Christine Choy
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Christine Choy | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Choy in 1986 | |||||||
Born | Chai Ming Huei 1952 (age 71–72) Shanghai, China | ||||||
Alma mater | Manhattanville College | ||||||
Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, director, documentarian, journalist, activist | ||||||
Known for | Who Killed Vincent Chin? (1988) | ||||||
Political party | Black Panther Party | ||||||
Awards | Academy Award for Best Documentary - Nominated (1989), "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" | ||||||
Chinese name | |||||||
Chinese | 崔明慧[1] | ||||||
| |||||||
Korean name | |||||||
Hangul | 최명혜 | ||||||
Revised Romanization | Choe Myeonghye | ||||||
McCune–Reischauer | Ch'oe Myŏnghye |
Christine Choy (born 1952) is a Chinese-American filmmaker.[2] She is known for co-directing Who Killed Vincent Chin?, a 1988 film based on the murder of Vincent Jen Chin, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. She co-founded Third World Newsreel, a film company focusing on people of color and social justice issues. As a documentary filmmaker, she has produced and directed more than eighty films. She is a professor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.[3]
Early life
[edit]Life in Asia
[edit]Choy was born in Shanghai in the People's Republic of China[3] as Chai Ming Huei to a Korean father and a Chinese mother.[4][2] Shortly after Choy's birth, her father abandoned the family to return to South Korea. As a result, Choy was raised largely by her mother. Growing up, her family struggled greatly financially.[2]
Following the Cultural Revolution, the family fled mainland China via Hong Kong.[5][2] They moved to South Korea, where Choy was reunited with her father. During this time, Choy developed a strong appreciation for American films released in South Korea. Although she enjoyed the films, Choy became attuned to the prevalence of casual discrimination towards Asian people in American media.[6]
Arrival in America; Education
[edit]Choy moved to New York City at the age of 14. "I was a volunteer for WBAI in high school," Choy recounts. "One of my duties was covering the Panther Twenty-One trial at the Tombs." During the trial, she earned the trust of the Panthers and soon afterward, began doing errands for the New York City chapter.[3]
"I was a Panther Youth," Choy recalls. "I did the running around for the big shots."[3]
In 1965,[6] Choy was given a scholarship to attend Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in New York, where she studied architecture. While attending, she made friends with a group of hippies that were a part of Newsreel. At Newsreel, Choy worked as an editor and animation director for some amount of time.[2] Soon thereafter, Choy earned a Directing Certificate at the American Film Institute.[7]
Filmmaking
[edit]Choy has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rockefeller Memorial Fellowship, and an Asian Cultural Council Fellowship. Her documentary film Who Killed Vincent Chin? received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1989.[7] In 2021, the film was registered in the National Film Registry.[8]
Using her camera to shed light on hidden social histories and injustices, Choy has developed a reputation for fearless filmmaking and uncompromising vision in her push to change and deepen audiences' understanding of the world.[9]
Career
[edit]In 1972, Choy co-founded Third World Newsreel together with fellow filmmaker Susan Robeson. During her tenure, Choy directed documentary films on the 1971 Attica prison uprising, the life of women in United States prisons, and the history of social activism in New York City's chinatown, as well as documentaries on the division of the Korean peninsula and Namibia's struggle for independence from South Africa, among others.[10]
In 1974, Choy directed her first feature-length documentary, Teach Our Children. Because Choy was able to relate to the poverty and the migration issues that people around her faced, she was inspired to make a second documentary, fusing the issues she faced in China and South Korea with the struggles she faced in the United States. She finished the film—From Spikes to Spindles—in 1976. Its focus was Chinese migration and Chinese citizens' struggle for equal treatment in America.
Choy was one of the first major female Chinese-American filmmakers. She is frequently painted as a controversial figure. She is considered a political filmmaker[11] and an activist.[2]
One of Choy's most acclaimed films, Who Killed Vincent Chin? (1988), was co-directed with Renee Tajima. The film tells the story of Vincent Jen Chin, a Chinese-American man who was beaten to death with a baseball bat by Ron Ebens and his stepson, Michael Nitz, who held Chin defenseless. Neither of the White men served a single day in prison. They were each sentenced to 3 years probation and a $3,000 fine. Choy struggled in seeking funding for this film due to its high-tension subject matter, shedding light on working-class racism in Detroit at a time when the US auto industry was failing, and Japanese cars were gaining popularity. The film was a pioneer in reconfiguring ethnographic filmmaking and won several accolades.
