From a toe-tapping LGBT musical to a documentary about a Japanese comedian with a Chinese name, the 27th Annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival will cover every aspect of Asian American life, art and culture.

The festival is produced by the Center for Asian American Media, which has helped introduce many famous Asian American directors into commercial success such as M. Night Shyamalan, Wayne Wang and Ang Lee.

Since 1982, SFIAAFF has been the largest festival of its kind in North America. In past years, the audience attending the festival has grown by 20 percent.

"People are coming, not because they are Asian, but because they are interested," said Chi-Hui Yang, the director of the festival.

This year, the festival will run from March 12-22, screening 108 feature films and seven shorts. Film directors, including acclaimed filmmaker Ang Lee, will appear at this year's retrospectives, premieres and showings. A special focus on social topics, such as Hapa culture, as well as a collection of South Asian films will also be a part of this year's festivities.

"This year's festival comes during a time of great change and even greater uncertainty," said Stephen Gong, executive director of the Center for Asian American Media.

"During this time of change, we look to our storytellers and artists to make sense out of chaos, to remind us where we've come from and to set the directions in which we're headed," Gong said.

The festival opens and closes with a tribute to Korean film. On the first night, director Lee Yoon-ki will premiere "My Dear Enemy", a portrait about the city of Seoul, South Korea and its inhabitants. "It is one of the finest Korean films in recent memory, charting the reconnection of two ex-lovers as they drift through the streets of Seoul," Yang said.

This year's centerpiece presentation is H.P. Mendoza's "Fruit Fly", a musical about a young Filipina trying to find herself in San Francisco. The centerpiece presentation slot is saved every year for the keynote film of the festival. Chi-Hui Yang makes an appearance in the film as well.

According to CAAM, "Fruit Fly" is an independent, gay and Asian adaptation of "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg". Jason Sanders, the editor for CAAM calls it, "an all-dancing whirl of performance artists, thwarted lovers, sneering side-liners, punk lesbians, fag hags, leather bears and versatile bottoms."

Vicci Ho, SFIAAFF assistant director, is part of the LGBT community and says this film is a great addition the festival's wide array of subjects. "It's good way to unify the LGBT community," Ho said.

On March 17 at UC Berkeley, following a screening of his film "Lust, Caution", Lee will come on stage to talk about his memorable career in making "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Brokeback Mountain."

The festival also takes a retrospective look at director Kiyoshi Kurosama, who managed such films as "Shall We Dance" and his latest, "Tokyo Sonata." SFIAAFF will present seven of his best works and then Kurosama will be in attendance to answer any of the audience's questions.

One of the social issues centered on this year is Hapa, which is a Hawaiian term referring to the Asian mixed-race community. To bring this focus into the festival, CAAM will launch a new interactive Web site, www.hapa.us, and present a panel discussion about the different types of cultural and racial identities on March 14.

Devina Deo, 24-year-old junior at SF State, cannot wait to see her favorite Indian and Bollywood directors debut their films this year.

"Last year, they showed M.I.A's video 'Bird Flu,' which I loved," she said. "There's going to be a lot of good shows this year." South Asian short films, including Indian and Fijian, are having their own retrospective at this year's festival.

As always, the SFIAAFF narrative and documentaries competitions represent the best in new Asian American cinema. This year, there will be six documentaries and six narratives in both competitions.

For more information, visit the Asian American Media Web site.