Christine Choy, pioneering Asian American documentary filmmaker, dies at 73
Choy directed the seminal documentary, “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” and was an outspoken advocate for BIPOC storytellers.
She was not on the list.
Christine Choy, a pioneering Asian-American documentary filmmaker, died December 7 at age 73.
Choy was one of the first Asian-American women nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, getting a nod alongside her co-director Renee Tajima-Peña for the documentary “Who Killed Vincent Chin?”
Born in Shanghai to a Korean father and Chinese mother, Choy moved to New York City at 14. There she became involved with the Black Panther Party and local activism. While attending Manhattanville College she joined the Newsreel, later Third World Newsreel, an activist filmmaker collective that produced and distributed films highlighting key social movements of the late 1960s. She directed documentaries on the 1971 Attica prison uprising (“Teach Our Children”), the lives and inhumane conditions of women’s prisons (“Inside Women Inside”), the growing activism and organizing of 1970s New York Chinatown (“From Spikes to Spindles”) and other social issues.
Choy is best known for the award-winning “Who Killed Vincent
Chin?” which tells the story of the murder of Chinese-American autoworker
Vincent Chin. The documentary was one of the first films to delve into the
impacts of anti-Asian racism and hate crimes in the United States. “Who Killed
Vincent Chin?” was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Film
Registry in 2021 for its “cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to
preserve the nation’s film heritage.”
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Choy was an outspoken advocate for people of color and social justice filmmaking. She directed, produced or photographed over 85 films, many spotlighting marginalized communities and the impacts of systemic racism. She was a professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and taught around the globe, mentoring filmmakers including Todd Phillips and Raoul Peck.
Choy’s life and ethos is partially documented in the film “The Exiles,” which was directed by two of her NYU students and won the 2022 Sundance Grand Jury Prize. In it, Choy talks about going to the Sundance Film Festival for “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” and challenging actor Robert Redford, the festival’s founder, about the lack of diversity at the festival. “This is not White on white … White people on white snow,” she recounts saying. The next year, Choy was invited to the Sundance jury.
In an event promoting “The Exiles,” Choy remarked on what it
means to be a filmmaker: “The spirit of the documentary filmmaker is that you
have to take a position — even if it might be jeopardizing your family, your
fortune. But you have to take a position. Otherwise, who else is gonna do
that?”
Director
Somebody's Girl
Director
Pre-production
Riots, Remembrance and Rodney King
Director
Post-production
The Architects of Camellia (2019)
The Architects of Camellia
Short
Director
2019
ReOrienting Africa
Short
Director
2016
Rodney King: Koreatown Reacts
Short
Director
2016
Ghina
Director
2014
Long Story Short (2008)
Long Story Short
6.4
Video
Director
2008
Ha Ha Shanghai
7.8
Director
2001
In the Name of the Emperor (1998)
In the Name of the Emperor
7.1
Director
1998
Electric Shadow (1998)
Electric Shadow
7.9
Short
Director
1998
The Shot Heard 'Round the World (1997)
The Shot Heard 'Round the World
8.2
Director
1997
Wrongful Death: Hattori vs. Peairs
Director
1997
Sa-I-Gu (1993)
Sa-I-Gu
Short
co-director
1993
Homes Apart: Korea
6.8
Director
1991
The Best Hotel on Skid Row (1990)
The Best Hotel on Skid Row
8.2
TV Movie
Director
1990
Who Killed Vincent Chin? (1987)
Who Killed Vincent Chin?
7.4
Director
1987
Permanent Wave
Short
co-director
1986
Namibia: Independence Now! (1985)
Namibia: Independence Now!
