(Posted March 21, 2016)

Filmmaker Curtis Chin, director of "Tested."
Filmmaker Curtis Chin, director of "Tested."

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Filmmaker Curtis Chin will host a Juniata College screening of his documentary film, "Tested," which follows a dozen schoolchildren from varying socio-economic, religious and racial backgrounds, as the students' families prepare them for grueling entrance exams for the top high schools in New York City, at 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 23, in Sill Boardroom in the von Liebig Center for Science.

The 7 p.m. presentation is free and open to the public. There also will be a 3 p.m. "Tested" presentation in Sill Boardroom for Juniata employees that is not open to the public. The presentation is sponsored by Juniata's Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

"Tested" examines the lack of racial diversity at the highly rated public high schools in New York City, a city where African-Americans and Hispanics comprise about 70 percent of the school-aged population. According to the "Tested" film, Asian-Americans make up about 70 percent of the student populations in New York's elite schools.

Filmmaker Chin finds a common theme in the schoolchildren competing for a seat in one of the New York's exclusive public high schools. The only way to qualify for these schools is by scoring well on a single standardized test.

In addition to humanizing his story through the schoolchildren, Chin addresses such issues as access to high-quality public education, affirmative action, standardized testing and the myth of model minority groups.

Currently a visiting scholar at New York University, Curtis Chin is currently touring college campuses to publicize and discuss his 2015 film. The 90-minute documentary has been praised by educators throughout the country.

Chin started his film career as a writer on several sitcoms, including "According to Jim," and "Norm." In 2008 he wrote the documentary film "Vincent Who?," which tells the story of Vincent Chin who was murdered in 1982 by two autoworkers at the height of anti-Japanese sentiments in the United States.

Chin wrote, with Adam Wolman, and directed "Tested."

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.