Yi Chen

Yi Chen is an independent documentary filmmaker and recipient of DC Filmmaker of the Month. Her feature debut “First Vote” qualified for the 93rd Academy Awards. It won 2022 Bronze Telly Awards and 2020 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival's Special Jury Award for Art & Craft of Documentary Form. The film screened at AFI Silver Theatre, Carolina Theatre, and Nightlight Cinema. It broadcasts and streams on America ReFramed, PBS Passport, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple iTune. Yi's films have been seen at AFI DOCS, CAAMFest, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Hawaii International Film Festival, Vancouver Asian Film Festival, DC Independent Film Festival, IDFA Docs for Sales, Hot Docs Doc Shop, and many others. Her work has received support from Ford Foundation JustFilms, Open Society Foundations, Center for Asian American Media, World Channel, ITVS, Kartemquin Films, Southern Documentary Fund, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, and DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Yi holds an MFA in Film and Media Arts from American University. She worked at the United Nations Foundation, National Geographic Studios, Voice of America, and taught documentary filmmaking at George Mason University.