The “Pachinko” director will helm an upcoming limited series about the murder of Vincent Chin and the civil rights movement following his 1982 death. Christopher Radcliff (“A Time for Mercy,” “The Strange Ones”) will pen the yet-to-be-titled series, with Oscar winner Chloé Zhao serving as an executive producer through Participant. Deadline first reported the news. The series will focus on the death of Chinese-American engineer Chin, who was assaulted at a bar by two white autoworkers who assumed Chin was of Japanese descent and blamed him for the rise of the automotive industry in Japan and lack of American jobs. Chin was murdered four days before his wedding following the altercation. Both of his killers were minimally fined and given probation sentences. The series is being made with the help of Chin estate executor Helen Zia.
“Kogonada’s deeply probing vision into the heart of Vincent’s story and the birth of a movement in a way that both compels and stands the test of time makes him the perfect filmmaker to capture this landmark history,” Zia said on behalf of the Chin estate. Academy Award-winning “Nomadland” director and “Eternals” helmer Zhao is executive producing with Zia, Vicangelo Bulluck, Paula Madison, and Donald Young, as well as Participant’s Jeff Skoll and Miura Kite. “After Yang” writer-director Kogonada previously addressed the presence of race in his latest film about a family adopting a robot, who was a “construct of Asian-ness,” as the filmmaker exclusively told IndieWire. “I could deeply relate to this idea that he wasn’t really Asian, but he existed as an Asian and wanted that as well. And maybe he was too, you know, maybe he was like just getting to the essence of what that even means,” Kogonada said of first reading the short story the film is based on. “It had that sort of seed and promise of something that felt like it could be cinematic. And I also loved a sci-fi world that was domestic. The stakes weren’t about saving the world, but it was about getting through a day, and getting through weeks and months.” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
