BLURRING THE COLOR LINE
Film poster for "Blurring the Color Line" with black and white image of black man and asian girl.
BLURRING THE COLOR LINE
Film poster for "Blurring the Color Line" with black and white image of black man and asian girl.
Stories of Chinese families in the Black South during Jim Crow disrupt the black and white narrative of America’s racial history

BLURRING THE COLOR LINE

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WATCH ON DOCUSEEK

BEST DOCUMENTARY AWARD - Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival | Mira Nair Rising Female Filmmaker Award | Harlem International Film Festival

Chinese American & African American History • Race Relations • American South • Afro-Asians • Women's Stories

Date of Completion: 2022 | Run Time: 77 & 53 minutes​​ | Language: English with Chinese subtitles | Captions: Yes | Includes: Transcript | Director: Crystal Kwok | Executive Producers: Daniel Wu, Lisa Ling & W. Kamau Bell | Editor: Kyung Lee | Producer: Gustin Smith

What did it mean to be Chinese in Black spaces during segregation? Follow director Crystal Kwok’s personal journey of discovery, as she digs into the ways her grandmother’s family navigated life as grocery store owners in the black neighborhood of Augusta, Georgia. Her film BLURRING THE COLOR LINE is a personal family story told alongside memories from the larger Chinese and Black communities in Georgia, which opens up uncomfortable but necessary conversations around anti-Black racism and the deeply rooted structure of white power and Chinese patriarchy. Which fountain did the Chinese drink from? Where did they sit on the bus? An important entrance into all of our connected histories which many of us never knew or dared speak about.

Texas Southern University | Dr. Karen Kossie-Chervnyshev, Professor of History
"Kwok chose the term "Blurring" to highlight the Chinese American experience -- one centered in the middle of blackness and whiteness --a distinction captured in one of the questions posed in the film, 'Where did Asians sit on the bus?'"

University of Hong Kong | Dr. Elizabeth LaCouture, Professor of Gender Studies
"Racialized discrimination does not fit into boxes. It is shifting and blurry. That is where the film ends up and that is what Crystal discussed so beautifully."

AWARDS
Mira Nair Rising Female Filmmaker Award | Harlem International Film Festival
Courage Award | DisOrient Film Festival
Best Documentary Award |
 JXN Film Festival
Best Documentary Award | Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest
Best Documentary, Virtual Audience Award Runner Up | Denton Black Film Festival
Best Documentary Award | Fort Smith International Film Festival

Director Crystal Kwok is committed to disrupting binary narratives by amplifying voices of women from marginal communities. Having hosted her own talk show both in Hong and the US, Kwok is used to pushing boundaries by addressing uncomfortable conversations and socially sensitive issues with candor. Her academic scholarship brings a transnational feminist spin to issues around race, gender, and cultural identity that allows for critical discussions in educational and community settings.