Our guest is documentary filmmaker Robin Lung, who made the film Finding Kukan. Finding Kukan tells the story of Li Ling-Ai, a Chinese-American woman who hired Rey Scott, an American photojournalist, to travel to China and capture the life of people in that war-torn country, including the massive bombing of the wartime capital. Their landmark film, Kukan, received one of the first Academy Awards for a feature documentary in 1942. Lungâs film, Finding Kukan, asks why we havenât we heard of Li Ling-Ai, and why all copies of her film Kukan seem to have disappeared.
Barry Vogel, attorney and counselor, is the host and creator of Radio Curious. The assistant producer is Angie Voyles Askham.
An artifact of Chinese-American heritage in the form of a long-lost film and the Asian American woman responsible for this filmâs creation is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious.  Our guest is documentary filmmaker Robin Lung, who made the film Finding Kukan. Finding Kukan tells the story of Li Ling-Ai, a Chinese-American woman who hired Rey Scott, an American photojournalist, to travel to China and capture the life of people in that war-torn country, including the massive bombing of the wartime capital. Their landmark film, Kukan, received one of the first Academy Awards for a feature documentary in 1942. Lungâs film, Finding Kukan, asks why we havenât heard of Li Ling-Ai, and why all copies of her film Kukan seem to have disappeared.
This program was recorded on May 6, 2017, when she was in Southern California, right after Finding Kukan received the Audience Award at the 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
The book that Robin Lung recommends is also a movie:Â Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, by Margot Lee Shetterly.
Radio Curious is a half-hour, weekly, long-form interview program, now in its 27th year. We interview people on a curiously wide variety of topics about life and ideas. Our website is www.radiocurious.org. If your station airs Radio Curious please let us know at curious@radiocurious.org, and we will add you to our list of syndicate stations. We also welcome questions, feedback and program ideas. Radio Curious 280 N. Oak St. Ukiah, Ca 95482. (707) 462-6541.