Director/Producer Yuriko Gamo Romer in attendance / Q&A.

Welcome to the 15th SDAFF Spring Showcase, a curated 3-day presentation of Asian and Asian American films.

A focused and high-energy weekend of bold, independent storytelling from Asia and the Asian diaspora, the San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) Spring Showcase is one of Pacific Arts Movement’s (Pac Arts) signature year-round programs.

While SDAFF in the fall highlights cutting-edge and emerging voices, Spring Showcase offers a tightly curated selection of festival favorites, cinematic standouts, and some of the most celebrated and popular films from Asia. This streamlined format brings audiences together for a more concentrated and dynamic shared experience.

Director/Producer Yuriko Gamo Romer in attendance / Q&A.

Baseball in the United States and yakyu in Japan exist, and in fact prosper, as a result of the emergence of transpacific systems of exchange between the two countries over the past 150 years. This exhibit explores the wide-ranging exchange of baseball between Japan and the United States from the Meiji era to today and the transpacific circulation of baseball concepts, styles of play, fan experiences, equipment, and people that shaped the shared culture of the game.

Located on the Museum’s third floor, the exhibit covers more than 1,800 square feet of space and features four aspects of transpacific baseball:

• Japanese teams touring America, including the first such tour by the Waseda University team in 1905

• American teams touring Japan, including the first trip in 1907 and the massively popular tour featuring Babe Ruth in 1934

• Players born in the United States playing in Japan, including Larry Doby, Warren Cromartie, Randy Bass and many more

• Players born in Japan playing in the United States, starting with MLB pioneer Masanori Murakami in 1964 and followed by Hideo Nomo in 1995 and the stars that followed

April 17, 2026 Schedule:

• 1:00 PM - Exhibit Encounter in the Yakyu | Baseball exhibit (3F) with Director/Producer Yuriko Gamo Romer

• 3:00 PM - Film screening of Diamond Diplomacy and Q&A @ the Bullpen Theater.

*Regular museum tickets include film admission.

Director Yuriko Gamo Romer in attendance. Post-screening Q&A also with Savannah-based Peabody award-winning filmmaker, Matthew Hashiguchi.

About Hindsight Film Festival — A Home for Historical Docs

Across the evolving and expanding landscape of historical documentary films, divergent styles and new voices are emerging which deserve broader opportunities for public exhibition.

By leveraging our existing relationships with renowned filmmakers and major distributors, and drawing from experiences at our favorite film festivals from around the world, we’re designing a groundbreaking annual event that will honor filmmakers who bravely excavate and interpret history through the lens.

A STORY OF A SHARED LOVE OF BASEBALL

Diamond Diplomacy explores the long and complex relationship between the U.S. and Japan through the shared love of baseball, revealing a moving diplomatic history that spans generations. The film features a cross-cultural lineup of baseball legends, including Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Shohei Ohtani, and Ichiro Suzuki—newly inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame—and makes a powerful case for sports as a conduit for international healing, connection, and resilience.

Q&A with director Yuriko Gamo Romer to follow the screening.

In Partnership with:

• Boston Asian American Film Festival

• Cinefest Latino Boston

• Roxbury International Film Festival

Diamond Diplomacy explores the complex relationship between the U.S. and Japan through shared love of baseball, revealing diplomatic history that spans generations. The film features a cross-cultural lineup of baseball legends, including Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Ichiro Suzuki (newly inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame), and Shohei Ohtani.

Following the film, Executive Producer Glen S. Fukushima will discuss the current state of U.S.-Japan relations.

Glen S. Fukushima is a Visiting Fellow at Stanford University. He is an American businessman and former government official (Dep. Asst. US Trade Rep for Japan and China) and served as President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. He was educated at Deep Springs College, Stanford, and Harvard Law School.

Q&A with Director Yuriko Gamo Romer after the screening. Producer Loi Ameera Almeron in attendance.

Just before the World Baseball Classic in March, the JICC is happy to host the Mid-Atlantic Premiere of Diamond Diplomacy, a compelling new documentary that captures the exciting history of baseball as a shared national pastime between Japan and the U.S.

After the screening we will be joined by director Yuriko Gamo Romer for a discussion and Q&A about the film.

While many know that baseball is Japan’s national pastime, few realize just how profound a role the sport has played in the relationship between Japan and the U.S. This film explores the incredible 150-year history of baseball diplomacy between the two nations—from its introduction by an American professor in the 1870s to the legendary goodwill tours of Babe Ruth and the modern-day impact of stars like Shohei Ohtani.

