Interview

NOTE: This article contains references to child abuse and sexual assault. It has been condensed and translated from the original Farsi. Partners in life and filmmaking, Elaheh Esmaili and Hossein Behboudi Rad have garnered acclaim in the international film festival circuit in recent years for their searingly intimate and humanistic short documentaries about issues affecting ordinary people in Iran today. The Doll and Can I Hug You?, both directed by Esmaili and produced by Behaboudi Rad, screened at the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival in 2022 and 2024 respectively, the former winning our Best Documentary Short award that year. Aside from being heaped with many more awards and accolades, all three of their collaborations share something conspicuous in common. The Doll featured as its subjects members of Hossein’s own extended family, while Can I Hug You? put Hossein himself in the spotlight as he confronted childhood trauma. Their latest effort, A Move, depicts inter-generational conflict in Iran through the lens of Elaheh’s relationship with her family. All three films share a vulnerability rarely seen in the medium, which has evidently resonated with audiences around the world. Last month, I spoke with them about their partnership, process, and more… Hossein Behboudi Rad: The trophy that we received, when we won the (Best Documentary Short) award at your festival– we’ve won lots of awards but that was the first trophy we ever got. Elaheh Esmaili: I’m looking at it right now. At that time, none of the festivals were sending us trophies, so yours was our first one, the first physical award. And we said, finally, we have something to prove we’re real filmmakers. Arzhang Zafar: I didn’t know that! HBR: It made your festival very special for us. EE: Whenever my mom asks me what I’m doing, what being a filmmaker means, I just show her the trophy. AZ: So… When did you start making films? EE: In 2015 I was accepted into the University of Art in Tehran, where I got my Bachelor’s in film. My first film, The Doll, was actually my thesis film in this program. Afterwards I got my Master’s in directing, and I’ve been making films since. AZ: How early did you know you wanted to be a filmmaker? EE: There’s an institution in Iran called Kanoon, the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults. It’s the only institution that’s specifically for kids and teenagers, for developing your artistic and “soft” skills. I started attending at eight years old, and I took part in all of the art classes they offered, to figure out what I was interested in. I started working in theatre there, and we would put on puppet shows, which I loved, but when I went to high school I focused on maths and engineering. Eventually I realized I hated engineering, and because I had already experienced something different at Kanoon, I knew what I wanted to do at university. So when I was twenty-one or twenty-two years old I decided to go to art school. When I was twenty-four I began studying film. HBR: There was only one film school in Iran, and they would accept very few students. Elaheh needed to be within the top 50 applicants, and she studied so hard that she ended up getting the highest score. We were proud of her, but we didn’t know what she was going to do with a film degree. AZ: And yourself? HBR: In high school I was involved with theatre, and I enjoyed it. I had some interest and wanted to study art but I never thought very seriously about it, because I didn’t think my family would encourage me to pursue a career in the arts. Especially in a patriarchal society like Iran, it’s so hard if you do not have a “proper” job as a man. Then, when Elaheh began making films, I wanted to help. There wasn’t a lot of public funding available, so I thought I could help with that. Eventually it got to a point where I realized I was actually producing these films! AZ: What made you interested in documentary filmmaking specifically? HBR: I remember the first time I went to an international film festival, it was a documentary festival in Amsterdam. At the time I wasn’t particularly interested in documentaries, but Elaheh encouraged me to watch some films. I made sure to see all of the films that were from Iran and Afghanistan and Arab countries. I watched a film about Afghan children living in Iran. I grew up in Qom, and I went to school with kids from a lot of different backgrounds, including many from Afghanistan. There was a lot of prejudice toward these kids, and they were often bullied. When I saw this film, which was dealing with that very subject, I felt like it was speaking directly to me. It reminded me of so many experiences from my own life, and it struck me that it was possible to make a truly personal film in this way, to really intimately connect with an audience. When Elaheh was starting to develop her thesis film, we decided it should be a documentary focused on the child marriage of my cousin Asal. EE: What matters to me is the story. If I’m looking to make a film, the form it takes will really depend on the story. Some stories suit a documentary, others suit a narrative. This is how I think about stories, and during the years I was in film school I tried to learn both skill sets as well as I could so that I would always have the option of telling a story either as a documentary or a narrative. AZ: But the idea always comes first. EE: Yes. From the moment the idea comes to me I’m thinking about whether I see it as a narrative or a documentary. HBR: Something that documentaries have that set them apart from fiction films is that there are certain

