LibGuides: Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage : Suggested Readings: Videos

Videos

Asian Americans Video Series

The series explores waves of immigrants to the United States and their cultural identity and heritage in different eras. Starting with the 19th Century through the present day 21st century, each episode highlights the important events and trends of its era.

Episode 1 : Breaking Ground

In an era of U.S. expansion, new immigrants arrive from China, India, Japan, the Philippines and beyond. Eventually barred by anti-Asian laws, they become America’s first “undocumented immigrants.”

Episode 2 : A Question of Loyalty (WW II)

An American-born generation straddles their birth country and their familial homelands in Asia. Family loyalties are tested during WWII, when Japanese Americans are held in detention camps and brothers are on opposite sides of the battle.

Episode 3: Good Americans (Cold War)

During the Cold War years, Asian Americans are simultaneously heralded as a Model Minority, and suspected as the perpetual foreigner. It is also a time of ambition, as Asian Americans aspire for the first time to national political office.

Episode 4: Generation Rising

During a time of war and social tumult, a young generation fights for equality in the fields, on campuses and in the culture, and claim a new identity: Asian Americans. The aftermath of the Vietnam War brings new immigrants and refugees.

Episode 5: Breaking Through

At the turn of the millennium, Asian Americans have become the fastest growing population in the U.S. It is a time of tremendous change, as the country tackles urgent debates over immigration, race and economic disparity.

Anatomy of a Springroll by Paul Kwan
Social aspects of cooking among Vietnamese immigrants in San Francisco, exploring cultural assimilation and keeping one's ethnic identity.
Being Hmong Means being Free : A Video Portrait of Hmong Life and Culture
This documentary offers a comprehensive look at many fundamental concepts and practices of the ancient Hmong culture – weddings, funerals, “ball toss,” shamans, clans and “flower cloth” – and how those traditions have framed Hmong culture and community. Acknowledging the difficulties from following those traditions in a new country where the language barrier, limited employment opportunities and xenophobia present everyday challenges,
Chinatown files by Amy Chen
During McCarthy era witch-hunts, the loyalties of over ten thousand American citizens of Chinese descent were questioned based on their ethnicity and alleged risk to national security. This documentary presents first hand accounts of seven men and women's experiences of being hunted down, jailed and targeted for deportation in America.
The Chinese Exclusion Act by Ric Burns and Li-Shin Yu; PBS
Examine the origin, history and impact of the 1882 law that made it illegal for Chinese workers to come to America and for Chinese nationals
A Conversation with Yang Xiong
A conversation with Yang Xiong who is Hmong from Laos and came to California as a refugee. When filmed, he lived in Contra Costa County and was a social worker. Later he moved to Elk Grove and became a director of a social service organization in Sacramento.
Hmongness by Qingzhi Zhang
An examination of how Hmong preserve their culture and maintain their identity. Following three subjects from different generations, the film reveals that even though they are all trying to preserve their culture, they do so by highlighting different cultural symbols. While the elders in this community prefer traditional symbols, such as the Qeej (instrument) and Paj Ntaub needlework, youths prefer newer, more fashionable ones—modernized versions of traditional dancing and clothes.
Little Manila : Filipinos in California's Heartland by Marissa Aroy.
Filled with chop suey houses, gambling dens, and dance halls, Little Manila was the area in Stockton notoriously called, Skid Row, but it was also the closest thing Filipinos had to a hometown. Narrated by famed Filipino-American producer, Dean Devlin (Independence Day, The Patriot) this documentary tells the immigrant story as Filipinos experienced it.
Saigon, U.S.A. by Lindsey Jang and Robert C. Winn,
Since the fall of Saigon in 1975, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees have nurtured a community known as Little Saigon in Orange County, California. Little Saigon burst onto the national stage in 1999 when a Vietnamese American hung a flag of Communist Vietnam and a poster of Ho Chi Minh in his video store. The display triggered 52 days of protests by Vietnamese Americans struggling to reconcile the demons of their past with their present life in America.
The Slanted Screen : Asian Men in Film and Television
Call Number: Streaming via Academic Video Online

Interviews with actors Mako, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, James Shigeta, Dustin Nguyen, Phillip Rhee, Tzi Ma, Jason Scott Lee, comedian Bobby Lee, producer Terence Chang and casting director Heidi Levitt. The film contains more than 50 film clips depicting Asian American male characters from Hollywood films spanning almost a century.
An Untold Triumph : The Story of the 1st & 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiments, U.S. Army
During World War II, 7,000 Filipino Americans volunteered their services to the U.S. Army and helped liberate their homeland from Japanese occupation. This video captures stories through the voices of the veterans themselves and delivers touching personal accounts of the men’s contributions and sacrifices during the war. Despite the fact that they endured a bleak, racist prewar climate and were not even considered U.S. citizens, these individuals rallied to join the war effort and cement their rightful place in American history.