Forever, Chinatown

Forever, Chinatown was nominated for a regional Emmy in 2018.

Forever, Chinatown premiered nationally on May 8, 2017 on World Channel’s Local, USA and kicked off the new season of KQED’s Truly, California on June 16, 2017. Check local listings.

SCREENINGS

American Film Showcase,  September 2017-2018
Boston Asian American Film Festival 2016  *AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER BEST SHORT DOC*
Austin Asian American Film Festival  2016 *AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER BEST SHORT DOC*
Camerimage International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography 2016 *Nominee Best Short*
San Francisco Film Society Doc Stories  2016
Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival  2016
Hawaii International Film Festival 2016
Hanoi Cinematheque 2016
Rhode Island International Film Festival  2016
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2016
Santa Fe Independent Film Festival 2016
New Zealand DocEdge Film Festival 2016

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2016 *WORLD PREMIERE*

ABOUT

Forever, Chinatown is a story of unknown, self-taught 81-year-old artist Frank Wong who has spent the past four decades recreating his fading memories by building romantic, extraordinarily detailed miniature models of the San Francisco Chinatown rooms of his youth.

This film takes the journey of one individual and maps it to a rapidly changing urban neighborhood from 1940s to present day. A meditation on memory, community, and preserving one’s own legacy, Frank‘s three-dimensional miniature dioramas become rare portals into a historic neighborhood and a window to the artist’s filtered and romanticized memories and emotional struggles. In his compromise with immortality, Frank announces plans to cremate his exquisite works with him upon his death in order to ‘live inside them forever’ in his afterlife.

FILMMAKERS & PRODUCTION STAFF

Producer and Director  James Q. Chan
Producer  Corey Tong
Director of Photography  Jeff den Broeder
Miniatures Photography  Michael Palmieri
Editor  Michael Palmieri
Assistant Editor  Donal Mosher
Original Music  Thomas Lauderdale, Pink Martini
Sound Designer Jeremiah Moore
Associate Producer Penelope Wong
Researcher  Dorothy Quock
Graphic Design  James DiRito

PHOTOS

(all photos courtesy of Good Medicine Pictures)

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Additional photos available upon request.

PRESS KIT

Forever, Chinatown Press Kit

READ MORE

Bringing 1940s Chinatown Back to Life in Miniature (CityLab, May 10, 2017)

WATCH: Artist Frank Wong Creates Dioramas of Diasporic Memory in ‘Forever, Chinatown’ (Colorlines, May 9, 2017)

Forever Chinatown in San Francisco (KTSF, May 5, 2017)

Local Filmmaker Translates Miniature Chinatown Scenes to the Big Screen” (Hoodline, March 1, 2016)

CONTACT

Please contact momo[at]caamedia.org with any questions or hello[at]goodmedicinefilms.com or publicity[at]larsenassc.com for press inquiries.

This program is a co-production of GOOD MEDICINE PICTURE COMPANY and INDEPENDENT TELEVISION SERVICE (ITVS) presented in association with the CENTER FOR ASIAN AMERICAN MEDIA (CAAM), with funding provided by CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (CPB).

Follow Forever Chinatown on the film’s website or on Facebook for updates.