Voices of Deoli (2025) with director Lulu Men and producer Joy Ma

The Center of Global Culture and Communication (An interdisciplinary initiative of Northwestern University's School of Communication) presents

VOICES OF DEOLI (2025)

(2025, 84 min, in English, Hindi, Mandarin Chinese with English Subtitles, digital projection)

RSVP

The history of nearly 3000 Chinese Indians incarcerated in a prison camp in Deoli in 1962 is an unknown story that is buried deep in memories. This event has become less known through the years and while some may have heard about the border war between China and India in 1962 preceding the internment, few know about what happened to civilians of Chinese ancestry who had lived for generations in India.

VOICES OF DEOLI is an uplifting story about the survivors, their journey as immigrants to the States and efforts at receiving justice through the years despite their haunted memories of the camp.

The Screening will be followed by a conversation with Director Lulu Men and Executive Producer Joy Ma.

The event is part of the Difficult Dialogues project funded by the Ford Foundation and is supported by Asian Languages and Cultures, South Asia Research Forum, East Asia Research Forum, The Subcontinent Project and the Block Museum atNorthwestern University.

About the guests:

Lulu Men (Director/Producer) is an artist and filmmaker based in New York City, originally from China and Singapore. She discovered her passion for the arts through graphic design, painting, and sculpture before pursuing film. Lulu holds an MFA in Film from the School of Visual Arts and an MA in Media Management from The New School. She has worked on award-winning documentaries and narratives, with her debut feature, VOICES OF DEOLI selected for Docs for Sale at IDFA 2024. Lulu was also part of the team behind AMERICAN FACTORY, which won an Oscar in 2020 for Best Documentary. She is a member of BGDM, A-Doc, and Film Fatales.

Joy Ma grew up in India and has lived in Kolkata and New Delhi. She attended Lady Shri Ram College and graduate school at the New School. She recently published the book THE DEOLIWALLAHS: THE TRUE STORY OF THE 1962 CHINESE-INDIAN INCARCERATION. Joy was one of a handful of children born in the Deoli internment camp in Rajasthan. Her connection to the community in the US and Canada taps into the rich narratives of the group.