Baldwin Chiu and Larissa Lam will screen their film Far East Deep South Friday at 4 PM at the NGS conference.  The film is an award-winning documentary produced and directed by them. Chiu’s search for answers about his paternal ancestors takes him on an emotional journey with his father through Mississippi. They not only discover surprising family revelations but uncover the racially complex history of Chinese families during the Jim Crow era and the interconnected relationship between the Black and Chinese communities. Ultimately, they learn how deep their roots run in America. The Chiu family’s story has been featured on NBC News, USA Today, PBS, and more.  Baldwin and Larissa will be present to discuss their film and answer questions.

Baldwin Chiu is a graduate of the ACT One film-producing program. He previously produced the award-winning documentary short Finding Cleveland and serves as producer on other narrative films. He is a speaker and hip-hop artist also known by his stage name, Only Won. He has performed all over the U.S. and caught the attention of the White House with his clever music videos like “I Wanna Be an Engineer” and “Lyrical Engineer”. As a result, he became a spokesperson for the White House/Intel campaign, “Stay With It,” promoting careers in science and engineering. Chiu’s songs were featured in the hit video game “Sleeping Dogs” and the film “Dead Man Down”. Chiu is also an actor who has appeared in films such as The Pursuit of Happyness, The Hulk, and The Matrix. He was born in San Francisco and grew up in Rancho Cordova, CA. He earned his mechanical engineering degree at Sacramento State and is also a professionally licensed engineer.

Larissa Lam hails from Diamond Bar, CA, and is the director of the award-winning films Finding Cleveland and Far East Deep South. She was part of the Smithsonian’s History Film Forum Emerging Filmmakers Lab and her work has been featured on NBC News, PBS, and NPR. Prior to a career in film, Larissa was an award-winning singer-songwriter and composer who wrote music for film and TV shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show. She is also a TV/radio host and motivational speaker who has presented at TEDx, Leadercast, Yale, MIT, her alma mater UCLA and other universities.