Documentary filmmaker profiled Asian-American film producer in "Finding Kukan"

Filmmaker Robin Lung was on the University of North Georgia (UNG) Dahlonega Campus for a screening and question-and-answer session of her documentary, "Finding Kukan" at the Library and Technology Center on Oct. 17.

In the film, Lung documents the career of Li Ling-Ai, a Chinese-American female film producer of the movie "Kukan," a documentary she made with photojournalist Rey Scott, that revealed the atrocities of occupying Japanese forces in China during World War II. "Kukan" received the honor of being the first-ever American feature documentary to receive an Academy Award in 1942.

After making "Kukan," Ling-Ai went on to educate Americans about Chinese history and culture while documenting her own Chinese-American experience. She later was the director of the Far Eastern Department of Ripley's Believe It or Not, later co-hosting the "Ripley's Believe It or Not" television program on NBC. Ling-Ai maintained a lecture career well into her 80s. She died in New York City in 2003 at the age of 95.