Arthur Dong is a renowned filmmaker, author, and curator whose work focuses on Asian American and LGBTQ stories. He is an Oscar-nominated and triple Sundance award-winning artist, known for his personal stories of survival and resistance set against backdrops of social and cultural oppressions.
Born in San Francisco, Dong's film career began with "Public," an animated Super-8 film shot on his bedroom floor, which won first prize at the California High School Film Festival. This early success introduced him to the power of film as a tool for progressive change.
Dong's films have explored themes of anti-gay prejudice, including "Family Fundamentals," "Licensed to Kill," and "Coming Out Under Fire." His work on Chinese American experiences includes "Sewing Woman," "Forbidden City, USA," and "Hollywood Chinese." His latest film, "The Killing Fields of Dr. Haing S. Ngor," profiles a Cambodian genocide survivor who went on to become the only Asian male to win an Oscar for acting.
Throughout his career, Dong has received over 100 film excellence awards, including an Oscar nomination, three Sundance Film Festival awards, the George Foster Peabody Award, five Emmy nominations, the Berlin Film Festival's Teddy Award, Taiwan's Golden Horse Award, and two GLAAD Media Awards. He has also been recognized for his public service with honors such as the Organization of Chinese America's Pioneer Award, The Art Deco Society's Historic Preservation Award, the OUT Magazine 100 Award, Equality Forum's LGBT History Month Icon award, and San Francisco State University's 2007 Alumnus of the Year award.
Dong's work has been funded by numerous organizations, including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, the Soros Documentary Fund, the Sundance Institute's Documentary Film Program Fund, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Initiative, the Independent Television Service (ITVS),the Center for Asian American Media, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Cal Humanities, and the American Film Institute, among many others.
In addition to film production, Dong has served as a curator for several exhibitions, including "Chop Suey on Wax: the Flower Drum Song Album" at the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum, "Forbidden City, USA: Chinatown Nightclubs" at the San Francisco Public Library, and "Hollywood Chinese" at the iconic Formosa Cafe in West Hollywood.
Dong has also served on the boards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the National Film Preservation Board at the Library of Congress, Film Independent, and Outfest. He is the subject of full chapters in several books, including "Travels in a Gay Nation: Portraits of LGBTQ Americans," "The Views from Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers," "Hostile Climate: Report on Anti-Gay Activity," and "Independent Film Distribution."
Dong's first book, "Forbidden City, USA: Chinatown Nightclubs, 1936-1970," won the American Book Award, and his follow-up book, "Hollywood Chinese: The Chinese in American Feature Films," was published in 2019.
