Asian American Stories Events
2027 Asian American Stories “Our Food, Our Stories”
Executive Overview
Food tells stories that words alone often cannot.
A family recipe can carry the memory of a homeland. A neighborhood restaurant can become a community's gathering place. A lunchbox packed with unfamiliar aromas can reveal both the pain of exclusion and the pride of belonging. Across generations, food preserves traditions, fuels dreams, and creates opportunities for connection.
For the 2027 Asian American Stories Video Contest, we invite participants to explore the Asian American experience through one of its most universal expressions:
food.
Our Food, Our Stories: Legacy, Resilience, and the American Table is not simply about cooking or cuisine. It is about the journeys behind every dish—the sacrifices of immigrants, the resilience of families, the dignity of work, the creativity of new generations, and the countless ways Asian Americans have enriched the cultural fabric of the United States.
Food is both deeply meaningful and profoundly joyful. It is comfort and celebration, memory and innovation. It invites curiosity, sparks conversation, and brings strangers together around a shared table.
Through documentary, narrative, animation, or experimental storytelling, filmmakers are challenged to answer an enduring question:
How have the flavors carried across oceans transformed not only what America eats, but how America understands itself?
