The Exiles

Sundance Grand Jury Prize: US Documentary

“Shanghai-born filmmaker Christine Choy is a character so incandescent that she’s every bit as powerful in front of the camera as she is behind it — a fact that Violet Columbus and Ben Klein’s THE EXILES seizes upon from the moment it starts”. – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

Christine Choy and filmmakers
Violet Columbus & Ben Klein IN PERSON
Fri, Dec. 9 & Sat, Dec. 10!

Articulate Emotion: Documentaries by Christine Choy – Sat, Dec. 10 & Sun, Dec 11 ONLY.

Never-before-seen footage of Chinese dissidents enmeshed in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and their bittersweet reflections 30 years later anchor this part cine-memoir, part archival excavation focused on Who Killed Vincent Chin? (Festival 1988) documentary firebrand Christine Choy. Relinquishing control of the camera to her students Ben Klein and Violet Columbus, the filmmaker is freed to ruminate over her personal journey to the US and her complicated relationship with her homeland. In Choy’s past and present interviews with her subjects, we see connections made and witness the tremendous sacrifices undertaken by those who held onto the ideals of democracy. A trailblazing provocateur returns center stage bringing compatriots along in a film that won the Documentary US Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. – Courtesy of SFFILM.

Directed by Violet Columbus & Ben Klein. Executive Producers: Steven Soderbergh, Chris Columbus & Eleanor Columbus. Produced by Maria Chiu, Ben Klein & Violet Columbus. Editor: Connor K. Smith. Cinematography: Connor K. Smith & Alexander J. Hufschmid. Music: Onyx Collective. USA/Taiwan/France/China. In English & Mandarin with English subtitles. 2022. 96 minutes.