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Our sister sequel, Far East Deep South, has its broadcast premiere on May 4th, 2021 on World Channel’s series “America ReFramed”. The film will also stream free on-demand until June 3rd, 2021 on PBS.org, worldchannel.org and the PBS app. After June 3rd, the film will be available to stream on-demand on PBS Passport for members.

The film as been getting great reviews. The Boston Globe said “(T)his family trip takes the twists and turns of a compelling detective story. A surprising, sobering history lesson, it is painfully relevant at a time when anti-Asian hate is on the rise.”

Watch promo below. For more info, visit the official website for Far East Deep South.

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We’re excited to announce our film will have its broadcast premiere on CrossingsTV June 3, 2021! Tune into CrossingsTV’s #AAPI Special: “Finding Cleveland” (A Chinese American Family’s Journey to Find Their Lost Roots). The #AAPIHeritageMonth specials discuss the #AsianAmerican history, identity and experience. Hear witness accounts of stories often forgotten. Visit CrossingsTV.com for more info and check your cable listings for airtimes.

Crossings TV airs 7 Asian language programming in California, Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis/St Paul and New York.

Thank you to our community partner OCA Sacramento Chapter – Asian Pacific American Advocates

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“An Untold Past: Chinese Americans in the South” explores the remarkable stories told by Dr. John Jung, Baldwin Chiu and Larissa Lam.

About this Event Thursday, Aug 27th

Film Screening & Panel Discussion

4:00 pm PDT: Film Screening of “Finding Cleveland”

5:00 pm PDT: Panel Discussion

An Untold Past: Chinese Americans in the South explores the remarkable American stories told by Dr. John Jung and Baldwin Chiu & Larissa Lam. Dr. Jung, retired CSULB Professor and author of several books including Southern Fried Rice: Life in a Chinese Laundry in the Deep South, will present a brief history of early Chinese migration to the southern states as well as his family’s story and personal memories of being the only Chinese family in Macon, Georgia between 1928 and 1956.

Baldwin Chiu will join the conversation by sharing his journey to discovering his family lineage in Cleveland, Mississippi. Chiu and Larissa Lam are the co-producer of the documentary short film, Finding Cleveland. The film, directed by Lam, follows Chiu and his family on the path to uncover their roots. In An Untold Past, Chiu and Lam will discuss how uncovering his family history led them to learn about the early Chinese American community in the South who persevered through the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and later navigated through the Jim Crow era.

The conversation will conclude with an audience Q&A, moderated by Dr. Laureen D. Hom, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Cal Poly Pomona.

At 4 pm, a screening of the award-winning documentary short film, “Finding Cleveland,” co-produced by Baldwin Chiu & Larissa Lam, will be available for viewing. Length: fifteen (15) minutes.

A Vimeo link to watch the film and the Zoom link to the panel discussion will be sent out the day before the event. As a reminder, the panel discussion starts at 5:00 pm PDT.

With special thanks to our community partners:

  • Visual Communications
  • Chinese Historical Society of Southern California
  • Chinese Family History Group of Southern California
  • Chinese American Citizens Alliance – Los Angeles Lodge
  • MS Delta Chinese Heritage Museum
  • Delta State University
Click Here to Register

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Many of you have been eagerly waiting to watch Far East Deep South, our 76-minute sequel to Finding Cleveland. We are glad to be part of the Oxford Virtual Film Festival June 5-12. Our film we be playing the whole week and you can watch it online anytime during that week with purchase of your $10 festival ticket or festival pass. Director, Larissa Lam and producer, Baldwin Chiu will take part in a filmmaker chat and Q&A on June 10th at 5pm PDT/8pm EDT exclusive to festival ticket and pass holders.

This is the first general public opportunity to watch this film that continues the emotional journey of discovery for the Chiu family as they return to Mississippi and dig deeper to uncover their roots and the history of the Chinese in the South during segregation and the Chinese Exclusion Act.

For screening info, visit fareastdeepsouth.com

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We’re excited to be part of the wonderful lineup of films at this year’s Houston Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival, which will now take place virtually online. Our film will screen Tuesday, June 9th at 6pm Central Time as part of a PERISCOPE VISION: EXPLORING FAMILY ROOTS block of short films. Larissa Lam and Baldwin Chiu, our director and producer, will also join a live Q&A immediately after the screening at 7pm Central Time.

Other films during our block include short documentaries, Phetmixay Means Fighter, A Chinese American Giant: The Y.C. Hong Story, Narrative Short, Our Home Here, and Doc Feature, Ghost Mountain. The event is presented by OCA -Asian Pacific American Advocates Houston.

To watch our screening block, visit  https://haapifest2020.eventive.org/welcome

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UPDATED 5/17/20: In honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we are making our award-winning 14-minute documentary, Finding Cleveland, available to watch free online until May 31st, 2020. Click to watch here.

We will also host two Live Video Q&A Sessions Thursday, May 7th 3pm PDT & Friday, May 8th 7pm PDT with producer Baldwin Chiu, director Larissa Lam and special guest, Emily Jones, curator of Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum and university archivist at Delta State University. Students and educators are encouraged to attend. Open to all ages, but we recommend ages 8+. They’ll discuss the film and answer questions from the audience.

Topics discussed during Live Q&A include:
– Contributions of Chinese to MS Delta
– Relationship between Chinese & African-American community in Jim Crow era
– Chinese Exclusion Act impact on families
– How history informs our American identity
– Preview new film, Far East Deep South

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One of the things we loved to do was show Finding Cleveland to a room full of people and then have a time of Q&A after. We were very excited to debut our new 76-minute follow up film, Far East Deep South, that expands the story and emotional journey of the Chiu family. Sadly, COVID-19 has shuttered all film festivals and gatherings indefinitely and taken away that live event experience.

The good news is that we are working on plans to do some virtual screenings of our films while we are observing #saferathome practices. Several of the postponed film festivals that were to screen Far East Deep South have pushed their dates back to August or later in hopes public gatherings can resume by then.

You can stay up to date on screenings by subscribing to our newsletter here. You will receive updates on both Finding Cleveland and Far East Deep South. Thanks for supporting our films!

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We are excited to announce the new title of our 75-minute documentary sequel to Finding Cleveland. We will expand the story of the Chiu family searching for their roots and the title is FAR EAST DEEP SOUTH. The film will be making its world premiere in March 2020. We will be making an official announcement with more details in early 2020 but we are excited for this next chapter. If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to our crowdfunding campaign for the completion and marketing of the film, visit donate.findingcleveland.com

In the meantime, check out the new trailer Far East Deep South.

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The California State Railroad Museum currently has a wonderful exhibit about Chinese American contributions in California to mark the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. We are honored that a photo of Baldwin Chiu’s great-grandfather, Charles J. Lou, is featured in a section of the exhibit that shows contributions beyond railroad workers. Alongside the photo is a quote from Baldwin Chiu about the importance of the Chinese to the fabric of America.

If you’re in Sacramento, we recommend making a visit to the museum while the exhibit lasts. The museum will be hosting a screening of Finding Cleveland to kick off 2020 on January 4th. Visit our screenings page for more details.