Detours Ahead is featured in the shorts program The Journeys That Shape Us. We join director Esther Cheung here in conversation with curator Aiko Hamamoto.   Can you speak about your background in animation? I graduated with a bachelor of animation from Sheridan College in 2019. To be honest with you, I chose to do schooling in animation because it had the most job opportunities at the time. My thinking was, that if I went into illustration, I wasn’t going to know how to animate. But if I went into animation, I’d still know how to draw, so I could illustrate on the side. It was a business decision because  I didn’t want to be a starving artist. And it turns out I really like it…after the first few years at least.   Animating was my least favourite part of the process at the beginning. It was a really tough learning curve because it’s difficult and tedious and you’re drawing the same thing with just the slightest bit of difference between each frame. But over time, I learned that there’s an art to it. It’s meditative and fun. I really enjoy it now.   What was the process for making this short? The short stemmed from two road trips I took during a summer that were vastly different. Each trip was about 3000 km long. I took the first trip from Vancouver to Toronto by myself. And in that same summer, I drove back with my dad. This was a very different drive overall, I believe, because of the way we were being perceived and thus treated in Canada. It was very interesting because both were in the same summer, in the same year, and on Highway 1. It was essentially the same road trip, the only isolating factor, being an ‘us’ instead of just me.  The catalyst for the film became that difference.  I kept on wondering why my experience alone was so different from my experience with my dad. It was fun trying to figure out what the story was and how to keep it grounded in that road trip that it was seeded from. It’s challenging to tell a traditional road trip story in an interesting way while staying true to how I remembered and felt everything to be. I’m a little bit of a perfectionist and like to do everything myself. The only person on the whole project that I hired was Ambrose, a sound designer who is amazing. This type of workflow is non-traditional. I don’t often get to touch parts of the pipeline such as compositing or script-writing in my day job.  Writing, in particular, was an interesting part of the process. Drawing is my usual medium; my way to process and communicate. The grant process flips my personal creative process backward as I am required to write and explain myself before drawing. I am thankful for my journalism degree as it definitely helped me learn how to process through words a little bit better than in the past.    How did you navigate working through grief while working on this project?  It hit me like a truck when I realized the stark difference between how I can move through the world versus how I could move when me and my dad were together. It’s tough to pinpoint because I have few people to verify this experience with. My ‘code-switching’ creates the unique opportunity to live the world on either side of the coin: as someone culturally accepted, as well as someone othered. It’s quite a bizarre experience and one that is quite prevalent in North America as a child of immigrants.   Throughout the film, I was trying to wrestle with those questions: Why were people treating us so differently? How am I being perceived when I’m one way and how are we being perceived in a group or when I’m with my dad who has an accent?  I realize that I am so privileged because of my cultural fluency and it’s ridiculous because my dad has been in Canada longer than I have. So what does it mean to be Canadian? What does it mean to be Chinese-Canadian?  How does perception create identity and how does it own and limit your own understanding of yourself? That was my grief.    Has your view on grief or those moments changed since making the film? It’s a work in progress. It’s hard to put fact onto memory because memory is so faulty. I can only be as honest as possible through my experience of either side of the coin. This is especially so since my dad only has his experience to go off of, and nothing to compare it too. “This is just what I live. I don’t know any different. This is just how it goes.” But I’ve experienced both sides, And it feels a little bit lonely in that regard because there are not many people who can vet what I’ve said. I can’t fact-check my memories.  It wouldn’t be honest if I tried to prove something about the greater state of the world or the country. There’s nothing to prove. It’s purely anecdotal. I figured the most honest way to tell that concept or that feeling is to just tell it as I see it.   In your artist bio, you mentioned that the relationship with place is important to your artistic work. What places are important to you? How has that relationship changed over time?  My first film, 風不太冷 In Passing, is based on my parents’ stories of telling me about growing up in Hong Kong. That one was very place-based as well. I went back to Hong Kong in 2018 to experience Hong Kong for myself, have my own experience, and patch their stories to the place.  This time around, Detours Ahead is very rooted in Canada—specifically so. I tried to situate the film from the West to the East Coast; through what you see geographically from the water of

