The Color of Fear

Renee Tajima-Peña takes to the road to investigate questions about Asian-American identity.

In 1972, a seemingly typical shoestring budget pornographic film was made in a Florida hotel: "Deep Throat," starring Linda Lovelace. This film would surpass the wildest expectation of everyone involved to become one of the most successful independent films of all time. It caught the public imagination which met the spirit of the times, even as the self-appointed guardians of public morality struggled to suppress it, and created, for a brief moment, a possible future where sexuality in film had a bold artistic potential. This film covers the story of the making of this controversial film, its stunning success, its hysterical opposition along with its dark side of mob influence and allegations of the on set mistreatment of the film's star.

Lost in the Bewilderness is a feature-length documentary about the filmmaker’s cousin Lucas, kidnapped at age five from his native Greece, and found on the eve of his 16th birthday in the US. This story of international parental abduction, filmed for over twenty years, chronicles Lucas’s journey of growth and self-discovery, and culminates with Lucas becoming a father himself. Lost in the Bewilderness is not only a detective story but also a lyrical meditation on childhood, lost and found, and an exploration of how the themes of ancient Greek myth and tragedy, with the family at their center, are still very much alive in the modern world.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is an account of the life of Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little in 1925, who became a human rights activist. Malcolm X was assassinated in New York's Audubon Ballroom in February 1965.

This documentary reveals the untold history of America's Indian Adoption Era, a time when Native children were stolen from their families and forced to assimilate, the process itself designed to wipe out generations of culture.

INAATE/SE/ re-imagines an ancient Ojibway story, the Seven Fires Prophecy, which both predates and predicts first contact with Europeans. A kaleidoscopic experience blending documentary, narrative, and experimental forms, INAATE/SE/ transcends linear colonized history to explore how the prophecy resonates through the generations in their indigenous community within Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. With acute geographic specificity, and grand historical scope, the film fixes its lens between the sacred and the profane to pry open the construction of contemporary indigenous identity.

The result of an investigation that lasted several months, this documentary film reveals the extent of a phenomenon that we thought had disappeared: the traps, sometimes deadly, that target homosexuals on dating applications or sites. Ten years after the law opening marriage to same-sex couples, and in the run-up to the World Day against LGBTphobia on May 17, it demonstrates the persistence of homophobia in France. It also questions the way the police and the justice system respond to these attacks. The voice of the film is provided by Eddy de Pretto, a singer committed against homophobia.

Footage from the first ever São Paulo LGBTQ Pride Parade, which took place on the 28th of June 1997 on Avenida Paulista. The annual event would go on to become the largest pride parade in the world.

Short documentary on the screen depiction and public reception of fictional Chinese-American detective character Charlie Chan, as well as cultural perceptions of Asians during the 1920s and 1930s.

A documentary on Chang Apana, the Chinese-Hawaiian police officer who was the inspiration for the character of Charlie Chan.