News
NEW LOWER DVD PRICES for 2012!
- New prices apply to home use orders only; educational and institutional products remain at regular prices.
New Documentary on Oscar® Winning Actor, Dr. Haing S. Ngor
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced that Arthur Dong has been awarded a research and development grant for his documentary project on Dr. Haing S. Ngor, the first-time Cambodian/Chinese actor who drew upon his four-year interment in Khmer Rouge prisons to create an Oscar®-winning performance in The Killing Fields. “Dr. Ngor is mostly known for his film work, but what I find compelling is his quest to bring worldwide attention to the devastation of Cambodia under the Pol Pot regime,” says Dong. Unfortunately, Dr. Ngor was murdered in 1996 in L.A.’s Chinatown. Although the case was officially solved and convicted as a botched robbery, it’s still a mystery to many in the Cambodian community. In fact, in 2009, at the Cambodian tribunals to bring top members of the Pol Pot regime to justice, Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch), the notorious warden of Tuol Sleng torture camp, claimed “Haing S. Ngor was killed because he appeared in the film The Killing Fields. The documentary will be based on Ngor’s autobiography (co-written with Roger Warner), Survival in the the Killing Fields.
Please check back for future developments on this exciting new project. For more information, please visit:
http://www.neh.gov/news/archive/20111201.html
http://www.asianconnections.com/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=3227&Itemid=135
Film Independent Forum
October 21-23 2011: Film Independent presented a weekend packed with real world discussions, solutions, and case studies, which reflect the reality of the industry today. Arthur Dong was the focus of the panel, “This Film Has Legs: Extending the Life of your Doc,” moderated by filmmaker Lisa Leeman. For more information:
http://www.documentary.org/magazine/film-independent-forum-career-building-convocation
Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program
Goes to China
April 13-16, 2011: Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program lead the first ever Institute workshop for independent Chinese documentary filmmakers. Co-hosted with CNEX, a Beijing-based foundation dedicated to supporting artistic documentaries about contemporary Chinese life. Filmmakers Arthur Dong, Stanley Nelson, and Lixin Fan joined Sundance Institute director, Cara Mertes, in providing feedback to filmmakers about their projects. For more information: http://www.sundance.org/filmforward/blog-entry/sundance-institutes-documentary-film-program-goes-to-china/
Beijing LGBT Center Screens Family Fundamentals
April 16, 2011: Beijing’s LGBT Center hosted a SRO screening of Arthur Dong’s Family Fundamentals, with the filmmaker in attendance. For more information:
THE ARTHUR DONG CATALOGUE
DeepFocus Productions is please to present The Arthur Dong Catalogue, an illustrated brochure listing Dong’s awarding-winning films for sale.
Learn more about the new DVD releases, Stories from Chinese America: the Arthur Dong Collection, Vol. 2 and A Toisan Trilogy. The full-color, 4-page publication also features details on the new 2-disc Hollywood Chinese Collector’s Edition DVD, as well as the popular Forbidden City, U.S.A. and Dong’s first box-set, Stories from the War on Homosexuality: the Arthur Dong Collection, Vol. 1.
STORIES FROM CHINESE AMERICA: THE ARTHUR DONG COLLECTION, VOL. 2
With over 100 international film excellence awards to his name, the full scope of Arthur Dong’s storytelling mastery is brought to light in this long-awaited collection of films that explore the Chinese American experience. This consummate anthology of films spanning over 25 years showcases Dong’s historically acute focus on Chinese Americans at crossroads with Hollywood, pop culture, tradition, and immigration.
The collection includes Hollywood Chinese, Forbidden City, U.S.A., Sewing Woman, Lotus, and Living Music for Golden Mountains, Dong’s 1981 documentary directorial debut. Also included is the restored and newly scored 1916 film, The Curse of Quon Gwon, the earliest known Chinese American feature film ever made that Dong helped rescue during his work on Hollywood Chinese. Stories from Chinese America is on 4-discs and features over 8 hours of films and bonus material. The anthology is a “Limited Edition” and is available only while supplies last.
HOLLYWOOD CHINESE 2-DISC COLLECTOR’S EDITION DVD
Hollywood Chinese brings together a captivating portrait of film artists and iconic images for a high-spirited look at the ways the Chinese have been imagined in the movies, from silent classics to contemporary blockbusters. Winner of the 2007 Golden Horse for Best Documentary, Asia’s Oscar® equivalent, Hollywood Chinese stars a virtual who’s who of top Chinese and Chinese American talent, including Ang Lee, Nancy Kwan, Amy Tan, James Hong, B.D. Wong, Joan Chen, Wayne Wang, and David Henry Hwang; with special appearances by veteran character actor Christopher Lee (Fu Manchu) and surviving stars from Hollywood’s Golden age, double Oscar® winner Luise Rainer (The Good Earth) and matinee idol Turhan Bey (Dragon Seed).
The two-disc Hollywood Chinese: Collector’s Edition features a treasure trove of over 3.5 hours of bonus material, including the world premiere of the restored and newly scored 1916 film, The Curse of Quon Gwon, the earliest known Chinese American feature film ever made.
