Many immigrant families worked and lived behind the scenes at historic Bay Meadows in San Mateo, recently demolished to make way for luxury housing and high-end commercial space. The story of one of these families, during Bay Meadows’ final season, is told in a new documentary by Cinema alumna Tricia Creason-Valencia.

American feature films often portray the Chinese as exotic and devious characters—or simply the “other.” An award winning documentary by Cinema alumnus Arthur Dong chronicles the full gamut of Chinese representation in Hollywood. “Hollywood Chinese” premieres on PBS’ “American Masters” series at 9pm May 27.

The latest short film by Cinema alumna and Lecturer Anjali Sundaram is part memoir, part fiction. Set against the first Persian Gulf War in 1990, “Canada” is the story of a young, half-Indian girl named Jaina and her broke, free-spirited, flaky mother as they attempt to move from Northern California to Vancouver in a Volkswagen bug.

For the second consecutive week, Disney/Pixar’s “Up” is the No. 1 movie in America. Cinema alumnus Jonas Rivera is the critically acclaimed film’s producer, the latest SF State alum to achieve success in animation.