Free Asian Heritage Month Screening and Panel Discussion of Who Killed Vincent Chin? on May 26 and May 27

Detroit 1982. Vincent Chin, a Chinese American man on the eve of his wedding, is chased down and beaten to death by Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz. As the brutal details of the murder emerge, the question arises — was this a hate crime racially motivated by the frenzied xenophobic fears of Japanese auto imports? “It’s never just one thing,” says Renee Tajima-Peña, who along with Christine Choy directed the seminal Asian American film Who Killed Vincent Chin?

Tajima-Peña and Choy tenaciously cover the events surrounding the murder and trial as movements build for justice while investigating and exposing white supremacy, American chauvinism, and the legal system that upholds them. Nominated for an Oscar for best feature-length documentary in 1989, Who Killed Vincent Chin? is a masterfully crafted film full of nuance and pointed fury that has served as a flashpoint for generations of filmmakers and activists. Unavailable on commercial streaming platforms and rarely screened, Who Killed Vincent Chin? is an essential part of our cinematic and community history and remains all too relevant to our present. We see in this film the power of storytelling to document, witness, and shake an audience to the core.

This presentation is only available within Canada and available to watch from 12am ET on May 26 to 11:59pm ET on May 27.

Bonus content: this presentation includes a pre-recorded discussion hosted by filmmaker Yung Chang with co-director Renee Tajima-Peña and activist/educator Annie Tan (cousin of Vincent Chin). They will discuss the legacies of Chin and the film, and how filmmaking craft can reflect and respond to moments and movements.

Tickets are available to the public on May 17 at 10am ET. Become a member by 8:00pm ET on May 13 to receive early access to tickets on May 14 at 10am ET. This is a free screening with a suggestion donation. Every donation and new member’s support helps us get to our 25th Anniversary this fall.

This screening is closed-captioned. The intro will have open captions and the panel discussion will have on-screen ASL interpretation.

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open-captioned symbol The introduction has open captions.

Closed Cqptions symbol The feature has closed captions.

Real-time ASL intepretation symbol The panel will have on-screen ASL intepretation.

Active Listener

The services of an Active Listener will be available to offer one-on-one peer support for viewers who may find the content of this presentation triggering.

Featured Bonus content: Post-screening Panel Discussion

Yung Chang
Moderator

Yung Chang is the multi-award-winning director of feature documentaries Up the Yangtze (2007), China Heavyweight (2012), The Fruit Hunters (2013), This is Not a Movie (2019), and Wuhan Wuhan (2021). His Field of Vision short Gatekeeper (2016) is a Vimeo Staff Pick and Pandemic19 (2020) short is streaming on World Channel, Al Jazeera World, and Tencent. His first feature script, Eggplant, was a part of the 2018 TIFF Writers Studio and the 2015 Sundance Institute Screenwriting and Directing labs. His films have played top-tier international film festivals and have been broadcast around the world. A graduate of the Meisner acting technique from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in NYC and Concordia University’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal, Chang‘s films are recognized for being humanistic stories exploring emotionally complex characters through a cinematic lens. Chang is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. More info at yungfilms.com.

Renee Tajima-Peña
Co-director, Who Killed Vincent Chin?

Renee Tajima-Peña, an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and professor of Asian American Studies at UCLA, is series producer of the groundbreaking PBS docuseries Asian Americans. Her previous films include My America…or Honk if You Love Buddha and No Más Bebés, Her films have screened at international venues such as the Cannes Film Festival, Hong Kong Film Festival, SXSW, Sundance Film Festival, and the Whitney Biennial. She is currently co-producing the MAY 19 AAPI SOLIDARITY social media campaign that will launch on the shared birthdays of Yuri Kochiyama and Malcolm X, and will amplify the long history of interracial solidarity.

Annie Tan
Activist and Educator

Annie Tan is a NYC public schools special education teacher, activist, writer and storyteller born and raised in Chinatown, NYC. Annie fights for her students, public education, teachers unions, tenants rights, and Asian Americans, organizing a better world. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, The New Republic, PBS’ documentary series Asian Americans, and twice on the Moth Radio Hour. Annie is currently working on her first book, a memoir, and hopes to write a book one day about her family and Asian American history. You can follow Annie‘s work at annietan.com and @annietangent on Twitter.

Free Asian Heritage Month Screening and Panel Discussion of Who Killed Vincent Chin? on May 26 and May 27

Sponsor

Accessibility

Active Listener

Featured Bonus content: Post-screening Panel Discussion

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