LA Filmforum: How To Have an American Baby — live event
Los Angeles Filmforum presents How To Have an American Baby. In person discussion following the screening with director Leslie Tai and Michael Berry “Entrancing. Heartrending. Strikingly tender” - The Guardian ~ How To Have an American Baby is a kaleidoscopic voyage into the shadow economy that caters to Chinese tourists who travel to the U.S. on “birthing vacations”—in order to obtain U.S. citizenship for their babies. Tracing the underground birth tourism industry from Beijing to Los Angeles, the film weaves together vignettes and deeply private moments. Inside bedrooms, delivery rooms, and family meetings, the story of a hidden global economy emerges—depicting the aspirations and anxieties, fortunes and tragedies that befall the ordinary people caught in the web of its influence. More timely than ever, given the current administration’s attacks on the 14th Amendment and birthright citizenship, Tai’s film provides an intimate and nuanced look at some of the people actually affected. Filmed largely in the San Gabriel Valley and China, the film’s sensitive eye confronts us with the difficult choices, high personal and monetary costs, and fraught exchanges faced by these women, complicating our understanding of the socio-economic and legal issues surrounding “birthing vacations” and the desire for American citizenship. Leslie Tai is a Chinese-American filmmaker from San Francisco whose work chronicles the dreams, anxieties, and consumer desire of China’s rising middle class and the Chinese diaspora through a distinctly female lens. Michael Berry is Professor of Contemporary Chinese Cultural Studies and Director of the Center for Chinese Studies at UCLA. ~ Full bios and program notes at: https://www.lafilmforum.org/schedule/
Starts: 2025-05-10T13:00:00Z
Ends: 2025-05-10T15:00:00Z
Where: 2220 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90057, United States
Price: $10.0