Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (1994)

A film about the work of the artist most famous for her monuments such as the Vietnam Memorial Wall and the Civil Rights Fountain Memorial.

Director:

Freida Lee Mock

Writer:

Freida Lee Mock

Stars:

Maya Lin

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Maya Lin	...	Herself

Storyline

Documentary of the designing and creation of the Vietnam War Memorial. Focusing on the controversy that arose when it was announced that the winning design was submitted by a young Chinese-American woman. Since completion, The Vietnam War Memorial has become one of the most famous memorials in the US because of it's spiritual and emotional impact on viewers of the site. The documentary also describes other memorials Maya Lin has created, including the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery Alabama.

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Plot Keywords:

memorial | vietnam | civil rights | vietnam war | controversy | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Maya Lin's monument

Box Office

Gross:

$62,186 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in The 67th Annual Academy Awards (1995)

User Reviews

Interesting and informative

This documentary film won the Academy Award for this category and because of that I decided to give it a look. It's a film about the career of Maya Lin starting with her design for the Vietnam War Memorial in DC through the mid-1990s. I wish it talked more about her earlier life and I'd love to know what she'd doing today, as the film came out a decade and a half ago.

As for the big design that catapulted her to national attention, this took up almost half of the film and was quite interesting. I learned two interesting things (among others)—that she created this winning design while a student in college and that there was at least initially a lot of dissension about its merits. As I was only a teen at that time, I really didn't notice either---I just remember the profound impact the memorial had on many people once it was completed. The rest of the film concerns some of her other projects—such as a memorial to slain civil rights workers as well as a weird glass project that looks reminiscent of a Japanese rock garden. Much of it consists of Ms. Lin discussing the creative process and her thinking behind her award-winning work.

Although this documentary was a bit dry, it was interesting and well-made. For lovers of documentaries, it's worth seeing—if a bit incomplete. For others, though, documentaries are often not very popular films and I doubt many will ever see this even with its Oscar—which is a shame, as it's well worth a look.