ASIAN AMERICANS
Click on the image to view the series on PBS.
Asian Americans, an unprecedented 5-hour series on the Asian American experience airs on PBS starting May 11, 2020. Join us on May 1 for a preview screening of Asian Americans, followed by a Q&A with filmmakers, presented by the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
To stream the series, find local broadcast schedules and for more information, go to: https://www.pbs.org/weta/asian-americans/
Asian Americans delivers a bold, new perspective on the Asian American experience that will surprise, move and inspire audiences. The five-part documentary series from PBS traces the epic story of Asian Americans, spanning 150 years of immigration, racial politics, international relations and cultural innovation. It is a timely, clear-eyed look at the vital role that Asian Americans have played in defining who we are as a nation. As the United States is rapidly becoming more diverse, but also more divided, how do we move forward together?
Through the lens of the country’s fastest growing population, Asian Americans illuminates the way one group of Americans, who were long excluded and considered outsiders, have pursued two visions of the American Dream: one of opportunity and a better life, but also the pursuit of ideals of equality and a more perfect union. Their stories are a celebration of the grit and resilience of a people that reflects the experience of all Americans.
Monday, May 11, 2020
8:00 p.m.– 10:00 p.m. EST
Episode 1: Breaking Ground
Producer: S. Leo Chiang
In an era of U.S. expansion, new immigrants arrive from China, India, Japan, the Philippines, and beyond. Eventually barred by anti-Asian laws, and become America’s first “undocumented immigrants.” Yet they build railroads, take their fight for equality to the U.S. Supreme Court, and dazzle on the silver screen.
Episode 2: A Question of Loyalty
Director/Producer: Grace Lee
An American-born generation straddles their country of birth and their parents’ homelands in Japan and Korea. Those loyalties are tested during World War II, when families are imprisoned in detention camps, and brothers find themselves on opposite sides of the battle lines.
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. EST
Episode 3: Good Americans
Producer: S. Leo Chiang
During the Cold War years, Asian Americans are simultaneously heralded as a Model Minority, and suspected as the perpetual foreigner. It is also a time of bold ambition, as Asian Americans aspire for the first time to national political office, and an emerging culture-quake rises to the surface.
Episode 4: Generation Rising
Director/Producer: Grace Lee
During a time of war and social tumult, a young generation fights for equality in the fields, on campuses and in the culture, and claim a new identity: Asian Americans. The aftermath of the Vietnam War brings new immigrants and refugees who expand the definition of Asian America.
Episode 5: Breaking Through
Director: Geeta Gandbhir
At the turn of the new millennium, the national conversation turns to immigration, race, and economic disparity. As the U.S becomes more diverse, yet more divided, a new generation of Asian Americans tackle the question, how do we as a nation move forward together?
Streaming online starting May 11, https://www.pbs.org/weta/asian-americans/
Series Director: Renee Tajima-Peña
Country of Origin: United States
Year of Production: 2020
Language: English
Runtime: 240 minutes
Festival Year: 2020