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Admissions Granted

Directors

Hao Wu, Miao Wang

Executive Producers

Rashida Jones, Rebecca Kutler, Amanda Spain, Geralyn Dreyfous, Jenny Raskin

Producers

Hao Wu, Miao Wang

Editors

Hao Wu, Jen Fineran

Cinematographers

Christopher Messina, Jia Li, Brett Wiley

In June 2023, the 6-3 conservative majority at the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in higher education in the landmark Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. HARVARD and SFFA v. UNC cases, dealing a crushing blow to progressives who had labored to address racism in America through race-conscious policies.

Edward Blum, the conservative legal strategist and founder of SFFA, had previously orchestrated six Supreme Court cases in his decades-long effort to “restore” the colorblind principle in American society. With his efforts heavily funded by conservative donors, Blum has become the most media-savvy (and for liberals, most notorious) opponent of affirmative action policies in America. SFFA v. HARVARD was the latest case he shepherded to the Supreme Court. By alleging that Harvard University discriminated against Asian American applicants, it pushed Asian Americans, neither black nor white, to the forefront of the affirmative action debate for the first time.

Combining interviews, news archives, and verité footage with dynamic animated sequences that bring the closed-door court hearings to life, Admissions Granted takes an honest and thoughtful look at the complexity of the affirmative action debate, the divisions within the Asian American community and our nation’s increasing polarization on matters of race, equity, and inclusion.

Post-screening discussion with co-directors Hao Wu and Miao Wang, moderated by Moriah Balingit, Early Education Reporter, The Associated Press.

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Miao Wang

Co-director, Admissions Granted

Miao Wang’s documentary features Maineland (SXSW Jury Winner and New York Times Critic’s Pick), Beijing Taxi (New York Magazine Critic’s Pick), and short film Yellow Ox Mountain have screened at hundreds of international festivals and institutions including SXSW and the Guggenheim Museum, with US theatrical releases, nationwide broadcasts, digitally released globally on multiple platforms, with broad educational distribution. Wang is a recipient of grants and fellowships from the Sundance Institute, the Jerome Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, the Tribeca Film Institute, Tribeca All Access, IFP Filmmaker’s Lab, Independent Film Week, and Women Make Movies. Wang holds a BA in economics from the University of Chicago and an MFA in design and film from Parsons School of Design. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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Hao Wu

Co-director, Admissions Granted

Hao Wu’s award-winning films have been distributed through Netflix, Amazon Prime, Paramount Plus, MSNBC Films, New York Times, PBS, and BBC. People’s Republic of Desire (2018) won the Grand Jury Award at SXSW; 76 Days (2020) was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and won a Peabody Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Hao Wu’s documentary films have received support from The Ford Foundation JustFilms, ITVS, Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, and NYSCA. They are distributed through Netflix, Amazon Prime, Paramount Plus, PBS, and BBC, among others. His feature documentary, People’s Republic of Desire, about China’s live-streaming phenomenon, won the Grand Jury Award at the 2018 SXSW. Wu followed that film with All In My Family, a Netflix Original Documentary that launched globally in 2019. 76 Days, Wu’s latest work and the first feature documentary on the COVID-19 pandemic to play at a film festival, world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2020. Distributed by MTV Documentary Films, it was named a Critic’s Pick by The New York Times, shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, nominated for the Gotham Awards, and won a Peabody Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking.