A filmmaker turns detective to uncover the forgotten story of Li Ling-Ai, the un-credited female producer of KUKAN, an Academy Award-winning color documentary about World War II China that has been lost for decades.
Direction
Robin Lung turns personal obsession into collective resurrection
Editing
Seamless weaving of 1941 footage with modern detective work
Production
Miraculous recovery of nitrate film thought destroyed forever
Director
Robin Lung
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
KUKAN was the first documentary ever to win an Academy Award, beating two war films by the US military—yet remained unseen for 70 years.
Li Ling-Ai's erasure exemplifies how 'nisei' (second-generation Japanese Americans) and Chinese American women were systematically excluded from Hollywood's historical record despite their creative labor.
US
