Renee Tajima-Peña

Birth : , Chicago, Illinois, USA

History

Renee Tajima-Peña is an American academic and filmmaker whose work focuses on immigrant communities, race, gender and social justice

Movies

People Unite!
Story Consultant
In the face of AAPI violence, an intergenerational coalition of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, People of Color organizers come together to organize a march across historic Washington Heights and Harlem, as a continuation of the historic and radical Black and Asian solidarity tradition.
No More Babies
Director
They came to have their babies. They went home sterilized. "No Mas Bebés" is the story of Mexican immigrant mothers who were pushed into sterilizations while giving birth at Los Angeles county hospital during the 1960s and 70s. Alongside an intrepid, 26-year-old Chicana lawyer and whistle-blowing young doctor, the mothers mounted a civil rights lawsuit that is seminal to the alternative history of Roe v. Wade, and the movement for reproductive justice.
Calavera Highway
Director
When ARMANDO and CARLOS PENA set off to carry their mother's ashes back to South Texas and reunite with their brothers, the road reveals more than they bargained for. Calavera Highway (Skeleton Highway), traces the odyssey of two brothers as they decipher their family's story-why their mother ROSA was outcast by her own family, and what happened to their father PEDRO, who disappeared during the notorious 1954 U.S. government deportation program, "Operation Wetback," in which over a million Mexican and Mexican Americans were forced across the border. A sweeping story of a family of seven men grappling with the meaning of masculinity, fatherhood, and a legacy of rootless beginnings.
The New Americans
Director
The New Americans follows a diverse group of immigrants and refugees as they leave their home and families behind and learn what it means to be new Americans in the 21st century.
My America... or Honk If You Love Buddha
Herself
Renee Tajima-Peña takes to the road to investigate questions about Asian-American identity.
My America... or Honk If You Love Buddha
Writer
Renee Tajima-Peña takes to the road to investigate questions about Asian-American identity.
My America... or Honk If You Love Buddha
Director
Renee Tajima-Peña takes to the road to investigate questions about Asian-American identity.
The Best Hotel on Skid Row
Director
America Undercover goes to the Madison Hotel in the skid-row section of downtown Los Angeles and talks to some of the desperate people living there. It talks to a prostitute and heroin addict named Becky, a drug dealer and traveler names John, and an heavy drinking alcoholic named Jack Woodrow Wilson.
Haitian Corner
Producer
A poet from Haiti flees to America after being imprisoned in his native country. Recovering from the experience, he begins to examine his past. One day he encounters his former torturer, and becomes obsessed with taking his revenge.
Who Killed Vincent Chin?
Co-Director
This film recounts the murder of Vincent Chin, an automotive engineer mistaken as Japanese who was slain by an assembly line worker who blamed him for the competition by the Japanese auto makers that were threatening his job. It then recounts how that murderer escaped justice in the court system. Restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, in association with the Museum of Chinese in America. Restoration funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, with additional support provided by Todd Phillips.
Who Killed Vincent Chin?
Producer
This film recounts the murder of Vincent Chin, an automotive engineer mistaken as Japanese who was slain by an assembly line worker who blamed him for the competition by the Japanese auto makers that were threatening his job. It then recounts how that murderer escaped justice in the court system. Restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, in association with the Museum of Chinese in America. Restoration funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, with additional support provided by Todd Phillips.