“My kids will like me, right?” “Sometimes, sometimes not. But even if they don’t like you, they’re going to love you forever. And they’re going to appreciate everything that you did for them even if they don’t say it out loud.” “Did you say it out loud?” “Not really.” If you had the chance to go back in time and meet the younger version of your parents right before you were born, would you? The science-fiction short film Desi Standard Time Travel explores this concept in a heartwarming and bittersweet narrative. The main protagonist of the film is Imran (played by Adolyn Dar), a Pakistani Canadian who is about to be a first-time father. From the beginning of the film, viewers are introduced to the tense dynamic between Imran and his ill and hospitalized father, Faisal, over a phone call. Imran’s parents immigrated from Pakistan to Canada as young adults before he was born, and Faisal reminds Imran of all the sacrifices they made for him and his future child to have a better life. He tells Imran how he didn’t have someone to guide him on being a father for the first time and that he’s lucky to have that guidance now. “Thank you for the advice. Maybe I’ll actually call you when I want it.” “When do you ever call? One day, you will actually want to call me, and I won’t be around to pick up.” Fast forward, Imran’s first child is born, but Faisal has passed away. Imran feels a great sense of regret for not having the best relationship with his father before he passed, and he wishes he could ask him for advice on being a father. Unexpectedly, Imran receives a phone call stating that Faisal had a time travel policy under his life insurance that expires soon, and he has the chance to go back in time for one evening. Ultimately, Imran accepts the offer and time travels to when his parents first moved to Canada right before he was born, giving him limited time to talk to the younger version of his father who is facing his same fear about fatherhood. As one of the screeners for the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival this year, this short film stood out to me and was able to provoke a strong emotional reaction from me, especially during the first watch. This year’s festival theme is “Reflections”, and this film highlights how the relationships we form within our lifetime can be a source of reflection and growth. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to ask the director of the film, Kashif Pasta, about the inspiration, process, and challenges behind creating this film. Q: Did you have any specific films and other sources of media as inspiration when creating this film? A: “I grew up on a steady diet of British sci-fi and comedy like Doctor Who, where they rarely had the budgets to do something visually extravagant and instead have to rely on the strength of their writing, world-building and performances that brought a sense of reality to the most absurd premises. That kind of grounded feel really stuck with me. When you’re working with limited resources, the concept becomes the star, and you have to make the ideas compelling enough to fill in the gaps. For this film, I wanted to capture that sense of texture, place, and tactility. I drew a lot from Mogul Mowgli by Bassam Tariq, which has a rawness to it, and Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank, which feels incredibly real and filmic. I don’t know if the influences are obvious when you watch the movie, but they definitely fueled me through the process. And then there’s Back to the Future of course, which is baked into the collective consciousness to the point where even if you haven’t seen it (and surprisingly, I hadn’t seen it when I made Desi Standard Time Travel), its influence is everywhere. The concept of using a car as a time machine for example just feels natural to us all, because that film has impacted our culture so much.” Q: What was the biggest challenge in creating this film? A: “One of the biggest challenges was finding the right tonal balance between a grounded drama and a sci-fi adventure. I needed to ensure that the emotional journey and the logic of the sci-fi elements didn’t feel like they were from two different films. The tech needed to support the emotions, and the emotions needed to anchor the tech. I had to explain just enough of how the world worked to satisfy curiosity, but not so much that we ended up bogged down in details and lost sight of the characters and their emotional journeys.” Q: What was the hardest artistic choice you made in the making of this film? A: “If the biggest challenge was the balance between sci-fi and grounded reality, the hardest artistic choices were in finding the balance between comedy and drama. The early cut of the film was so funny that the emotional beats didn’t land at all. We realized it was because our main character was too much of the “funny guy.” He was charming, sure, but if he didn’t take the situation seriously, it was hard for the audience to take him seriously when things got real. Luckily, some useful trauma from directing commercials where you need to have so many variations of the creative ready meant that I had already had our lead actor, Adolyn, take on the incredible challenge of playing scenes in a range of tones on set—from comedic to dead serious. His flexibility allowed us to fine-tune the performance in the edit, adjusting where he should be more charming, more serious, or just flat-out exhausted by everything happening to him. That helped us build an emotional arc feel authentic and earned.” Q: Were there any major differences between what you envisioned the film being like versus the end product? A: “My favorite thing about being a

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.

