Give as a gift
Bluff City Chinese follows filmmaker Thandi Cai and Delta elder Emerald Dunn as they uncover the untold history of Chinese immigrants in Memphis, Tennessee. Through personal journeys, community oral histories, and archival research, the film weaves a 150-year tapestry of identity, belonging, and resilience. Set against social and racial tensions, this intergenerational collaboration celebrates the power of storytelling to preserve heritage, bridge divides, and inspire unity for future generations.
Director Biography - Thandi Cai
Thandi Cai (they/them) Director and Creator of Bluff City Chinese identifies as a storyteller of the Asian Diaspora. Cai grew up in Memphis, TN where they learned how storytelling could be used to empower themselves and others across racial, political, gender, ethnic and economic lines. Cai uses visual arts, film-making, and graphic design to begin conversations around critical dialogue. Their goal as an artist is to arouse imagination, pleasure, and improvisation to ideate new paths forward.
After earning a BS in Architectural Design, they served for two years as an education volunteer for Peace Corps Lesotho until 2018. From there they were a teaching-artist, exploring the intersection of nonprofit work, art, and community organizing. In 2022, they earned an MFA in Visual Communication Design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
They maintain a community-centered design practice, partnering with clients such as Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, US-China Business Council, and Michelle Obama’s Kitchen Garden. Cai has exhibited work at the Chicago Art Department, Crosstown Arts, Morija Arts Center and the Museum of Science & History of Memphis. Cai also co-founded the Meng Cheng Artist Collective in service of community artmaking and dialogue in the Memphis community, and was awarded the IndieMemphis Film Grant of $15k in 2022.
During the pandemic, they moved back to their hometown of Memphis and met Emerald Dunn to help independently research 150 years of Chinese Memphian history. 2023 is the 150th year anniversary of the first recorded Chinese Memphian. In honor of the occasion, this film is a timely tribute to their legacies.
They are currently based in the Southside of Chicago where they are exploring the vast possibilities of storytelling of the Asian diaspora.
Bluff City Chinese follows filmmaker Thandi Cai and Delta elder Emerald Dunn as they uncover the untold history of Chinese immigrants in Memphis, Tennessee. Through personal journeys, community oral histories, and archival research, the film weaves a 150-year tapestry of identity, belonging, and resilience. Set against social and racial tensions, this intergenerational collaboration celebrates the power of storytelling to preserve heritage, bridge divides, and inspire unity for future generations.
Director Biography - Thandi Cai
Thandi Cai (they/them) Director and Creator of Bluff City Chinese identifies as a storyteller of the Asian Diaspora. Cai grew up in Memphis, TN where they learned how storytelling could be used to empower themselves and others across racial, political, gender, ethnic and economic lines. Cai uses visual arts, film-making, and graphic design to begin conversations around critical dialogue. Their goal as an artist is to arouse imagination, pleasure, and improvisation to ideate new paths forward.
After earning a BS in Architectural Design, they served for two years as an education volunteer for Peace Corps Lesotho until 2018. From there they were a teaching-artist, exploring the intersection of nonprofit work, art, and community organizing. In 2022, they earned an MFA in Visual Communication Design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
They maintain a community-centered design practice, partnering with clients such as Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, US-China Business Council, and Michelle Obama’s Kitchen Garden. Cai has exhibited work at the Chicago Art Department, Crosstown Arts, Morija Arts Center and the Museum of Science & History of Memphis. Cai also co-founded the Meng Cheng Artist Collective in service of community artmaking and dialogue in the Memphis community, and was awarded the IndieMemphis Film Grant of $15k in 2022.
During the pandemic, they moved back to their hometown of Memphis and met Emerald Dunn to help independently research 150 years of Chinese Memphian history. 2023 is the 150th year anniversary of the first recorded Chinese Memphian. In honor of the occasion, this film is a timely tribute to their legacies.
They are currently based in the Southside of Chicago where they are exploring the vast possibilities of storytelling of the Asian diaspora.
