The Fall of the I-Hotel + Manilatown Manang Screenings

A campaign preserved on film

Curtis Choy’s 1983 documentary The Fall of the I-Hotel follows the decade-long effort to stop the eviction of elderly Filipino and Chinese tenants from San Francisco’s International Hotel. The tenants were evicted in 1977; the campaign remains a significant chapter in Manilatown’s history and in the city’s struggle over housing and displacement.

The screening uses a restored edition made from a new scan of a 16mm print, digitized in 2K. Manilatown Heritage Foundation completed the restoration with the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and FotoKem. For viewers, the pairing offers a chance to encounter Choy’s documentary alongside a later film that narrows the focus to one participant.

Further reading: The Fall of the I-Hotel + Manilatown Manang Screenings · SFMOMA ↗

From the hotel to a lifetime of activism

Manilatown Manang, directed by Caroline Cabading, centers artist and activist Jeanette Gandionco Lazam. Lazam was among the few women who lived at the hotel as tenant defenders during the 1970s movement, and she joined the International Hotel Tenants Association in its fight to keep residents in their homes.

The film draws on archival footage, personal reflections and contemporary interviews to connect that work with Lazam’s later advocacy for racial justice, women’s rights and LGBTQ+ equality. SFMOMA says Lazam now lives in the new International Hotel on Kearny Street and supports the Manilatown Center.

Further reading: The Fall of the I-Hotel + Manilatown Manang Screenings · SFMOMA ↗

The people behind the record

Each film has a community conversation afterward. Choy and producers are listed for the first discussion; Lazam and producers are listed for the second. Both are moderated by Caroline Ocampo, a curator and media professional who directs marketing and curates for Manilatown Heritage Foundation.

Further reading: The Fall of the I-Hotel + Manilatown Manang Screenings · SFMOMA ↗