Director
1985
Mississippi Triangle (1984)
Mississippi Triangle
7.0
Director
1984
Bittersweet Survival: Southeast Asian Refugees in America
6.4
Short
Director
1982
Inside Women Inside
6.4
Video
Director
1978
From Spikes to Spindles
6.4
Director
1976
Teach Our Children
Short
Director
1972
Producer
Our Lady of Loreto
Short
executive producer
2020
Small Town Dirt
Short
supervising producer
2020
ReOrienting Africa
Short
producer
2016
Rodney King: Koreatown Reacts
Short
producer
2016
Ghina
producer
2014
Cellar (2010)
Cellar
executive producer
2010
Long Story Short (2008)
Long Story Short
6.4
Video
producer
2008
Electric Shadow (1998)
Electric Shadow
7.9
Short
producer
1998
The Shot Heard 'Round the World (1997)
The Shot Heard 'Round the World
8.2
producer
1997
Sa-I-Gu (1993)
Sa-I-Gu
Short
producer
1993
Homes Apart: Korea
6.8
producer
1991
The Best Hotel on Skid Row (1990)
The Best Hotel on Skid Row
8.2
TV Movie
producer
1990
Who Killed Vincent Chin? (1987)
Who Killed Vincent Chin?
7.4
producer
1987
Bittersweet Survival: Southeast Asian Refugees in America
6.4
Short
executive producer
1982
Teach Our Children
Short
producer
1972
Cinematographer
In the Name of the Emperor (1998)
In the Name of the Emperor
7.1
Cinematographer
1998
The Shot Heard 'Round the World (1997)
The Shot Heard 'Round the World
8.2
Cinematographer
1997
My America... or Honk If You Love Buddha (1997)
My America... or Honk If You Love Buddha
7.7
Cinematographer
1997
A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde
9.0
Cinematographer
1995
Sa-I-Gu (1993)
Sa-I-Gu
Short
Cinematographer
1993
Homes Apart: Korea
6.8
Cinematographer
1991
The Best Hotel on Skid Row (1990)
The Best Hotel on Skid Row
8.2
TV Movie
Cinematographer
1990
Teach Our Children
Short
Cinematographer
1972
Writer
Christine Choy in Legal Smuggling with Christine Choy (2016)
Legal Smuggling with Christine Choy
7.1
Short
Writer
2016
Ghina
story
2014
The Shot Heard 'Round the World (1997)
The Shot Heard 'Round the World
8.2
Writer
1997
Actress
Human Resources (2017)
Human Resources
Short
Eileen
2017
Ego Death (2013)
Ego Death
Short
Teacher
2013
Cellar (2010)
Cellar
Haeri
2010
Production Management
SIMP
Short
production supervisor
2020
Miles Chamley-Watson: The Creation of a Legacy
Short
production supervisor
2020
Art Director
The Red Race (2008)
The Red Race
7.9
Art Director
2008
Thanks
December 1964
special thanks
Post-productionShort
The Balloonist (2023)
The Balloonist
Short
special thanks
2023
Privy League (2023)
Privy League
Short
special thanks
2023
Emma in Quarantine
Short
special thanks
2020
A Self Portrait
Short
thanks
2020
The Professor: Tai Chi's Journey West (2016)
The Professor: Tai Chi's Journey West
7.2
special thanks
2016
Trail of Blood
Video
special thanks
2011
Tannis Hanson, Christy Carew, and Luke Diliberto in The
Three-Body Solution (2010)
The Three-Body Solution
Short
special thanks
2010
Sin Nombre (2009)
Sin Nombre
7.5
special thanks
2009
Slowly Silently
Short
thanks
2003
The Salesman and Other Adventures
5.8
Short
special thanks
1995
Lili Taylor in The Addiction (1995)
The Addiction
6.5
the producers would like to thank
1995
Hated: GG Allin & the Murder Junkies (1993)
Hated: GG Allin & the Murder Junkies
7.2
extra special thanks
1993
Self
The Newsreel: Characterization of a Subversive Organization
Self
Post-production
Who Killed Vincent Chin? Revisited (2022)
Who Killed Vincent Chin? Revisited
Short
Self
2022
The Exiles (2022)
The Exiles
7.2
Self
2022
Scars of Nanking (2017)
Scars of Nanking
6.4
TV Movie
Self
2017
Marc Forster - Von Davos nach Hollywood (2005)
Marc Forster - Von Davos nach Hollywood
TV Movie
Self
2005
Asian America
TV Series
Self
1994
Sa-I-Gu (1993)
Sa-I-Gu
Short
Self
1993
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