Miss Chinatown, U.S.A.

22 min. / DVCAM / 2006

Joining the Miss Chinatown Pageant was the last thing on Katie Au’s mind. She never learned to speak Chinese and didn’t fit in with other Chinese-American girls. Then her mother entered her into the contest, and her father decided to play pageant coach. “Miss Chinatown, U.S.A.” is the story of a young woman who competes in one of America’s oldest ethnic beauty pageants. As Katie travels from her native Seattle to the bustling streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown, she embarks upon a journey of self-discovery— changing our notions of what it means to be young, female, and Asian in America.

Awards & Screenings

2006 Semi-Finalist, Angelus Awards Film Fest 2007 Tribeca Film Festival 2007 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2007 LA Asian Pacific Film Festival 2007 NY Asian American International Film Festival 2007 San Diego Asian Film Festival 2007 Vancouver Asian Film Festival 2007 Austin Asian Film Festival 2007 San Diego Women’s Film Festival 2007 Ivy Film Festival 2007 Reality Bytes Film Festival 2007 Reel Women International Film Festival 2008 KCTS/ Seattle Public Television Station 2008 Chicago Asian American Showcase 2008 WAVES Asian/Asian American Film Festival 2008 Asia Fest- Austin, Texas 2008 International Day for Sharing Life Stories 2011 DramaFever’s DigiFest 2015 American Educational Research Association Film Expo