Author name: Selena Yip

How do you use imagination to survive in this time of uncertainty? In our queer shorts program Queer Futures, documentarians and narrative characters explore brighter futures through humor, education, resistance, letting go, self-discovery, and thinking far outside the box. Some of the filmmakers and actors from this program chatted with us about their films, their artistic roots, and their dreams. Graduation Director: Robin Wang Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. R. Wang: A film about loving too much. Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? R. Wang: I am a rain god when it comes to filming exterior night scenes. It happened twice when we were trying to shoot the exterior yard scene and the rooftop scene that we were put off by the rain — even when the weather forecast said it was going to be clear. But my friends were really supportive and we managed to sneak out filming bits and parts whenever the rain stopped for five minutes. Eventually we got it done! What do you hope to see in the future for the film industry? How do you see yourself and your work playing a role in this future? R. Wang: I hope to see more diverse Asian voices in the film industry, more stories, and storytellers, especially those that are doubly marginalized and struggle with intersectionality (APIQ, immigrants, women, etc.); I want to dedicate myself to telling stories about the diversity of pan-Asian community and address the dilemma of how we fit ourselves in these confusing times. Stories matter. Authentic voices matter. And we definitely need more genuine storytellers in this business. What’s next for you? R. Wang: I am working on turning this short into a feature, as well as working on several other short scripts for my advanced productions at USC. Parental Guidance Suggested Director: Dane Neves Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. D. Neves: Puppet show for parents with LGBTQ kids. Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? D. Neves: Working with puppets is always a joy…but it’s also no job for a weakling. Directing while performing a puppet is one of the hardest challenges I’m still overcoming. What do you hope to see in the future for the film industry? How do you see yourself and your work playing a role in this future? D. Neves: I hope that serious filmmakers, including myself, are open to evolving their craft and finding value in undiscovered audiences and alternative platforms. I’ve seen myself changing my mindset from believing that a film I make should be as exclusive as possible to believing that a film I make should be accessible to all. What’s next for you? D. Neves: I’m currently producing a YouTube virtual talk show hosted by a ghost puppet named Lonesome as he explores the new (para)normal. Bind Director: Emory Chao Johnson Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. E. Johnson: Gender, culture, adolescence meet over a binder. Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? E. Johnson: BIND was the first time I developed, produced, and directed a scripted short film so I was feeling very anxious as our shoot date approached. But on the morning of the shoot, I did my best to talk myself into relaxing and to have fun, and I think it worked! I was really proud of our set. All of our team members exuded diligence and openness on set. It was an honor to have helped facilitate that set atmosphere and to have participated and witnessed our team’s collaboration. What do you hope to see in the future for the film industry? How do you see yourself and your work playing a role in this future? E. Johnson: One of the reasons I decided to put this story out into the world was because I didn’t really see any scripted content like it. Since the time I started developing this film, however, I feel like more creators are sharing these trans and nonbinary Asian American slice of life stories. It’s really inspiring to see. What’s next for you? E. Johnson: I’ve been honored and moved by the opportunities to share BIND virtually with audiences through supportive and resilient film festivals. In the coming months, I’m excited to be wrapping up a short documentary film, which continues my interest in diving into the thickness of non-cis Asian experiences and feelings. Kapaemahu Director: Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. H. Wong-Kalu: Mind, body, gender and healing are one. Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? H. Wong-Kalu: When we discovered the original handwritten manuscript of the legend in a dusty archive – a connection to the ancestors and a script for the film. What do you hope to see in the future for the film industry? How do you see yourself and your work playing a role in this future? H. Wong-Kalu: Filmmaking is just one method of storytelling, which will never die. What’s next for you? H. Wong-Kalu: A film about Koko Head crater titled Kapo Mai Lele (Kapo’s Flying Vagina). To watch this short film program, Queer Futures, you can purchase access here. This program is available from November 5th – 15th.  Watch the recorded Q&A here, conducted on 11/14 at 7:00pm EST over livestream with the featured filmmakers of this program.

