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
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)
Additional photos available upon request.
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.