film

The Chinatown Files

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Producer(s)	Amy Chen, Ying Chan
Director(s)	Amy Chen
Release Date	1980
Runtime	57 min
Youth Media	n

Film Description

This is the first documentary to explore the roots and legacy of the Cold War on the Chinese American community during the 1950's and 1960's. The film presents first-hand accounts of seven people's experiences of being hunted down, jailed and targeted for deportation. Their interviews are interwoven with rare home movies, photographs and archival film in this exploration of the prejudice and jingoism that affected the lives of Chinese Americans.

During the McCarthy era witch-hunts, the loyalties of over ten thousand American citizens of Chinese descent were questioned based on their ethnicity and alleged risk to national security. Henry Chin, a laundry worker and president of the Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance and the China Daily News, describes how Chinese immigrants came to America for a better life for themselves and the loved ones they left behind in their impoverished villages. Yet for sending money home, his friends were charged by the U.S. government for trading with the enemy and his life was shattered by constant FBI surveillance and harassment. Other people featured in the film include several members of Mun Ching, the Chinese American Democratic Youth League in San Francisco who were harassed by the FBI. Several agents speak candidly of the FBI operations in Washington, San Francisco and New York.

With the specter of racial scapegoating re-emerging for Asian Americans due to a growing climate of presumed disloyalty and espionage activity, The Chinatown Files provides the historical context to contemporary headlines. It is a cautionary tale of paranoia that serves as a dramatic reminder of the fragility of constitutional protections today.