Oriental Silk Screening

Screening of Oriental Silk (2015) followed by Q&A with director Xiaowen Zhu and Professor Rachel Silberstein (HAVC), and discussion with the audience about Chinese diaspora, filmmaking and Asian textile culture.
The documentary explores the legacy of Los Angeles' first Chinese silk importing company. It tells the story of the owner Kenneth Wong and his parent's story, first-generation Chinese immigrants, and how for Wong, these objects and traditional Chinese textile craftsmanship have come to embody his emotions for both his family and his homeland. Through its meditative presentation of the cloth's bright colors and entrancing designs, the film explores the ways in which the culture of silk has been intimately interwoven with one Chinese family and their American dream.
Sponsored by the Cho Fund, Academic Affairs.