Finding Kukan
Introduction
An American Library Association "Notable Film" - Filmmaker Robin Lung investigates the forgotten story of Li Ling-Ai, the uncredited female producer of Kukan, an Academy Award®-winning color documentary about World War II China that has been lost for decades.
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Synopsis
Kukan, a landmark color film that documented Chinese resistance to the Japanese invasion of China in the early days of World War II, was the first ever American feature documentary to receive an Academy Award® in 1942. When Robin Lung discovers a badly damaged film print of the “lost” Kukan, she pieces together the inspirational tale of the two renegades behind the making of it -- Chinese American playwright Li Ling-Ai and cameraman Rey Scott. Through a dynamic mix of verite, archival, and re-enactment footage, Finding Kukan creates an unforgettable portrait of a female filmmaking pioneer, and sheds light on the long history of racial and gender discrimination behind the camera, which continues to reverberate in Hollywood today.
Finding Kukan is both a personal film about a fourth generation Chinese American digging into her own culture and a wide-ranging exploration of decades of history between China and the United States.
DVD Extra Features include: Full 85-minute Kukan, 1941 (mastered from VHS) & Partial 35-minute version of Kukan, 1941 (mastered from 16mm)
20-page Viewer's Guide available to download (includes time-coded DVD chapter markers)
Streaming version available with Chinese language subtitles
The film is an excellent teaching and research tool for courses in:
*Ethnic/Asian American Studies
*Gender/Feminist Studies
*Film Studies
*American/World History
*Political Science & International Relations
*Immigration Studies
*War & Genocide Studies
Reviews
Awards and Screenings
Director Commentary
Features and Languages
Film Features
- Closed Captioning
- DVD Extras
- Subtitles
- Resources for Educators
Film/Audio Languages
- English
- Chinese
Subtitle/Caption Languages
- Chinese
“I started this film project as a way of bringing visibility to an inspirational Asian female, but I grew to realize that the missing faces of Asian women in popular culture only mirror much deeper and disturbing exclusions of their stories from our historical records. Li Ling-Ai’s story not only highlights the systemic racism and sexism that still exists in Hollywood, it provides an inspirational rallying cry to women and people of color to fight to change the system. In my work, I hope to leave a legacy that will empower other women and people of color to become media makers, and that they, in turn, will create work that corrects the inequities and injustices that still exist in how we record history and tell stories in America.” Robin Lung