Who Killed Vincent Chin?

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USA, 1987, 87 min

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Detroit. The motor-industry comes more and more to a dead end as a consequence of the Japanese having conquered the market. The percentage of jobless people shows an alarming increase. In a bar, Vincent Chin, a Chinese American, is mistaken for a Japanese and beaten up by white employees who want to vent their rage upon a scapegoat. Four days later Chin dies of his head-wounds. A shoddy investigation and an unreliable litigation lead to a verdict that only puts the murderers on probation. Vincent Chin's mother calls in the aid of an Asiatic department of civil rights and demands a new legal investigation. Who Killed Vincent Chin? is a dramatic analysis of this tragic history and eventually exceeds the individual case of Chin, when Choy and Tajima make a connection between social phenomena like racism and class-opposition, the economical situation and the American judicial system. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)

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