Vincent Who?

Poster for Vincent Who?

Vincent Who? is a 40-minute documentary film that was officially released in 2009. The film examines how the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin in Detroit, Michigan ignited the Asian American civil rights movement and gave rise to a new Asian American identity and community. The film was written and produced by Curtis Chin (no relations) and directed, shot and edited by Tony Lam.

Vincent Chin was a 27-year-old Chinese-American who was beaten to death with a baseball bat by two Detroit autoworkers, who had mistakenly thought that he was Japanese, and in their minds, was responsible for the loss of jobs in the U.S. auto industry.

The film begins by explaining that Chin's killers, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz, were originally charged with second-degree murder, but were allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter. Judge Charles Kaufman, who sentenced them to three years' probation and a $3,000 fine, explained his leniency by saying, "These weren't the kind of men you send to jail."

Outraged by this travesty of justice, Asians in America united for the first time across ethnic and socioeconomic divisions to forge an Asian American identity and civil rights movement. Vincent Who? explores this legacy through interviews with the key players at the time as well as a new generation of Vincent Chin-inspired activists. It also examines the case in relation to other watershed moments in Asian American history, such as Chinese Exclusion, Japanese American Internment, the 1992 L.A. Riots, anti-Asian hate crimes, and post-9/11 racism.

As part of making the film, producer Curtis Chin (whose families were friends in Detroit) said they randomly asked approximately 80 Asian American college students if they had ever heard of Vincent Chin -- none had. The filmmakers made Vincent Who? specifically to redress this widespread ignorance of Vincent Chin and to give prominence to this neglected, but critical chapter not only in Asian American history, but in American civil rights history.

The National Association for Multicultural Education gave Vincent Who? and its producer Curtis Chin its 2009 Multicultural Media Award.

TIMELINE OF FILM

Fall 2006 - The non-profit Asian Pacific Americans for Progress begins discussing how to commemorate the upcoming 25th anniversary of the murder of Vincent Chin. The organization's Los Angeles chapter decides to organize a panel discussion on the current state of Asian American political empowerment, along with a screening of the documentary, "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" Eventually, the panel would include several speakers featured in the film (Renee Tajima-Pena, Robin Toma, Stewart Kwoh and Hamid Khan), as well as a re-cap of the case by current Congressmember Judy Chu. During the discussion, speaker Toma asks the audience how many people had heard of Vincent Chin and surprisingly many of the attendees were unfamiliar with the case.

March/May 2007 - Additional events are planned by APAP chapters around the country, featuring such voices as Helen Zia in San Francisco and City Councilmember John Liu in New York. Writer/Producer Curtis Chin secures the commitment of ImaginasianTV to air the compiled footage from the various townhalls into a one-hour TV documentary. ImaginasianTV sponsors the events in Los Angeles and New York.

June 2007 - APAP coordinates a total of 14 townhalls around the country. Each townhall features a screening of the documentary, Who Killed Vincent Chin?, as well as the leading Asian American civil rights leaders from around the country. The ethnically diverse group of speakers discuss the historic nature of the case, as well as relating it to the post 9/11 reality of the community.

Fall 2007 - The footage from around the country is reviewed. Due to the inconsistent audio and video quality of the footage, it's decided that new footage would be shot. Several interviews are conducted in Los Angeles, including the opening montage. Curtis Chin travels to Oakland to interview Helen Zia. Archival footage is also located through the Vanderbilt News Service, including the interviews with fiance Vicki Wong and Vincent's mother, Lilly Chin.

December 2007 - A rough-cut is submitted to ImaginasianTV. Based on feedback from the network, the producers and director decide to interview additional subjects and to replace old footage with newer material. The producers also decide to purse the film festival and education route, as well. April 19, 2008 - The documentary has its first public screening, a sneak preview at the Chicago Asian American Film Festival. Director Tony Lam and producers Curtis Chin and Cate Park are in attendance.

Spring/Summer 2008 - Based on feedback from the Chicago screening and focus groups in Los Angeles, the film continues to be refined and more interviews are conducted, including a trip to San Francisco.

June 2008 - Curtis Chin shows a seven-minute re-edited preview of the film at the Organization of Chinese Americans national convention in Washington, DC. From there, over a dozen schools invite him to bring the film to their campuses.

Fall 2008 - Additional filming is conducted, including a day-trip back to Detroit by Curtis Chin and Tony Lam.

January 2009 - The final version of the film is released. Since then, Curtis Chin has traveled to over 130 colleges, libraries and companies around the country. Producer Preeti Kulkarni has also spoken at several universities, as well.

October 27, 2009 - Vincent Who? has it's Los Angeles premiere at the National Center for the Preservation for Democracy, the same location where the original townhall was held in 2007. A sold-out crowd watches the film and the following q-and-a session.

November 1, 2009 - Curtis Chin attends the National Association for Multicultural Education in Denver to receive their 2009 New Media Award.

March 2010 - A standard DVD of the film is released by APAP.

June 2010 - A special edition DVD is released by Tony Lam Films.

Special Edition DVD

On the 28th anniversary of the murder of Vincent Chin, a Special Edition DVD of Vincent Who? was released by director Tony Lam on the [1], which also offers additional information, video interviews, and educational resources on the Vincent Chin case.

CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR VINCENT CHIN

One of the main goals of the filmmakers was to support the continued efforts of the Asian American community in Michigan, as well as the original group of activists behind the Vincent Chin case. In addition to including such key voices as Helen Zia, Roland Hwang and Jim Shimoura in the film, APAP has continued to work with the original advocacy organization in Detroit, American Citizens for Justice (ACJ). ACJ Board member Roland Hwang, working with Curtis Chin, has organized six screenings of the film in the Detroit area, most recently on September 2010 when Roland, Curtis and the former Executive Director of ACJ, Frances Hwang, were invited to speak at the regional conference of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association. After a screening of the film, the three speakers discussed the case itself, as well the current state of Asian Americans in politics and the media. Copies of the DVD were sold and all proceeds were donated to ACJ. In addition, APAP has committed to working with Roland and ACj on further steps can be taken to seek justice on behalf of Vincent Chin and his family. These discussions are on-going between the two organizations. In addition, Helen Zia has attended screenings in New York and San Francisco, with additional appearances in the works.

External links

• {{|http://www.apaforprogress.org/vincent-who-0/Asian Pacific Americans for Progress}}
• {{|http://www.vincentwhofilm.com/Tony Lam Films}}
• {{|http://www.vincentwhofilm.com/trailer/VWTrailer]}}
• Fallout Central: Feature Interview with Tony Lam, Director, BetterAsianMan.com.
• Interview with Curtis Chin, Producer, Asian Avenue Magazine.
• Yeon Me Kim, Movie Review: Vincent Who?, The Modern American, April 2009.
• Lynda Lin, Resurrecting Vincent Chin, Pacific Citizen, June 20, 2008.
• Roland Hwang, Vincent Who?: Remembering the Historic Importance of the Vincent Chin Case, IMDiversity, April 2008.
• Richard Lui, Groom-To-Be Clubbed To Death, CNN Headline News, May 30, 2009.
• Kelli M. Rucker, Vincent Who?: A Cross-Cultural Perspective", AsianWeek, June 10, 2008
• Mike Liu, Watching Vincent Who? - Vincent Chin's Legacy, Azine, November 6, 2008.
• Vincent Who? at IMDb