Queer Diaspora: CHINATOWN PUNK WARS Screening + Filmmaker Q&A!

Queer Diaspora: CHINATOWN PUNK WARS Screening + Filmmaker Q&A!

Join us for the latest screening in our ongoing series “Queer Diaspora,” programmed and hosted by noted filmmaker Gregorio Davila (L.A. A QUEER HISTORY, UNIDAD: GAY AND LESBIAN LATINOS UNIDOS):

CHINATOWN PUNK WARS (2023, PBC SoCal, 57 min.) – dir. Steve Kochones

In the late 1970s, burned out on stadium rock and pop music, a new, egalitarian musical form emerged: punk rock. The great leveler, punk was characterized by short, fast songs, often played by young people with little musical training. Rather than idolizing rock Gods, aspiring musicians could now imagine themselves on stage. Aggressive and anti-establishment, the music and growing subculture rejected authority, sought to transgress societal norms and found its following in dark alleys and basements.

In Los Angeles, rejected by the mainstream Hollywood music venues for their rowdy (and sometimes violent) shows, punks turned to unlikely venues in a most unlikely location: Chinatown, a once-bustling area that had fallen out of popularity with tourists and locals alike. Seizing the opportunity, young music promoters convinced the owners of two Chinatown restaurants to host punk rock shows. Madame Wong’s and the Hong Kong Cafe soon became the home base for the punk rock community, bringing in droves of young people seeking the rebellious music and bringing welcomed revenue to both restaurants.

A sensational and often comical rivalry emerged between the two clubs as a series of competing advertising campaigns and publicity stunts gained significant press, earning the venues global notoriety. Esther Wong of Madame Wong’s emerged as another unlikely figure in the L.A. punk scene. Wong, who had immigrated to the United States after leaving her homeland in communist China, booked her own shows with a preference for New Wave music while (hardcore) punk bands played the neighboring Hong Kong Café—bands that had been barred from playing at Madame Wong’s. The shows she booked helped new bands get signed, and the escalating rivalry with the Hong Kong Café brought large crowds, enthusiasm, and independent rock music to Chinatown.

As punk grew, the scene was known to have an ethos of broad inclusion irrespective of gender, sexuality, and race. When East L.A. Latinx bands joined the larger punk scene, bands used the credentials from punk shows as a steppingstone to book more mainstream venues that had long overlooked East L.A. talent. The CHINATOWN PUNK WARS episode of the acclaimed PBS SoCal series “ARTBOUND” chronicles the birth of the Los Angeles punk scene, its excitement and intensity, as well as its search for a home where young adults could cram into venues to dance, scream and claim their space.

Discussion following CHINATOWN PUNK WARS with director Steve Kochones, producer Nic Cha Kim, original member of Nervous Gender, Edward Stapleton, and photographer Louis Jacinto, moderated by Queer Diaspora host & programmer Gregorio Davila.

Bio – Gregorio Davila:

Gregorio made his first documentary in 2001 entitled Bent Fest 2001; a documentary
account of a five day music festival in Seattle which featured an all queer band line-up,

and has been noted for the rare footage of Gossip, The Butchies, Traci & The Plastics and The Chromatics in their early years. Under his production company, L.A. A QUEER HISTORY, INC., he has written, produced, edited and directed two short films and two feature-length: NANCY ROM EAST SIDE CLOVER, which played in twelve festivals around the world and won five awards, including the AUDIENCE AWARD at the SEATTLE QUEER FILM FESTIVAL, and JEANNE CORDOVA: BUTCHES, LIES & FEMINISM which made its festival debut at Outfest Los Angeles in July 2017, winning the JURY AWARD for BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY and several other awards globally. His first feature-length Documentary, L.A. A QUEER HISTORY, a film showcasing the rich LGBT+ history of the Los Angeles area, has won 3 film festival awards, a Public Media Award (NETA), a MIPCOM Diversity Award, a Telly Award, and is currently in broadcast and streaming on PBS nationally. His latest feature documentary film, UNIDAD: GAY AND LESBIAN LATINOS UNIDOS, a film about the first Queer Latine organization in the country (Gay & Lesbian Latinos Unidos, GLLU) which formed in Los Angeles in 1981, premiered on PBS in June 2023.

Special Thanks to: PBS SoCal.

Ticket Price: $10 (in-person event only).

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