‘Far East Deep South’ film shows the intersection of culture, location and identity

Phoebe Helms
Fri, 14 Apr 2023 00:59:08 +0000
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Baldwin Chiu, producer and lead subject, in “Far East Deep South.” Credit: Dir. Larissa Lam

“Far East Deep South” looks to bring to light the history of the Asian American community in the South Saturday.?

“Far East Deep South” is an autobiographical film that follows the journey of the Chiu family learning about their roots in Mississippi. Following Charles Chiu, through the duration of the film viewers learn about his family’s relationship dynamic and their relationship with the American South.?

The documentary premiered in September 2021, and members of the Columbus community will have the opportunity to see it on the big screen in room 180 at Hagerty Hall at noon courtesy of Ohio State’s East Asian Studies Center, according to its website. After the film, there’s a scheduled audience discussion with Baldwin Chiu, Charles Chiu’s son and producer of the film, with a complimentary lunch.?

Chris White, assistant director of the East Asian Studies Center, said the event is open to all, and he hopes the event allows for students to gain a greater perspective of what the Asian American experience is. White said oftentimes Chinese and Asians Americans are referred to as the model minority or that they assimilate into American life.?

“That’s kind of just a very jaded, or one-sided, or incomplete picture of the story and the importance of Asian Americans or Chinese Americans,” White said.?

The opportunity to screen “Far East Deep South” and to host Baldwin Chiu at Ohio State is supported by the U.S. Heartland-China Association, White said.

“[The U.S. Heartland-China Association] hopes to enhance ties between the Midwest, or the heartland of the U.S., and China,” White said. “They’ve worked with Baldwin showing this film at various venues throughout the Midwest and the south, universities and other places.”

White said there are a variety of topics the film touches on that are relevant today, highlighting immigration.

“It cuts across so many things that really should be at the forefront of people’s minds,” White said. “Immigration, race relations, religion, all of these things really play a huge factor in this.”

Baldwin Chiu said traveling to the Mississippi Delta from California allowed him to learn more about his family and their struggles as well as the overarching struggle of Chinese-Americans. He said legislation, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act in the Jim Crow South, prevented Chinese children from going to white schools, separated families and affected them for generations to come.

“We learned about the generational trauma that it has on older generations and leading into the new generations,” Baldwin Chiu said. “We learned about how fatherlessness was very prevalent during that era where Chinese families were separated for a long time.”

Baldwin Chiu said the experiences of Asian Americans in the U.S. are forgotten and the community has felt perpetually ‘othered,’ which was even exemplified during the rise in anti-Asian sentiment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In America, I never learned that my history was over 400 years in this country, we always feel as if we’re perpetually foreign and not necessarily belonging to America,” Baldwin Chiu said. “So, I think today, what that causes is that our community still feels disconnected from the general American public, we feel like we’re outsiders even though we’ve been inside for a long time.”

According to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, anti-Asian hate crimes reported to the police in the top 16 largest American cities and counties rose 164 percent the first three months in 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.?

Baldwin Chiu and White said they hope the screening is able to bring together the diverse members of the Ohio State community to hear about the Chiu’s story, but also allow them to discover their own.?

“I hope people will see our film and be inspired to look into their own lives and into their own stories,” Baldwin Chiu said. “Every one of us has a unique story but at the same time, those unique stories have commonality with everyone else as well just being in America. So I hope that our story opens up people’s hearts and minds to reach out to their family members to learn more about their lineage, to really take time to talk to the older people that still have stories that they can share with us.”

Registration for the event can be found here. The Asian Network is also holding its annual conference in Columbus this same weekend, and the film will be screened there as well at the Hyatt Regency Hotel downtown Saturday evening open to the public, White said.?