Preceded by:
HIM MARK LAI: THE PEOPLE'S HISTORIAN
USA 2004 | 25mins | Video Color
DIRECTOR: Evan Leong

On its 25th anniversary, NAATA is pleased to honor the life and pioneering work of celebrated historian Him Mark Lai. Perhaps the most important and under-recognized Asian American historian, Lai's life-long dedication to documenting Chinese America is legendary and enormously influential. His tireless intellectual inquiry was instrumental in developing Asian American history into something that should be recorded, discussed and taught, forming the foundation on which many contemporary movements, including Asian American filmmaking are based. This special event will feature an inter-generational conversation with Lai, noted film editor Walt Louie and filmmaker Evan Leong, whose film HIM MARK LAI: THE PEOPLE'S HISTORIAN chronicles Lai's extraordinary accomplishments. The film will be screened before the discussion.

Born in San Francisco in 1925, Lai worked as an engineer for more than thirty years, though his true passion, which he has pursued his entire life, is history. Beginning in the '60's by writing for East West Journal, and collecting Chinese newspapers clippings (which he still does today), Lai published his groundbreaking syllabus A HISTORY OF CHINESE IN AMERICA in the '70s, which is still used widely in classrooms. Today, Lai, who has been dubbed the "Dean of Chinese American Studies," is considered the foremost scholar on Chinese American history and has published eight volumes and over one hundred articles on the subject.

Sure to be a fascinating and revealing exchange of ideas, this afternoon's event will offer a rare opportunity to interact with one of San Francisco's living treasures, and view Evan Leong's engaging and fast-paced documentary.

—Chi-hui Yang

Co-presented by Chinese Cultural Center of San Francisco