Next Saturday, December 17, the Chatham Square Library will screen a 16mm print of the film Who Killed Vincent Chin? with a special guest, associate producer Nancy Tong, in attendance for a Q&A. The film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature, at the 1989 Academy Awards.
The screening is part of the library’s ongoing “Chinese in America Film Series.”
They write:
Vincent Chin, a successful engineer living out his dream of designing automobiles in Detroit, meets an unexpected and violent end when he is assaulted and killed by two men in the summer of 1982, following an altercation at a bar. Despite their bloody crime, the assailants initially receive lenient sentences due to a plea bargain. The troubling outcome of the case outrages civil rights advocates, who fight for justice and struggle to prove that Chin’s attackers had racist motivations.
This documentary is just as important in 2016 as it was when initially released. The themes of economic strife, crumbling blue collar industries, and the racial tensions that result from these struggles are all issues America is still dealing with to this day.
You can read The NY Times review from one of its early screenings in 1988 here.
A trailer is available on PBS here.
The screening is first come, first served. This is not a ticketed event. All NYPL programs are free of charge.
Saturday, December 17 // 2:00 p.m. //Chatham Square Library, 33 E Broadway (between Catherine and Market Streets), 3rd floor Community Room
