Please note space is limited. All RSVPs are first-come, first-served. Admission is not guaranteed. If online RSVPs close, limited walkups may be available.
Join DCTV and IDA for the DocuClub work-in-progress screening of the film Dissidents. Following the screening, we will be joined by filmmakers Yi Chen and Titi Yu for a feedback discussion. Moderator TBA.
About the Work-In-Progress
Dissidents is a verite documentary about three exiled Chinese dissidents’ unyielding pursuit of justice and determination to defend democracy. The story follows the extraordinary journey of an artist, an activist, and a protestor confronting transnational surveillance, threats, and assaults in the US.
Feedback Session Participants
Yi Chen (Director, Producer) is a D.C. based filmmaker with over a decade of experience creating social justice centered documentary films to advance new narratives from underrepresented perspectives. Her feature directorial debut FIRST VOTE, following four Asian American voters in North Carolina and Ohio divided by politics during the 2018 midterm elections, qualified for 2021 Oscars in the categories of Best Picture and Documentary Feature. The film won a Telly Awards and Special Jury Award at the 36th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. FIRST VOTE had a national broadcast on American Documentary’s America ReFramed Season 8 (co-produced with WORLD Channel) and was acquired by PBS Distribution. Yi’s work has been funded by Ford Foundation JustFilms, Open Society Foundations, ITVS, Center for Asian American Media, Kartemquin Films, Southern Documentary Fund, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, NY Foundation for the Arts, and DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Her work has been featured in NBC News, the Washington Post, BBC News, NPR, Salon, Indie Wire, and Documentary Magazine. Yi holds an MFA in Film and Media Arts from American University and is a 2019 Soros Equality Fellow.
Titi Yu (Producer) is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and multi-media journalist. She has produced and directed a wide range of multi-media projects including podcasts, independent documentaries, and highly stylized television series for PBS, HBO, and Showtime. She has also reported from the frontlines of international conflicts, winning numerous journalism awards including two Emmys for her investigative work with Vice News HBO. Titi is a 2012 Fellow at Columbia University’s Alliance for Historical Dialogue. She holds a B.A. from University of Pennsylvania and a M.A. from Emerson College.
Bernardo Ruiz (Moderator) is a two-time Emmy®? Award-nominated documentary director/producer and member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. His most recent film as director is EL EQUIPO, an archival-driven film about the birth of a groundbreaking forensic team from Latin America. El Equipo was awarded "Best Feature" at the 2023 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival and screens at Hot Docs '23 as part of its 30th anniversary lineup. It airs this fall on the PBS series, Independent Lens.
DocuClub NY is a regular collaboration between IDA and DCTV. This work-in-progress screening series offers the public and members of the documentary film community a first look of new projects. Filmmakers and creators have the opportunity to showcase their rough cut and consult feedback from their peers and audience.
ASL and/or live captioning can be requested for the feedback discussion. Please email your request by April 10, 2023 to docuclub@documentary.org.