In the wake of the recent horrific events in Atlanta, the rise in anti-Asian sentiment, and a surge of hate crimes against Asian-American communities, Women Make Movies has co-signed a collective community statement of solidarity with Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta chapter, against misogyny, systemic violence, and white supremacy.
We stand in solidarity against gender-based violence and systemic racism. For over 45 years, Women Make Movies has supported women filmmakers at all intersections of race, class, and gender. We believe in the importance of storytelling and how representation can shape our perceptions of people and our world. In light of this, we will be making available select films that create greater awareness and that center and uplift the voices of Asian and Asian-American women.
To begin — and in collaboration with Asian Women United and the filmmakers of SLAYING THE DRAGON and SLAYING THE DRAGON: RELOADED — we are making these two films available for free through April 15, 2021. Both films are available to watch in our virtual screening room, here. If you would like to book a screening for your organization, request here.
We are also planning a panel discussion with Asian Women United and will add more films in the coming weeks. Subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when both become available.
If you are an educator, institution, community organization, museum, or programmer looking for more films by and about Asian women, browse our collection of Asian and Asian-American films on our website. We also want to draw your attention to one of our latest releases: NICE CHINESE GIRLS DON’T: KITTY TSUI, a portrait of the iconic Asian American lesbian, poet, artist, activist (and bodybuilder!) who came of age in the early days of the Women’s Liberation movement in San Francisco.
Highlights from WMM Filmmakers and Program Alums:
CODED BIAS (Dir. Shalini Kantayya) aired on the PBS series Independent Lens this month and is coming to Netflix April 5. The film is available to purchase and book for screenings here.
Kimberlee Bassford was interviewed in GirlTalkHQ about PATSY MINK: AHEAD OF THE MAJORITY and WINNING GIRL for Women’s History Month.
Theresa Loong received a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) for her new film, GAME ON.
Elizabeth Ai (Program Alum) was recently named a CAAM Fellow. Geeta Gandbhir (LOVE THE SINNER) is a mentor for the program.
The five-part PBS documentary series ASIAN AMERICANS is currently streaming. Grace Lee produced two of the five episodes.
Ursula Liang was in conversation for CAAM’s first Storytellers Session. She has an upcoming panel about her latest film DOWN A DARK STAIRWELL, produced with the support of WMM’s Production Assistance program, on April 8.
Highlights from our Partners:
Save the Date! CAAMFest Returns May 13-23. Read Executive Director Stephen Gong’s latest blog post about combatting Asian hate through storytelling.
A-Doc, CAAM, Visual Communications and Open Your Eyes & Think MF celebrated the 2021 AAPI Documentary Awards Contenders with Oscar shortlisted filmmakers. Watch the replay.
The PIC Media Fund, which provides funds for nonfiction films about the indigenous Pacific Islander experience opens July 3, 2021.
The PBS Open Call for Emerging Filmmakers is now open through April 16, 2021 for long and short form documentaries created by diverse/BIPOC filmmakers.