Presented by the UB Humanities Institute in collaboration with the UB Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program with the UB departments of Sociology and Global Gender and Sexuality Studies, in conjunction with Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center.

Please join us for a screening of Fly in Power with a post-screening conversation featuring Elena Shih (Brown University), UB Distinguished Visiting Scholar A.J. Kim, and a special guest featured in the film. FREE and open to the public.

Watch the trailer for Fly in Power.

6:00 pm | Reception | complimentary food with cash beer & wine bar benefiting Hallwalls

7:00 pm | Screening | Fly in Power (Dirs. Yin Q and Yoon Grace Ra, 2023, 77 mins.) with Q+A/conversation following.

FLY IN POWER follows Charlotte, a Korean massage worker and core organizer of Red Canary Song (RCS), a social justice collective of Asian diasporic massage workers, sex workers and allies who basebuild through mutual aid. Through her history, we learn how the incarceral system is pitted against Asian migrant women and their survival. The documentary is a glimpse into the intimate spaces that not only connect these women and non-binary queers, but is also a testament to the global advocacy of women’s rights to work and thrive.

FLY IN POWER centers the narrative of an Asian massage worker in her own words, with her own agency of storytelling and editing. With each story shared, we witness the trust built between the film team and the participants. The documentary is directed by Yin Q, a Queer, Chinese American parent, writer, and sex worker rights advocate, and Yoon Grace Ra a cultural organizer working with audio/visual media. This film has been produced entirely by women, non-binary, trans and queers of the Asian diaspora- more than half of the production team are former/current sex workers.

CREDITS
Producer: Xen Nhà
Executive Producer: Yin Q
Director of Photography: Yoon Grace Ra
Editor: Yoon Grace Ra
Composer: Melanie Hsu
Sound Designer: Jared Paul

For more information and resources, visit Red Canary Song.

This event is held in conjunction with a book talk by Elena Shih the following day at noon, presenting her recent publication Manufacturing Freedom: Sex Work, Anti-Trafficking Rehab, and the Racial Wages of Rescue. Click here for details about the book talk.