The Exiles

Never-before-seen footage of Chinese dissidents enmeshed in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and their bittersweet reflections thirty years later anchor this part cine-memoir, part archival excavation focused on Who Killed Vincent Chin? (1988) documentary firebrand Christine Choy. Relinquishing control of the camera to her students Ben Klein and Violet Columbus, the filmmaker is freed to ruminate over her personal journey to the United States and her complicated relationship with her homeland. In Choy’s past and present interviews with her subjects, we see connections made and witness the tremendous sacrifices undertaken by those who held onto the ideals of democracy. A trailblazing provocateur returns center stage, bringing compatriots along in a film that won the Documentary US Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.