Growth and Stability (1990 1994)
Bob Uyeki stepped in as the first full-time Festival Director and began laying the groundwork for a more stable and continuous annual festival, securing a relationship with the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres as its central venue and establishing seasonal consistency by settling into the March time slot. Proactive development of more funding through grants and sponsorships enabled the Festival to grow in scale, while an explosion in creative activity (fueled by a new generation of film school-educated Asian American artists) offered more stories and perspectives than ever before. Starting at a humble 14 films in 1990, the Festival saw its program more than double for two consecutive years. By the time Paul Mayeda Berges served as Festival Director in 1994, the Festival program surpassed 100 films and videos, becoming the largest showcase in North America dedicated to the exhibition of Asian American and Asian films. While the vast majority of works during the Œ80s were by and/or about Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans, Uyeki and Mayeda Berges focused on programs that explored the changing face of contemporary Asian American experiences, reflecting the diversifying Asian American filmmaking demographic by including works from previously underrepresented communities such as Pacific Islanders, South Asians, queers, and hapas.
