Friday, March 3, 7:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. EST

Filmmakers Christine Choy and Violet Du Feng will share experiences of documentary making, followed by a dialogue with emerging filmmakers Kit Zauhar, Shu-Ying Chung, Rachel Lin, and Nancy Ma on the creative and the ins and outs of indie filmmaking.

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MOCA Cinema: Spotlight on Women Filmmakers is a series of film screenings and discussions that celebrate Asian American women filmmakers and their incredible works, while creating dialogues between established and emerging filmmakers. MOCA will present milestone documentaries, including Christine Choy’s Who Killed Vincent Chin?, The Architects of Camellia and Violet Du Feng’s Hidden Litters, as well as an exciting, brave debut feature film Actual People by Kit Zauhar. In addition, MOCA is proud to also present Lulu Wang’s short film Touch, and other shorts by emerging filmmakers including Shu-Ying Chung, Rachel Lin and Reena Dutt. With subjects ranging from women’s right to coming-of-age struggle to the constant sought after the sense of belonging, this series of films pays closer attention to the Asian American life experiences while offering a critical look to today’s society.

MOCA CINEMA LINEUP

Who Killed Vincent Chin?
Christine Choy & Renne Tajima- Peña | 1987 | 87 minutes | Documentary
An important reminder of a past which is still relevant in today’s America, Who Killed Vincent Chin?, a surgical documentary directed by Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña, recounts the murder of a Chinese-American automotive engineer, Vincent Chin, in a racially motivated hate crime followed by the troubling outcome of the judicial system. Who Killed Vincent Chin? was nominated for the Best Documentary by the Academy Awards in 1989.

The Architects of Camellia 
Christine Choy | 2019 | 43 minutes | Documentary
As the whole nation industrializes, the camellia oil-making tradition in Xin County, Henan Province, China, undergoes the transition into automation. Life in this rural town also begins to shift. The Architects of Camellia follows a Chinese American Alex Zou’s journey back in his father’s hometown to connect with his roots while quietly witness the impact of the transformation in rising China.

Hidden Letters
Violet Du Feng | 2022 | 86 minutes | Documentary
Carrying on the tradition of 女書 nǚshū, an ancient secrete language developed by women in southern China, two Chinese women try to balance their lives as independent women in modern China, while confronting the traditional identity that defines and oppresses them. Hidden Letters brilliantly investigates what it means to be a women in today’s China with an empathetic approach. Hidden Letters was shortlisted for the Best Documentary Feature of the Academy Awards in 2023, and has won numerous awards in film festivals across the world.

Actual People 
Kit Zauhar | 2021 | 84 minutes | Feature
Riley, an aimless young woman in her final week of college, goes to great lengths to win the affections of a boy from her hometown of Philadelphia. In the process, she ends up having to confront anxieties about her love life, family, and future. Actual People, Kit Zauhar’s directorial debut shows the great, bold talent in filmmaking, and was nominated for Best Emerging Director and for Best New Film at international film festivals. Actual People is also picked up by the esteemed global curated film streaming platform Mubi.

Touch 
Lulu Wang | 2015 | 15 mins | Featured Short
An elderly Chinese immigrant’s cultural ignorance gets him in irreversible trouble in a public restroom. Despite his harmless intentions, he struggles with his son and the legal system to make the context of his behavior understood. Like her feature film, Farewell, Lulu Wang shows great compassion through her lens on the subject of cultural clashes in this earlier short.

Great Listener
Rachel Lin & Tristan Nash | 2022 | 5 minutes | Featured Short
An Asian American actress finds herself auditioning for the role of a great listener, she is forced to reckon with real-life consequences of this pervasive typecasting. Producer and Writer Rachel Lin captures the Asian American community’s struggles in today’s society through a very intimate story.

Found 
Reena Dutt | 2022 | 10 mins | Featured Short
Tabitha is stuck between two worlds. When the Artistic Director of her theatre company tokenizes her for his Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiative, she faces her reality of living in two skins as a Korean adoptee.

Removable  
Shu-Ying Chung | 2022 | 15 mins | Featured Short
Removable offers a particularly empathetic look into an Asian immigrant’s struggles with guilt after calling the police on her abusive husband, which results in his deportation. Removable has won 17 awards, including Best Short, Best Director, and Best Actress at film festivals across the world.

MOCA CINEMA SCHEDULE

Wednesday 3/1 6 P.M. – 7:30 P.M. EST Who Killed Vincent Chin?

Thursday 3/2 6 P.M. – 8 P.M EST Actual People, followed by Q & A with Kit Zauhar

Friday 3/3 4 P.M. – 4:45 P.M. EST The Architects of Camellia

Friday 3/3 5 P.M. – 6:30 P.M. EST Hidden Letters

Friday 3/3 7 P.M. – 8 P.M. EST Special Event: Dialogue on Filmmaking

Filmmakers Chirstine Choy and Violet Du Feng will share experiences of documentary making, followed by a dialogue with emerging filmmakers Kit Zauhar, Shu-Ying Chung, Rachel Lin, and Nancy Ma on the creative and the ins and outs of indie filmmaking.

Saturday 3/4 4 P.M. – 5:30 P.M. EST Actual People

Saturday 3/4 5:45 P.M. – 7 P.M. EST Shorts Collections (Touch / Great Listener / Found / Removable), followed by Q & A with shorts directors

Wednesday 3/8 6 P.M. – 6:45 P.M. EST The Architects of Camellia

Thursday 3/9 6:30 P.M. – 7:30 P.M. EST Shorts Collections (Touch / Great Listener / Found / Removable)

Friday 3/10 6:30 P.M. – 8 P.M. EST Who Killed Vincent Chin?
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