Emory Chao Johnson (they/them) is an award-winning filmmaker whose compassionate and empathetic storytelling builds liberating worlds outside the limits of “normal.” Emory’s short film, 默 (To Write from Memory), premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and went on to screen around the world and in college classrooms.
Emory was selected as a production fellow on the Netflix documentary Disclosure (dir. Sam Feder) and holds an MFA in Film and Television from UCLA. Emory is actively working on a non-fiction short with Emmy-award winning filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura as producer.
In addition to their creative practice, Emory has worked in support of diverse voices in front of and behind the camera as former staff at the Asian American Documentary Network and Visual Communications. Their oral history videography work with community partners inspired them to volunteer with API RISE, a non-profit dedicated to make freedom possible for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander folks impacted by the carceral system. Emory is also contributing their talents to an open-access multimedia textbook on Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
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