Karin Lee

Karin Lee is a Canadian filmmaker. She is an adjunct professor of film at the University of British Columbia. Her 2000 documentary, Made in China, won a Gemini Award.

Karin Lee
Born
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
OccupationFilmmaker
Websitewww.karinlee.ca

Biography

Lee was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia.[1] She is a fourth generation Chinese Canadian,[1] born to cultural activist parents.[2] Her great-grandfather, Mah Bing Kee, was a Chinese labourer who immigrated to California in 1861 to work in the gold fields, then to Nanaimo, British Columbia, in 1878.[3][4] Her father ran a communist bookstore on Hastings Street in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside from the 1960s to 1980s; she wrote and directed the short film Comrade Dad about the store.[5]

With Lorraine Chan and the Chinese Cultural Centre of Vancouver, Lee co-founded the Chinese Film and Video Festival, which ran from 1994 through 1996.[6]

Lee's documentary Made in China (2000) explores the lives of Chinese-born children adopted by Canadian families.[7] A review in the Chicago Tribune described it as "thoughtful" and "engrossing".[8] The film won the Canada Award at the 2001 Gemini Awards.[9]

In 2018, SUM Gallery, run by Vancouver's Queer Arts Festival, featured her work in its debut exhibition, Karin Lee: QueerSUM 心.[1] The exhibition included three films that examine facets of Asian Canadian activism.[2] A review in Canadian Art noted Lee's aim to "normalize the non-linear narratives in the queer and feminist Chinese community and to propose how those lived experiences are still relevant today at the intersection of race, gender and sexuality."[2]

In 2019, it was reported that Lee was working on a documentary about Velma Demerson, a white Canadian woman who was jailed for being in a relationship with a Chinese immigrant.[10][11]

Lee is an adjunct professor of film at the University of British Columbia.[12]

References
  1. Knegt, Peter (2018-05-09). "Canada's only queer multidisciplinary gallery just opened in Vancouver — and that's quite SUMthing". CBC. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  2. Lu, Henry Heng (2018-08-16). "Karin Lee". Canadian Art. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  3. Ohs, Darrell (2003-11-16). "Bing Kee fought - and lost". Times Colonist. p. 47. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  4. Welburn, Lynn (2001-09-08). "Local history to hit big screen". Harbour City Star. p. 26. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  5. Griffin, Kevin (2006-03-16). "Short in length, long on innovation". The Vancouver Sun. p. 59. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  6. Chang, Elaine (2007). Reel Asian: Asian Canada on Screen. Toronto: Coach House Books. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-55245-192-2. OCLC 154690280.
  7. Lee, Karin; Tam, Shan; Canadian Television Fund; Vision TV (2000), Made in China: The Story of Adopted Chinese Children in Canada, Vancouver: Holiday Pictures, distributed by ChinaSprout, ISBN 978-0-9707332-2-1, OCLC 51276662, retrieved 2020-07-16
  8. Petrakis, John (2001-04-13). "On the edge immersion". Chicago Tribune. p. 134. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  9. "Canada's Awards Database". Canada's Awards Database. 2012-02-23. Archived from the original on 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  10. Hunter, Paul (2019-05-28). "'She never gave up': Toronto woman jailed for having Chinese lover remembered as a crusader for justice". thestar.com. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  11. "Jailed for living with Chinese fiance: Velma Demerson dies at 98". CTVNews. 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  12. "Karin Lee". theatrefilm.ubc.ca. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
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