At the 1989 Sundance Film Festival, while there to promote her film Who Killed Vincent Chin?,[12] Choy shared lodging with Steven Soderbergh, who was in Park City premiering Sex, Lies, and Videotape.[13][14][15] Also at the '89 Festival, she confronted Robert Redford about Sundance's lack of diversity,[16] calling the event "white on white" ("white people, white snow").[13] Who Killed Vincent Chin? was nominated for the Grand Jury documentary award at the Festival; and went on to win a Peabody Award in 1990.[12]
Choy is well acclaimed for making another film dealing with minority discrimination. Sa-I-gu (1993), another film that Choy codirected, about the effect of the 1992 Los Angeles riots on the Korean American community there, directly deals with the racial animosity towards Asians in America, but more specifically Asian women.[2]
After decades of directing in the documentary industry, Choy became a professor at Tisch School of Arts in New York City. She has taught a section of the production course "Sight & Sound Documentary" for many years. She also instructs a course called "Directing the Thesis" to third-year students. Additionally, Choy has teaching experience at Yale, Cornell, Buffalo State University of New York, and City University in Hong Kong.[7][11]
In her time teaching, she has mentored many filmmakers, with a long list of protégés including Todd Phillips, Raoul Peck, and Brett Morgen.[17]
In 2021, Who Killed Vincent Chin? was inducted into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.[8] It had recently been restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation to mark the 40th anniversary of Chin's death. At the time, there had also been a recent surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans in the U.S.[18]
Awards
[edit]- 1988, Won: Who Killed Vincent Chin? - Best Documentary, Hawaii International Film Festival
- 1988, Won: Who Killed Vincent Chin? - IDA Award, International Documentary Association
- 1989, Won: Who Killed Vincent Chin? - Asian Media Award
- 1989, Nominated: Who Killed Vincent Chin? - Cinematography Award, Sundance Film Festival
- 1989, Nominated: Who Killed Vincent Chin? - Grand Jury Prize, Documentary Feature, Sundance Film Festival
- 1989, Nominated: Who Killed Vincent Chin? - Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
- 1997, Won: My America...or Honk If You Love Buddha - Cinematography Award, Sundance Film Festival
- 1998, Won: The Shot Heard 'Round the World, Jury Award, Bangkok Film Festival[11]
- 2008, Won: "Long Story Short" - Audience Award, Documentary Feature, VC FilmFest - Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
- 2008, Won: "Long Story Short" - Honorable Mention, Documentary Feature, VC FilmFest - Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival[19]
- 2023, Won: Hot Docs' Outstanding Achievement Award[20]
Filmography
[edit]Year | Title | Director | Producer | Cinematographer | Writer | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1974 | "Teach Our Children" (Short film) | Yes | Yes | Yes | [2] | ||
1975 | Generation of a Railroad Spiker | Yes | [2] | ||||
1975 | Fresh Seeds in a Big Apple | Yes | [2] | ||||
1976 | From Spikes to Spindles | Yes | [2] | ||||
1977 | History of the Chinese Patriot Movement in the U.S. | Yes | [2] | ||||
1977 | North Country Tour | Yes | [2] | ||||
1978 | Inside Women Inside | Yes | [2] | ||||
1978 | Loose Pages Bound | Yes | [2] | ||||
1978 | A Dream Is What You Wake Up From | Yes | [2] | ||||
1980 | To Love, Honor, and Obey | Yes | [2] | ||||
1981 | White Flower Passing | Yes | [2] | ||||
1982 | "Bittersweet Survival" (Short film) | Yes | Yes* | *Executive Producer | [2] | ||
1982 | Go Between | Yes | [2] | ||||
1982-83 | Mississippi Triangle | Yes | [2] | ||||
1983 | Fei Teir, Goddess in Flight | Yes | [2] | ||||
1984 | Namibia, Independence Now | Yes | [2] | ||||
1985 | Monkey King Looks West | Yes | [2] | ||||
1986 | "Permanent Wave" (Short film) | Yes | [2] | ||||
1988 | Shanhai Lil's | Yes | [2] | ||||
1988 | Who Killed Vincent Chin? | Yes | Yes | Nominated - Academy Award for Best Documentary, 1989 | [2] | ||
1989 | Best Hotel on Skid Row | Yes | [2] | ||||
1989 | Fortune Cookie: The Myth of the Model Minority | Yes | [2] | ||||
1991 | Homes Apart: Korea | Yes | Yes | Yes | [21] | ||
1993 | "Sa-I-Gu" (Short film) | Yes | Yes | Yes | [2] | ||
1995 | A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde | Yes | |||||
1997 | My America... or Honk If You Love Buddha | Yes | |||||
1997 | Wrongful Death: Hattori vs. Peairs | Yes | |||||
1997 | The Shot Heard Round The World | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Winner - Best Documentary, Bangkok International Film Festival | [22][23] |
1998 | In the Name of the Emperor | Yes | Yes | ||||
1998 | "Electric Shadow" (Short film) | Yes | Yes | ||||
2001 | Ha Ha Shanghai | Yes | |||||
2003 | Sparrow Village | Yes | [24][25] | ||||
2007 | No Fifth Grade | Yes | [26] | ||||
2007 | Miao Village Medicine | Yes | [27][28] | ||||
