This intimate document of Dong's mother's life is essential viewing for those who want to understand more about Asian women who immigrated to the U.S. from China. Through home movies, family snapshots, and rare archival footage, it weaves a loving tapestry of his mother's efforts to build a new life in America. "I'm just a sewing woman," says Zem Ping Dong. But as a Chinatown garment worker, she single-handedly brought her entire extended family to America in an era of tight immigration quotas. SEWING WOMAN earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Documentary in 1984.