The Epoch Times attended our screening at the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum in Downtown San Diego last weekend. The newspaper just posted its review of the screening.

曹健鏗與張蕊在影片放映後舉行的招待會上和聖地亞哥中華歷史博物館館長莊紹文合影（攝影: 楊婕／大紀元）

加州華裔後代拍「秋瑾」巡演百場

【簡體版】 【不顯現/顯現圖片】

【大紀元2011年06月03日訊】（大紀元記者楊婕美國聖地亞哥報導）值辛亥革命成功、中華民國建國百年，來自北加州的華裔後代曹健鏗和張蕊夫婦再次攜帶兩人合拍的「秋瑾」記錄片回到聖地亞哥，於5月28日在中華歷史博物館放映，自3年半前完成該片來在各地巡迴放映已過百場。
張蕊畢業於加州大學柏克利分校藝術系，喜愛舞蹈和傳統繪畫。她介紹說，幾年前讀到一本秋瑾傳記，深受感動，因為很多西方人，以及像她這樣在美國長大的華裔從來沒有聽說過秋瑾。秋瑾作為一個性格剛烈的女性民族英雄，給她留下很深的印象。她想，如果能拍一部秋瑾生平事跡的記錄片，讓更多的人，尤其是西方人知道，應該是很有意義的事。
張蕊的想法得到先生的支持。雖然曹健鏗畢業於史丹福大學計算機軟件專業，他也是專業攝影師，對藝術的興趣不亞於太太，兩人也希望有機會成為獨立電影製片人。張蕊於是辭去職位，為拍片全力以赴。
夫婦倆介紹，他們自籌資金，花了兩年多的時間拍片。期間他們到多家圖書館、博物館查找資料， 並到中國參觀了紹興的「秋瑾紀念館」，訪問了秋氏後人，還錄製了美國漢學專家對秋瑾的評價。影片以豐富的史料為主線，加入一些表演鏡頭，由前中國女子武術冠軍、好萊塢華裔女演員李靜飾演秋瑾，使記錄片內容更加全面、更容易讓沒有中國歷史背景的觀眾看懂。
自該片2009年在曹健鏗的母校，聖地亞哥私立學校「La Jolla Country Day School」首映以來，一年多的時間裏，這對年輕的夫婦足跡從美西到美東，並到加拿大。他們除了向公眾放映，還應邀到學校做教學介紹。所到之處，很多人對影片表現出極大興趣。今年十月他們將到香港介紹他們的作品。
張蕊和曹健鏗說，在製作過程中，雙方父母都給予很多幫助和支持，比如他們會幫忙把一些中文資料翻成英文等。這次在中華歷史博物館的放映，也靠曹健鏗的父母，聖地亞哥華裔畫家梁潔貞和先生曹進美牽線搭橋。
2011-06-03 14:47:30【萬年曆】

Our first stop was at the Houston Chinese Community Center. We’ve seen a number of Chinese community centers while on tour, but this one was certainly the largest! Situated on 6 acres of land, the Houston CCC featured a full-sized gym and plenty of classrooms. From the CCC web site, it provides “services and programs for over 7,000 multi-cultural families each year through educational, cultural and social service programs.”

We heard about the CCC from the parents of our friends Janet and Kien-Wei in the Bay Area. Kien-Wei was one of the Qing Dynasty soldiers who captured Qiu Jin in the film. Janet’s father gave us the contact info for Nine-Min, who at the Community Outreach Director for the CCC, organized the screening. With the help of two radio interviews that we conducted while in Canada, we had a strong turnout of over 100 people on Saturday afternoon. The adults in the crowd were especially appreciative, and a number of them came up to both Rae and myself to thank us for making the film. It’s important for the second and third-generation of Asian Americans to take up the mantle to help preserve their history. Even though we are Americans, we have a rich heritage that we should not lose sight of. People often ask us what our next film project will be; still on the plate is a film chronicling the rise of mobile computing, but another possible topic is an exploration of my American and Chinese roots. I recently learned that I have some roots to the US ranging as far back as the early 1900s, as both of my great-grandparents on my father’s side lived and worked in the States for a period of time before returning to Hong Kong.

I’ve stated this before, but one of the great benefits of having made this film is the opportunity to travel and reconnect with friends and relatives living all over the world. Immediately following the screening, we were interviewed for Kollaboration Houston by Caroline Chen, whom we happen to know through blogging. Ordinarily, we would never have met, but Autumn Gem has brought us together! Later in the evening, Janet’s parents took us out to some Texas BBQ at Goode Company. We were joined by my friends, Barry and Catherine. I work with Barry on AllThingsD-related matters; while we communicate primarily through IM and email, nothing can replace good old face-to-face interaction!

Here are a few photos from the screening. The CCC staff took some more, so we hope to add to this collection in the future.

I think I speak for most people that hearing my own voice played back to me sounds odd. Do radio hosts, such as Richard, who have such soothing and melodic voices, feel the same way?

The actual interview will be broadcast next week, and we’ll try to get a podcast or MP3 of the interview that we can link to in this article. Until then, check out the photos from ABC Station!

On Saturday, we were interviewed by 3CR Community Radio 855 AM in Melbourne. Peter Krausz and Melinda O’Connor from the Media Moves program interviewed us about Autumn Gem and our upcoming screening tonight at RMIT University. I’ve been interviewed before on radio, but this was Rae’s first time. I thought we did a pretty job, though I’ll have to listen to the podcast to confirm!

