Betwen Two Worlds

A collection of AAPI short films about feeling out of place, belonging neither entirely here nor there, and forging a path ahead in uncertain times.

Saturday, May 18th, 2024
6:00 PM

Gene Siskel Film Center
164 N State St, Chicago, IL 60601

TICKETS

Honolulu

Directed & Written by Maya Tanaka
https://www.mayatanaka.com/

Flaming lobsters and menstruation woes plague 12-year-old Yuki’s doomed Hawai'ian beach vacation. As tensions boil over, she, her aloof father, and her elegant grandmother battle bright red sunburns and the seemingly mundane family scuffles that manage to leave behind the deepest scars.

Producers: Shuchi Talati, Darrin Kaneshiro, Maya Tanaka
Cinematography: Jih-E Peng

Birdsong

Directed & Written by Hrishi Bardhan
www.hrishibardhan.com

Amidst moving homes, a superstitious Indian American girl struggles to bury her pet bird in fear of it coming to haunt her.

Produced by: Olivia De Camps, Hrishi Bardhan, Roya Alidjani
Executive Produced by: Frances Rubio
Line Produced by: Ethan Romaine
Cinematographer: Cece Chan

SHÉ (SNAKE)

Directed & Written by Renee Zhan

Fei is the top violinist in her elite youth orchestra. When another Chinese violinist arrives to challenge her place, Fei’s anxieties and internalized racism grow to take monstrous physical form. They whisper to her, urging her to be the best, no matter the cost.

Producer: Jesse Romain
Cinematographer: Adam Singodia
Editor: Armiliah Aripin
Composer: Harry Brokensha
Sound Designer: Ed Trousseau
Production Designer: Qingling Zhang
VFX Supervisor: Szymon Wyrzykowski

Live from the Clouds

Directed, Written, Produced by Mackie Mallison
https://www.mackiemallison.com/

"Live From the Clouds" immerses the viewer in the intimate memories and imagination of four women in the director's Japanese-American family. Collage-like CG meshes with oral history, and poetry accents 16mm footage of the local bingo hall and staged sequences in an Asian grocery store, where everyday anxieties of shopping, paying the bills, and flying are ruptured by dreams of financial freedom and homecoming.

Cinematographer: Daniel Chang
Editor: Mackie Mallison
Sound Designer: Athan Le
Music: Yutaka Hirose

On the Mountain

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Directed, Written & Produced by Anya Raza

Rabia, an English teacher from Kabul, is forced to make an agonizing choice to save her family as they resettle in the US. Inspired by true events.

Executive Producer: Sol Guy, Baktash Ahadi

Invasive Species

Directed & Co-Written by Annie Ning

Young sound artist Maggie attempts to enter the off-kilter world of an artist's residency, where her own repressed nature and frustrations begin to boil up to the surface in strange and intrusive ways.

Producers: Ruby Rose Collins, Aisha Amin, Shuyuan Liu

Kowloon!

JURY WINNER - BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Jonathan Laxamana Emerging Filmmaker Award

Directed by Mona Xia & Erin Ramirez
https://mona-xia.com/
https://www.erinnlramirez.com/

As the biggest Chinese restaurant in the US, Kowloon is a fantasyland that represents the Wong family’s American Dream come true. However, as third-generation owners Bobby Wong and his brothers approach their seventies, they consider the weight of this family and community legacy.

Singing in the Lifeboat

Directed & Written by Grace Wijaya
[In-Person for Q&A]

In the midst of the Covid pandemic, Jin, flees to the tranquil woods of Pennsylvania in search of solace. Isolated and yearning for connection, she begins an unconventional companionship with the forest. The isolation that initially offered refuge transforms her into a haunting abyss.

Producer : Yaari Tal, Zachary Jones, Grace Wijaya
Director Of Photography : Jakari Lister
Assistant Camera & Gaffer : Warut Snidvongs
Art Director : Chyan Lo
Music Composer : Eunike Tanzil
Sound Recordist : Bridget Mcguigan