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One of my favorite annual events I’ve enjoyed after moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1999 is CAAMFest. Prior to 2013, CAAMFest was known as the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. This year’s CAAMFest was just as enjoyable. It was compressed into four days rather than the usual eleven days. I enjoyed the CAAMFest 2025 Opening Night featuring Third Act. Third Act is a biographical and autobiographical documentary on filmmaker Robert Nakamura by his son, Tadashi “Tad” Nakamura.
Opening Remarks
Prior to the opening night feature, retiring Executive Director of the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) Stephen Gong gave some departing words. He choked up a little bit, which is understandable, given he was CAAM’s as Executive Director for 18 years. CAAM announced that Don Young would be the new Executive Director. Young is a 30 year veteran of CAAM and previously served as the organization’s Director of Programs.
Third Act
Tad Nakamura with a few welcoming remarks prior to the screening of his documentary
To be honest, I had never heard of Robert Nakamura (or his son Tad). Robert is indeed a pioneer:
“Robert A. Nakamura, now in his late 80s, is a legend in Asian American independent film circles. His 1972 short documentary, Manzanar, and 1980 feature, Hito Hata, were some of the earliest films about Japanese American incarceration.
An accomplished documentarian himself, Tadashi splits his father’s life into three acts. First, as a young boy in Manzanar, Robert wished he was anything but Japanese American. Second, as an aspiring filmmaker, he “left a lucrative photography career to find fulfillment in documenting the emerging Asian American political movement. And third, the aging “Godfather of Asian American Cinema” faces his inevitable decline, after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Tadashi also represents the third act of his family’s American immigration story, and Third Act grapples with how he can keep his grandfather’s and father’s stories alive for future generations.”
In 1996, Robert Nakamura founded the Center for EthnoCommunications at UCLA. He taught at there for decades and trained generations of Asian American filmmakers. The documentary was a bit meta given that the filmmaker was Robert’s son Tad. It showed archival family footage along with contemporary footage of both Robert and Tad. Tad has produced documentaries like Jake Shimbabukuro: Life On Four Strings.
After the screening, Director Tad Nakamura, Producer Eurie Chung, and Editor Victoria Chalk were present for the post-screening Q&A that was moderated by Del Holton, Programs Manager for CAAMFest.
Overall, I came to learn and appreciate Robert Nakamura’s contribution to the canon of Asian American filmmaking and the community of filmmakers he helped foster, including his own son.
I had heard that Third Act will be airing on PBS later this fall or maybe sometime in 2026.
Opening Night Gala
As always, after the opening night film and post-screening Q&A, there was the gala – held again at the Asian Art Museum. Some photos from the gala. I highly recommend attending the CAAMFest’s opening night screening and gala!
