2012 GRANT PROJECTS
• CHAMBER OPERA
Thumbprint • $5,000
Kamala Sankaram, Susan Yankowitz, and the Beth Morrison Projects
Thumbprint is a chamber opera by composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist Susan Yankowitz, inspired by the story of Mukhtar Mai, a Pakistani woman who was gang raped as a child and became the first woman in her country’s history to bring her rapists to justice.
• DOCUMENTARY FILM
Comfort Women Wanted • $8,500
Chang-Jin Lee
Comfort Women Wanted is visual artist Chang-Jin Lee’s video based on interviews with Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Indonesian, Filipino, and Dutch women survivors of Japanese WWII “comfort stations.” The project aims to connect this historical atrocity to the continuing sexual exploitation and trafficking of Asian women today.
• MULTI MEDIA AND BOOK
Domestic Worker Oral History Project • $7,000
Sarah Macaraeg, Dao Tran, and Haymarket Books
Community activists Dao Tran and Sarah Macaraeg are creating the first-ever multimedia collection of oral histories by US domestic workers, many of them Asian women, will be available online and published by the nonprofit Haymarket Books, with royalties going to domestic worker organizations. Home to approximately 200,000 domestic workers, NYC workers will represent the bulk of those interviewed.
• DANCE
Rescued Memories: NY Stories • $5,000
Lenora Lee Dance
Rescued Memories: NY Stories is an interdisciplinary dance work inspired by stories of women who sought refuge from human trafficking in Lutheran and Presbyterian missions in NY Chinatown in the early 20th century, and links their experience to their counterparts today. The piece will premiere in New York in 2014.
• DOCUMENTARY FILM
What Happened to Danny • $10,000
ManSee Kong
Director/producer ManSee Kong’s documentary is about Private Danny Chen, whose death by gunshot suicide in the wake of brutal hazing by fellow soldiers in Afghanistan, drew national attention and fired up a community call for justice. Kong, who was granted unprecedented access to Chen’s family, tracks the investigation into Danny’s death and the family and community’s efforts to seek justice.
• THEATER
Formosa • $3,000
Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai and Moving Earth Productions
Formosa, a solo show by poet, playwright, filmmaker, and activist Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, examines cultural identity, beauty and globalization through the history of Barbie doll manufacturing in Taiwan. Tsai plays four characters: a Spanish explorer in mid-1600s Formosa; a modern-day female hip-hop emcee; a young Chinese adoptee girl; and a Mattel factory worker. The piece will premiere in March 2013 at NYC’s HERE Arts Center.
• THEATER WORKSHOP
Eye D • $6,000
Christine Toy Johnson and the People’s Theatre Project
Eye D is a documentary theater piece led by award-winning playwright, actor, and filmmaker Christine Toy Johnson that addresses issues of identity and depression among Asian Pacific American (APA) and other women of color. The project will be performed in conjunction with three colleges in the NYC area.
• DOCUMENTARY FILM
The Muslims Are Coming! • $8,000
Negin Farsad and The Muslims Are Coming!
This documentary feature, directed and produced by comedian and filmmaker Negin Farsad, follows a group of Muslim-American comedians as they perform standup shows, street actions, meet locals and explore Islamophobia from big cities to small towns through the lens of comedy.
• WRITING WORKSHOP
QAPI Collaborative • $2,500
Q-Wave with GAPIMNY and SALGA of NYC
QAPI Collaborative is four writing workshops led by Q-Wave in collaboration with Gay Asian and Pacific Islander Men of New York and the South Asian Lesbian & Gay Association of New York City. The workshops culminated in an October 2012 public reading event that exploring issues of ethnicity and sexuality.