With premises as outrageous as a secret underground Chinese chess enclave and a truly magical strain of weed, this collection of comic short films are somewhat like life as viewed in a funhouse mirror. While they’re guaranteed to make your smile, the shorts in our LMAO: Lighthearted, Merry, Amusing, Outrageous program also offer fresh perspectives on navigating our way through modern life. Some of the filmmakers and actors from this program chatted with us about their films, their artistic roots, and their dreams. Becoming Eddie Writer: Ed Lee Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. E. Lee: Korean American boy wishes to be comedian. Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? E. Lee: With my producer Joyce Liu Countryman and director Lilan Bowden, we worked hard to put together a majority BIPOC and gender equal cast and crew. Seeing true inclusion on set is something I never experienced in all the time I’ve worked in TV and film, so walking onto set for call time each morning and seeing our crew in action was truly an emotional experience for me. What do you hope to see in the future for the film industry? How do you see yourself and your work playing a role in this future? E. Lee: I hope to see more comedy from Asian American voices. I’m trying to tell my authentic story through my writing. If we all do that, we can help to dispel the myth that all Asian Americans are foreigners in this country, where many of us were born and raised. What’s next for you? E. Lee: Our team is developing Becoming Eddie into a television series with Sony Pictures Television. In Sync Director: Eddie Shieh Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. E. Shieh: Lovers catch each other breaking the rules. Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? E. Shieh: This film was originally created for the 72 Hour Shootout by the Asian American Film Lab in 2019. That in itself was a challenge. But it goes without saying that all films are the sum of its parts. Here, 14 passionate, humble filmmakers – plus significant others – enjoyed making a romantic comedy as a team. We were truly “in sync.” That, by far, is what I’ll always keep from this film. What do you hope to see in the future for the film industry? How do you see yourself and your work playing a role in this future? E. Shieh: I look forward to being the “crazy old man” from sharing unbelievable stories to my kids as teens, and hopefully their grandchildren, about the lack of media representation and inequality from this laughable era. Until then, I hope to continue creating honest stories that showcase Asians and Asian Americans in roles representing all facets of humanity. What’s next for you? E. Shieh: As a twindad of toddler boys I strive to sleep as much as allowed. Creating stories is a close second. Logan Lee & The Rise of the Purple Dawn Director: Raymond C. Lai Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. R. Lai: Killer wax and soul-sucking attacks. Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? R. Lai: With Logan Lee & the Rise of the Purple Dawn, I set out to make a film that would be a celebration of Asian-American hip-hop – music was always going to be the breakbeat backbone that gave this film its shape. Thus, one of my favorite memories of making this film was the moment I realized that our backbone would be composed of a murderers’ row of Asian-American hip-hop luminaries. I mean, come on. We got score and original music by Dan the freakin’ Automator, with a verse by Lyrics Born, which we recorded at Beatrock Studios (Shout out Fat Gums!). Then, to top it all off, we got additional music from Philly’s own CHOPS  of the Mountain Brothers. Like I said, MURDERERS. ROW. These were artists that I grew up admiring, even emulating, whom I sought to celebrate with this film. And then they agreed to be a part of the film itself? I still can’t believe it.  That moment, that memory, I’ll cherish the rest of my career.   What do you hope to see in the future for the film industry? How do you see yourself and your work playing a role in this future? R. Lai: I hope that the wave of providing platforms for more diverse and inclusive voices continues with increased energy and amplification, with opportunities to tell different types of stories that occupy all types of genres. We are all boats on this rising tide. I just hope I can continue to stomach the waves. What’s next for you? R. Lai: I am currently rewriting the feature version of Logan Lee & the Rise of the Purple Dawn, as well as writing a new sci-fi/comedy web comic about a failed Asian-American intergalactic bounty hunter.  The Blessing Director: Liann KayeCast: Ryan Wright  Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. L. Kaye: A man wants to marry into a Chinese family. Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? L. Kaye: Finding older Asian actors was unfortunately difficult! I want to see more representation in our community in the future! I had to ask my actresses if they had friends that wanted to be in our tai chi group. Many of them weren’t even actresses but retirees who wanted to have some fun. R. Wright: We filmed just about all the scenes in the order in which they appear in the film. That never happens so it made my job as an actor even easier. But my

