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The Grace Lee Project

Play trailer Poster for The Grace Lee Project Released Mar 11, 2005 1h 8m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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95% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 72% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
When filmmaker Grace Lee discovered that her name is very common among Asian-Americans, she also found out that it carries with it a stereotype of the "good" Asian; a quiet, well-behaved hard worker. To see if this stereotype holds any water, the director travels the country interviewing other women who share her name. She discovers a wide range of women, and while some fit the image of the name, others, like a goth artist and community activist, certainly do not.
The Grace Lee Project

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Critics Consensus

The Grace Lee Project is a clever, humorous, and personal exploration of identity, ethnic stereotypes, and the oppressive cultural expectations placed on Asian-American women.

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Critics Reviews

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Ella Taylor L.A. Weekly Niftily shot and edited, The Grace Lee Project isn't just a witty unpacking of stereotype. It's also a welcome freshening of the old documentary saw that there's no such thing as an ordinary person. Mar 30, 2006 Full Review Frank Scheck The Hollywood Reporter Although the filmmaker provides some welcome humor in her often self-deprecating narration, she also displays a self-indulgence that gives her effort the distinct air of a vanity project. Jan 5, 2006 Full Review V.A. Musetto New York Post Eager to find out more about these like-named folks, she launched a highly unscientific investigation. Luckily for us, she recorded everything in the fun documentary The Grace Lee Project. Rated: 3/4 Dec 16, 2005 Full Review Christopher Campbell Cinematical The thing that I love about her documentary is it features some individuals who are so captivating ... going so far to even break its own subjective sub-genre. Rated: 3/5 Sep 18, 2007 Full Review David Noh Film Journal International A Korean-American director takes dead-on, sometimes satirical, sometimes moving aim at stereotypes of Asian women. Mar 1, 2007 Full Review Kam Williams Upstage Magazine Whether or not you knew a Grace Lee before, you'll never be able to think of Asian females as a type again after getting to know the ensemble comprising this enlightening and enriching bio-pic. Rated: 4/4 Feb 9, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Funny and thoughtful exploration of the diversity of Asian American identity. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member More than a little pretentious as a concept, but I really enjoyed two of the individual stories (the ones about the Asian Black activist and the woman who helped her domestically abused friend). There didn't seem like the filmmaker had much to say other than "there's a lot of Grace Lees" so that her observations and everything seemed really scatterbrained. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member Cute and fun little documentary about the common asian name Grace Lee:) Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Much better than I expected. The jesus freak girl kind of spooked me, but I think she would be cool to know IRL. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member I watched this film last night. It is a relatively by-the-book exploration of identity and prevailing cultural stereotypes of Asian American women (predominately in the United States). I was most struck by the overwhelming presence of christianity and Grace Kelly in the film, which does seem to reinforce the arguments of Richard Dyer and others as to the cultural hegemony of whiteness in the form of the pure white woman. In talking with the filmmaker after the screening, she seemed just as surprised by these two themes as I was, but believed that they were as much generational as anything else. I can understand this, but I think that it also points to a dominant ideological paradigm whereby white women are the epitome to which all other non-white women are implicitly directed to emulate, lest they be considered "abnormal." I eagerly anticipate the feature length documentary on Grace Lee Boggs. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Interesting, humorous, revealing. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Grace Lee Project

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Cast & Crew

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Grace Lee

Director

Grace Lee

Writer

Amy Ferraris

Writer

Grace Lee

Producer

In-Ah Lee

Executive Producer

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The Grace Lee Project

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Movie Info

Synopsis When filmmaker Grace Lee discovered that her name is very common among Asian-Americans, she also found out that it carries with it a stereotype of the "good" Asian; a quiet, well-behaved hard worker. To see if this stereotype holds any water, the director travels the country interviewing other women who share her name. She discovers a wide range of women, and while some fit the image of the name, others, like a goth artist and community activist, certainly do not.
Director
Grace Lee
Producer
Grace Lee
Screenwriter
Grace Lee, Amy Ferraris
Distributor
Women Make Movies
Production Co
Lee Lee Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 11, 2005, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Dec 14, 2005
Box Office (Gross USA)
$6.0K
Runtime
1h 8m