Queer Asian World Cinema Satellite Screening 2026

Date: Saturday, 2026 July 4

Time: 2 pm

Location: 41 Ross Alley, San Francisco, CA 94108

Screening Duration: Approximately 90 mins

For the 2nd year, QWOCFF is back at the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the site of the first American flag when California joined the U.S. as a state. This screening is a way to understand the 250th anniversary of the country. It is crucial to understand Asian diasporas as a part of this country’s history. LBTQIA+ Asian people are important to the future of what this collection of states could be in the future, especially with Native sovereignty that redresses the theft of Indigenous lands and Black liberation that repairs the legacy of kidnapping indigenous Africans from their lands.

The Chinese Culture Center is proud to welcome Queer Asian World Cinema back for a second year, in partnership with the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP), presenting a special satellite screening at CCC. This 90-minute program features four short films from QWOCMAP’s Queer Asian World Cinema series, centering queer, trans, and nonbinary Asian and diasporic stories. Through memories of nightlife, friendship, self-discovery, and community organizing, the films reflect the many ways LGBTQIA+ communities create space for one another, honor collective histories, and imagine freer futures.

All films include open captions, with audio description available. To request audio description support, please select “Audio Description support” when completing the RSVP.

Masks are required for this event, there will be free masks available onsite. The venue is ADA accessible. The screening will take place at 41 Ross Alley, San Francisco Chinatown, an off-site location of the Chinese Culture Center.

About the Films

• Stay Hot Stay Chill by Nancy YiYu Chen
• Memoria by Ross Vasallo
• Stroke of Dreams by Tracy Nguyen
• Because of You: A History of Kilawin Kolektibo by Barbara Malaran & Desireena Almoradie

Learn more about the event here.

About CCC

The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (CCC) has been at the forefront of uplifting and transforming Chinatown through the arts for over 60 years, both as a vibrant neighborhood and a metaphor for the immigrant experience. Founded in 1965 during the civil rights movement, CCC emerged as a response to racism and displacement. What began as a hard-won cultural space has since evolved into a dynamic hub that boldly shifts narratives, supports groundbreaking and innovative art, and advances social justice.

CCC is dedicated to amplifying marginalized voices, reclaiming and reimagining public space, and strengthening the community through boundary-pushing art exhibitions, festivals, and educational programs. Signature initiatives include C.H.A.T. Chinatown History Art Tours, the acclaimed XianRui Artist Series, and the 41 Ross Artist-in-Residence program. With strategic locations across Chinatown, including Kearny Street, Ross Alley, and the newly acquired 667 Grant Ave, CCC continues to fearlessly champion immigrant, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA2S+ voices and rights. Recognized by the Andy Warhol Foundation, Rainin Foundation and other major foundations and supporters, CCC is celebrating its milestone 60th anniversary with transformative events like Chinatown Pride, the Hungry Ghost Festival, as well as its landmark annual Gala.

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About 41 Ross

41 Ross is a vibrant experimental studio in San Francisco’s historic Ross Alley, led by the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (CCC). Originally founded in 2014 through a groundbreaking collaboration between CCC and the Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC) to be a place where art, culture, and social practice intersect to empower community voices, activate place and cultivate a sense of belonging. Today, 41 Ross powerfully amplifies the voices of LGBTQ2S+, BIPOC, and other marginalized communities through creative experimentation and cultural engagement.

More than just an art studio, 41 Ross is a thriving hub for makers, entrepreneurs, educators, and community members. It offers a wide range of programming—film screenings, pop-up events, workshops, panel discussions, and interactive creative sessions—that encourage collaboration, learning, and cultural exchange. Over the years, 41 Ross has hosted transformative iconic programs such as "Keyword School" (2014), "Chinatown Homecooking" (2018), and the "Womxn, Omen, Wǒmén in Chinatown Exhibit" (2018), and most recently incubated OUT Museum, the world’s first queer Chinese museum, in 2024.

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About QWOCMAP

Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project - QWOCMAP builds narrative power by transforming the world’s most expensive art form into a tool for liberation. Founded in 2000, QWOCMAP funds, creates, exhibits, and distributes high-impact films to shatter stereotypes and bias, reveal the lived truth of inequality, and illuminate the incisive leadership and creative brilliance of LBTQIA+ people of color.

QWOCMAP provides critical support and resources for LBTQIA+ BIPOC filmmakers. Over 500 films have been created through our award-winning Filmmaker Training Program, the largest catalog of films by LBTQIA+ BIPOC filmmakers in the world. QWOCMAP presents its annual International Queer Women of Color Film Festival to build community and cross-movement solidarity. QWOCMAP’s curatorial practice and boutique film distribution strengthens political education and movement building. Our vision advances cultural resistance and renewal through filmmaker-activists who reshape power structures and create futures where justice and equity are the norm.

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