A new collection of 2k and 4k film restorations shines a light on the contributions of women filmmakers in early cinema. The six-disc set includes Marion Wong’s 1917 film The Curse of Quon Gwon, the earliest known film directed by an Asian American. A companion booklet features an essay about Arthur Dong’s discovery of the groundbreaking film during the research for his Hollywood Chinese documentary. Info here.
News
45th Annual Student Academy Awards®
Filmmaker Arthur Dong presented the Documentary Student Academy Awards® to honorees during a gala ceremony at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, October 11, 2018. Click here for details and a complete list of winners in all categories. Photos courtesy of AMPAS.
KPFA: Frame to Frame Interview
KPFA film critic Reyna Cowan is in discussion with filmmaker Arthur Dong about the Crazy Rich Asians phenomenon: “What does it say about Asian American representation?” CLICK HERE to listen now or to download.
Filmmaker Arthur Dong was the featured speaker at the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California. Moderated by Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival programmer Lindy Leong, the director presented and discussed clips from his films.
Golden Spike Award
Arthur Dong was named a recipient of the 2018 Golden Spike Award, an honor from The Chinese Historical Society of Southern California for his accomplishments in visual storytelling. The awards gala will be held at the Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Los Angeles Chinatown, April 28. Click here for details.
Alternative Film History
“Nearly a decade before #OscarsSoWhite made racism in Hollywood a national headline, Hollywood Chinese examined representations of Chinese and Chinese Americans in US films throughout the twentieth century.” Read the full article by California Humanities.
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress has selected The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor for their permanent collection of films that demonstrate long-term significance for future researchers and the public. Official selections for the collection exemplify the wide range of U.S. film productions and reflect the diversity of American thought and experience.
Top Picks
AARP and Rotten Tomatoes selected Hollywood Chinese a top Asian American film. AARP writes: “In Hollywood Chinese, Dong takes an epic sweep of the history of Chinese in Hollywood.” Rotten Tomatoes: “These films are milestones in what has been a long, continuous journey to be seen and heard in theaters and at home, and we celebrate those contemporary hits and everything else that has come before them with the 60 Best Asian-American Movies.”
Golden Spike Award
The Chinese Historical Society of Southern California’s Golden Spike Awards recognized media producers who tell the Chinese American story. Honorees were Arthur Dong (pictured), Felicia Lowe, Renee Tajima-Pena, Pamela Tom, and Visual Communications. The CHSSC mission is to discover, preserve, and share the history of the Chinese in America.
World War II Films
The Tucson Chinese Cultural Center and Southern Arizona Senior Pride present a series of two award-winning films in “Another Look at World War II: Perspectives from Arthur Dong.” On April 1 and 2, 2017, the filmmaker will introduce and discuss his award-winning films about the era, Coming Out Under Fire and Forbidden City, USA. See Screening/Events or download a flyer for details.