021 - The Grace Lee Project (2005)

“MY NAME IS GRACE LEE.“

After the deliberations and listener suggestions from the previous episode, we decided on what movie(s) we should discover next. As fate would have it, the random picker wheel landed on listener suggestion: “The Grace Lee Project“ a documentary from 2005 by director and producer, Grace Lee. This film isn’t just about having a name in common with thousands of others, but also a film about the female Asian-American identity. An identity that is so often ignored and spoken over, and given recent events, we really wanted that to change. Maybe Chloé Zhao’s recent wins at the Oscars means that more people are willing to listen?

In the film, Grace Lee travels across the states (and briefly to Seoul, South Korea) meeting different Asian women with the same name. She asks about how they have dealt with having a common name and what they do to distinguish themselves from the “typical Asian woman“ stereotype. Filmmaker Grace Lee meets several other Grace Lees, including a reporter from Hawaii, an 80 year old activist from Detroit, a pastor’s wife, and suburban mom with a very non stereotypical story.

In case you are curious to watch the film you can do so on Kanopy for free (with an LA Library card): HERE and also on Vimeo for $4: HERE

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Available on:

Spotify: HERE

Apple Podcast: HERE

Stitcher: HERE

Google Podcast: HERE