The Fall of the I-Hotel + Manilatown Manang Screenings

Update: This event is at capacity. Manilatown Heritage Foundation and SOMA Pilipinas, in partnership with SFMOMA, invite you to a special FREE double-feature film premiere. 1 p.m. — The Fall of the I-Hotel 2 p.m. — Community conversation with Curtis Choy and producers, moderated by Caroline Ocampo 3 p.m. — Manilatown Manang 4 p.m. — Community conversation with Jeanette Lazam and producers, moderated by Caroline Ocampo The Fall of the I-Hotel (Restored Edition) The Manilatown Heritage Foundation presents a newly restored edition of The Fall of the I-Hotel, Curtis Choy’s landmark 1983 documentary chronicling the historic struggle to save San Francisco’s International Hotel. Newly re-scanned from a pristine 16mm print and digitized in 2K, this restoration brings renewed life to one of the most important works in Asian American cinema. Documenting the decade-long campaign to prevent the eviction of the hotel’s elderly Filipino and Chinese tenants, the film captures a defining moment in the fight for affordable housing, civil rights, and community self-determination. More than four decades after its release, The Fall of the I-Hotel remains both an essential record of Filipino American history and a powerful reminder of the enduring struggles against displacement and inequality. This restoration was completed by the Manilatown Heritage Foundation in collaboration with the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and FotoKem. Manilatown Manang Manilatown Manang tells the remarkable story of Jeanette Gandionco Lazam — artist, activist, and one of the few women who lived in San Francisco’s International Hotel as a tenant defender during the historic anti-eviction movement of the 1970s. Leaving behind a comfortable middle-class life, Jeanette joined the International Hotel Tenants Association and stood alongside the elderly Manongs in their fight to save their home. Through archival footage, personal reflections, and contemporary interviews, the film traces Lazam’s lifelong commitment to social justice — from the International Hotel movement to decades of work advancing racial justice, women’s rights, and LGBTQ+ equality. By centering one woman’s extraordinary journey, Manilatown Manang offers a deeply personal perspective on one of San Francisco’s most significant community struggles while honoring the generations of women whose leadership helped shape movements for justice and belonging. Caroline Ocampo — Moderator Caroline Ocampo is an arts and culture consultant, curator, and marketing strategist with more than 30 years of experience developing multicultural and communications programs. Her work bridges arts, culture, media, and community, with a focus on elevating diverse voices and connecting cultural stories with broader audiences. A longtime media professional, Ocampo co-produced the longest-running Filipino American radio program in the US on KVTO with her father, ethnic media pioneer and veteran broadcaster Ness Ocampo. She also anchored Philippine News Update on Manila on KTSF Channel 26. She currently directs marketing and curates for Manilatown Heritage Foundation, developing projects and exhibitions that preserve and amplify its history, legacy, and contemporary voices. Curtis Choy — Director, The Fall of the I-Hotel Curtis Choy is an award-winning Chinese American filmmaker whose documentaries have chronicled Asian American history, activism, culture, and community for more than five decades. He is best known for The Fall of the I-Hotel (1983), his landmark documentary about the decade-long struggle to save San Francisco’s International Hotel and the 1977 eviction of its predominantly Filipino and Chinese elder tenants. The film has become an essential work of Asian American documentary cinema and an enduring record of the movement against displacement in San Francisco’s Manilatown. Choy’s filmmaking is distinguished by an independent voice, political insight, and deep engagement with the communities and individuals he documents. In 2026, The Fall of the I-Hotel returns to San Francisco in a newly enhanced and restored edition, introducing Choy’s seminal work to new generations of audiences. Victor Zapanta — Executive Producer, Enhancement Victor Zapanta is a designer based in Los Angeles. He first saw The Fall of the I-Hotel as a student at UC Davis. The film sparked his political awakening and set him on a lifelong pursuit of consciousness and activism. His grandfather was among the wave of Filipinos who came to the US after World War II, and watching the film, Zapanta saw his own family in those being displaced. Returning to the film as a producer is a deeply meaningful continuation of that connection. Erik Anderson — Associate Producer, The Fall of the I-Hotel Enhancement Erik Anderson is a New York–based Filipino American artist, designer, filmmaker, and musician whose multidisciplinary practice centers on storytelling across visual media, sound, and space, with an interest in preserving, d