated, but not required
--- In an effort to provide greater accessibility for our communities, we will ask if you’re able to provide audio descriptions, open and closed captioning but your response will not impact your eligibility or consideration.

SUBMISSION FEES
--- Multiple entries will be accepted. A separate entry and entry fee is required for each film submission; we do not offer refunds.
--- If you are a CAAMFest alum, meaning that CAAMFest has screened one of your feature or short films in a previous festival, then you are eligible for a fee waiver for ONE submission this year. Please email festival@caamedia.org.
--- A very limited number of discounted submission fees are granted on a case-by-case basis for filmmakers who demonstrate a financial need. Please email festival@caamedia.org for more info.
--- Entrants will be notified of festival selections in early April 2025

ENTRY DEADLINES
Early Bird Deadline: November 4, 2024: $35
Normal Deadline: December 9, 2024: $40

OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS

By submitting your film for consideration, the signatory of submission agrees to the following:

- Signatory has read, understood, and completed all eligibility requirements. To the best of your knowledge, all the information and statements in your submission is true.
- Signatory warrants that all necessary steps have been taken to obtain the rights to use and display the work that is submitted.
- Signatory grants CAAM permission to screen the above-mentioned work at CAAMFest 2025
- Signatory grants CAAM permission to use excerpts and photographic stills from accepted works for promotional purposes. CAAM must be notified in writing of any press and photo restrictions including hold reviews.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Kenji Tsukamoto

    Had the chance to attend CAAMFest for the very first time a few months ago. The staff and volunteers were amazing! I know a lot of festivals were cutting back this year, but I felt liike CAAM pulled out all the stops. The venue where my film played (SFMOMA) was one of the best projection/sound I've experienced so far. The panels and food were so great!
    I really appreciated how friendly everyone associated with the festival were. I cannot wait to come back.

    August 2024
  • Lina Suh

    This festival is curated with such care, in the films that are programmed, to the community they bring together among the filmmakers and audience who really come with a love for movies. So honored to have been part of this festival.

    June 2024
  • Benedict Chiu

    Premiered my film in a horror shorts block at this year's CAAMFest, and it was a great experience! There's a care and quality to the programming, both in championing Asian-American stories and being inclusive of all genres. The crowd was enthusiastic and my team got to mingle with the festival staff and other filmmakers afterward.

    June 2024
  • Heroic Impact

    We had such an incredible time playing Extremely Unique Dynamic at CAAMFest 2024! The entire team lead by Thúy Trần was so kind, supportive and organized, and the curated films were phenomenal.

    Also... the food was incredible.

    May 2024
  • Angelique Kalani Axelrode

    Amazing festival, amazing programming, amazing community

    May 2024