With one radio interview under our belt, we’re looking forward to our second! Tomorrow morning, we’ll be heading to the Melbourne ABC Radio station for the Life Matters show. We hear that this program is comparable to NPR’s All Things Considered!

The Palo Alto Weekly has an article on Autumn Gem this week. The writer, Be’eri Moalem, came to our house a few weeks ago following our screening at City College of San Francisco. Back in 2002, I interned for a month as a photographer for the Weekly, photographing dozens of stories.

Tomorrow is our big screening at Stanford University, my alma mater. On Thursday, we head over to Berkeley, from which Rae graduated. We spent part of this evening posting flyers around campus in our final advertising effort. Cubberley seats 500 people, and I’m hoping that we’ll have at least a 100 people at the screening. Come and bring your friends!

Click on the image below to read the article.

華裔武打女星李靜扮演秋瑾一角　期讓更多主流人士認識秋瑾
http://news.sina.com 2009年07月12日 00:09 中國日報
（記者蔡宜礽╱洛杉磯縣報導）中國武打女星李靜擔任一紀錄片「秋瑾」中的女主角，希望讓更多西方的主流人士了解秋瑾，這位奇女子的英勇事跡。

「秋瑾」一片是由一對華裔曹氏夫妻集資而拍攝而成的，當初曹氏夫婦看到秋瑾的故事，相當感動，因此有了將「秋瑾」拍攝成紀錄片的想法，但礙於經費有限，所有的拍攝場景都是在很克難的情形之下完成，而當中飾演秋瑾的演員，名為李靜，從小在中國北京的武術學院學功夫，是中國知名的功夫明星李連杰的學妹。李靜表示，希望能透過不同的管道，讓更多人看到「秋瑾」這部紀錄片，進而有興趣，將它改拍成電影，讓更多人知道秋瑾32年短暫而燦爛的一生。

李靜表示，到美國約有十年之久，最早在加州柏克萊大學進行武術教學，她認為弘揚中國的武術，透過教學的效果最大，一個班級幾十個人，畢業之後都可以成為推廣中國武術的種子。後來大約五年前，李靜因緣際會進入好萊塢電影圈發展，華裔女子一人支身在電影圈闖蕩已經很不容易，更何況是在武打的領域，艱辛可想而知。

身為武打演員的李靜表示，拍攝武打片受傷是免不了的，不過在好萊塢拍片，能夠透過大量的彩排，減少受傷的機會。另外李靜還表示，由於武打片需要的人力、場景的工程都較為浩大，這也是為什麼武打片的拍片成本都較龐大的原因。

如今民衆常常可以在各大好萊塢的電影中，看到李靜的武打身影，例如尖峰時刻三、東京甩尾、千機變等電影作品，最近李靜才剛殺青一部名為「The Last Air Bender」的好萊塢電影。李靜的官方網站為www.jingaction.com。

Until we get a full translation of the article, you can read this automated translation from Google.

For those in the LA-area, we’ll be down in Pasadena on August 20 for a screening at the Pacific Asia Museum. Free for members, included with museum admission for non-members. RSVP to (626) 449-2742 ext. 31

Autumn Gem World Journal Article (2009-05-28)

Here’s a translation of the article, with some minor factual corrections.

Husband-Wife Team Self-Produce Documentary film, “Autumn Gem”
Daming Lee
Reported from San Diego

The husband-and-wife team Adam Tow and Rae Chang, are second generation Chinese-Americans. The couple, who live in Santa Clara, California, have devoted 1-1/2 years of their time and more than $60,000 to self-produce their documentary, a feature film entitled “Autumn Gem” (Qiu Jin). They organized a free public screening of the film at San Diego‘s La Jolla Country Day School (Tow’s high school alma mater) for teachers, students, and members of the local community. The film was well-received by the general audience.

Adam Tow is the youngest son of Danny and Kitty Tow of San Diego, and Rae Chang is the middle daughter of Szu-Chi and Chung-lan Chang. Adam met Rae in 2001 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Several years ago, Rae read a book about the extraordinary life of China’s first feminist, Qiu Jin (1875-1907). She came away very impressed with Qiu Jin as a revolutionary heroine, a champion for women’s rights, and a determined advocate for improved educational access for women. Subsequently, Adam and Rae decided to self-produce this documentary film. The production of the film had them traveling to Beijing, Shaoxing (the birth place of Qiu Jin), and Zhejiang Province to do location filming in China, and they also made use of local scenes around the San Francisco Bay Area, the East Coast, and elsewhere. They interviewed researchers and scholars with knowledge and expertise on Qiu Jin’s life. They shot the film using HD video and enlisted friends to compose an original soundtrack meant to evoke traditional Chinese music and songs. After many long days and sleepless nights, they completed the film this spring.

Over two hundred people came to the film screening on May 22. The film includes English subtitles and was well-received by audience members. People came away clearly impressed with what Qiu Jin, in her short life, was able to accomplish.

At the conclusion of the film screening, there was a question-and-answer period. Audience members congratulated Adam and Rae on their outstanding effort in writing, directing, producing, and editing their first self-produced documentary feature film.

[Photo] – Pictured here with Adam Tow (middle) and his wife Rae Chang (right) is Christopher Schuck (left), Headmaster of La Jolla Country Day School. Tow and Chang, who are second generation Chinese-Americans, brought their self-produced film, “Autumn Gem” for a public screening at LJCDS.
(Photo by World Journal Reporter Daming Lee)