Join us for this special screening and Q&A and see how baseball has become not just a game but a force for cultural exchange and mutual respect.

SCREENINGS:

• Saturday, Oct 25, 1:00pm - Consolidated Theaters Kahala

• Sunday, Nov 2, 3:30pm - Kauai Community College

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

The Hawai‘i International Film Festival (HIFF), an Academy Awards®-qualifying festival, celebrates dynamic cinema from Asia and the Pacific while championing Native Hawaiian and Indigenous filmmakers through powerful storytelling and groundbreaking programming.

Check out the full HIFF45 program here.

SCREENINGS:

• Saturday, Oct 25, 1:00pm - Consolidated Theaters Kahala

• Sunday, Nov 2, 3:30pm - Kauai Community College

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

The Hawai‘i International Film Festival (HIFF), an Academy Awards®-qualifying festival, celebrates dynamic cinema from Asia and the Pacific while championing Native Hawaiian and Indigenous filmmakers through powerful storytelling and groundbreaking programming.

Check out the full HIFF45 program here.

SCREENINGS:

• Friday, Oct 17, 5:15pm - Starlight Triangle Cinemas, Screen 2

• Saturday, Oct 18, 8:15pm - The Lot, Screen 3

• Tuesday, Oct 21, 5:00pm - The Lot, Screen 3

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

Founded in 1999, the Newport Beach Film Festival has emerged as the largest international cinema event in coastal Southern California, attracting over 56,000 attendees to Orange County, CA.

The Community Outreach Program was created with the idea that film offers new perspectives and possibilities for a changing world. Each year, the Festival partners with over 40 non-profit organizations and pairs each philanthropic organization with a film that aligns with their mission. The Festival gives non-profit organizations a forum to voice their message to large audiences and spread awareness of their organization and mission through the medium of film. Areas of focus include the arts, health and human services, the environment, education, children’s causes, seniors’ and veterans’ programs, and alumni clubs.

Check out the full Newport Beach Film Festival program here.

Director/Producer Yuriko Gamo Romer will be in attendance.

SCREENINGS:

• Friday, Oct 17, 5:15pm - Starlight Triangle Cinemas, Screen 2

• Saturday, Oct 18, 8:15pm - The Lot, Screen 3

• Tuesday, Oct 21, 5:00pm - The Lot, Screen 3

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

Founded in 1999, the Newport Beach Film Festival has emerged as the largest international cinema event in coastal Southern California, attracting over 56,000 attendees to Orange County, CA.

The Community Outreach Program was created with the idea that film offers new perspectives and possibilities for a changing world. Each year, the Festival partners with over 40 non-profit organizations and pairs each philanthropic organization with a film that aligns with their mission. The Festival gives non-profit organizations a forum to voice their message to large audiences and spread awareness of their organization and mission through the medium of film. Areas of focus include the arts, health and human services, the environment, education, children’s causes, seniors’ and veterans’ programs, and alumni clubs.

Check out the full Newport Beach Film Festival program here.

SCREENINGS:

• Friday, Oct 17, 11:00am - Boulevard Theatre 4

• Saturday, Oct 18, 2:30pm - Boulevard Theatre 3

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

Tallgrass Film Association entertains, educates, and inspires audiences in the Wichita community and beyond by showcasing the best of independent films from around the world through an annual 4-day film festival, year-round special screenings, filmmaking competitions and filmmaker labs. We strive to preserve the cultural tradition of film as a communal adventure. Movies bring us together: they entertain, spark conversation, build community and forge new relationships.

Check out the full Tallgrass Film Festival program here.

Director/Producer Yuriko Gamo Romer will be in attendance.

SCREENINGS:

• Friday, Oct 17, 5:15pm - Starlight Triangle Cinemas, Screen 2

• Saturday, Oct 18, 8:15pm - The Lot, Screen 3

• Tuesday, Oct 21, 5:00pm - The Lot, Screen 3

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

Founded in 1999, the Newport Beach Film Festival has emerged as the largest international cinema event in coastal Southern California, attracting over 56,000 attendees to Orange County, CA.

The Community Outreach Program was created with the idea that film offers new perspectives and possibilities for a changing world. Each year, the Festival partners with over 40 non-profit organizations and pairs each philanthropic organization with a film that aligns with their mission. The Festival gives non-profit organizations a forum to voice their message to large audiences and spread awareness of their organization and mission through the medium of film. Areas of focus include the arts, health and human services, the environment, education, children’s causes, seniors’ and veterans’ programs, and alumni clubs.

