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October 2017, Week 2

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From:
TWN Distribution <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 11 Oct 2017 13:52:52 -0400
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​
To help celebrate National Coming Out Day and uplift the stories of queer
and trans Asian Pacific Islanders, Third World Newsreel is proud to
announce the release of the short film UNSPOKEN: ASIAN AMERICANS ON COMING
OUT TO IMMIGRANT PARENTS <https://vimeo.com/235471992>.

The film explores the challenges of talking with immigrant parents about
queerness, gender identity, and sexuality. In the film, six LGBTQ Asian
Americans read coming out letters that they wrote to their parents -
sharing what they would say if they didn't face language and cultural
barriers in communicating with family.

*YouTube: https://youtu.be/QHih2ArX2Xg <https://youtu.be/QHih2ArX2Xg>*

*Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/235471992 <https://vimeo.com/235471992>*

The project was inspired by the filmmaker's own experience coming out this
summer.

"I realized I didn't have any language, either in Korean or English, to
talk about being queer with my parents in a way that we would all
understand," said Patrick G. Lee, the filmmaker and a queer-identified
Korean American. "So I ended up writing a letter to them in English and
asking friends to help translate it into Korean, in the hopes that my
parents would read it and start to understand more of who I am."

Given current levels of hate violence, intolerance and prejudice toward
minorities in the U.S. and abroad, it's incredibly important for LGBTQ
people of color to be able to find support and affirmation from their
families and communities. There are about 325,000 LGBTQ Asian Pacific
Islander people in the U.S. (Source: The Williams Institute
<https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/census-lgbt-demographics-studies/lgbt-api-report-sept-2013/>
.)

"This film represents the power of independent media to address diverse
representation and bring often marginalized voices forward," said JT
Takagi, the Executive Director of Third World Newsreel. "TWN's mission is
to support progressive, grassroots projects like these that speak to the
experiences of communities of color."

A 25-minute version of the film will be released later this year and
screened at LGBTQ community events across the U.S., as a part of coming out
workshops and family acceptance support groups.

"I hope the film will help initiate difficult conversations around what
family acceptance can look like within immigrant communities. And I hope
queer and trans Asian Americans will be able to see a part of themselves
reflected in the film," Lee said.

This Third World Newsreel Workshop Production was made possible in part by
the Asian American Writers' Workshop, the National Endowment for the Arts,
the New York State Council on the Arts, public funds from the New York City
Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the
Peace Development Fund and individual donors.

Third World Newsreel is a non-profit progressive media center that nurtures
and facilitates media by and about people of color and social justice
issues through distribution, production, exhibition and training.
#TWN50years.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Patrick G. Lee - filmmaker
Email: [log in to unmask]
Phone Number: 847.809-5382 <(847)%20809-5382>

JT Takagi - Third World Newsreel
Email: [log in to unmask]


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