About the Film

About the Speaker

Dr. Gregory Yee Mark is a Professor of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Sacramento; Director of the Asian American Studies Program, Director of the 65th Street Community Collaborative Project, and Director of the Wayne Maeda Asian American Studies Archive, and the former Chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies.

About the Film: “The Curse of Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingles with the West” started production in 1915 and was completed in 1916. It is the earliest known Asian American feature film, conceived by a 20-year-old Chinese American woman named Marion Evelyn Wong, aka Wong Nui Hi. Wong was the driving force behind the creation of this pioneering film: she wrote the script, was the executive producer, recruited financial backers, co-produced, directed, and even acted as the villainess. Despite its focus on Chinese and Chinese American themes, this black-and-white silent film was produced for mainstream American audiences.

In 2004, the Motion Picture Academy restored the film and digitized it into DVD format. In 2006, “The Curse of Quon Gwon” had the distinct honor of being placed on the United States National Film Registry’s Library of Congress’ list of the nation’s most treasured films. The following year, the 35 minute pioneering feature premiered in Oakland as part of the Center for Asian American Media's (CAAM) International Asian American Film Festival. The film had its Hollywood debut five days later at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where Wong’s oldest living relative was in attendance.

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