ASIAN AMERICAN DREAMS
Short Film Program
APRIL 7, 2019 - 5:30 PM
Dreams are a way to express memories of the past, anxieties in the present, and hopes for the future. This program of short films looks at a collection of dreams that many share.
ONE CAMBODIAN FAMILY PLEASE FOR MY PLEASURE
2018 | Narrative, Drama | USA | 12 min | English
Directed by A.M. Lukas
Starring Emily Mortimer
2019 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Nominee
In 1981, a Czechoslovakian woman (Emily Mortimer), herself a refugee from a war-torn country, writes a letter requesting that a Cambodian family be rescued from the violence and unrest in their native land and delivered to her adopted home in Fargo, North Dakota. Based on a true story.
BUFFALO NICKEL
2018 | Narrative, Comedy | USA | 15 min | English
Directed by Youthana Yous
A desperately lonely Indian American woman accidentally becomes "besties" with a social media influencer who may have an ulterior motive in befriending her.
COWBOY JOE
2018 | Narrative, Drama | USA | 6 min | English, Chinese with subtitles
Directed by Jing Jing Tian
In New York City, a Chinese American man defies both his father and the world by assuming an identity no one expects or affords him.
KIM CHI
2018 | Narrative, Drama | USA | 14 min | English, Japanese, Korean with English subtitles
Directed by Jackson Kiyoshi Segars
2018 SXSW Film Festival Selection!
During a tense and melancholy visit with the family of his Korean American fiancee, a Japanese American man bonds with her ailing grandfather over a shared language and hobby.
ONE SMALL STEP
2018 | Animation, Drama | USA, China | 8 min | English
Directed by Bobby Pontillas and Andrew Chesworth
2018 Academy Award Best Animated Short Nominee!
A Chinese American girl, supported by her shoemaker father, pursues her dream of becoming an astronaut into college and beyond.
ELLA
2018 | Narrative, Drama | USA | 16 min | English
Directed by Dan Chen
Marooned in middle America, a high school recluse and a college dropout experience alienation, othering, and companionship.
RED CHIMERA
2018 | Experimental, Drama | USA | 8 min | English
Directed by Jen Frisch-Wang
After mysteriously aging 60 years overnight, a young-girl-turned-older-woman struggles to reconcile her love of art with the "model minority" pressures placed on her by society and family.
SPEAK EASY, B
2018 | Experimental, Drama | USA | 15 min | English
Directed by Becca Park
A visit to a therapist prompts a young queer woman struggling to cope with depression and heartache to embark on a surreal journey through the desert inside her mind.