Check out the full Newport Beach Film Festival program here.

SCREENINGS:

• Friday, Oct 17, 11:00am - Boulevard Theatre 4

• Saturday, Oct 18, 2:30pm - Boulevard Theatre 3

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

Tallgrass Film Association entertains, educates, and inspires audiences in the Wichita community and beyond by showcasing the best of independent films from around the world through an annual 4-day film festival, year-round special screenings, filmmaking competitions and filmmaker labs. We strive to preserve the cultural tradition of film as a communal adventure. Movies bring us together: they entertain, spark conversation, build community and forge new relationships.

Check out the full Tallgrass Film Festival program here.

IN ATTENDANCE:

• Director, Producer and Writer Yuriko Gamo Romer

• Featured Cast Masanori “Mashi” Murakami (first Japanese player in the MLB ‘64-’65)

• Producer Loi Ameera Almeron

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

Deep within the Ouachita Mountains, in what Native Americans have named the Valley of the Vapors, amidst turn-of-the-century bathhouses and on the doorstep of a national park lies the unforgettable spa city of Hot Springs, Arkansas, host to North America’s longest running documentary film festival.

Established in 1991, HSDFF is an Oscar® qualifying festival for ‘Documentary Short Subject’ by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Produced by a small staff and with the tireless efforts of dedicated volunteers, the film festival benefits the region by providing an affordable arts festival that offers the best in documentary film, inspiring educational programs, and exposure to internationally acclaimed filmmakers and special guests. Through strategic outreach, HSDFF seeks to discover, support and inspire diverse documentary filmmakers and champion a southern film community that reflects the full breadth of experience and story in the American South.

Check out the full HSDFF34 program here.

IN ATTENDANCE:

• Director, Producer and Writer Yuriko Gamo Romer

• Featured Cast Masanori “Mashi” Murakami (first Japanese player in the MLB ‘64-’65)

• Producer Marc Smolowitz

• Editor & Writer Ken Schneider

SCREENINGS:

• Friday, October 3, 3:30 PM - Sequoia 1

• Sunday, October 5, 12:30 PM - Sequoia 2

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

Since founding the Mill Valley Film Festival in 1977, Mark Fishkin has shepherded this once small, three-day showcase into an eleven-day, internationally acclaimed cinema event presenting a wide variety of new films from around the world in an engaged, community setting.

The festival has an impressive track record of launching new films and new filmmakers, and has earned a reputation as a filmmakers’ festival by celebrating the best in American independent and foreign films, along side high-profile and prestigious award contenders.

Each year the festival welcomes more than 200 filmmakers, representing more than 50 countries. Screening sections include World Cinema; US Cinema; Docs; Family Films; Shorts; and Active Cinema, MVFF’s activist films initiative. Festival guests also enjoy Tributes, Spotlights and Galas throughout.

The relaxed and non-competitive atmosphere surrounding MVFF, gives filmmakers and audiences alike the opportunity to share their work and experiences in a collaborative and convivial setting.

Check out the full MVFF48 program here.

IN ATTENDANCE:

• Director, Producer and Writer Yuriko Gamo Romer

• Featured Cast Masanori “Mashi” Murakami (first Japanese player in the MLB ‘64-’65)

• Producers Marc Smolowitz and Loi Ameera Almeron

• Executive Producers Glen S. Fukushima and Steven Okazaki

SCREENINGS:

• Friday, October 3, 3:30 PM - Sequoia 1

• Sunday, October 5, 12:30 PM - Sequoia 2

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

Since founding the Mill Valley Film Festival in 1977, Mark Fishkin has shepherded this once small, three-day showcase into an eleven-day, internationally acclaimed cinema event presenting a wide variety of new films from around the world in an engaged, community setting.

The festival has an impressive track record of launching new films and new filmmakers, and has earned a reputation as a filmmakers’ festival by celebrating the best in American independent and foreign films, along side high-profile and prestigious award contenders.

Each year the festival welcomes more than 200 filmmakers, representing more than 50 countries. Screening sections include World Cinema; US Cinema; Docs; Family Films; Shorts; and Active Cinema, MVFF’s activist films initiative. Festival guests also enjoy Tributes, Spotlights and Galas throughout.

The relaxed and non-competitive atmosphere surrounding MVFF, gives filmmakers and audiences alike the opportunity to share their work and experiences in a collaborative and convivial setting.

Check out the full MVFF48 program here.