HOT SPRINGS DOCUMENTARY FF INTERVIEWS: Yi Chen talks about her film, FIRST VOTE

Yi Chen’s FIRST VOTE is a documentary that gives insight into what makes our electoral process tick from the perspective of a very specific demographic group – Chinese Americans. Studies on minorities more often than not seem to look at Asian Americans as an “also-ran” in comparison to African Americans or Hispanic groups. And this film, slices into things much more specifically – focusing on those who immigrated from China or are of Chinese descent. With her camera taking a vérité look at Chinese American electoral organizing in North Carolina and Ohio, interweaving stories from the presidential election of 2016 to the 2018 midterms, it explores the intersection of immigration, voting rights and racial justice.

One of the fascinating aspects of the film, for anyone who has an interest in politics and how the messages of candidates and political parties land or do not land in the head and heart of prospective voters, is what the appeal is to the film’s subjects, and where they find comfort in their political identity. Politics is often a game of perception, appealing to emotion as opposed to facts, and that could not be more evident here as we watch the subjects impassioned commentary on who they support and what they believe and what galvanized them to become politically active.

In the interview, I talk to Chen about how she found her subjects and gained their trust and willingness to participate in her film, as well as her approach with her subjects in terms of challenging them on camera when they would make erroneous statements about policy. We also talk about her filmmakers’ focus on getting the shot and the sound, even as an interview subject is propping up an AK-47 on a wall next to herself during an interview like it was a rake or something.