2008 | "Long Story Short" (Short film) | Yes | Yes | ||||
2014 | Ghina | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
2016 | "Rodney King: Koreatown Reacts" (Short film) | Yes | Yes | ||||
2016 | "ReOrienting Africa" (Short film) | Yes | Yes | ||||
2016 | "Legal Smuggling with Christine Choy" (Short film) | Yes | [29] | ||||
2019 | "The Architects of Camellia" (Short film) | Yes |
Acting performances and documentary appearances
[edit]Year | Title | Role / Self | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | Sa-I-Gu (Short film) | Self | ||
1994- | Asian America | Self | TV series | |
2005 | Marc Forster: Von Davos nach Hollywood | Self | TV movie | |
2010 | Cellar | Haeri | also Executive Producer | |
2013 | "Ego Death" (Short film) | Teacher | ||
2016 | "Legal Smuggling with Christine Choy" (Short film) | Self (Voiceover) | Directed by Noah & Lewie Kloster; animated film | [29] |
2017 | "Human Resources" (Short film) | Eileen | ||
2017 | Scars of Nanking | Self | TV movie | |
2022 | The Exiles | Self | Directed by Violet Columbus & Ben Klein (former students at NYU); Winner - Grand Jury Prize, U.S. Documentary competition, 2022 Sundance Film Festival | [30] |
2022 | "Who Killed Vincent Chin? Revisited" (Short film) | Self |
References
[edit]- ^ "崔明慧:徐克、李安都为其打过工" [Christine Choy: Tsui Hark, Ang Lee have both worked for her]. Waitan Huabao. 2009-04-24. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad Foster, Gwendolyn Audrey (1995). Women Film Directors: An International Bio-critical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 77–79. ISBN 9780313289729.
Christine Choy.
- ^ a b c d Shih, Bryan, and Yohuru Williams (2016). The Black Panthers: Portraits from an Unfinished Revolution. New York: Nation Books. pp. 143–145. ISBN 978-1-56858-555-0.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Film Depicts Life in Delta". Alabama Journal. December 2, 1983. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "奥斯卡游戏公平吗". Xinmin Weekly. 2014-12-04. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
- ^ a b Williams, M.E. (December 4, 1983). "Life, struggles of Chinese in Mississippi chronicled". Hattiesburg American. p. 5D – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Christine Choy". NYU Tisch. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- ^ a b Tartaglione, Nancy (2021-12-14). "National Film Registry Adds 'Return Of The Jedi', 'Fellowship Of The Ring', 'Strangers On A Train', 'Sounder', 'WALL-E' & More". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
- ^ "Christine Choy". Indiana University Cinema. Retrieved 2024-02-06.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Third World Newsreel - Film Training, Distribution & Production". www.twn.org. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
- ^ a b c Tribune, Mishi Saran, International Herald (1999-08-05). "Christine Choy Turns the Camera on Herself". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Who Killed Vincent Chin". Foundation for Asian American Independent Media. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
- ^ a b "Eugene Hernandez on Jan. 23, 2022". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
- ^ Byrge, Duane (2024-01-18). "'sex, lies and videotape': THR's 1989 Sundance Film Festival Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
- ^ "How "sex, lies and videotape" Turns Our Gaze Inward - sundance.org". 2024-01-09. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
- ^ Ide2022-01-24T10:45:00+00:00, Wendy. "'The Exiles': Sundance Review". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "On Ha Ha Shanghai and the Unflinching Honesty of Christine Choy". Talkhouse. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
- ^ Shead, Jonathan (2021-12-16). "'Who Killed Vincent Chin?' Inducted into Library of Congress' National Film Registry". One Detroit. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
- ^ List of awards from IMDB https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0159563/awards?ref_=nm_awd
- ^ "UGFTV Prof Christine Choy: Outstanding Achievement Award". tisch.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
- ^ "Homes Apart: Korea - Available from TWN".
- ^ "The Shot Heard Round The World (1997)". Alexander Street Press. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
- ^ Saran, Mishi (Aug 5, 1999). "Christine Choy Turns the Camera on Herself". The New York Times. Retrieved Feb 5, 2024.
- ^ Carl, Fred (2003). "Sparrow Village". New York University Research Institute.
- ^ Sparrow Village. WorldCat. 2003. OCLC 68961052.
- ^ "Christine Choy's 'No Fifth Grade'". Asia Society. April 16, 2012.
- ^ "孟絲《兩部記錄片》". 好讀. 2013-12-13.
- ^ "中國農村發展紀錄片放映活動". PTT影音娛樂區. Retrieved Nov 20, 2020.
- ^ a b "Le Cinéma Club | LEGAL SMUGGLING WITH CHRISTINE CHOY". Le Cinéma Club. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
- ^ "Immigrant stories 'Nanny' and 'The Exiles' win top awards at 2022 Sundance Film Festival". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2024-02-05.