Washington, D.C. Film Festival


Golden Venture


Director: Peter Cohn
Peter CohnPeter Cohn is a New York-based writer and film maker. “Golden Venture” is his second feature and his first documentary. He has been working on a film about the Golden Venture since 1997.

He produced, co-wrote and directed "Drunks," a film set in a Manhattan Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, starring Richard Lewis, Faye Dunaway, Dianne Wiest, Parker Posey and Spalding Gray. “Drunks” was shown at Sundance in 1996, premiered on Showtime and was released in 1997 to widespread critical acclaim. The New York Times called it “superbly realized.” "Drunks" won the motion picture industry's Prism Award for 1997, in recognition of the film's realistic depiction of alcohol and drug addiction.

He has written screenplays for Fox, Disney, MGM and a wide range of US and European independent producers. His publications include "The Official Stockbrokers Handbook" (Putnam, 1985) and "The Reagan Report" (Doubleday, 1984). He was a co-founder of Off The Wall Street Journal, a satirical newspaper distributed nationally in 1982 and 1983. Other satirical publications include "Meet Mr. Bomb" and "The Irrational Inquirer."

He began his writing career as a journalist, first at the Richmond Times Dispatch and then at the Hartford Courant. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago, where he was editor of the student newspaper, The Chicago Maroon.



Synopsis
The film chronicles the ongoing struggles of passengers who were aboard the Golden Venture, an immigrant smuggling ship that ran aground near New York City in 1993. Passengers had paid at least $30,000 to be brought to the U.S. from China's Fujian Province, expecting to arrive indebted but unnoticed. But a seemingly golden opportunity quickly evolved into a hellish descent through the cruel whims of U.S. immigration policy.

The Golden Venture crash fed a media circus and became a symbol of a growing national concern over illegal immigration. Many passengers were deported over a two-year period, while others were detained for up to four years.

“Golden Venture” is a global epic, a story of stoic perseverance and unexpected grace, played out in the shadow of national politics and the continuing failure of ever-harsher US immigration policies. At a time when the immigration issue has led to furious debate and high stakes political maneuvering, the fate of the Golden Venture passengers is more relevant than ever.
Cast and crew. »