2025 Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge Grantees at the Fourth Annual AWE Luncheon

LOS ANGELES, December 16, 2025 — Filmmakers Cami Kwan (Paper Daughter) and Rachel Leyco (Milk and Honey), winners of CAPE's 2025 Julia Gouw Short Film Challenge, discuss the immigrant stories behind their films. CAPE Head of Programs Rhian Moore moderates. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Former President Janet Yang, Piermont Bank Chairwoman Julia Gouw, and CAPE Executive Director Michelle Sugihara introduce the panel. (14 min., 42 sec.) As part of the 4th Annual AWE (Asian Women Empowered) Luncheon, the conversation covers Kwan's stop-motion adaptation of her great-grandmother's 1926 immigration to the United States during the Chinese Exclusion Act, and Leyco's film honoring her mother's journey from the Philippines as a young nurse in the early 1990s. Both filmmakers discuss building production teams reflective of the stories they're telling and what it took to bring each project to life on a short-film budget. The Julia Gouw Short Film Challenge supports Asian and Pacific Islander women and non-binary filmmakers through CAPE, in partnership with Janet Yang Productions and with support from Julia Gouw. Based out of Asia Society Southern California, AWE is an initiative that builds a global network of influential Asian women committed to advancing leadership, enhancing visibility, and strengthening the wellbeing of current and future generations of Asian women to reach their full potential professionally and personally. AWE's work is rooted in intentional connection and collective action powered by our commitment to investing in and inspiring the next generation of Asian women leaders. Subscribe for more videos like this: http://AsiaSociety.org/YouTube --- Support Asia Society today: http://AsiaSociety.org/Donate --- Subscribe to our newsletter to stay connected: https://asiasociety.org/email-subscri... --- Facebook:   / asiasociety   Instagram:   / asiasociety   Twitter:   / asiasociety   LinkedIn:   / asia-society   #asiasociety #asiasocietysoutherncalifornia #arts #film