A TOISAN TRILOGY: THREE AWARD-WINNING FILMS
The first major wave of Chinese came to America primarily from southern China, with a heavy concentration from the Toisan (Taishan) region of Guangdong Province. For the first time together, A Toisan Trilogy presents three award-winning short films directed by Arthur Dong that draw upon this early period of Chinese migration to America. The anthology includes:
SEWING WOMAN: an Oscar®-nominated documentary that reveals one woman’s journey, from an arranged marriage in Toisan to working class comforts in modern America. BONUS: Chinese-subtitled version included.
LIVING MUSIC FOR GOLDEN MOUNTAINS: the story of the filmmaker’s Chinese music teacher, an immigrant from Toisan living in San Francisco’s Chinatown. BONUS: director’s cut edited especially for this anthology.
LOTUS: a fictionalized film set in the Toisan village of Kay Lok. Lotus is a woman in 1914 China with bound feet who must make a life-changing choice while her husband is in America. BONUS: galleries of vintage bound feet shoes and historic photos of women with bound feet.
HOLLYWOOD CHINESE EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
A full-color, lushly illustrated exhibition catalogue from the “Hollywood Chinese: the Arthur Dong Collection” museum show is now available for purchase. An insightful essay by media scholar and Academy Award® nominated filmmaker, Renee Tajima-Pena, covers the social, cultural, historical, and political significance of this ground-breaking exhibition. The 34-page, soft cover publication includes 88 reproductions of posters, lobby cards, stills, and other ephemera dating from 1916 to present day that trace the Chinese in American feature films over the past century. A complete checklist of exhibition items is also included. A perfect companion to the Hollywood Chinese DVD.
CALIFORNIA ARTIST GRANT AWARDED
The Center for Cultural Innovation awarded $200,000 in grants to 24 recipients under it’s Investing in Artist program that was established to enhance the working lives and strengthen the creative support system for California artists working in all disciplines. Arthur Dong received a grant for the acquisition of artistic equipment and tools. For more information, visit www.cciarts.org.
TRAVELS IN A GAY NATION PUBLISHED
A collection of interviews with activists and artists, including George Takei, Barney Frank, Arthur Dong, and Tammy Baldwin are featured in Phillip Gambone’s, Travels in a Gay Nation. In his book, Gambone captures the humanity of each individual: for some, their identity as a sexual minority is crucial to their life's work; for others, it has been less so, perhaps even irrelevant. For more information, please visit the University of Wisconsin Press.
FILM ON FOOTBINDING NOW ON DVD
Lotus, the award-winning film about footbinding in 1914 China, is now available on DVD. “This story is not only a fascinating truth about the past in China, it is a story about our choices today,” Gloria Steinem. DVD special features include a letterboxed widescreen version, a showcase of vintage bound feet shoes from the Beverley Jackson Collection and a gallery of archival photos showing women with bound feet. Order now at our online store or call 800/343-5540.
OAKLAND MUSEUM EXHIBITION
Excerpts from Hollywood Chinese were selected for permanent exhibition at the newly renovated Oakland Museum of California. Sequences on Charlie Chan and The Curse of Quon Gwon will be projected continuously in the museum's Hollywoodland screening room, alongside rare movie memorabilia. Visit our Facebook photo album for pictures.
CURSE OF QUON GWON SCORE RECORDED
An original score has been produced for The Curse of Quon Gwon, the earliest known Asian American feature film directed in 1916 by Marion Wong. Original nitrate film reels of the film were brought to the attention of filmmaker Arthur Dong during his research for Hollywood Chinese, and were eventually restored by the Academy Film Archive. Noted silent film pianist and composer, Judy Rosenberg, wrote and performed her composition for The Curse of Quon Gwon that will premiere on an upcoming DVD release from DeepFocus Productions. Stay tuned for a future announcement.
FORBIDDEN CITY, U.S.A. DVDs FOR LIBRARIES, EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Forbidden City, U.S.A., the landmark documentary about Chinese American nightclubs in 1940s San Francisco, is now available on DVD for purchase by educational institutions and libraries. A newly-published, 23-page illustrated study guide accompanies each sale. To order, please visit our online store or call 800/343-5540.
NOTE: Single copies of the DVD are available for purchase by Educational and Institutional buyers only. Sales for individual home and personal use are only available as part of the box set, Stories from Chinese America: The Arthur Dong Collection, Vol. 2. Additionally, a limited number of VHS video copies are on sale for personal and home use. Please call 800/343-5540 to check for VHS availability.
THE HOLLYWOOD CHINESE MUSEUM EXHIBITION
Hollywood Chinese: The Arthur Dong Collection presents selections from the over 1,000 pieces of movie memorabilia that was collected during the ten-year research for Arthur Dong’s groundbreaking film, Hollywood Chinese. Through posters, lobby cards, film stills, scripts and documents dating from 1916, visitors journey into a vivid and graphic study of how the Chinese have been imagined in the movies. Exhibition dates are October 24, 2009 through November 7, 2010. For more information, please visit this link.
EMMY WIN
PBS' American Masters won the 2009 Primetime Emmy for “Outstanding Nonfiction Series,” with Hollywood Chinese in the series line-up.