Chinatown Cha-Cha
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-‿-UnionDocs is headed outside for May and June to take advantage of one of our favorite city offerings: the ready-made cinemas of the handball courts in our public parks. It’s a long-standing UNDO tradition to project bold visions, reflections, and possibilities onto the walls of the city’s handball courts, transforming them into open-air theaters. This summer, we’re thrilled to continue that tradition with a slate of programs that are free and open to all.
This Pride Month, we’re proud to co-present Chinatown Cha-Cha with our friends at Nooks and Crannies (犄角旮旯), a luminous documentary by Luka Yuanyuan Yang 杨圆圆 that dances between memory, performance, and identity.
The screening is going to open with a special recorded welcome from Luka, as well as a live drag performance from Teagress茶虎 (@yearoftheteagress).
At dusk, please join us to enjoy some music from Panacea萬靈觀 (@panacea_nyc), as well as some special treats from Ridgewood's very local dining initiative, Purple Perilla (@purpleperillanyc). And after the screening, join the after-party at Carmelo's!
At the remarkable age of 92, Coby Yee, a former starlet and owner of the illustrious “Forbidden City Nightclub,” reclaimed her place in the spotlight with the senior dance troupe, Grant Avenue Follies. Led by Cynthia Yee, the ensemble brings to life the luminous nightclub era of San Francisco’s Chinatown, simultaneously shattering the conventional image of aging Asian women.
The film stands as a poignant chronicle of Coby’s final journey before her passing at 93, preserving her indomitable spirit. “Coby treated every performance as if it might be her last,” says Yang, “yet she always returned to the stage with incredible vitality.” That spirit lives on in the Grant Avenue Follies, who continue to carry the torch of their shared heritage with pride, humor, and sparkle.
Luka Yuanyuan Yang first met Carlo Nasisse at UnionDocs’ August Film Lab in 2018, where participants presented their ongoing projects. A month later, they embarked together on the planned Havana tour with the dance troupe. After filming in Havana, they collaborated to co-direct a short film about Coby’s love story, “Coby and Stephen are in Love”(2019). Their meeting at UnionDocs sparked this meaningful creative partnership, making it especially meaningful to return for the Chinatown Cha-Cha screening in 2025.
Recipient of the New Filmmaker Award at the China Documentary Academy Awards and the Jinji Huayi Award at the Pingyao International Film Festival, Chinatown Cha-Cha has been praised by Frieze Magazine for the “copious care and love with which Yang treats [her subjects] in lens-mediated space.”
This event is free and open to all, inviting the UNDO community, our neighbors, passersby, film lovers, and anyone curious to join for a festive evening under the stars—come through!
Guest List
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