''Who Killed Vincent Chin?'' is a 1987 American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

produced and directed by

Christine Choy Christine Choy (born 1952) is a Chinese-American filmmaker. She is known for co-directing '' Who Killed Vincent Chin?'', a 1988 documentary film based on the murder of Vincent Jen Chin, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. She co- ...

and

Renee Tajima-Peña Renee Tajima-Peña is an American filmmaker whose work focuses on immigrant communities, race, gender and social justice. Her directing and producing credits include the documentaries '' Who Killed Vincent Chin?'', '' No Más Bebés'', ''My Americ ...

that recounts the

murder of Vincent Chin Vincent Jen Chin ( zh, first=t, t=陳果仁; May 18, 1955 – June 23, 1982) was an American draftsman of Chinese descent who was killed in a racially motivated assault by two white men, Chrysler plant supervisor Ronald Ebens and his stepson, ...

. It was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Academy Honorary Award, Special Awards to ''Kukan'' and ''Target for Tonight''. The ...

. It was later broadcast as part of the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series '' POV''. In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Overview

On a summer night in Detroit in 1982 (during a time of

anti-Asian sentiment Racism against Asians (or anti-Asian racism) is when people of Asian descent are subject to racist policies, discrimination, and mistreatment from institutions or non-Asian people - typically in the Western world or in other countries outside As ...

due to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

being blamed for America's decline in the auto industry), two white autoworkers fatally beat Vincent Chin, a 27-year-old Chinese engineer, with a baseball bat. The film tracks the incident from the initial eye-witness accounts through the trial and its repercussions for the families involved, and the American justice system at large. After an outcry from the Asian American community, led by Vincent's mother Lily Chin, the case becomes a

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

Supreme Court case. The case ends with tried killer Ronald Ebens' being let go with a suspended sentence and a small fine.

Awards

Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award The Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award honors excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. The awards were established in 1942 and administered ...

, Silver Baton (1991) *Hawaii International Film Festival, Best Documentary Award (1988) *Academy Awards, Best Documentary Feature Nominee (1989)

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0096440, title=Who Killed Vincent Chin?
''Who Killed Vincent Chin?''
at '' POV''
''Who Killed Vincent Chin?''
at Filmakers Library 1987 films 1987 documentary films American documentary films Documentary films about Asian Americans Films about Chinese Americans Documentary films about racism in the United States 1980s English-language films 1980s Mandarin-language films Documentary films about Detroit Documentary films about the automotive industry Films set in Detroit Culture of Detroit United States National Film Registry films Chinese-language American films 1980s American films Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award winners Films set in the 1980s Films set in 1982 English-language documentary films Cantonese-language American films

Overview

Awards

See also

References

External links