Who Killed Vincent Chin? | |
---|---|
Directed by | Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña |
Produced by | Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña |
Cinematography | Kyle Kibbe |
Edited by | Holly Fisher |
Production companies | Film News Now Foundation and WTVS |
Distributed by | Filmakers Library |
Release date |
|
Running time | 87 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | English Cantonese |
Who Killed Vincent Chin? is a 1987 American documentary film produced and directed by Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña that recounts the murder of Vincent Chin. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It was later broadcast as part of the PBS series POV.
In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Overview
On a summer night in Detroit in 1982 (during a time of anti-Asian sentiment due to Japan being blamed for America's decline in the auto industry), two white autoworkers fatally beat Vincent Chin, a 27-year-old Chinese engineer, with a baseball bat. The film tracks the incident from the initial eye-witness accounts through the trial and its repercussions for the families involved, and the American justice system at large. After an outcry from the Asian American community, led by Vincent's mother Lily Chin, the case becomes a civil rights Supreme Court case. The case ends with tried killer Ronald Ebens' being let go with a suspended sentence and a small fine.
Awards
- Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award, Silver Baton (1991)
- Hawaii International Film Festival, Best Documentary Award (1988)
- Academy Awards, Best Documentary Feature Nominee (1989)
See also
- Vincent Who?, 2009 documentary about the same case.
References
- Documentary Winners: 1989 Oscars
- ^ "THE 61ST ACADEMY AWARDS (1989)". Oscars.org. The Academy Awards. October 5, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- "POV | Who Killed Vincent Chin: Filmmaker Interview | Season 2". Pbs.org. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
- Tartaglione, Nancy (December 14, 2021). "National Film Registry Adds Return Of The Jedi, Fellowship Of The Ring, Strangers On A Train, Sounder, WALL-E & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
- Academy Museum
- Xing, Jun (1998). Asian America Through the Lens. CA: AltaMira Press. p. 109. ISBN 9780761991762.
- Who Killed Vincent Chin?. PBS. 1987. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
- Who Killed Vincent Chin?. Filmmakers Library at filmmakers.com. 1987. Archived from the original on October 20, 2006. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
- "All duPont-Columbia Award Winners". Columbia Journalism School. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- "8th Annual Hawaii International Film Festival". Hawaii International Film Festival. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
External links
- Who Killed Vincent Chin? at IMDb
- Who Killed Vincent Chin? at POV
- Who Killed Vincent Chin? at Filmakers Library
- 1987 films
- 1987 documentary films
- American documentary films
- Documentary films about Asian Americans
- Films about Chinese Americans
- Documentary films about racism in the United States
- 1980s English-language films
- 1980s Mandarin-language films
- Documentary films about Detroit
- Documentary films about the automotive industry
- Films set in Detroit
- Culture of Detroit
- United States National Film Registry films
- Chinese-language American films
- 1980s American films
- Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award winners
- Films set in the 1980s
- Films set in 1982
- English-language documentary films
- Cantonese-language American films