To celebrate the 25th anniversary of her Peabody award-winning documentary Mei Mei, A Daughter's Song, Dmae Roberts is adapting this radio memoir docu-play into a film. This memoir documentary screens 8pm, Nov. 21st at the Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St. in Portland. Doors open at 7:30pm with music and artshow. More info at MeiMeiProject.com.
Mixing live action footage, animated effects and historical and personal archive footage, Mei Mei chronicles Dmae and her mother, Chu-Yin, as they travel to Taiwan together. Interviews and dramatizations weave in and out to tell the story of a conflicted daughter and a mother who suffered abuse, starvation and the horrors of World War Two.
As Chu-Yin Roberts’ story unfolds, she reveals the abuse she experienced when she was sold into servitude at the age of two and her hardship growing up during WWII. She talks about the female Buddha who saved her life. It soon becomes clear the tensions they experienced with each other had to do not only with the always-complicated mother/daughter relationship, but also the fact they were of different cultures yet intrinsically tied together because they were family.
Mei Mei has been broadcast on NPR, the BBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The Mei Mei film is a KBOO sponsored event and was funded by the Regional Arts and Culture Council and Ronnie Lacroute of Willakenzie Estate and Indiegogo Donors.
SEE A CLIP FORM THE FILM!
Mei Mei film clip - Opera & Battles from Dmae Roberts on Vimeo.
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