Karin Lee is a Canadian filmmaker. She is an adjunct professor of film at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

. Her 2000 documentary, ''Made in China'', won a Gemini Award.

Biography

Lee was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is a fourth generation Chinese Canadian, born to cultural activist parents. Her great-grandfather, Mah Bing Kee, was a Chinese labourer who immigrated to California in 1861 to work in the gold fields, then to Nanaimo, British Columbia, in 1878. Her father ran a communist bookstore on Hastings Street in Vancouver's

Downtown Eastside The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, the DTES is the site of a complex set of social issues including disproportionately high levels of drug use, homele ...

from the 1960s to 1980s; she wrote and directed the short film ''Comrade Dad'' about the store. With Lorraine Chan and the Chinese Cultural Centre of Vancouver, Lee co-founded the Chinese Film and Video Festival, which ran from 1994 through 1996. Lee's documentary ''Made in China'' (2000) explores the lives of Chinese-born children adopted by Canadian families. A review in the ''Chicago Tribune'' described it as "thoughtful" and "engrossing". The film won the

Canada Award The Diversity Award is presented by Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to honour excellence in English-language television programming that "reflects the racial and cultural diversity of Canada." It was introduced in 1988 as the Multicultura ...

at the

2001 Gemini Awards The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's 16th Gemini Awards were held on October 29, 2001, to honour achievements in Canadian television. The awards show, which was hosted by Mike Bullard, took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre a ...

. In 2018, SUM Gallery, run by Vancouver's Queer Arts Festival, featured her work in its debut exhibition, ''Karin Lee: QueerSUM 心.'' The exhibition included three films that examine facets of Asian Canadian activism. A review in ''

Canadian Art Canadian art refers to the visual (including painting, photography, and printmaking) as well as plastic arts (such as sculpture) originating from the geographical area of contemporary Canada. Art in Canada is marked by thousands of years of hab ...

'' noted Lee's aim to "normalize the non-linear narratives in the queer and feminist Chinese community and to propose how those lived experiences are still relevant today at the intersection of race, gender and sexuality." In 2019, it was reported that Lee was working on a documentary about Velma Demerson, a white Canadian woman who was jailed for being in a relationship with a Chinese immigrant. Lee is an adjunct professor of film at the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Karin 1960 births Living people Canadian documentary film directors Canadian women film directors Film directors from Vancouver Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Asian-Canadian filmmakers Canadian women documentary filmmakers