South Asian Americans make up a large percentage of spelling bee winners, and Monica Chowdhury became one of them after she won the 2005 Scribbs National Spelling Bee. Fast forward fifteen years later, as former spelling bee winners work at NASA and build start-ups, Monica is living with her mother in her hometown and coaching the next generation of spelling bee champions. Sujata Day’s directorial debut, Definition Please, explores the taboos of mental health and how this shapes one Asian American family’s relationship to one another. In this interview with PAAFF, Writer/Producer/Director Sujata Day discusses her debut feature film and the significance of presenting serious topics through light-hearted humor. Your debut feature film takes issues that are taboo in the South Asian community and puts them at the center of an Indian American family’s everyday life. Tell me about your vision for the film. When did you realize it? Sujata Day: It started in fourth grade when I won my class spelling bee. Then, I went to regionals and lost in the first round on the word “radish.” I spelled it with two d’s instead of one. Since then, I have watched the national spelling bees on ESPN and noticed that most of the winners were South Asian American kids. In 2015, I was in a UCB sketch writing class and wrote a sketch called “Where Are They Now?: Spelling Bee Champions.” Most spelling bee winners are working at NASA, winning poker tournaments, and they’re probably even working on the COVID vaccine right now. The button of my sketch was that one of these champs turned out to be a loser. A couple of years later, in 2017, I started writing Definition Please, loosely based on this comedy sketch premise. Are there characters or scenes in the film that you deeply resonate or connect with?  Sujata Day: Some of my favorite scenes are with Anna Khaja, who plays Jaya in the film. They provide a welcome break from the tense scenes with Ritesh Rajan, who plays Sonny. I loved the quiet scene in the bedroom between Monica and Jaya. You really get a sense of how close their relationship is. The treehouse scene between mother and daughter was also really touching and fun to shoot. We see humorous moments amidst serious scenes. We see it when the main character, Monica, is checking out the doctor while her mom is in the hospital. We see it when older brother Sonny embarrassingly chases his sister’s romantic interest away. Why was it important for you to tell this story with lightheartedness and humor?  Sujata Day: Real life is full of drama mixed with comedy and Definition Please is the Chowdry family’s slice of life. As human beings, we experience a roller coaster of emotions all in the same day. I came from a grounded, authentic place in constructing this story and stayed true to how each character would react in whatever situation they happen to find themselves in. In several scenes, we see men through Monica’s gaze. Hollywood Reporter’s Beandrea July wrote in their film review, “these seemingly random camera pans are usually reserved for scantily clad women in mainstream Bollywood movies, but here… it’s the men who are served up as fine cuts of meat”. Tell me about the significance of showing men through a South Asian woman’s gaze.  Sujata Day: All of my work is told through a South Asian woman’s gaze. In Bollywood films, there’s a specific trope called the “item number” in which a stunning woman, with no connection to the plot whatsoever, performs a sexy dance for a room full of boisterous, drunk men. I wanted to flip the script and subvert stereotypes. I think it’s important to note that all the good-looking guys in Definition Please happen to be Asian American or men of color, and that’s not by accident. Sonny faces a mental health illness that significantly affects his relationship with his family. In a community that stigmatizes men’s mental health, what significance does his character hold? What was it like writing and developing such a character?  Sujata Day: In Asian American culture, mental illness is seen as a weakness, especially in men. In Definition Please, I strove to portray a real person dealing with his mental illness and the reactions of his loved ones. I pulled from multiple personal experiences to write and develop Sonny’s character. Through many rewrites and with the help of friends who gave notes on my script drafts, I made sure to make Sonny a fully-formed person, outside of his mental illness. Ritesh comes from a family of many doctors and did his own research on the role. He brought a lot to the character on his own. We collaborated and came to a mutual understanding of the way he would play the role, especially with all of Sonny’s highs and lows. What are some challenges you faced while simultaneously directing and acting in this film? Sujata Day: Raising money was the biggest challenge. As the writer/producer/director/star of the film, balancing the multiple creative roles of the process was easy because I was working on something I really believed in. I gathered the most talented crew and cast to pull it off. Convincing people to believe in me monetarily was a whole other story. It was emotionally exhausting, but honestly I let any potential investors know I was going to find a way to make this film, with or without their help. Luckily, in the end, we ended up with passionate investors who trusted and allowed our creative team to flourish, with very little artistic interference and a whole lot of financial support. What do you want the audience to take away from this film?  Sujata Day: I made an American film that happens to have a South Asian American lead cast. I want to inspire others to feel empowered to tell their own specific stories because I was inspired by folks who created before me. All of our authentic stories are important, so let’s tackle every genre, whether it’s horror, or rom-com, or children’s