Skipping school, sneaking out, falling in love, finding yourself … Our Spirit of Youth shorts program reminds us of the complicated nature of youth, both full of both wonder and fear. The whole world lies ahead of us, yet we can never quite get a grasp of where we are or where we’re going. Some of the filmmakers from this program chatted with us about their films, their artistic roots, and their dreams. A Peacock Dance Director: Emily Eng Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. Eng: Uncovers acceptance with yourself and your community Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? Eng: The production phase was my favorite memory in making “A Peacocks Dance”. I was fortunate enough to find the time and space to collaborate with the people I worked best with, which made the production phase very memorable to me. Seeing my cast and crew come together with equal excitement to make my story come to life was a wonderful experience. The most challenging part I had to overcome was fighting for the world I wanted to create. During a few table reads and feedback from colleagues, most were unfamiliar with the suburban Chinese schools and how they function. Due to this unfamiliarity, it was a challenge for me to be able to have this world and the characters be able to translate well to other readers. What do you hope to see in the future for the film industry? How do you see yourself and your work playing a role in this future? Eng: I hope to see more Asian screenwriters who are able to bring their unique perspectives to a wider audience to disrupt the narrative works we see today in the film industry. Majority of my cast and crew were all young growing Asian American artists and I hope the story itself and their experience will be impactful on how they see themselves fit in the entertainment world. What’s next for you? Eng: I’m currently finishing up my MFA at Columbia University in Creative Producing and hope to help other Asian creatives have their stories come to life. Valley Director: Allan Zhang Tran Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. Tran: Ditch day in the San Gabriel Valley. Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? Tran: The entire production of VALLEY has been nostalgic for me. I grew up in SoCal’s San Gabriel Valley and it’s where I first became interested in filmmaking as a teen. My friends and I would run all over town with a MiniDV camera (remember those?) and film some pretty juvenile stuff. VALLEY, being about a pair of Asian American youths running around the SGV, essentially recreates those wonder years. We filmed a lot of the scenes on the very same streets I ran around back in the day. And I’m happy to say that some of the crew members who worked on VALLEY are the very same friends I made films with from that formative time. As far as challenges, we shot a lot of VALLEY in the dead of summer, with 90% of the scenes taking place outdoors. As one can imagine, it was very hot, with constant location changes, and we had the cast for just 3 shoot days. So the real challenge was to shoot lean and efficiently to stay on schedule while creating a film that felt, at heart, carefree and spontaneous—two seemingly clashing ideologies, but we made it work due in large part to the incredibly talented cast and crew. What do you hope to see in the future for the film industry? How do you see yourself and your work playing a role in this future? Tran: There are so many specific stories within any given cultural diaspora that have yet to be told. And I really do hope to see more of these stories given the opportunity to be told, particularly from filmmakers and storytellers who are descendants of said culture. Speaking as an Asian American, there are themes specific to the Asian American experience that I haven’t quite seen explored on film yet. My role as a filmmaker and storyteller is to hopefully shed light on some of these experiences, particularly those I can speak to as a Chinese and Vietnamese American, and to contribute in deepening the well on those narratives, regardless of genre. After all, Asian Americans are not a monolithic group, and representation matters in highlighting this actuality. What’s next for you? Tran: I’ve been writing a few things, including a feature. But the next short I’m prepping is a horror film. I’m particularly excited about this because horror is a genre I’ve not quite explored as a filmmaker (yet), but it’s a genre I really love, so there’s that “uncharted territory” element that makes me a little nervous to tackle but is also a source of excitement. It also happens to be Asian American-centric, so would thematically align with the types of stories I want to tell. Sixteen Director: Nicole N. Nequinto Cast: Tita Pambid & Melanie Anne Padernal Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. Lee: Vignettes of domesticity and chaotic K-Pop fantasies. Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? Lee: My favourite memory (and challenge) working on Sixteen was actually in pre-production. As a 1.5 generation Korean-New Zealander who grew up entirely in New Zealand, my written Korean isn’t the strongest. With the Korean parts of the script, I enlisted my mum to help me translate and it became a bonding experience between me and my mum in real life. What do you hope to see in the future for the film industry? How do you see yourself and your work playing a role in this

