Monday, May 1 – Wednesday, May 31

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This incredibly diverse community is made up of more than 24 million American. Learn more this AAPI Month with new national and local coverage on Detroit Public TV.


Premiering This AAPI Heritage Month on DPTV

Upcoming:

Fanny: The Right to Rock premieres Monday, May 22, 10 PM

Co-founded by Filipina American and queer teenagers, Fanny is the first all women band to release an album with a major record label (Warner/Reprise, 1970). Revered by David Bowie, meet the most ground breaking rock group you’ve never heard of… yet.

The Seabees on Iwo Jima premieres Monday, May 29, 10 PM

Narrated by CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz. The Seabees on Iwo Jima focuses on the United States Naval Construction Battalions in World War II, which built all the infrastructure for the Allies in Europe and the Pacific in WWII. The Seabees were construction workers by trade but had to fight at times. Their motto was “We Build, We Fight,” and their biggest test came in the battle for Iwo Jima in 1945.

On-Demand:

Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV | American Masters

See the world through the eyes of Nam June Paik, the father of video art and coiner of the term “electronic superhighway.” Born in Japan-occupied Korea, Paik went on to become a pillar of the American avant-garde and transformed modern image-making with his sculptures, films and performances. Experience his creative evolution, as Academy Award nominee Steven Yeun reads from Paik’s own writings.

Free Chol Soo Lee | Independent Lens

Sentenced to life for a 1973 San Francisco murder, Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee was set free after a pan-Asian solidarity movement, which included Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Americans, helped to overturn his conviction. After 10 years of fighting for his life inside California state prisons, Lee found himself in a new fight to rise to the expectations of the people who believed in him.

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Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March

Explore the fight against Asian American hate following the March 2021 mass shootings at three spas in Atlanta. Examine how this critical moment of racial reckoning sheds light on the struggles, triumphs and achievements of AAPI communities. The film is narrated by Sandra Oh with music by Jon Batiste and Cory Wong.

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Betrayed: Surviving an American Concentration Camp

Discover the story of a group of Japanese Americans and their incarceration by the U.S. government during World War II. Through the compelling voices of survivors of Minidoka, a concentration camp in the Idaho desert, Betrayed tells a universal story about unjust internment and the loss of civil rights.

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A Thousand Cuts | FRONTLINE

With press freedom under threat in the Philippines, “A Thousand Cuts” goes inside the escalating war between the press and the government. The documentary follows Maria Ressa, a renowned journalist who has become a top target of President Duterte’s crackdown on the news media.

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Abacus: Small Enough to Jail | FRONTLINE

From acclaimed director Steve James (“Hoop Dreams,” “The Interrupters”), the little-known story of the only U.S. bank prosecuted in relation to the 2008 financial crisis.

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Who Killed Vincent Chin?

June 2022 marked the 40th anniversary of Vincent Chin’s murder, a hate crime that sparked the modern Asian American civil rights movement still seen today, and Detroit was its epicenter. Dive into OneDetroit’s anniversary coverage to learn more about how the death of one man sparked lasting change.

On a hot summer night in Detroit in 1982, Ronald Ebens, an autoworker, killed Vincent Chin, a young Chinese American engineer, with a baseball bat. Although he confessed, he never spent a day in jail. This gripping Academy Award-nominated film relentlessly probes the implications of the murder, for the families of those involved, and for the American justice system.

Watch the Full Film Now

Revisiting ‘Who Killed Vincent Chin?’, AAPI Civil Rights | One Detroit

Nearly four decades after the documentary “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” premiered, the filmmakers Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña, alongside Detroit Public TV’s Juanita Anderson, join Detroit-area filmmaker Chien-An Yuan to talk about the making of the documentary, the civil rights movement they covered in real-time, and the significance the film still holds nearly today.

This virtual town hall, recorded live, explores the history of anti-Asian racism and how it continues to affect the lives of Asian Americans in Metro Detroit. The town hall revisits the Vincent Chin case, the historical antecedents leading up to it, and its resonance today as the members of the community and their allies call for justice and equality.

Anti-Asian Hate/Asian Americans in Metro Detroit

One Detroit hosted a virtual town hall called How We Got Here: The Asian American Experience in Metro Detroit. We talked about an array of issues affecting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders here including the legacy of Vincent Chin.

UNSETTLED HISTORY: AMERICA, CHINA, AND THE DOOLITTLE TOKYO RAID

Unsettled History: America, China, and the Doolittle Tokyo Raid examines a key moment in American/Chinese history, exploring how the two sides remember this shared event in different ways, the reasons for this divergence and what lessons it may hold for today. Recounted by children of the Raiders and their Chinese rescuers, the program offers emotional insights that only family members can provide

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Asian Americans

Asian Americans is a five-hour film series that delivers a bold, fresh perspective on a history that matters today, more than ever. As America becomes more diverse, and more divided while facing unimaginable challenges, how do we move forward together? Told through intimate personal stories, the series will cast a new lens on U.S. history and the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played.

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Hawaiiana

Examine the enduring legacy of Winona “Aunty Nona” Beamer, a revered educator, storyteller, composer and hula expert who dedicated her life to preserving and celebrating traditional Hawaiian culture. Archival music and dance performances, along with past interviews and footage, tell the story of a pioneering woman whose wisdom and life story continue to spread the message of aloha worldwide.

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Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir | American Masters

An intimate portrait of the groundbreaking writer that interweaves archival imagery, including home movies and personal photographs, animation and original interviews to tell the inspiring story of Tan’s life and career.

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Hidden Letters | Independent Lens

The bonds of sisterhood, and the parallels of struggles among generations of women in China, are drawn together by the once-secret written language of Nüshu, the only script designed and used exclusively by women.

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Tyrus | American Masters

Until his death at the age of 106, Tyrus Wong was America’s oldest living Chinese American artist and one of the last remaining artists from the golden age of Disney animation. The quiet beauty of his Eastern-influenced paintings had a pioneering impact on American art and popular culture.

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A Tale of Three Chinatowns | Local, USA

A TALE OF THREE CHINATOWNS explores the survival of urban ethnic neighborhoods in three American cities: Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Boston. Through the voices of residents, community activists, developers, and government officials, the film looks at the forces altering each community and the challenges that go with them, including the pressing issue of urban development and gentrification.

Watch with Passport

First Vote | America Reframed

With unparalleled access to a diverse cross section of politically engaged Chinese Americans, FIRST VOTE offers a character-driven verité look at Chinese American electoral organizing in North Carolina and Ohio. The film weaves their stories from the presidential election of 2016 to the 2018 midterms, and explores the intersections between immigration, voting rights and racial justice.

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Beethoven in Beijing | Great Performances

Experience the international impact of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s historic 1973 trip to China, offering a story of cultural reversals and a glimpse into the worldwide future of classical music.

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Dive Into These Series

The history of Asian Americans through the microaggressions and stereotypes they face.
What does it mean to belong? An Exploring Hate series from AAPI communities across the US.
A series of seven shorts that reflect the complexities of Asian American experiences.
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