About

Janet Chen (Ma) (she/her) is an award-winning film and multimedia director, producer and educator. Her work often explores stories of representation, resistance and resilience through a multigenerational lens. Her latest short film ASIAN BITCHES SPEAK was honored with a Special Jury Award for Documentary Short from the 2024 40th VC Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and a Best Director Award for Short Film from the 31st Long Beach QFilms LGBTQ+ Film Festival. The film is part of the 2025 Color Congress Elev8Docs initiative. Janet holds a BA in Film and Media Studies from UCI, and a MFA in Film & Digital Media: Social Documentation from UCSC. She has taught filmmaking at the UCLA Center for EthnoCommunications and is currently teaching at UC Irvine Film and Media Studies. She was the inaugural manager and steering committee member of the Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc) and is a member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia (BGDM).