What is paradise? How do we find it? A mortuary worker, a restaurant with karaoke singers, an immigrant father, a class of high school students—these four stories take place in San Diego, a refugee city situated next to a militarized border. The Paradise We Are Looking For presents the Vietnamese, Korean, and Filipino Americans of San Diego and their stories through an experimental documentary, in collaboration with four filmmakers. Brian Hu, a producer on this film and Artistic Director at Pacific Arts Movement in San Diego, spoke to PAAFF about the significance of bringing these stories together and the idea of a “Paradise”. What is the origin of this project? How did four filmmakers come together to collaborate on this documentary? Brian Hu: There were two initial impulses. One was to reflect upon Asian American histories in San Diego. What were the relationships between the younger and older generations? What are the stories we tell of the community, and which get buried and forgotten? The second impulse was to highlight neighborhoods in San Diego with significant Asian American populations. These tend to be areas that are overlooked when it comes to city development, tourism attention, or what constitutes San Diego history. That these neighborhoods tend to be less white is no coincidence. The four filmmakers are all ones we’ve been following for many years. I invited them to contribute, knowing their personal ties to the city, their thoughtfulness when it comes to community, place, and home, and their general adventurousness when it comes to documentary style. All of them jumped at the opportunity to make something in San Diego, which some of them hadn’t done in quite a while. Why did you decide to stitch together four different documentary styles? Is there a reason for how the four documentaries are sequenced?  Brian Hu: The four filmmakers were encouraged to define “documentary” however they wished and I was pleased by how different they all were, whether they were essayistic, observational, or personal. They were even in all different aspect ratios, something we did not anticipate or ask for. The sequencing takes the viewer north to south across the city. But we also wanted to start with a palate cleanser. Norbert’s film, with its quiet, non-expository style, resets any preconceptions about what might follow. We wanted to end with R.J.’s film, which was most consciously about looking back to look forward, an appropriate gesture to how these histories can be meaningful in the future. How does this experimental style shape how you tell the stories of Asian Americans in San Diego?  Brian Hu: It was important that we did not homogenize Asian America in San Diego, a city where Asian Americans have arrived for vastly different reasons — the military, as refugees, through UC San Diego — and with different experiences of privilege and access to telling their own stories. We wanted every break between shorts to feel like another reset, with new possibilities of emotion and experience written upon the last, not with any obvious continuity but as yet another way to tell an Asian American story. If there is any continuity, it’s that none of these filmmakers do traditional documentary history. There are no interviews with scholars or leaders, or animations or maps. They’re all grounded in the people and places of these neighborhoods without reference to the historical authority that the film is in some ways critiquing. Tell me about the reference to a paradise. How did you decide on this concept for the documentary?  Brian Hu: The title of the film is firstly a reference to lê thi diem thúy’s novel The Gangster We Are All Looking For, probably the most prominent creative work about Asian Americans in San Diego. We wanted to honor her legacy of telling one’s own history here, to build upon her acute and lasting etchings of growing up a refugee, demanding to be looked at as more than a remnant of war. “Paradise” is a reference to the neighborhood of Paradise Hills (or the “PH”), which has a huge Filipino population, and which is around where Joe’s karaoke film is shot. Beyond geography, that notion of “paradise” tied nicely to the dreams of success, expression, refuge, and happiness expressed by the characters in the films. In the case of a Korean man who lost everything tragically, “paradise” was a cruel illusion. For others, it is created through personal will or in community spaces of pleasure or mourning. I think many immigrants work through this vexed notion of America as “paradise.” Think of all the Asian languages that call America some variant of “beautiful country.” We also hope to conjure something utopic that perhaps is still possible in San Diego. After all, we’re here anyway. What challenges did you face while putting this documentary together?  Brian Hu: The biggest challenge is that filmmakers from San Diego, or who studied in San Diego, tend to leave eventually. The city is not a huge media town, and Los Angeles is just a temptation away. When the film was produced, only one of the four filmmakers was living in San Diego, so the directors were coordinating everything from afar and had short windows during which to shoot locally. If the film has a nostalgic, bittersweet quality, it’s because these filmmakers have perhaps developed an arm’s distance from the city in their years since moving. It’s a place where their family and old friends are, or where they have memories rather than everyday encounters. For us, it also became a moving way to think about history too; how is the city remembered when you take a short step away? What do you hope audiences take away from this documentary? What do you hope audiences who are unfamiliar with San Diego’s community take away?  Brian Hu: At the very least, we hope that audiences learn about some folks whose experiences they find meaningful or memorable. Beyond that, we hope to show how complicated San Diego is politically and demographically. The city has a reputation for sunshine and conservatism,

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