Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
“Seeking Asian Female” is a documentary about the unlikely love story between Steven – a man with a thing for Asian women, and Sandy – a woman who has moved from China to marry a man she has met on the Internet.
The documentary was directed and produced by Debbie Lum, a San Francisco-based filmmaker. Seeking Asian Female is her feature-length directing debut. Lum previously worked as documentary editor in films such as A.K.A Don Bonus (winner, National Emmy), Kelly Loves Tony (nominee, IDA Best Documentary) which she also co-produced and To You Sweetheart, Aloha (winner, Audience Award, VC LA Film Festival).
“Seeking Asian Female” was not the film that Lum originally set out to produce. Lum was originally taken by the idea of the “Asian fetish” and so-called “yellow fever,” terms that describe white men who are obsessed with Asian women. However, after many long months of filming and interviewing, Lum eventually found Steven, who had actually found a Chinese woman he was going to marry. However, the story had just begun. Said Lum, “There were so many late night calls to me after she arrived, as I went from documentary filmmaker to translator to marriage counselor. I didn’t realize I had become a character in my own film until halfway through shooting it.”
The resultant film is funny, meditative, and attempts to defy stereotypes. It was has won numerous awards including the AFI – Discovery Channel / Silverdocs Film Festival “Best of Fest” award, and the CAAMFEST 2013 Jury prize Documentary Competition award.
Lum and her team has used the material that she gathered during her research period to launch a companion project called They’re So Beautiful. They’re All So Beautiful is a forum on race and dating built around a five-part video series that encourages viewers to respond via Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #SobeautifulAsian.
Seeking Asian Female will air on PBS through Independent Lens. Check your local TV listings for more information or visit www.seekingasianfemale.com
I’m curious as to whether Ms Lum has dated Asian men as she married outside of her race. If not, how is she any different from the fellow who found the need to choose someone who would overlook just how pathetic the poor guy was. I don’t see any difference between this fellow and an Asian who only seeks White males.