In the decade we’ve spent working with CAAM (originally NAATA), the festival has become the organization’s most visible initiative and continues to provide a critical engagement platform for its other educational, creative and advocacy programs. Originally a local and traveling event celebrating independent filmmaking, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) has become the largest of its kind in America.

Research indicated that to accomplish the organization’s long-term strategic plan, marketing efforts would focus on the festival as a means of broadening CAAM’s constituency and increasing community participation. This required an evolving annual campaign strategy that would develop in stages - from shoring the organization’s active, loyal supporters to expanding the definition of Asian American identity and articulating its contemporary resonance within a global and historical context.

Over the years, various themes were explored including film and community, the intersection of contemporary culture and personal history, the centrality of dialogue, universals of de-familiarization – each year broadening the definition of the diaspora under the umbrella of a shared love of film.

As the festival grows in status, the program has expanded to include more international films with stories that relate to the Asian American experience. Audience demographics as well as membership subscriptions illustrate that the event attracts an increasing number of non-Asians – a significant factor in doubling its ticket sales.

Over 100 films are now screened over the course of 10 days in three cities, San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose.