CGED Knowledge Exchange Series

Finding Kukan: A Film Screening, Commentary and Audience Q&A with Dir. Robin Lung

Speaker: Robin Lung

Date: Monday 20 May 2019

Time: 2:30-4:30pm

Venue: 2.42, 2/F, Sir Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU

In the award-winning documentary Finding KUKAN, director Robin Lung investigates the compelling story of Hawaiʻi born Li Ling-Ai, the uncredited producer of KUKAN. KUKAN is a landmark color documentary about World War II China that received an Academy Award in 1942 before becoming “lost” for decades. In Finding KUKAN, Lung discovers a badly damaged print of KUKAN and pieces together the inspirational tale behind Li and her cameraman Rey Scott. Robin Lung will present the full 75-minute documentary Finding KUKAN (in English with Chinese subtitles), speak about her 8-year-long filmmaking journey, and answer questions from the audience.

Robin Lung is a 4th generation Chinese American from Hawaiʻi with an 18-year history of bringing untold minority and womenʻs stories to film. A Stanford University and Hunter College graduate, she became a filmmaker after successful careers in book publishing and higher education. Lung made her directorial debut with Washington Place: Hawai‘i’s First Home, a 30-minute documentary for PBS Hawai‘i about the legacy of Hawaiʻi’s Queen Lili‘uokalani and her personal home. She was the associate producer for the national PBS documentary Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority, and producer/director of the feature documentary Finding KUKAN, which was selected to be broadcasted nationally on PBS World’s America ReFramed series and has won multiple awards at film festivals across America.

This event is co-presented by the Center for the Study of Globalization and Cultures, Department of Comparative Literature, School of Humanities, and the Committee on Gender Equality and Diversity, with the support of the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau.