News

February 20, 2022: The 4k restoration of Coming Out Under Fire has its theatrical premiere at UCLA Film & Television Archive‘s Pioneers of Queer Cinema, a retrospective celebrating LGBTQ+ cinematic achievements from the last seven decades. 12 nights, 33 films. Watch the post screening Q & A here. More info: https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/…/pioneers-of-queer-cinema

We’re delighted to share this photo of Chinatown nightclub dancer/nightclub owner COBY YEE in a vintage 1960s photo on the right. On the left is the actual headdress that was gifted to our archives  by her daughter Shari Roh Matsuura and dancer Frankie Fictitious — THANK YOU for entrusting us with the stewardship of such a beautiful relic of our history!

“…it’s clear that LGBTQ+ individuals continue to be targeted for violence in our society, no matter how far we may have come in our fight for acceptance and equality. It’s important – perhaps more important than ever – to raise awareness in the community about this issue, and that’s why the timing is perfect for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’s upcoming public screening of Licensed to Kill” —John Paul King, Los Angeles Blade

Licensed to Kill screens December 14, 2021 at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’s final program of “Sound Off: A Celebration of Women Composers.” For composer Miriam Cutler, “This is the film and filmmaker that changed the course of my composing career.” The evening’s moderator Kimberly Peirce said “I will discuss the making of the movie, it’s score by Miriam Cutler and it’s profound influence on my movie Boys Don’t Cry.” Tickets: https://www.academymuseum.org/…/licensed-to-kill…

The Los Angeles-based Academy Museum has opened to critical and popular acclaim. “Movie Museum Rethinks Exhibitions in Response to a Changing World,” reports the New York Times. Since 2017, Arthur Dong has served on the museum’s Inclusion Advisory Committee to help develop curatorial, programming, educational, and public engagement content. Pictured: Arthur stands by his quote on display in the “Future of Cinema” installation.

Writer James Kleinmann explores the personal and artistic processes behind the films in the Criteron Channel retrospective, “Stories of Resistance: Documentaries by Arthur Dong.” Read more.

“Do I now change my artistic vision that I had 25 years ago?”—Arthur Dong. The Center for Asian American Media reports on the filmmaker’s efforts to preserve and present films for his Criterion Channel retrospective.

To mark the Criterion Channel’s retrospective of seven films by Arthur Dong, San Francisco State University catches up with the 2007 Alumnus of the Year recipient. Read the article here.

Brett Mathews passed away suddenly on August 24, 2021. He’s pictured above on the far right, with Brian Bennett in the middle, at the Sundance Film Festival premiere of Family Fundamentals. The documentary profiled conservative Christian families with LGBTQ kids and profiled both in the film. Read more about Brett in the Salt Lake Tribune feature story that chronicled his struggle for family acceptance and his stance against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Sound specialist Joe Milner of Puget Sound re-mixed Arthur Dong’s landmark film Forbidden City, USA during a virtual session under the filmmaker’s supervision. In lieu of re-newing costly music licenses, cues were extracted via digital audio isolation while retaining the dialogue, and new music was laid. The film was digitally restored in 2015 by UCLA Film and Television Archive from original negatives. Read more about Dong’s entire film and video collection at UCLA FTVA here.