Who Killed Vincent Chin? | |
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Directed by | Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña |
Produced by | Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña [1] |
Cinematography | Kyle Kibbe |
Edited by | Holly Fisher |
Production companies | |
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. [2] It was later broadcast as part of the PBS series POV. [3]
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". [4]
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), [5] two white autoworkers fatally beat Vincent Chin, a 27-year-old Chinese engineer, with a baseball bat. [6] 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. [7] 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. [8]
Who Killed Vincent Chin? | |
---|---|
Directed by | Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña |
Produced by | Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña [1] |
Cinematography | Kyle Kibbe |
Edited by | Holly Fisher |
Production companies | |
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. [2] It was later broadcast as part of the PBS series POV. [3]
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". [4]
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), [5] two white autoworkers fatally beat Vincent Chin, a 27-year-old Chinese engineer, with a baseball bat. [6] 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. [7] 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. [8]