Kudos to my friend Karin Chien on the press she just received about her Chinatown Film Project. Karin's been working on this for awhile for the soon-to-be-opened Museum of Chinese in America on Centre Street. I walk past this building on my way to work every day, and am anxious to visit and see the architect, Maya Lin's work.
Karin first spoke to me about this project at Sundance a few years ago, and it's a great idea. She designed a 3 part series. In the first, several famous directors shoot projects about New York's Chinatown. She chose to work with (grantee) Jem Cohen, (board member) Sam Pollard, Jonas Mekas, Wayne Wang and several other notable directors. Their short films will be featured in an inaugural exhibition at the Museum before touring film fests and other museums. For part two, she asked that other international filmmakers make films about Chinatowns in other parts of the world. For part three, she is having anyone, from anywhere upload their own stories about Chinatown. This is the great part, and you can already check them out online now. I love the way she's mixed the top down masters with the "bottom up" UGC, making it a much more interesting participatory project. Can't wait to see more.
