Film still of Grace Chang in a deep red costume gazing up at a hanging calligraphy banner

The Work

Film

Director — feature docudrama, in production
Director — A Missing Piece, Golden Angel Award
Actress — The Joy Luck Club · The Accordionist

In Production Grace Chang directing on set: a cinema camera films two actors in a room dressed with Chinese furniture and lanterns

Feature Directorial Debut

Her Father’s Story.
Her First Feature.

Grace is directing a docudrama built on years of research into the life of her father, Baoting Chang — a xiangsheng grand master whose career crossed six political regimes and shaped generations of Chinese artists.

Part history, part personal reckoning, the film picks up where the family’s NYPL archive leaves off: it puts the legacy in motion. Shot with a full cinema crew, with Grace on both sides of the camera.

Role
Director · Writer
Form
Docudrama
Status
In production

Award-Winning Short

A Missing
Piece

Short film · 2019

Written and directed by Grace Chang, A Missing Piece earned the Golden Angel Award at the 15th Chinese American Film Festival — recognition from the festival that has championed Chinese-American cinema for over a decade.

The short marked her arrival as a director: an artist who had spent decades in front of audiences, now shaping the frame itself.

Golden Angel Award — 15th CAFF
A director's monitor on set showing Grace Chang in frame during filming
Through the director’s monitor — on set

As an Actress

1993

The Joy Luck Club Wayne Wang’s landmark Hollywood film about Chinese-American mothers and daughters — a story Grace had lived between two cultures before she played it.

Hollywood Feature
 

The Accordionist An independent film — one of Grace’s screen roles between the circus stage and the director’s chair.

Independent Film
Ongoing

Independent Productions Character-driven roles in independent film, often within the Chinese-American story world she knows first-hand.

Independent

Festival Voices

Q&As · Interviews · Award Nights

Big Apple Film Festival — New York

Director Q&A

A seven-day shoot in Chinatown, directing while acting, and chasing a bicycle with a moving camera — Grace on the realities of independent filmmaking.

Festival Interview

On Winning — and What’s Next

Preparation, script writing, directing, acting: the four jobs behind one film.

Festival Award Ceremony

Acceptance Speech

“The courage to make the first step” — thanking the cast and crew who made it with her.

On Set

Production Photography
Grace Chang at work on a film set beside the camera department
Film crew surrounding dragon puppets on the Magical Garden set
Grace Chang and crew members beside an ARRI cinema camera
Grace Chang on a street film set under a blue canopy with monitors and camera gear
Grace Chang seated by the camera during a studio shoot
Production still from an independent short film set

For screenings, press, and production inquiries — the reel is ready.

Film & Media Inquiries
Frequently Asked

Film — Questions & Answers

What film is Grace Chang directing?

Grace Chang is directing her feature debut — a docudrama about her father, the xiangsheng grand master Chang Baoting (常宝霆). Built on years of research and the family’s NYPL archive, the film is currently in production.

What award did A Missing Piece win?

A Missing Piece (2019), written and directed by Grace Chang, won the Golden Angel Award at the 15th Chinese American Film Festival.

What films has Grace Chang acted in?

Grace Chang appeared in the Hollywood film The Joy Luck Club and the independent film The Accordionist, along with other productions.