9 Apr – "Crazy Rich Asians" star Gemma Chan is set to produce a new movie and a podcast revolving around the death of Asian-American Vincent Chin in the wake of the recent series of hate crimes against Asians in the US. The actress, alongside studios A-Major, M88, are partnering with podcast media studio QCODE for a table-read of "Hold Still, Vincent", which they are also planning to turn into a feature film. The story of Vincent Chin's murder occurred in Detroit in the summer of 1982. The 27 year-old Chinese-American engineer was assaulted at a bar where he was having his bachelor party by two white disgruntled autoworkers - Ronald Ebens and his stepson, Michael Nitz - just four days before his wedding. He died of his injuries four days later at the hospital. It was later revealed that the two men thought Chin was Japanese and blamed him for stealing their jobs. The whole tragedy triggered the anger of Asians everywhere after the murderers were given lenient sentences of being fined US$3,000 and serve three years' probation, and released without having spent a day in prison.
"Vincent's death occurred during a dark time in America's history with unsettling parallels to what we have seen happen over the past year with the stoking of hatred towards Asians and the scapegoating of Asians for Covid-19. However, it also brought Asian Americans together to form multi-ethnic and multi-racial alliances in the pursuit of justice and to advocate for change. It feels more urgent than ever to tell Vincent's story," said Chan on Instagram. It is noted that the tragedy sparked a historic civil rights case, becoming the first time where the Civil Rights Act was used to defend the rights of an Asian-American.