The Worlds of Bernice Bing
Madeleine Lim Riding the waves of American history from a '30s Depression-era orphanage to the rising feminist and Asian American movements of the '70s, this documentary explores the life, art, and activism of Abstract Expressionist painter, Beat-era Existentialist, Buddhist and Chinese American lesbian Bernice Bing.
Festival selections and awards
Synopsis
Riding the waves of American history, THE WORLDS OF BERNICE BING explores the art, activism, and life of Abstract Expressionist painter, Beat-era Existentialist, Buddhist, feminist, and Chinese American lesbian.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Madeleine Lim, the film is a key piece of scholarship about Bernice Bing. It illuminates the significance of her work as an artist, arts educator, and arts administrator. Lush and poignant, the documentary tracks the orbit of this little-known foremother of Asian American avant-garde art and previously overlooked San Francisco icon. It features one of the last interviews with painter Carlos Villa and art historian Moira Roth. Firmly fixing Bing’s impact on American art, the film launches her legacy into the future.
Content Warnings
Links
Screening Highlights & Awards
| Type | Festival / Event | Location | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Award | Queer Women of Color Film Festival | San Francisco, CA | 2013 |
| Film Festival | Amsterdam Feminist Art Fest | Amsterdam, Netherlands | |
| Film Festival | Athena Film Festival | New York, NY | |
| Film Festival | Berlin Feminist Film Week | Berlin, Germany | |
| Film Festival | BFI London LGBT Film Festival | London, United Kingdom | |
| Film Festival | Bologna Lesbian Film Festival | Bologna, Italy | |
| Film Festival | Boston LGBT Film Festival | Boston, MA | |
| Film Festival | CAAMFest San Francisco Asian American Film Festival | San Francisco, CA | |
| Film Festival | Cambridge Queer in Shorts | Cambridge, United Kingdom | |
| Film Festival | Frameline San Francisco LGBT Film Festival | San Francisco, CA | |
| Film Festival | Glasgow Glitch Film Festival | Glasgow, Scotland | |
| Film Festival | Out Takes Film Festival | Auckland & Wellington, New Zealand | |
| Film Festival | Queer Women of Color Film Festival | San Francisco, CA | |
| Film Festival | Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival | Seattle, WA | |
| Museum | Asian Art Museum | San Francisco, CA | |
| Museum | Crocker Art Museum | Sacramento, CA | |
| Museum | De Young Museum | San Francisco, CA | |
| Educational | California College of the Arts | San Francisco, CA | |
| Educational | Mills College | Oakland, CA | |
| Educational | Stanford University | Stanford, CA | |
| Educational | University of California | Berkeley, CA | |
| Educational | University of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA |
Credits
- Cast
- Kim Anno, Artist; Lenore Chinn, Artist; Nancy Hom, Artist; Tirza Latimer, Art Historian; Moira Roth, Art Historian & Writer (1933-2021); Ginny Stripp, Friend; Carlos Villa, Artist (1936-2013); Frieda Weinstein, Friend; Flo Oy Wong, Artist/Friend; Alexa Young, Bing Estate Executor
- Co Producer
- Jennifer Banta Yoshida & Kebo Drew
- Director
- Madeleine Lim
- Editor
- Amal Kouttab
- Executive Producer
- Asian American Women Artists Association, Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project
- Music
- Performed by Anthony Brown's Asian American Orchestra
- Producer
- Madeleine Lim
About Filmmaker(s)
Madeleine Lim is an award-winning filmmaker with over 30 years of experience as a producer, director, cinematographer and editor. Her films have screened at sold-out theaters at international film festivals around the world, including the Vancouver International Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, and Amsterdam Amnesty International Film Festival. Her work has been featured at universities and museums like the de Young, and Asian Art in San Francisco, and Crocker Art in Sacramento, and broadcast to millions on PBS.
Lim’s films have received awards from the prestigious and highly competitive Paul Robeson Independent Media Fund, as well as the Frameline Film Completion Fund. She received the 1997 Award of Excellence from the San Jose Film & Video Commission’s Joey Awards and won the 1998 National Educational Media Network Bronze Apple Award. From 2000 to 2003, she was a California Arts Council Artist-in-Residence. The Featured Filmmaker at the 2006 APAture Asian American Arts Festival, Lim has four times been awarded the San Francisco Arts Commission Individual Artist Commission for her films. She received grants from the Community Story Fund from Cal Humanities and the San Francisco Foundation Bay Area Documentary Fund for her film, The Worlds of Bernice Bing (2013), which won the Audience Award at the 2013 Queer Women of Color Film Festival. Lim's documentary, Jewelle: A Just Vision (2022) won the Golden Tanna Best Documentary Audience Award at the 2024 Freiburg Lesbian Film Festival in Germany and the Documentary Jury Special Mention at the 2023 Bologna Lesbian Film Festival in Italy. She holds a BA in Cinema from San Francisco State University, where she was awarded Outstanding Cinema Student of the Year. For 17 years, she was an Adjunct Professor in the Film/Media Studies Department at the University of San Francisco.
Ignored in Life, Bernice Bing Is Discovered as Museums Rewrite History - The New York Times
QUANTUM BINGO
A NARRATIVE CHRONOLOGY
The rediscovery of Abstract Expressionist Bernice Bing - The Art Newspaper
When Asian-American Artists Are Unburdened by Identity - Hyperallergic
Bernice Bing's Search for a Unified Self - Hyperallergic
The Irresistible Cool of Bernice Bing - Apollo Magazine
Bernice Bing Steps into View - Alta Journal
Bernice Bing: Asian Art Museum's showcase of the rediscovered artist - Bay Area Reporter
Bernice Bing's restless explorations broaden our understanding - International Examiner
'The Worlds Of Bernice Bing' documentary sheds light on legendary artist's life - Examiner.com
Audience award to 'The Worlds of Bernice Bing' at Queer Women of Color Film Fest - Examiner.com
Rehistoricizing The Time Around Abstract Expressionism - Bernice Bing
The Worlds of Bernice Bing - Lenore Chinn Interview - Feminine Moments Blog
Bernice Bing '55 - Oakland Technical High School
