Yi Chen

Yi Chen is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Washington, D.C. Her feature debut FIRST VOTE (2020, PBS Distribution) qualified for the 93rd Academy Awards (Best Picture and Documentary Feature) and won a Telly Award and Special Jury Award (36th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival). Her second feature DISSIDENTS screened at 2024 Berlinale European Film Market. She is the line producer for 2024 Berlinale Special ABIDING NOWHERE (dir. Tsai Ming-liang). Yi’s work has also screened at AFI DOCS, IDFA Docs for Sale, and Hot Docs Doc Shop. She has received grants from Ford Foundation JustFilms, Open Society Foundations, ITVS, Center for Asian American Media, New York Foundation for the Arts, Kartemquin Films, Southern Documentary Fund, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, and DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She has pitched and served on panels at DOC NYC, Tribeca IF/Then, AFI DOCS, and SXSW. Her work has been featured in NBC News, Washington Post, BBC News, NPR, Salon, Indie Wire, and Documentary Magazine. Yi was a 2019 Soros Equality Fellow and holds an MFA in Film and Media Arts from American University.