“Crossings” takes viewers on a tour of the two Koreas Feminist scholar Gloria Anzaldúa wrote, “Borders are set up to define the places that are safe and unsafe, to distinguish us from them. A border is a dividing line, a narrow strip along a steep edge.” ...
International Fame through Faith: “Singing in the Wilderness”
“Singing in the Wilderness” is a documentary about a Miao ethnic Christian choir group in China. After a century of living in the mountains, this choir group gets a chance to sing on the world stage. Their faith is questioned as they try to find success. ...
Corky Lee’s Solo Show
A Posthumous Tribute to the Man Behind the Lens Young Kwok “Corky” Lee was a familiar face around Chinatown. No matter what the event, he was there. He documented every Asian and minority-American activist movement that few outlets – if any – covered, and ...
To Remember Is to Set Free
Julie Ha and Eugene Yi Transnationalize the Roots of Anti-Asian Hate in ‘Free Chol Soo Lee’ Asian/American films incepted out of the impulse to speak back, and perhaps more critically, they carved a political space to speak from. First-time directors ...
What does it mean to be ‘Chosen’?
The underdog congressional campaign of David Kim It has been said that the political identity of Korean Americans was forged in the fires of Sa-I-Gu (also known as the Los Angeles Riots). Following the Rodney King verdict and the sentencing of Soon Ja Du, ...
‘We Don’t Dance For Nothing’: How do you escape the inescapable?
An ode to the dignity of overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong They dance to celebrate. To remember. To forget. To take up space in a world that demands they give up their individuality in exchange for a meek, submissive existence. In Stefanos Tai’s film ...
‘Therapy Dogs’ and the blind ambition of youth
“Class of 2019, you’re graduating this year. And you know what? You should know the truth. We were never really a yearbook committee. Instead, we’re gonna make our own secret movie, which you all get to see very, very soon. It’s the movie you deserve. The ...
‘The Chinatown Files’: An untold story we’ve all heard before.
Written By: Nathan Liu When you think of the “Red Scare,” what comes to mind? Is it Joseph McCarthy? Is it the Hollywood Blacklist? I’m guessing it’s not working-class Chinese immigrants and their children getting jailed, deported, and driven to suicide f ...
Asian/American documentary filmmaking and resistance: A conversation with Renee Tajima-Peña
Written By: Kano Umezaki Back in late June of 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with documentary filmmaker and activist, Renee Tajima-Peña, about the PBS “Asian Americans” series, the origins of the Asian/American political film movement, and the s ...