The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) is now accepting film and media submissions for the 41st anniversary of CAAMFest! The festival is scheduled for May 11-21, 2023.

CAAMFest (presented by the Center for Asian American Media) is one of the nation’s largest and enduring showcases for Asian and Asian American films. Since 1982, the annual festival has been an important launching point for Asian American independent filmmakers as well as a vital source for new Asian cinema.

CAAMFest 2023 will be a hybrid festival experience that includes a dynamic curation of film screenings, performances, culinary pleasures, and civic engagement, diving deep to illuminate the nuances of our vast and diverse diaspora.

“We are at a critical juncture where our Asian American narratives are more important than ever. We have the power to influence political decisions, build socio-cultural movements, and cultivate much needed joy that will have long-lasting impact on our communities,” says Thúy Trần, CAAMFest Festival & Exhibitions Director returning for their sophomore year at the helm. “We need your help to unearth these stories.”

CAAMFest will be accepting film submissions, as well as digital and interactive media projects, that can include virtual and augmented reality, multimedia performances, and site-specific installations. Our final deadline for submissions is December 15, 2022.

With the ongoing pandemic we will continue to monitor state and local public health guidance as we plan for 2023. Check back for more updates or follow our social media on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

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

SUBMISSION DEADLINES
Early Bird Deadline: November 3, 2022: $35
Normal Deadline: December 1, 2022: $40
Late Deadline: December 15, 2022: $45

ABOUT CAAM
The Center for Asian American Media uses the power of storytelling to shape the evolving Asian American narrative as an integral part of the American experience. CAAM produces and presents world class, compelling stories by and about Asian Americans, expanding a public understanding and engagement about who we are as Asian Americans and society as a whole.

Awards & Prizes

List of CAAMFest 2023 awards

Juried awards:

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)
- 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 Asian American filmmaker whose work reflects this spirit and illuminates the experiences of underrepresented communities. The awardee will receive a $1000 prize.

InspirASIAN Student Film Award (Undergraduate and Graduate, shorts only)
- Two $1000 prizes will be awarded each to an undergraduate and 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.

Rules & Terms

ELIGIBILITY

CAAMFest considers films and mediaworks of all genres that are primarily made by Asian and Pacific Islanders (in principal creative roles) and/or is about the Asian and Pacific Islander experience in the United States and around the world.

SUBMISSION CATEGORIES

Features (running time of at least 41 minutes)
- Asian American Documentaries
- Asian American Narratives
- International Documentaries
- International Narratives

Shorts (narrative and documentary)
- Running time of 40 minutes and under
- Can include music videos, episodics, etc

Digital and Interactive Media Projects
- Can include games, virtual and augmented reality, site-specific installations, etc
- Can be of any length

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 March 1, 2023. 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.

SUBTITLES
- All non-English language films with dialogue must have English subtitles
- English language films with subtitles are appreciated, but not required

ENTRY DEADLINES AND FEES
- A separate entry and entry fee is required for each film submission; we do not offer refunds.
- CAAMFest offers fee waivers on a case-by-case basis. Please reach out to our team for more information at festival@caamedia.org
- Entrants will be notified of festival selections in early April 2023

Early Bird Deadline: November 3, 2022: $35
Normal Deadline: December 1, 2022: $40
Late Deadline: December 15, 2022: $45

** Current CAAM members receive a waiver for one free submission! Please fill out this form: https://bit.ly/caamfeewaiver to request a fee waiver.

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 2023
- 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.

11 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Chris Chan Lee

    One of the best film festivals in the USA. Truly in the business of developing a community and audience for decades. Thuy Tran made a seamless transition as the incoming Festival Director on the heels of amazing predecessors. Incredible attention to detail for the filmmakers' experience.

    June 2022
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  • vijaykumar mirchandani

    We were delighted to have our short film featured at CAAMFest. Unfortunately, we could not attend in person but the team has been splendid in their regular communication, updates on events and following up thoroughly. Kudos to the entire team back there in making it such a great festival. Cheerz

    June 2022
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  • Peter Hsieh

    CAAMFest is one of my favorite festivals. I've attended it in the past and this year I got to participate as one of the official selection narrative features. They did a wonderful job with the online networking events and I was able to meet a lot of different artists through their multiple events. The staff are all really friendly and helpful and did such a great job in making this an awesome festival experience. There was a really great mix of different films and I enjoyed watching them. I would definitely recommend folks check out this festival, it really is one of the best.

    June 2021
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  • Myat Noe

    They have so many virtual meet-up events for 2021 edition and nice drive-in venue. The communications are frequent and they really take care of filmmakers.

    May 2021
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  • Teddy Tenenbaum

    CAAMFest is a world class film festival in every way, and by far one of the best festivals we’ve ever experienced. The curation of the films is stellar - we were truly honored to be part of this tremendous field of projects and artists. The communication and professionalism are excellent. The special programs are fantastic. And during the pandemic, the festival created a really ingenious hybrid of live and online events, and found brilliant ways of bringing the online community together. CAAMFest is like the Sundance for Asian and AAPI film, and we can’t wait to attend as audience members next year. Thank you, Masashi Niwano and team for an unforgettable experience.

    May 2021
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