Madeleine Lim
My hope is to see the lives of queer women of color reflected on the silver screen. I want to see films that tell the stories of lesbians of color from center stage, instead of having our experiences relegated to the sidelines, or worse yet, completely non-existent.”-Madeleine Lim in an Interview for Curve Magazine
Madeleine Lim is the founder of the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project based in San Francisco. Lim, a Singaporean resident until she was 23, has been making films for 20 years. Her films, and the goal of her organization, QWOCMAP, are to document the lives of queer women of color as well as fundamental social and political issues. Her work has been shown in museums, universities, international festivals and exhibited on PBS.
Lim has won several prestigious awards in the film community, including: the Bronze Apple Award from the National Educational media Network, the Award for Excellence from the San Jose Film and Video Commission, she was the California Arts Council’s Artist –in-Residence from 2000-03, she was awarded the Certificate of Honor by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2004, and her training program through the QWOCMAP was awarded the Best Video Program in 2003.
Lim has completed several short films and documentaries. Her most well known work, a documentary which was awarded the Bronze Apple Award, “ Sambal Belecan in San Francisco” shares the life of three Asian lesbians making their way in the United States. She has also documented the history of San Francisco’s Chinatown-“A Vision of Smart Growth”, the experience of homeless youth-“Youth Organizing: Power Through Art”, and is working on projects that explore the lives of Afghan youth living in California, as well as the stories of immigrant Chinese mothers and daughters.
I have not been able to find any of her films online, though my search was on the pathetic side. But here is the QWOCMAP website: http://www.qwocmap.org/
I came across Lim on the link to the side of the blog webpage, Queer Women of Color Film Fest. As the founder of the festival I became instantly interested in her work. It was not too difficult to find information about her. She has made important work in California, and her work with PBS has brought her voice into the homes of many Americans.