Who Killed Vincent Chin?

Best Documentary Nominee, 61st Annual Academy Awards
Newly Restored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Director Christine Choy in conversation
with Gina Basso after the film!

Part of  Articulate Emotion: Documentaries by Christine Choy, Dec 10 & 11, 2022

In 1982 Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American automotive engineer was brutally murdered by two white autoworkers in Detroit who were never prosecuted. Although the title poses the question as to the murderers identities, it was open knowledge. Without the trappings of a mystery to solve, the filmmakers document the aftermath through interviews and archival footage to create a pointed analysis and indictment of the failings of the American legal system, and the systematic racism against Asian Americans that allowed his murderer to go free. The tragic events coincides with a turbulent socioeconomic time in America where the forces of labor, race and class collide and justice goes unserved. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 1989, Who Killed Vincent Chin? remains a landmark of documentary filmmaking and Asian American cinema.

Preceded by Legal Smuggling with Christine Choy. Dirs: Lewie Kloster and Noah Kloster. 4 min. 2016. USA. Courtesy of the makers.

Directed by Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña. Music by Lucia Hwong. Cinematography by Kyle Kibbe. Edited by Holly Fisher. 1987. 82 mins.  DCP courtesy of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences Film Archives.