Far East Deep South: Screening and Discussion with Filmmaker Baldwin Chiu and Dr. Jerome Dent
The US Heartland China Association, the Asian Studies Program and New Orleans Center for the Gulf South at Tulane University, and the Africana Studies Program invite Baldwin Chiu, co-director and producer of the award-winning documentary Far East Deep South, to Tulane University. Far East Deep South is a deeply moving documentary that offers a poignant perspective on race relations, immigration and the deep roots of Chinese Americans in our national identity. The award-winning documentary follows Charles Chiu and his family (including his son, producer Baldwin Chiu, and daughter-in-law, director Larissa Lam) as they travel from California to Mississippi to find answers about Charles’ father, K.C. Lou. The family’s emotional journey to a place they’ve never seen leads to stunning revelations and a crash course on the surprising history of Chinese immigrants in the segregated South. Through encounters with local residents who remember K.C., as well as interviews with historians, the family’s trip becomes a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for discovery and healing.
Directed by Larissa Lam and produced by Baldwin Chiu, Far East Deep South will screen at Tulane University’s Uptown Campus in the Freeman Auditorium located in the Woldenberg Art Center on Tuesday, February 7 at 6:00pm. Dr. Jerome Dent, assistant professor of Communication and Africana Studies, will be in conversation with Chiu.
Co-director and producer Baldwin Chiu will be a guest speaker. The event will culminate in a reception with catered food from Ms. Linda Green “The Yakamein Lady”.
Register here: Far East Deep South Registration
Far East Deep South provides a window into a community few even know exists — Chinese immigrants in the Deep South — and reveals the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 impacted the Chiu family for generations. The family also learns about the symbiotic relationship between the Southern Black and Chinese communities during the Jim Crow era.
“Growing up in California, I learned very little about Asian American history,” said filmmaker Lam. “I made this film so that my daughter and future generations would learn more about the vast struggles and contributions of Asians in America. I hope that we can broaden the way American history is taught and discussed so that it includes the Asian American experience, especially as it pertains to learning about the American South.”
Producer Baldwin Chiu adds, “Through our film’s journey we learn that my family’s presence in America stretches six generations. Hearing more about the deep roots of many Asians in America can help dispel the perception that we are ‘perpetual foreigners’ in the U.S.”
Far East Deep South has screened at film festivals across the country and won multiple awards, including at Cinequest, CAAMFest, the Oxford (Mississippi) Film Festival, and the Seattle Asian American Film Festival. For more information about the film, Chinese American history, and how to trace your own family’s history, visit FarEastDeepSouth.com.
