The Curse of Quon Gwon
credits:
Director: Marion WongUSA 1916 | 35 mins
In 2004, while researching a project which would become HOLLYWOOD CHINESE (making its world premiere this year as the Festival’s Centerpiece Presentation), filmmaker Arthur Dong discovered two film reels (approximately thirty-five minutes) of a little-known silent film called THE CURSE OF QUON GWON.
This discovery would make history, as THE CURSE OF QUON GWON is now acknowledged as the earliest Chinese American film ever made. Written and directed by Oakland filmmaker Marion Wong in 1916, CURSE featured Wong and many of her family members in a love story as individuals placed under the curse of a Chinese god because of their westernization. After its completion, the film did not find distribution and disappeared, never actually to be seen by audiences.
The film was preserved and restored by the Academy Film Archive in 2005, and in 2006 was placed on the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, a distinction only given to twenty-five films each year. Dong’s documentary HOLLYWOOD CHINESE presents short clips of the film and in this special event, all existing thirtyfive minutes will be screened, accompanied by a discussion about this truly incredible chapter of Oakland history.
Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
