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Birth
The 1970s saw the emergence of an urgent voice by Asian American filmmakers who, inspired by the social activism of the '60s and the creation of Asian American media arts organizations like Visual Communications in Los Angeles and Asian CineVision in New York, began creating the first significant batch of Asian American films. Collectively, they sought to address a basic need-the need to see themselves on the screen; the need to see their stories told accurately and with all the richness and complexity accorded to others. Yet for all their efforts, limited access to mainstream media meant that these works were not reaching the widest possible audience.
In 1980, independent filmmaker and instructor Loni Ding, along with other local artists and activists, organized a national conference of Asian American producers and media activists in Berkeley to take the next step. From that meeting, NAATA (National Asian American Telecommunications Association) was born. Its mission: to counteract negative images and stereotypes of Asian Americans in mainstream media by providing Asian American programming for broadcast on public television.
Public television was only the beginning. Just as soon as NAATA became operational, founding executive director Jim Yee saw the need for an exhibition venue besides broadcast to showcase many of the works. ACV's Asian American International Film Festival had been continuing for four years in New York, and an idea for a tour of the films emerged from working relationships with organizations in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and NAATA in the Bay Area. A national network of Asian American filmmakers and media arts organizations was taking shape, and with the success of Wayne Wang's independent feature CHAN IS MISSING in 1981, the entire community felt the excitement of being on the verge of another significant leap. The San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival began modestly in this atmosphere, presenting 13 films over three nights as part of this national tour.
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