As children of immigrants and refugees, we honor the stories passed down to us as tokens of our survival. Though history tells us how we came to be, storytelling gives us agency to say who we are, and who we can become.
This series will consist of short documentaries, shaped by questions about how we as Asian-Americans make our place in a world structured to confine us. Our guiding question asks, “What makes you come alive?”
In our series, we hope to share the ways, big and small, we can allow ourselves to be free. This series is about our own becoming, and I hope you’ll join us by telling your story.
View our work→
Chad Santo Tomas is a 1st generation Filipino American filmmaker and photojournalist based in San Francisco and New York. Aside from commercial work in food and beverage, his passion lies in documentary work focused on community storytelling that fosters cathartic and healing experiences. This focus is fueled by his experience as a photojournalist living in the Philippines, spending time learning about the Indigenous cultures of his country, and working on short documentaries for the AAPI community.
Esther Chan is a queer Chinese-American editor based in Brooklyn, NY. She has dedicated her film career to telling stories that lead to social change. She is currently fighting for abortion rights as the Senior Video Editor at Planned Parenthood and was previously the Lead Video Editor on Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign.
Claudine Cho is a speechwriter and organizer who has written for Democratic politicians and the late health care activist, Ady Barkan, named Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. Prior to her U.S. political work, she helped establish the Museum of Sexual Slavery in South Korea.
— who came together to tell expansive stories about our people and our abundance.
As children of immigrants and refugees, we honor the stories passed down to us as tokens of our survival.
Though history tells us how we came to be, storytelling gives us agency to say who we are, and who we can become.
