The Claudia Kishi Club Explained

The Claudia Kishi Club
Director:Sue Ding
Distributor:Netflix
Runtime:17 minutes
Country:United States
Language:English

The Claudia Kishi Club is a 2020 short documentary film directed by Sue Ding.

Background and synopsis

The Claudia Kishi Club revolves around Claudia Kishi, a character from Ann M. Martin's novel series The Baby-Sitters Club. A Japanese-American, Claudia was a notable exception to a dearth of Asian-American characters in children's literature, particularly a character that had a large reach as a part of a popular series and often resisted stereotype. Sue Ding told the Daily Bruin that in 2013, she noticed an outbreak of content from Asian-Americans about Claudia;[1] in 2018, she successfully crowdfunded a documentary project.

In The Claudia Kishi Club, director Sue Ding interviews multiple Asian-Americans who grew up with The Baby-Sitters Club, discussing the impact Claudia had on them as a child.[2] The interviewees include Naia Cucukov, producer of a 2020 TV adaptation of The Baby-Sitters Club; Sarah Kuhn, a sci-fi novelist; Gale Galligan, a graphic novelist; C. B. Lee, an author; Phil Yu, a blogger known as "Angry Asian Man" who circulated memes of reworked covers of The Baby-Sitters Club such as "Claudia and the Racist Little Shits"; and Yumi Sakugawa, an artist who created a 2013 zine titled "Claudia Kishi: My Asian-American Female Role Model of the 90's", which was noticed by Ding in 2013 and featured in the documentary.[3] [4]

Release and reception

The Claudia Kishi Club premiered July 10, 2020.

Notes and References

  1. News: Mazzucato . Olivia . July 10, 2020 . The Claudia Kishi Club explores cultural impact of Asian American representation . . November 6, 2023.
  2. News: Tang . Terry . July 9, 2020 . Asian American girls saw pivotal icon in Baby-Sitters Club . . November 6, 2023.
  3. News: Makalintal . Bettina . July 9, 2020 . An ode to Claudia Kishi, the coolest kid in The Baby-Sitters Club . . November 6, 2023.
  4. News: Yu . Yi-Jin . July 10, 2020 . The Claudia Kishi Club is a love letter to the beloved Baby-Sitters Club character . . November 6, 2023.