Join us as we explore the history of Asian Americans in film and media past and present, and why our stories need to be heard now more than ever before.

This event will be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube. Register in advance on Eventbrite for a link to the recording, including a chance to submit questions you'd like to see discussed!

TAFF, TAP-LA, TAP-DC, and Taiwan Academy present "SEEN & HEARD: Filmmaking, Storytelling, and the Asian American Identity", an online event featuring guest panelists Kenny Leu, Nancy Wang Yuen, and Jason C. Lin.

Moderated by Cindy Lu (TAFF Executive Director), join in on the discussion as we explore the history of Asian Americans in cinema and culture from past to present, share how our identities have shaped our storytelling, and reflect on how to encourage AAPI filmmakers both in front of and behind the camera to tell our authentic stories through film, literature, and multimedia.

Panelist Bios:

Kenny Leu is a Taiwanese American actor who has developed a reputation for playing real people, reflecting lesser known Asian stories. He played heroic schoolteacher Zhu Xue San in Midway (2019), Sgt. Eddie Chen in The Long Road Home (2017), and the indie drama ‘A Shot Through The Wall’ (2020) as a Chinese rookie police officer who accidentally kills a black man, inspired by the grand jury indictment of Peter Liang in 2015.

Nancy Wang Yuen is a sociologist and scholar of race and ethnicity in film and television. Author of “Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism”, Yuen examines the barriers actors of color face in Hollywood and how they creatively challenge stereotypes. A sought-after expert by news outlets, Yuen pioneered the first policy report on AAPI in primetime television, in collaboration with Asian Americans Advancing Justice. More recently, she was interviewed as a media expert on PBS's documentary series released in May 2020, “Asian Americans”.

Jason C. Lin is a film producer with representative films and producer credits including: A Dog’s Journey, Peppa Celebrates Chinese New Year, The Forbidden Kingdom, Ocean Heaven, and Jet Li’s Fearless. Jason recently started his own company, Story Arch Pictures, focused on developing and producing commercially-driven movies and TV series featuring Asian stories with at least one Asian lead. Previously, Jason worked as an executive at companies including Alibaba Pictures, Jet Li Production Studio, and UTA.

Hosts:

Taiwanese American Film Festival (TAFF) has proudly held four successful years of events, scouting top emerging talent and bridging generations and cultures, as a platform for diverse storytelling, serving as the only showcase in the U.S. of films and multimedia by Taiwanese and Taiwanese American filmmakers. Please get in touch with us at tafilmfestival@tap-la.org.

Taiwanese American Film Festival (TAFF) – https://www.taff.la/

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Taiwanese American Professionals, Los Angeles (TAP-LA) – https://tap-la.org/

Taiwanese American Professionals, DC (TAP-DC) – https://www.tap-dc.org/

Taiwan Academy, Los Angeles - https://la.us.taiwan.culture.tw/