empresschow

We just started composing original music on our film FACE OF A NATION "What Happened to the World's Fair?" Sorry it's taking so long. I have to make sure it's good-- otherwise I might not be asked to make another one. :)) We will be applying to festivals later this year. https://news.usc.edu/63540/documentary-on-worlds-fair-architecture-tells-a-personal-story/ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/business/global/09expo.html http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/to-the-point/the-shanghai-expo-and-americas-economic-decline

Hi Randy, THANK YOU for serving in our military. --I am very grateful for your service and sacrifice. Our film answers your question. --But I don't know what you mean by "calling a spade a spade." --Because what I discovered is pretty complicated. --Because even my own sister doesn't care. Q: Do you know a lot about this topic? --I am curious what you know. --I spent 5 years of my life raising money and investigating what happened. --I interviewed the State Dept., and former USIA Director of Design Jack Masey. Our film tells my personal story--an American architect who inherited American idealism and the dream. --Shanghai was just the tip of the iceberg of a lot of controversy. --It's why I spent 5 years trying to find out what happened. It's interesting why you think the gov't hasn't funded our U.S. presence in World Expos in recent years. --But our film reveals that it's not what you think. --Expo'92 in Seville, Spain was "the beginning of the end." --Expo '05 in Aichi, Japan continued to be a poor showing. --Both nations are not socialist. I love this country sooooo much! We are so lucky here. I just want to remind people why we are so lucky! l,mina

Hi Everyone, I'm finishing a film about the decline of America's presence at World's Fairs. It's called FACE OF A NATION. HAVE WE LOST OUR AMERICAN DREAM? A first generation Chinese-American architect asks why we no longer care about World's Fairs when once they captured our hopes for the American dream. For generations of immigrants World’s Fair architecture served as icons for our cultural memory, providing a tangible vision of hope for their future. Mina Chow became fascinated with World’s Fairs when she saw pictures of her parents in front of the Unisphere at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. These were cherished family pictures in the courtship album of a recently engaged young immigrant couple; the pictures portraying their sense of hope as American citizens in their newly adopted country. Asked why they remember the Fair so clearly after almost 50 years, her mother says, “When something is very special--we will remember.” Beginning with her parent’s story at the World’s Fair, Mina shares the experiences that inspired her to become an architect. She is excited to go to the first World’s Fair in China—the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. But what she sees shakes her conviction that what she does as a profession is still important. The debacle of this grand, public failure by the US was a story largely ignored by the media in the United States even though the Shanghai World Expo attracted over 73 million people -- breaking attendance records for World’s Fairs and events in human history. Mina is discouraged but she begins a search for answers. With over $253,000 in grants, individual and corporate donations, our supporters include USC, USC US-China Institute, the Chicago Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Arts, Vizio, East West Bank, Merrill Lynch, Global Satcom Tech, Qiming Ventures, Barco, Inc.,Turner Construction, the Japanese American Museum in Los Angeles, Taiping International etc. I interviewed our US Pavilion architect James Biber. I'm curious what you think about his design. Here's some press about our film: https://news.usc.edu...personal-story/ http://www.grahamfou...he-world-s-fair http://www.nytimes.c...bal/09expo.html

Hi Everyone, I am speaking (and previewing parts of the film) at AIA Pasadena Foothill Chapter on March 20, 2013 from 6:00-8:00pm. They are charging for the event because I will be lecturing on leadership and fundraising as well. (Our film is not getting anything for this talk.) But if you in Southern California, and interested in finding out more about "FACE OF A NATION" please come. http://www.aiapf.org/

HI Everyone, I recently joined this community because I hope you will support "FACE of a Nation" when we finish it this year. I am a licensed architect and professor who has been researching the story of America's presence at world's fairs for 3 years. "FACE of a Nation" traces the rise and fall of America's presence at world's fairs, and it is about the loss of the American dream when the U.S. government doesn't believe in American architecture. We have Emmy-nominated music composer Joseph Vitarelli (HBO's "John Adams," and Academy-Award nomincated "My Architect") composing an original orchestral score to capture the love of our country. www.faceofanationmovie.com If you have any questions, please feel free to email me @: empresschow1@yahoo.com I hope you will tell everyone about this film. THANK YOU!!!! l,mina Mina M. Chow, AIA, NCARB, SAG Lecturer USC School of Architecture