Lying somewhere between dream and nightmare, American immigrants face a tenuous existence in a land that never quite feels like home. Whether regularly fighting deportation or struggling with the monotony of life on alien soil, the films in our program Uncertain Movements represent reality for those who have found themselves caught between a rock and a hard place in the so-called land of the free. The filmmakers featured in this short film program chatted with us about their films and their dreams. Keep Saray Home (Best Documentary Short Nominee) Director: Brian Redondo Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. Redondo: Southeast Asian families face deportation with courage. Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? Redondo: While filming the climactic scene of the film, I got emotional and once you see the film, you’ll know why. I was operating the camera and the footage gets wildly shaky because of my reaction. Normally this footage would be unuseable. But we decided to go with it anyway because the emotion rings true even though the shot was “ruined.” What do you hope to see in the future for the film industry? How do you see yourself and your work playing a role in this future? Redondo: I want to see a much broader range of stories, story formats, and story-tellers. For the medium to continue growing, fresh ideas and fresh perspectives are key. In the documentary world, I hope to continue making films for and about Asian Americans and people of color, and give voice to topics not normally discussed. But I also hope to do this in new, challenging ways that stretch the genre itself. What’s next for you? Redondo: I’m editing a short documentary about an experimental nature program at prisons in the Pacific Northwest. Passage Director: Asavari Kumar Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. Kumar: A woman recounts her immigration journey. Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? Kumar: The fact that we were able to make this project with people who we love and respect was inherently a magical experience. Passage unfolds very much like a personal essay where a series of events are retold– warped and colored by memories and emotions. The biggest challenge for us was creating the visual language of the film. We wanted to strike a balance between being deeply specific and personal, while still being abstract enough so that the viewer could project their own journey onto the story. What do you hope to see in the future for the film industry? How do you see yourself and your work playing a role in this future? Kumar: I hope to see more representation and nuanced depictions of diasporic identity in mainstream media. As a creative practitioner that is medium agnostic, I hope to use every feasible opportunity to push for this transition through collaboration, community support, and collective action. Our production company Supernova Design, in addition to prioritizing the hiring of women and POC artists for our creative projects, sets aside resources to help non-profits and give back to organizations that help POC and minority communities. What’s next for you? Kumar: We are in development for a feature animation project and are collaborating on developing an animated series. Both projects are targeted at adult audiences and highlight South Asian voices and experiences. We were recently awarded a grant from Adobe to create an augmented reality short film titled ‘A New Normal’. This project was created during quarantine with a team of remote artists and has made us curious about exploring narrative work in the XR space. Over the next few years, we are hoping to explore different mediums and continue creating short and long-form projects that highlight the voices and stories of the South Asian diaspora. Transplant Director: Zheyu Liang Without spoiling anything, describe your film in 7 words or less. Liang: Tenacious Chinese immigrants try to find a home on alien soil. Do you have a favorite memory from making this film? Were there any challenges that you had to overcome? Liang: Being able to just stay with, observe my subjects’ daily lives, and see how they hold each other’s hands to get through the hardest time together, is definitely my favorite memory when I was filming. It’s an observational doc and I got tons of footage, so it was kind of hard when I was in post-production. It just took me a while to finish the film. What do you hope to see in the future for the film industry? How do you see yourself and your work playing a role in this future? Liang: I hope the film industry can create a free and supportive environment for our young Asian and Asian American women filmmakers and that we can get more chances to speak our own stories into the world. I will keep pursuing my passion-turned-career as a film director and making films that challenge and inspire the world with my distinctive voice and personal experience. As a young Asian woman director, I will also continue to commit to telling diverse stories of the underrepresented and bringing to the foreground the struggles of the Chinese and Asian experience in America. What’s next for you? Liang: I am currently working on my first feature documentary “Mother Love”, which is about three Chinese “only child” families. After almost a lifetime’s sacrifice and “unconditional love” for their only child, three mothers finally let go and embark on a journey of pursuing their own lives while navigating their tense mother-son relationships. Taking an observational approach, the film explores issues about expectation, loss, loneliness and pressure that have largely been hidden in plain sight. The film will uncover the underrepresented stories about how One Child Policy affected millions of families and impacted people for a lifetime.   To watch this short film program, Uncertain Movements, you can purchase access here. This program is available from November 5th