How did Ryan Coogler’s Chinese family ancestry and a documentary lead to a role consulting on the blockbuster film SINNERS? Journalist, documentary filmmaker, and SINNERS cultural consultant Dolly Li joins IN PROXIMITY podcast host Paola Mardo to talk about her work on SINNERS, her documentary THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICA’S SOUTHERN CHINESE, and why Remmick’s (Jack O’Connell) iconic lines about licking to Grace Chow (Li Jun Li) were so integral to the story.
(00:00)
These lines about licking
(01:30)
How Dolly started working on SINNERS
(06:15)
The Delta Chinese community's reaction to the film
(08:00)
How the Delta Chinese felt about the grocery stores in the film
(08:35)
Working with production design
(09:10)
The role of Chinese-owned grocery stores in the segregated south
(09:50)
What it was like for Dolly to see the film
(12:00)
These lines about licking (the full story)
(14:36)
Grace Chow (Li Jun Li) and the internet discussion around her role
(21:30)
The Mississippi Delta Chinese and Dolly's documentary with AJ+
(29:42)
Asian American representation in film today
(31:08)
Voice Memo from Jun Stinson Yamagishi (journalist, supervising producer)
(35:06)
The Process: "Are you ornamental? Are we always foreigners?"
(40:14)
The Process: Chinese in Mississippi in 1960
(41:55)
The Process: Visual art, watercolor, and motion graphics
(45:21)
Shifting from producer to on-camera host
(47:57)
Prox Recs
SINNERS Cultural Consultant Dolly Li on the Delta Chinese, Docs, and That Licking Line
October 4, 2025
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