Vincent Who?

Asian Pacific Americans for Progress (APAP) is announced today that the Foundation for Asian American Independent Media (FAAIM) will present VINCENT WHO? in Chicago on April 19 at 5:30 pm at the Gene Siskel Film Center.

The Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and FAAIM have invited VINCENT WHO? to screen at its 13th edition of “Asian American Showcase” in Chicago. The film will be featured in a tour of various community town halls, schools and film festivals throughout the U.S. in 2008.

Writer-Producer Curtis Chin, who grew up in Detroit’s Chinatown, was impacted by the murder of Vincent Chin, a close family friend. “It was a small community and the murder had a profound impact on all of us. On the flipside, we were able to turn that grief and anger into something more positive.”

As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the murder approached last year, Curtis Chin and other members of APAP decided to organize a series of townhalls to commemorate the event. Working with community groups around the country, the group organized fourteen events in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York and others. The series concluded with a moving visit to Vincent’s gravesite in Detroit. From that successful series, APAP decided to produce a documentary that would further examine the impact of the Vincent Chin case on the transformation of the Asian American community. “This was a case that really marked a turning point for our community. We really wanted to see how far we have come since then,” added Curtis Chin.

Interviewees and speakers in the film include Helen Zia (a leading activist during the Chin case), Stewart Kwoh (Founder & Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Legal Center), Renee Tajima-Pena (Producer & Director, Academy award-nominated WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN?), Judy Chu (Chair, California State Board of Equalization), Mike Eng (California State Assemblyman), Frank Wu (Dean, Wayne State University Law School), Eric Nakamura (Giant Robot), Sumi Pendakur (University of Southern California), Nhung Truong (District Representative, Office of Congressman Adam Schiff), Sejal Patel (Activist, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy) and others.

The filmmaking team behind VINCENT WHO? includes Director Tony Lam, Producer Curtis Chin, Executive Producers Catherine Park and Keith Kamisugi, and Associate Producer Michael P. Lee. Tony, Curtis, and Catherine will be in attendance at the special screening in Chicago.

VINCENT WHO? is presented by Asian Pacific Americans for Progress (www.apaforprogress.org) in association with Tony Lam Films (www.tonylamfilms.com). For more information about the documentary and the complex history of the Vincent Chin case please visitwww.vincentchin.net or call Curtis Chin at 213-453-1986.