Last Wednesday night's screening held at the Chinese Affirmative Action center here in SF was a success.  With roughly 50 people in attendance for the event sponsored by APAP and the Asian Law Caucus' Korematsu Institute, there was a perfect amount of space for the audience.  Journalist Helen Zia and attorney Edwin Prather shared details of the 1982 case and their continued efforts to monitor the murderers during the intimate Q&A.  It didn't hurt that there were plenty of Red Vines to go around.

After checking in at the registration table, guests made themselves comfortable, turned to chat with each other, and chose their seats accordingly. (Every seat in the house provided the audience with a great view of the projection screen - Thanks CAA for offering the space!)  Among those who made appearances were: individuals active within the non-profit community, Asian American interest group representatives, local activists, passionate leaders, students, as well as curious young professionals who had just gotten off work in the financial district.

When asked whether anyone had seen the first Academy Award-nominated documentary about Vincent Chin, Who Killed Vincent Chin?, approximately 30% of the audience raised their hands.  There were a few individuals who revealed during the Q&A that when they heard the story years ago, they became outraged knowing the results of the trial.  However, many who attended on Wednesday night only sympathized with Chin's death after seeing the Facebook event page and RSVP'ing for the screening to learn more.  I, myself, had known nothing about this tragedy until becoming involved with APAP earlier this year.

Even though the anniversary of Vincent Chin's death occurs in June, it was important that we screened Vincent Who? due to the recent violence and racial tension against Asian members of our southeast San Francisco community.  I'm referring specifically to the March 19th death of Huan Chen, an 83 year-old educated, well-traveled, Chinese man who was brutally beaten at the Oakdale Third Street light rail on January 24.  Chen was in the hospital for almost 2 months before he finally died as a result of the attack.  According to the footage from surveillance cameras, there was no visible reason for this group of African American teenagers to attack Chen.  There's an interesting hyper-local piece, written by Francisco Da Costa, that provides insight into the socio-economical dynamics between the diverse racial communities within Bayview/Hunter's Point.  It's worth reading if you're interested in the reasons he proposes regarding why members of the Chinese community in that area have been attacked in recent years.

The screening this week provided a forum for community members to ask questions and speak out about what's going on (and more importantly, actions being taken) in their own city.  A term that was popular that night was the need to "bridge the gap" between different racial groups and encourage micro-level discussions before strong sentiments escalate into events such as the attack on Chen or the March 22 incident in which a 57 year-old woman was harassed and literally pushed off Muni Metro's Third Street platform by another group of young African American males.

APAP's Bay Area chapter is looking to hold future screenings of this film throughout the region.  When those locations and dates have been confirmed, we will post to the website, as well as publish the events page on Facebook, to inform the public and provide a chance to RSVP.

To those who came to Wednesday night's screening, thank you again.  As always, your presence, support, and generosity is greatly appreciated.

Winnie Wong currently lives in San Francisco and will return to academia this fall as a graduate student in Multimedia Communications.  She left the world of corporate technology to pursue passions for documentary filmmaking, social justice, and storytelling.  You can find her strapped with an SLR wandering through diverse neighborhoods, blogging at 3 in the morning, filming strangers and friends (with their consent, of course), and anxiously standing in line at Saigon Sandwiches before the lunch rush.  To read more of Winnie's writing and occasional epiphanies, visit www.winniewongsf.wordpress.com.  Yes, that is indeed an exorbitant number of w's.